Monday, January 3, 2011

Some thoughts from Sunday

Last Sunday I was preaching on John 1:1-18. There is so much in the text and the most obvious is the divinity of Jesus. I spent some time on that but I also noticed in the text the use of the word light, it is used frequently in the first several verses.

What came to mind was the connection between light and truth. Light reveals things as they are and therefore allowing one to see something that they wouldn't see in the dark. It is the reason we have indoor and outdoor lighting, so that we can see. The connection that was made for me was that the light reveals the truth and allows us to build our lives on what is true.

In a small community like ours there are lots of rumors which can breed fear and anxiety. There is a temptation to react and build our lives on rumors and half truths. This can happen in other places as well, fear can grip our hearts and drive our lives. Both civilian congregations I have severed have struggled with fear around finances. I don't how many hours I have spent in meetings that fear is motivator. Common sense should be used but not fear.

The light of Christ breaks into our fear with perfect love. We are told that "perfect love casts out fear". The only one who loves perfectly is God and since Jesus is God we have perfect love from Christ. As we grow in our relationship with Christ, his perfect love gently begins to cast out our fear and replace it with the "peace that passes all understanding". This is what it means to live in the light.

We must root our lives in the truth that Jesus is God and that he has both the will and the power to work for our good, he has shown that in the cross and resurrection. We need not be run by fear.

Prayer enables us to be in the light since we enc outer Christ is prayer and Christ is the light. This should underscore and highlight the importance of prayer in our lives as a pathway to both encounter Christ and to base on lives on the truth and not on what is false. This is the path of life. If you look again at the verses in John you will see that "in him was life".

Jesus brings life in all its fullness and this life comes to us as a gift of grace.

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