I AM Part 3

The Real/The Rub

Have you ever been lost in the dark before? That’s a frightening experience!

I’m going to share one of my hunting secrets. That isn’t really a secret. The common though on public land hunting is that it’s no good because it’s over hunted and there’s too much pressure. Just a bunch of does and small bucks. This is completely true if you drive up, park the truck, and walk 50 yards to the nearest wheat field. Those fields do get a lot of pressure and the big buck aren’t there.

But if you’re willing to walk I believe you can have a lot of success on public land because most people want to take the easy way out. We had a public land in Woodward that was massive and it was right on the lake so there was an automatic draw to the water source. So my rule on hunting public lands is walk at least a mile in and then start scouting. You’ll probably be the only person that deep in the woods. So that’s what I did, first I found the parking lot that was so far away most people didn’t know it existed, and then I walked way back in there. I took a bunch of those reflective tack and put them in trees on the way back there. Then I nestled up in a little cedar tree. Another tip, good camouflage and good natural scent coverage. I hunted until dark and then headed back.

Problem #1) It was cloudy so there was no light from the stars or moon.

Problem #2) My flashlight batteries died. Luckily I had a cellphone.

Problem #2) My flashlight batteries died. Luckily I had a cellphone.

Problem #3) I was so excited to hunt that I forgot to put the reflective tacks on the back side of the trees.

I’m well over a mile into some woods that I really didn’t know how to get out of and it was insanely dark. I thought I was going to have to camp out until morning. I was in desperate need for some light. Luckily the clouds move out after about 30 minutes and I had light again. I kept hitting the panic button on my truck remote when i got close enough. It provide noise and light for me to get out.

Have you ever been so lost in the dark that you didn’t know what to do?

Do you know what a much bigger problem that physical darkness is? What a much scarier situation than being lost in the woods is? Spiritual darkness. And we’re living in a spiritually dark age.

Turn on the news for 5 minutes and you’ll see that. Get on Social Media for 10 minutes and you’ll see that. Read the most recent statistics on America’s outlook on faith and you’ll see that. Look at the rise of teen depression and suicide and you’ll see that. It doesn’t take much to see that we live in a spiritually dark place and in a spiritually dark time.

But the counter to darkness is light and I’m so thankful that even in the midst of this dark time, God’s got a counter attack and his name is Jesus.

Listen to what he said in John chapter 8.

The Rub

(ESV) 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

(ESV) 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

I Am the Light of the World

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Within this claim that Jesus made there are a couple of different statements that I want to unpack to try and figure out what Jesus was trying to say.

The first thing Jesus said was, “I am the light of the world.”

What did he mean when he said this? In what context can Jesus say something like that without sounding like a lunatic?

Well let’s try to make some sense of it. Just a few verses down in verse 20 it says Jesus spoke these words in the treasury. The treasury in the temple would have been adjacent to what was known as the Court of Women.

That’s going to come up as important information in a moment.

Jesus was sitting here doing this teaching during the last day of the “Feast of Tabernacles.” This was a time when the nation of Israel celebrated all that God had done for them and all that God had delivered them from. They had this really weird way of celebrating where they would set up small tabernacles around the city of Jerusalem and would live in them. They still celebrate this today and the Feast of Tabernacles is actually starting in a couple of weeks if any of you happen to be in Jerusalem and want to stop by.

During the Feast, they would basically have a big dance party every night in the Court of Women. Which remember is right next to where Jesus was sitting.

Well what took place at this dance party? I’m glad you asked! They’d obviously have dancing. Wouldn’t be a dance party without that would it? There would be these two giant golden candle sticks that they would light to burn through the night. There would be a certain group of men selected to do a dance with fire on the end of a big stick.

So what we have is a whole bunch of people, waiting until the son goes down, lighting up some giant tiki torches and having some fire dancers. This sounds like the party of the year if you ask me. But why were they doing this? What were they celebrating?

Do you remember where light first originated?

(ESV) And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

God is the source of light.

And do you remember how God showed up in the dessert to talk to Moses.

(ESV) 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.

2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.

Do you remember how God helped the Israelite people escape from the Egyptian soldiers?

(ESV) 21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.

(ESV) 21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.

21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.

Do you remember how he protected the Israelites from those same Egyptian soldiers when it looked like they may have caught up to them?

(ESV) Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

Do you remember how Joshua and the Israelite army defeated the Amorites?

(ESV) At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.

12 At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,

These moments in the Israelite’s history all have one thing in common. They were in trouble and then the source of light showed up in a form of light and rescued the them.

“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,

The Israelites had been accustomed to worshipping the Lord in a nature where they referred to him as light.

(ESV) The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

So the Israelite people had every good reason to have a time where the celebrated the light, with forms of light, and dancing with light. God had brought them out of darkness on multiple occasions. And they were expectant that he would do it again.

whom shall I fear?

When Jesus dropped this bomb I imagine it was a party killer. I mean just go here with me. These people are having a good time. There’s the big candles, and there’s the fire dancer guys, there’s music, it’s probably loud. They’re telling stories that had been passed down through the generations.

One guy is like, “My ancestors were at the front of the pack and they passed down how they just followed the pillar of fire into the night and it led them and kept them safe and man isn’t God great?! Didn’t he do something awesome?!”

And another guy is like, “My ancestors had a different perspective. They were in the very back of the pack and they passed down how they thought the Egyptians were about to get caught and then all of a sudden this big cloud of darkness fell over the Egyptian people but the pillar of fire kept guiding a protecting the Israelite people! I don’t even understand it but it’s so awesome what God did for out people!”

It’s a party man! And then all of the sudden Jesus is like, “You know we’re celebrating all of the ways God showed up in light. Guess what? No go ahead and try to guess what I’m gonna say next. I AM the light of the world.”

I just picture that the whole place started getting quiet. People quit dancing, quit talking, quit playing their instruments and I just imagine all eyes were fixed on Jesus.

And now that Jesus had everybody’s attention he continues. “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Jesus was again making a huge claim. He said, “You’ve been waiting for God to do it again. You’ve been searching for the light that will set the people of Israel free. Well I’m him and if you follow me you won’t walk in darkness anymore. You will have the light of life.”

And if you read the verses that follow you see that the Pharisees weren’t happy with what he said. They were like, “What did you just say? What did you just claim? We’re here celebrating the life giving light that God has given us. We’re here celebrating the miraculous rescue efforts that God used. And now you’re claiming to be the light of the world?”

And in a different variation of words Jesus said, “You bet that’s what I’m claiming and you better get on board and follow me because it’s your only hope of seeing the rescue from the darkness!”

The Ready

Jesus came to rescue the Israelites from the darkness and he came to rescue you and I

A few years ago when we went to New Orleans we went down in the French Quarter and did some shopping and walking around. That’s honestly a dark place. I went into this shop because I was a little curious what it was like and what they sold in there. It was a witchcraft shop. They sold different spices and voodoo stuff. They had a bunch of books for different spells. They had a rack of incense that they used to burn during different ceremonial things.

A couple of things that I remember about that experience. As soon as I stepped into that store there was an overwhelming presence of darkness that I can’t explain. It just felt like Satan had grip on that place. It’s really tough to explain what it felt like but I have a friend who, is also a believer and a pastor, who said the exact same thing.

The other thing I remember is just a feeling of deep sorrow when I connected eyes with the young lady behind the counter. There was a look of emptiness in here eyes. There was a look of desperation. And I’m not saying this to prop myself up because the only goodness in me is because I’ve been se free from the Grace of God. But I think she saw a different look in my eyes. I think she saw light and freedom. And just when I was about to reach out to her to tell her that Jesus loved her and so did I, she turned and went to the back to the shop as fast as she could. Satan had ahold of her.

Some of you are just like that girl. Lost and in total darkness. Desperate for some saving light. Stuck firm in the grip of Satan.

Some of you are just like the Israelite people. You’re lost in the darkness.

Some of you, if you would be so honest, would probably say that you feel like darkness has been the theme of your life.

Some of you are desperate for the rescue out of the darkness.

I’m happy to tell you that the God who rescued the Israelite people from the grip of Pharoah and the Egyptian army is the same God who claimed to be the light of the world at the temple that night. And that same God is still rescuing people from the darkness today.

I love the story of Brian “Head” Welch. The former guitarist for the Heavy Metal band Korn. Brian had come accustom to spending every waking moment high and being with a different woman every night that he was on tour. He was living in total darkness. Until one night he stumbled into a church service and Jesus rescued him out of that darkness and radically transformed his life.

I have a friend name Mark. Mark used to drive as a chauffeur. This was before Uber but it allowed you to be more selective than just riding in a taxi. He picked this lady up from the airport one day and got to talking about her and where she was going. She was on her way to a wicken convention. She was high ranking in this group. So Mark began sharing the gospel with her. She didn’t want anything to do with it. Miraculously they had a blow out and had to call road side assistance. While they were waiting Mark had the opportunity to visit more with her and hear her story. Turns out her father was abusive and the theme of her life was disappointment. While they were on the side of the interstate he told her how sorry he was that her dad had acted that way and just reminder her that Jesus loved her and asked to pray for her. She said I don’t believe in Jesus but if you want to pray that’s fine. He did pray and when he finished he opened his eyes to find this woman weeping. She said she hadn’t cried in years because her heart was so hardened. She also said that she felt something that she’d never felt during that prayer. She surrendered her life to Christ right there on the side of the interstate.

The Response

And some of you here in this gathering are living in darkness. Some of you have been hiding in the darkness long enough and it is time to surrender your life to the Lord. And maybe right now you are feeling something that you’ve never felt before. I believe that’s the Lord working in your life and I promise you if you put it off he’s going to continue to work in your life.

So I’m urging you to not leave this place until you’ve surrendered your life to him.

Or maybe some of you are her tonight and you’d say, “I’ve been saved but sometimes I feel like the darkness is trying to bring me in. I’m dealing with death, I’m dealing with depression, I’m dealing with divorce, I’m dealing with financial problems, I’m dealing with family dysfunction, I’m dealing with darkness.”

Listen to what John said about about Jesus.

(ESV)

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Jesus is the light and if you have him

Listen to this fact from the story of the God’s people being delivered by the Pillar of fire in Exodus.

(ESV)

22 The pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

Maybe you need to be reminded that if you’ve been rescued from the darkness and into the light of Jesus that the darkness even thought it seems is trying to over take you, can’t over take you because you belong to Jesus and he’s not letting go.

Maybe you need to be reminded that the light that is Jesus won’t depart from you even though you’re in a tough battle.

of whom shall I be afraid?

and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”

13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,

until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.