Let Your Light Shine

According to an in-depth investigative report published by an organization that tracks Christian persecution around the world (Open Doors) right now in 2019 an average of 11 Christians are killed every day because of their faith

Then we also see things like what took place in Sri Lanka over the Easter weekend where 6 suicide bombers detonated their explosives at 3 churches and 3 hotels killing at least 310 people and injury more than 500 others

ISIS who has claimed responsibility has said that it was in response to the attack on a mosque in New Zealand back in March

And while we have yet to see this kind of persecution here in Canada I honestly believe that it is inevitable as we draw closer to the return of Christ

But what I want to focus on this morning is a persecution of Christians that we are seeing in our country along with many other Christian nations around the world

Let me tell you about a man named Israel Folau

Now that name probably means nothing to you, in fact I’d be very surprised if it did

Israel Folau is a rugby player who lives in Australia who plays his league rugby for the New South Wales Waratahs and is a star player on the Australian national team

In fact many consider him to be the greatest rugby player in the world right now

There’s something else you should know, Israel is also a very dedicated and outspoken Christian who is not afraid to put his faith out there

One look at his twitter account and you will see that he talks about almost nothing else but Jesus Christ and the need for sinners to repent.

More than once this has gotten him in trouble with people who don’t like it but nothing like what has happened in the past couple of weeks

On April 10 Izzy, as he is known, tweeted this meme, Warning drunks homosexuals adulterers liars fornicators thieves atheists idolaters Hell awaits you repent Only Jesus saves

He followed that up by quoting

As you might imagine this did not go over well in our politically correct world and as a result Israel has been served with what is called a breach of notice alleging that he has broken his contract

In short his punishment is that he is not allowed anymore to play for his country, his league team or any other team

To put this into perspective for you, this would be like Sydney Crosby being banned from having anything to do with hockey at any level, minors, NHL, or Team Canada for the rest of his life because he tweeted from the Bible

The controversy that this has caused around the rugby playing world is enormous

Some siding with Israel saying that he has a right to freedom of speech while others claiming this is hate speech and he should be in jail.

Caught in the middle are Christians, some of whom back him fully pointing out that Jesus Himself said, ““Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”

Others however, including the largest church in Australia, have gone on record as saying that his methods are wrong

Now you’re probably thinking, “So what? this is someone I don’t know and it’s happening on the other side of the world.”

But that’s the problem, it’s not just happening on the other side of the world, it’s happening right here in Canada

It’s happening right here in our own area and we as Christians need to be aware and prepared for what is inevitably going to happen to each of us if we are determined to live for Jesus

Just as an illustration of that point, it is not well known but our own Bible College is being sued right now for refusing to admit a student that is in the process of changing genders

So light of what Jesus said to His disciples in ,

Matthew 5:14-15

Matthew 5:14–15 NIV

And in light of the political climate we live in, how do we do that? How do we let our light shine when the enemy has an army of darkness just waiting to snuff it out

Well let’s see what the Bible has to say,

The first thing I would point out to you is the warning Jesus issued in

John 15:18-

(The Message)

John 15:18–21 NIV

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.

Hated by the World

18–19 “If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you.

20 “When that happens, remember this: Servants don’t get better treatment than their masters. If they beat on me, they will certainly beat on you. If they did what I told them, they will do what you tell them.

21–25 “They are going to do all these things to you because of the way they treated me, because they don’t know the One who sent me.

If we are going to serve God openly and without apology, we are going to have to expect to encounter problems

Let us not forget that we are not in a country club waiting for our room to be ready in Heaven but rather we are in a war

That there is an enemy that wants to steal kill and destroy all of God’s good creation and he, and those who, even unwittingly, do his bidding are not just going to lie down and allow God’s way to happen

So we need to expect this kind of persecution and be willing to accept it, but that doesn’t mean we need to go looking for it

The second thing that I want to point out to you is that we need to be Spirit led in the way we let our light shine

Galatians 5:25 NIV

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Galatians 5:25

It is not my aim this morning to tell you whether what Israel Folau did was right or wrong because that’s not my job

Each of us has different gifts and different responsibilities as we are led by the Spirit

You see for me to tweet about Jesus has very little impact because I only have 8 followers of which 2 are family, 3 attend this church and 2 are Pastors themselves

But Israel has 128,00 followers on Twitter and 351,000 on Instagram as well as the celebrity status that causes people to take note of what he is saying

So rather than doing what other people are doing, and rather than judging whether or not the way that others let their light shine is right or wrong we need to ask the Holy Spirit how it is that I am supposed to do it, and then have ears to hear what He tells me to do

In Jesus gives us some hard core teaching about the end times which He follows up with some parables about life in the last days in chapter 25

The first parable He speaks is the Parable of the 10 Virgins

You probably know it, 10 virgins are waiting for the bridegroom but 5 were foolish and didn’t have enough oil to keep their lamps lit and so while they were out trying to get more the bridegroom came and they were left out

Just about anytime you see talk about “oil” in the N.T. you can equate that to the Holy Spirit and so Jesus essentially says that these foolish Christians didn’t rely on the Holy Spirit to let their lights shine and they weren’t ready for His return

While that sinks in let me move on to another point, letting our light shine should always come across in a positive manner

While it’s true that at times God has raised up prophets to declare His judgement, those are the exception not the rule

Let’s read the most famous verse in the book but let’s read it in it’s context,

John 3:16–21 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

John 3:16-

For far too long the church has spent most of its time and resources coming against the things of this world and the result is that the world knows what we are against but have little to no idea of what we stand for

Right after Jesus spoke those famous words from John chapter 3 we have the story of Christ’s encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well

Jesus could could have easily preached a message of condemnation to this woman after all He knew her lifestyle but instead, even when the woman objects to Him He offers her hope and purpose

John 4:10 NIV

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

The result was that she left her water jar and ran back to town to tell others the good news

My next point jumps off from this one and that is that if we are going to let our light shine we have to put feet to our faith

Let’s go back to the first passage I read in

Matthew 5:14–16 NIV

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-

When I was down in New Orleans helping out after Hurricane Katrina, it was very clear to everyone that it was the church that was making a difference

It was the church preparing hot meals for people who hadn’t eaten in days, it was the church that was providing food and clothing and other essentials for people who had lost everything

It was the church that set up mobile medical clinics in their front yards and offered free medical help

By the time I arrived the red cross had raised hundreds of millions of dollars yet the whole time I was there we only saw 1 red cross van on 1 street corner for a couple of hours each day

But the church was everywhere!

Now tell me what kind of impact you think that had on those people that the church was serving

You want to let your light shine? You can never go wrong by serving and loving others and doing good

Which brings me to the final thing that I want to say this morning

Last week I closed with a passage from 1 Peter and I want to look at it again here this week but again I want to expand it and include the context around it

1 Peter 3:15 NIV

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

1 Peter 3:13–17 NIV

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

1 Peter 3:13-

Now there’s a lot I could say about this passage but I just want to draw your attention to 2 words from verse 15

“But do this with GENTLENESS and RESPECT”

The context of this passage clearly demonstrates that the expectation for us to do good works and to let our light shine is paramount even in the midst of persecution

But it’s those two words that we so often forget, Gentleness and Respect that are so important

It’s important that we remember, even in the midst of debating opposite opinions with others who would love nothing more than to see us and other believers just shrink up and go away, that they too are loved wholly and completely by god and that in His love for them He sent His Son to die for them

You want to see the ugly side of me? All you have to do is attack one of my loved ones

Whether it be my wife or my kids or my parents or the rest of my family, or most of it anyway

Come after one of them and you can be assured that I will get myself in between you and them and you will have to deal with me instead

Do you really think that it’s any different for the Father when we are dealing with someone that He loves so much that Jesus had to die for them?

I can assure you that He WILL have something to say about it

Gentleness, respect and the such are just part of the fruit of the Spirit and so if we go back to point #2 and just listen to the Spirit we won’t be combative but instead we’ll be ready to introduce them to God’s love

I’m going to end it here but I’ll probably have more to say about it in upcoming weeks as I am working on a series for May called We Walk by Faith Not by Sight