Steering Toward Darkness

Ephesians 5:8–11 ESV

for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

Story

Four days after Christmas, families were traveling home from holiday visits with loved ones. Despite the busy season, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 had only 163 passengers and a crew of 13. Only 73 of the 176 people on board would live to see the New Year.

Flight 401 left New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport at 9:20pm. All was routine until the plane reached Miami International Airport at 11:32pm, and the copilot lowered the landing gear.

That’s when it happened. The little green light didn’t go on. The little green light is a simple indicator letting pilots know the landing gear is down. the fact that this light wasn’t on can mean one of 2 things. Either the landing gear isn’t down, or the little green light isn’t working.

This usually wasn’t a big deal. It had happened on other flights. Pilots routinely re-cycled the landing gear, giving it another try.

Still no green light. The captain called the tower. They would delay the landing to figure out the problem. The tower instructed the plane to climb to 2,000feet, and fly west over the Everglades. Meanwhile, the crew removed the light assembly. The flight engineer climbed down to see if he could catch a glimpse of the landing gear. He hoped that by peering through the small viewing window in the avionics bay he’d be able to see whether the gear was down. If it was, they’d know it was just a bad light bulb and not a landing gear malfunction.

When the plane reached 2,000feet, the copilot engaged the autopilot. About 80 seconds later the captain accidently bumped the plane out of autopilot, much the same as a tap on the brakes bumps your car out of cruise control. It’s possible the pilot accidently switched modes while leaning against the steering column when he turned to talk to a crew member. Regardless of how it happened, the autopilot was switched to CWS mode - Control Wheel Steering. In this mode, small adjustments by the pilot are noted by the autopilot, altering the plane’s course. Even a small tilt of the wheel is saved and executed by the autopilot. In this case, tiny forward pressure on the steering column caused the plane to start descending gradually into the dark Everglades. the descent was so gradual that no one felt it. And because the darkness, the pilot and copilot never realized they were descending.

The plane was headed toward the ground, and no one knew it. After all, they were distracted by the urgent problem of this light bulb and failed to concentrate on what was truly important - flying the plane. Eventually the copilot took the controls to start another turn. At this point he noticed the discrepancy. The cockpit recordings reflect this:

Copilot says, We did something to the altitude?

Pilot says, What?

Copilot says, We are still at 2,000feet right?

Pilot says, Hey - what is happening here?

By this tim it was to late. The plane was flying at 227 miles per hour when it hit the ground nearly 19 miles from the airport. when the main body of the plane hit, it slid through grass and water, disintegrating as it went. 94 passengers and 5 crew members died instantly. When the plane finally came to a stop, 75 people had survived.

2 burned-out light bulbs - a $12 replacement0 led to the tragic crash. When investigators examined the plane the next day, the landing gear was indeed in the down-and-locked position.

THERE IS NO AUTOPILOT IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.

Some of us think we can just go through life on autopilot. We don’t even realize we’re in danger. We don’t even notice the warning signs.

Some of us have steered toward the darkness. I don’t need to convince you or even explain to you what this darkness is. Many of us have allowed ourselves to grow comfortable keeping things in our lives that don’t belong there-even though we know they aren’t right. When it’s dark, it’s impossible to see the warning signs. In darkness, we don’t even notice our descent. But it’s happening, and it’s only a matter of time before we crash.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO ME? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?

In the book of Ephesians, Paul writes about the dangers of steering toward darkness. He wants us to wake up to the warning signs.

Ephesians 5:8–11 ESV

for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

Notice that Paul doesn’t say, “Be a little careful” - he says, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness”

Before we go into small groups I want to end in prayer. I want you to close your eyes and bow your heads for a moment so you can think about yourselves and not those around you. As some of us are sitting here in silence, we realize there’s some stuff in our lives that doesn’t belong there. We’ve steered toward the darkness, and we haven’t even noticed our descent. But God sees this stuff, and we know we’re heading toward disaster. don’t think you can leave your life on autopilot-the descent is gradual, but unavoidable. You need to deal with it now.

Let that be our prayer.

God,

We come to you tonight desiring to stay the course. Desiring that we would not try to live on autopilot. Lord keep us aware and focused on you. Let us look for you and that you would give us wisdom to see the warning lights. Lord give us the strength to react to the warning signs in a way that you would be glorified and your name would be made known. We ask all this is Jesus name, AMEN.