Removing Darkness

Well, last week we started our new series called, / / Running To The Light: A better way to be Free!

We are really focusing this series on what Jesus said in John 8:12, / / I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.

Last week / / we talked through the light of Jesus showing us who we really are. Asking the question, Who Am I? the reality that as children, and even as adults we get so influenced by the world around us that we are shaped by the words of others to often our reality is defined by those words and actions rather than the truth of Jesus Christ. And we need His light to shine on us, exposing the lies that we believe about ourselves, so we can replace those lights with His truth.

The reality is, it’s hard to identify that we believe a lie without the right person saying something, at the right time, given the right situation. All of these things have to line up.

Have you ever had someone tell you the RIGHT thing........at the WRONG time?

Have you ever had someone tell you exactly what you needed to hear, but you just weren’t ready to hear it?

How many know that we often see these things afterward, and maybe not in the moment? We say “Hindsight is 20/20”, right?

I would say the easiest place to recognize this most in our lives is in our relationship with our parents. Of course not everyone has the same situation, some didn’t have much of a relationship with their parents, or their parents were absent. But maybe you had someone, an aunt, uncle, grandparent, coach, boss who you can identify with this scenario… As teens and young adults trying to carve our own path, make our own way, define our lives, the advice of our parents isn’t always something we are open to, is it? And it’s not until we grow up a little bit, we realize afterward. Oh wait, they were right, weren’t they?

/ / The right thing, at the right time, in the right situation… The reason I’m saying that is because IF we want a life of freedom, which is what this series is about, A better way to be Free, we can actually PROMOTE scenarios for freedom, but that takes a willingness and an invitation on our part.

I’ve said this before, I believe the invitation of Jesus is always open. God is always available to us. The Holy Spirit is always calling to us. / / But we aren’t always the best at making ourselves available, at opening ourselves up, of listening for his voice. But, if we WANT to promote freedom in our lives we can actively make an invitation for Jesus to come. Create that space. Create that moment.

This gives opportunity for the right thing to said, at the right time, in the right situation. And it starts by us saying, “Jesus, I want to hear what you believe about me. Now, in this moment. I want to know your truth. What do you think of me? What have I believing that is a lie that you want to shine your light on?”

And when we send an invitation to God like that, I’m more than confident he will receive it and respond!

So, coming out of last week, don’t stop the process. I think this is a forever journey. Not a one Sunday solution. Let’s be honest - nothing is a one Sunday solution, is it? I think the invitation of Jesus to follow him and allow his light to shine in our hearts and lives is something we can engage with, or not, and the reality is that the more we engage with his healing presence and his redeeming power, the more healed, redeemed and free we become!

Think of it in every are of our lives. We know that to get better at our jobs we need to focus and learn, to keep training and work our skills up. To increase our health we need to keep learning and applying what we learn to our lifestyles. To better our relationships we know that we need to continue to have conversation and understanding with each other, to learn more about each other and really truly understand each other. The same is true of YOU.

I quoted Dr Seuss last week, / / Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you. And maybe we need to modify that a little and say. / / Today there may be no one youer than you, but sometimes you Isn’t always you and could stand to learn how to become more like you...

And we do that by the revealed truth of who God created us to be, what he thinks of us and what he says about us and to us, and allowing the light of Jesus Christ to search out those lies in us that we no longer want to believe!

Well, today we are going to continue the journey into the light of Jesus Christ, and we’re going to ask the question, / / What does it mean to hide?

Can we hide from the presence of God? Can we hide from his light? The answer might be a little confusing because the bible actually says a couple different things.

A well known passage of Scripture is Psalm 139:7-11, David says, / / I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night - but even in the darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.

This is a beautiful passage of scripture because David is basically saying, wherever I find myself, God can find me. Whatever situation I’m in, God is with me there. Whatever my struggle, whatever my fear, whatever my enemies may be planning for me, I know God is for me, and with me. There’s a reassurance in this scripture of God’s love and protection for us, his desire to be close to us. Where could I go to hide from your presence? from your Holy Spirit… It’s beautiful.

Jeremiah the prophet says in 23:23-24, / / Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth? says the Lord.

Again, establishing there is nowhere God is not, and there is nowhere we can run that He can’t find us. This should be absolutely reassuring for us.

But what happens when we WANT to hide something?

See, sometimes we have to ask the question behind the statement.

If Jesus says, / / I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life. We have to ask the question, so, / / What happens if we don’t follow Jesus? Or the better question to ask is, / / What happens in the AREAS of our lives that we don’t allow the light of Jesus to shine?

I’ve come to realize that the salvation of Jesus is in some sense easy to accept. Because when I hear that good works won’t save me, won’t remove the condition of sin from my life, but that Jesus gave his life for me, to save me, to remove that stain of sin, ok, I can accept that. It’s a free gift.

But I’ve also realized that not every area of my life I want exposed to the light. In one of our planning meetings we were having a laugh because the idea behind this series is that to truly be free we must be willing for all areas of our lives to be exposed to the light of Christ. So, I thought, why not call the series, Exposed.... everyone else thought that was going to get a little bit misread and misinterpreted. OK.

But the reality is, the more I expose to the light, the more free I become. Why?

/ / Because darkness can not remove light. Only you can.

And / / to hide something, you must surround it in darkness.

So, we have these things in our lives that we want to hide from those around us. We hope they won’t see. And usually it’s because we are ashamed of them. We certainly don’t want God to get involved. And sometimes, I think most of the time, we are actually under the lie that we got ourselves there, we need to get ourselves out.

You ever have something in your life that when someone asks you about it you want to, or actually do, respond with, / / “Ya, I don’t want to talk about it.” ? And if they persist it’s like you begin to get a bit angry, offended, defensive maybe, and you push them away?

What am I talking about?

Maybe it’s anger. You don’t know where it came from. You don’t know why it happens. But you get angry so quickly.

Maybe depression. You don’t want to admit you’re depressed, so you hide it best you can.

Addiction. To alcohol, cigarettes, drugs or prescription medications, food, shopping or spending, hoarding, working, exercise.

Maybe it’s your past, things you’ve been through. hurts and pains, abuses. Maybe it’s previous relationships. It’s easier to keep things hidden because it feels safe, but the hurt and pain are still there and still effecting your life.

These aren’t necessarily sins, some absolutely aren’t. Sometimes the very thing we are hiding is the pain and hurt of what we’ve experienced because of SOMEONE ELSE’s actions. But it’s left us too ashamed, or too hurt and too wounded to expose it. Why? Because that very word, no wonder it go voted down as the series title... feels like a violation. / / I was exposed!…

Yet exposed is an interesting word. Not all words have double meaning, but exposed can mean that something has been uncovered, and that can be without permission, it can be violently, it can be wrong, but exposed can also come from the source of healing. I was exposed to the light. I was exposed to the truth. So no longer is it about what was uncovered, but what brought healing. When it stops at “I was exposed” it can be very painful, we feel naked, ashamed, and uncovered. But when we add / / …to the light…to healing…to the truth… then the exposure is the remedy.

So, regardless of whether what we’re dealing with is a sin issue, or a pain issue, a hurt issue, an unforgiveness issue, when we have the opportunity to hide these things, they have the opportunity to get in the way of life. And what did Jesus say, He said I have come so they can experience a full life, or as some translations say, an abundant life. Meaning, thriving, healthy, whole, wonderful, safe and secure and happy life! Here on earth. He’s not talking about eternal life in that verse, he’s talking about the life right here on earth.

But the other side of that statement was, “the enemy comes only to steal, kill and destroy.”

And / / one of the fastest ways to cause hurt in someones life is to convince them that they need to hide something. It’s like the enemy getting a foot in the door to your life. And if you’ll continue to hide things, situations, attitudes, mentalities, actions, the greater that foothold becomes.

See, / / darkness can NOT remove the light. It’s impossible. If the light is on in this room, and you have another room that’s the same size, but no lights, no windows etc… You can’t take the darkness in that room and move it to this room. It’s not possible. Why? Because darkness is not a substance in of itself, it is the absence of the substance of light.

And how many know that you can’t hide something in a lit room? And as long as the light is on you’re not going to be able to hid anything, are you?

So, to hide something you must make a decision to put it in a place where there is no light, or to remove the light. And this isn’t something we always do on purpose. But this is what I believe. We all have things in our lives, whether actively hiding, or unknowingly hidden, that we have not allowed the light of Jesus Christ to shine on.

A secret we don’t think anyone would ever understand.

A pain or hurt we couldn’t bare to relive so we keep it secret.

Keep it secret, keep it safe.

Sometimes it’s things we’re ashamed of doing or maybe things we just don’t want to give up. And like I said earlier, this isn’t a matter of salvation, it’s a matter of life. For years and years I smoked cigarettes. I wouldn’t classify smoking as a sin, alright, but I do classify it as something that robs life. Especially for me, because at the time I was also traveling around the world singing for a living. And of course two of the most directly effected areas of a person’s body would be the lungs and the throat, both kind of important for singing.

Sure I knew it wasn’t good. I knew I shouldn’t be doing it. But it was also one of those, “ya, ya, I don’t want to talk about it...” things. And the reason. Because I don’t want to admit I’m doing something that is robbing from me, and I certainly don’t want you or anyone else telling me what I need to do. And I didn’t want to lose the comfort that it was because I didn’t understand that the light of Jesus Christ is so much better than any comfort I was getting from it.

One night this week I went to bed to late, got up early, was tired, and I was talkign to my brother, mentioned man, just one of those days, so tired. And he says, “man, just get out and go for a walk, it’ll help. My dr tells me all the time it’s the best way to get an energy boost.” And man oh man, you should have heard the inner dialogue that threw me into.

How dare you tell me to exercise.

What do you think you are, my dr.

You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve been through. You don’t know how tired I am. You don’t know what I’m dealing with. Me Me Me Me Me Me....

Thankfully I didn’t say any of that. but in a moment like that you’ve got 3 options.

/ / Say it.

That’s going to go poorly I would say 100% of the time.

/ / Hide it.

You might think this is the right solution, well done for not saying what you really wanted to say. Just stuff that bad boy down for another day. But the reality is, this is where most people suffer problems.

But, there’s a third option and I’m thankful this was where I landed in that moment.

/ / Deal with it.

This is where the light of Christ comes in.

I recognized that there was an issue. Something wasn’t right. I didn’t need to respond like that. I didn’t WANT to respond like that. So WHY was I? And I realized it was a root of self-pity. I feel sorry for myself. I feel sorry for my situation and maybe a little helpless, maybe a little angry, and so I don’t want to confront it because I feel like I’ve done a poor job at managing myself. Wow, talk about a flood of realization all from, “Dude, just go for a walk.”

Now, let’s visit the damage of choosing to hide this scenario.

See, the enemy would love nothing more, in that moment, for me to decide that I don’t need to say anything, but keep the inner dialogue going, “how dare you say that, it’s not fair, and i’ll just keep my mouth shut.” So I choose to hide it. The problem with that is, to hide something, I need to what?....cover it with darkness… And when I cover it with darkness the light of Christ can’t heal what’s truly wrong. I have to remove the light to hide it in darkness, so really, I’m asking Jesus to leave that situation.

See, regardless of sin, or insecurity, or things in our lives we wish people didn’t know. Whether these things are because of our actions, or the actions of someone else doing something to us, which maybe means we didn’t even have a choice, and that doesn’t seem fair. But however these things came in to our lives, we all have opportunities to hide.

I also understand that some people haven’t painted the best picture of God, that he’s forgiving, or willing to help. Like I said earlier, the word exposed can leave us feeling like WE are the ones being exposed, which is the worst feeling ever, isn’t it? I understand that some people haven’t represented God in the right way. No wonder we want to hide. When we are afraid, when we don’t feel safe, when we think we might be punished or exposed.

/ / Why do we hide?

Ultimately I believe we choose to hide because of / / ...FEAR, but we don’t want anyone to know that it’s fear, so we even hide the fear itself, act like, “oh ya, it’s all good.” This is why we don’t want to talk about stuff. Fear we’ll be looked at differently. Fear they won’t think we’re strong enough. Fear we will be treated differently, rejected, mocked, made fun of....whatever. because of FEAR. But / / FEAR is not from God. We have to understand Fear is not from God, at all. The invitation of Jesus is NEVER out of a place of fear. If you feel afraid, the first invitation is to feel his love that removes that fear.

1 John 4 talks about this clearly.

/ / vs 7-8, …let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

vs 18, Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love...

See, / / the invitation to walk in the light of Jesus is not to be exposed in order to punish, but to bring to light what needs to be healed. Jesus said in Luke 8:16-17, / / No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.

For years I thought, “oh gosh, what a thought, God wants to expose us all…all my sins, all my problems, all my insecurities....” But that’s not what he’s saying at all. Jesus is the light. And where Jesus is, there is no fear. Where Jesus is there is no condemnation. The church should have NEVER used the threat of light to punish but the invitation to embrace the light of God which leads to healing.

If you were with us at the beginning of the year, you’ll remember our very first series was called Crossing Over. I know, I have a knack for creating misleading titles, people thought I was going to be talking about dying… no, crossing over to the promised land.

In that series I shared a dream I had had, and if you weren’t here I would encourage you, go back to those messages on our website, they are all there on our sermons page. They are a good groundwork for where I feel we are heading this year as a church. But in that dream God shared with me that there were areas of my life I needed to let die, but I was choosing to sacrifice myself instead, rather than letting Him deal with the things that needed to be dealt with. Essentially, choosing where I would let the light shine, and choosing what I would keep hidden.

At the end of last year I decided to hire a life coach for 3 months to work with me and help me determine areas of my life that were holding me back. I could feel there was something there, but I didn’t know what. I knew there were hidden things, but I didn’t even know what they were. Within a few weeks the coach I was working with, who is an amazing pastoral friend we’ve known for years, actually worked with in Ottawa at our church there. He encouraged me to meet with a friend of his about nutrition… I reluctantly agreed. So the three of us had a zoom call, and I was hoodwinked… this friend wasn’t a nutritionist or dietition, he’s an addiction counselor with 14 years of experience helping people see where their lives have gone wrong. That day, January 20th, three months ago started my journey of Addiction Recovery for Food Addiction.

The next day I virtually walked into a Zoom Addiction Recover meeting. Not knowing what I was walking in to, but knowing there was areas of my life that needed to be exposed to the light of Jesus Christ. It took weeks. Weeks of willingness to uncover. Weeks of openness to recognize. Everything in me wanted to run. Everything in me wanted to deny.

It’s not that bad

I can handle this on my own

I’m not an addict. You’re an addict.

Don’t liken me to an alcoholic. A drug addict.

And here I am, answering yes to every question that an alcoholic, a drug addict, a workoholic, a sex addict, a spendaholic, all ends up answering yes to in their journey to discovery… I am an addict.

Enter the opportunity to hide. To make excuses. To question myself out of it.

Ya, but an alcoholic just needs to stop drinking, I can’t stop eating. How’s that work?

Weeks and weeks of learning, of exposing, of inviting the light, and God leading me to the substance of my addiction. Sugar…

Scientifically they have shown that sugar can be as addictive as heroine and it has been confirmed that sugar actives the same brain receptors… And it’s not just processed sugar, it’s what your body interprets as sugar. Carbohydrates. I won’t bore you with all the details, but suffice to say The pathway to addiction recovery is 100% abstinence / sobriety. So, March 10th, about 8 weeks after this particular journey started I “got sober”, stopped ingesting the substance of my addiction.

2 weeks of insane withdrawals. A 6 day headache that championed any headache I had ever had, that would NOT go away for anything. And since then the daily understanding that this is a journey.

Why am I telling you this? Well, it’s no good to hide things. And I’ve never liked the narrative that the pastor has to be perfect. I’m just me, next to you, and God’s given me a role just like he’s given each of you a role in His beautiful Kingdom.

I’m telling you this today because those are the very types of things that would cause someone to hide.

They won’t follow you when they realize you’re broken.

They won’t go to your church once they hear this story.

They won’t believe anything you say if you say you struggle.

Oh trust me, the opportunity to hide is there.

You want to know the best part of this process? Whether they always admit it or not. The foundation of AA, or OA, or any addiction recover based on the big book of alcoholics anonymous is founded 100% on the bible and the need for an experience with God. Literally running to the light! Whether you realize it or not. The steps are leading you to the light.

I said at the beginning of this year, I don’t want this year to be like last year, or the year before. I don’t want to be held back by the things I’ve been held back by up until this point. I don’t want to experience the same struggles, frustrations, setbacks, holdups..... because I know that God has such great things for each and every one of us. BUT, / / to experience life we must embrace the light.

I’ve made the commitment to walk as close to the light as I know how and as I can. That means a journey. I’m not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t have it all figured out. But I do know that with Jesus leading me, with me following the light I can feel SAFE to uncover those things that are hidden in darkness.

Whatever it is you have in your life that you feel is holding you back that you know is hidden. Or maybe you’re like me and you know that something is holding you back but you only see the symptom, not the cause. I want to invite you today to give God permission to shine his light in the deepest places of your heart. We’re not going to do anything here. You’re not going to be exposed. But if you want to find life. If you feel like maybe the life that Jesus said we should have, has eluded you a bit, then why not ask him to highlight what in your life is holding you back.