church

INI
The Sunday after Epiphany
January 8, 2012
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

JESUS IS THE TRUE LIGHT IN OUR LIFE
John 1:6-13

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
This morning's text comes from the first chapter of the Gospel of John,
beginning with the sixth verse, as follows:

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a
witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He
was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the
true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. 10 He was in
the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know
Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as
many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to
those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Here ends our text.

In the Name of our Savior, the Child of Bethlehem, before Whom we, like the
Wise Men, present our adoration and our gifts again this Epiphany season, Dear
Fellow Redeemed,

In a certain town lived an old professor of natural history, who liked to have a
bit of fun with the local pastor. Every so often he'd stop into the parsonage for
an evening of discussion and argument. He was a humanist, and he needled the
pastor by arguing that human reason could discover everything there is to know
about God simply by looking around at the wonders of nature. According to
him, the Bible was completely unnecessary. Well, late one evening, after a
similar discussion, the professor was getting ready to leave for home. The pastor
offered to turn on the porch light, so he could see his way down the front steps
of the parsonage. "No," said the professor with a twinkle in his eye, "I don't
need any revealed light. The natural light of the moon and stars will guide me
safely on my way." Unfortunately, that particular night happened dark and
overcast. So the professor took a painful tumble, ending up in a bruised heap at
the bottom of the steps. As he hurried out to help his friend, the preacher
couldn't resist a wry comment: "Perhaps you could have used a light from
above after all..."

Nature - the created world we see around us - does shed a lot of light on the
subject of God. It tells us that God exists, and that He is a powerful and wise
God. But there is one very important thing that we can never learn from nature,
and that's how we can be saved. In order to illuminate this all-important
subject, God sent His Son Jesus to earth two thousand years ago. It is His
manifestation as the Son of God that we again celebrate this Epiphany season,
and that is the subject of our text for this morning. Join me in considering the
theme --

JESUS IS THE TRUE LIGHT IN OUR LIFE
I. A Light that man can't give.
II. A Light the world doesn't want.
III. A Light through which we are reborn!

One thing's for sure - man cannot give us the light we need the most. Have you
ever had to stop by the side of the road on a dark night to fix a flat or look
under the hood, and found that you didn't have a flashlight? Or that you had
one, but that it didn't work? You know something's wrong with the car, but
there's simply nothing you can do about it! If you only had a light -- ! -It's a
frustrating feeling. Well, ever since man fell into sin the garden of Eden, every
human being has by nature been born into spiritual darkness. St. Paul describes
the natural state of people when he says: "They show the work of the law
written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between
themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them." -- Rom 2:15. Man
knows there’s something wrong, and he knows that something has to be done
about it. He feels guilty about the things that he has done wrong, but he's in the
dark about how to fix the problem. Out on the highway, there's always the
chance someone might stop and lend you his flashlight. I'm afraid that in our
spiritual life, though, it's not that simple.

Some people think, in effect, that they can fix the flat in the dark, with no light
to aid them. They think they can work out their salvation for themselves. The
Jews of Jesus' time thought this, and it remains a popular solution right down to
our own day - "Be a good, law-abiding citizen, give to charities, contribute
some volunteer time to your community -- Live an honest life! What more could
God ask of you?" We know the answer to that, of course, and the answer is, a
lot more! The Bible tells us the "The wages of sin is death." -- Rom 6:23. And
that means any sin. Even the smallest sin! Jesus commands in Matthew 22,
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind," and, "Love your neighbor as yourself." --27, 39. Now the longer
you think about that, the more clearly you'll see just what a tall order that is.
Sinful human beings are bound to fall far short when they try to live up to God's
standards by "being a good person."

Perhaps the worst part about the whole situation is that, by nature, man doesn't
really want to see the light at all! Paul reminds us, "The carnal mind is enmity
against God." The Psalmist confesses, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in
sin did my mother conceive me." -- Ps 51:5. We are sinful, and deserving of
God's condemnation even before we take our first breath. Contrary to the
opinion of optimistic sociologists, human nature does not lean toward good, but
toward evil. One look at a newspaper these days ought to be enough to
convince you of that. Better yet, one look at your own thoughts and actions
should prove it to you beyond the shadow of a doubt. Isn't it true? -Our sinful
flesh actually prefers the dark! A little further along in the Gospel of John we
read, "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and
men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For
everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his
deeds should be exposed." -- John 3:19-20.

Then there are those people who simply prefer to pretend that sin doesn't exist.
That's like someone who has a flat tire and thinks that, if he sits in the
comfortable darkness of his car long enough, maybe the problem will go away.
Likewise, the world will be satisfied if you choose to remain in the darkness of
sin. You'll fit right in -- as long as you don't accuse anyone else of being sinful.
Let's just everybody not get too upset about the sin that we see in ourselves and
others. Let's pretend that it doesn't exist. Or let's just pass over it lightly
because, after all, nobody's perfect. Everything will be OK if we just remain in
our comfortable darkness and pat ourselves on the back and say, "It doesn't
really matter what religion a person is anyway, as long as he tries to be a good
person. After all, aren't there many different paths to the same God?" NO.
THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY, ONE TRUTH, ONE LIFE. THERE CAN
BE ONLY ONE TRUE LIGHT IN OUR LIFE.

The True Light in our life certainly doesn't lie within ourselves. So where does
it lie? Well, there was a man on the scene in Israel before Jesus began His public
ministry who thought he had a handle on just what that True Light was. He was
a peculiar man. He lived in the deserted places far away from the cities; he wore
a coat of camel's skin and ate wild honey and locusts. He was considered a
pretty strange character, but he had a special purpose to his life: to tell people
about the True Light. Our text says, There was a man sent from God, whose
name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light,
that all through him might believe.

John the Baptist had an important mission - he had to tell people to get ready,
because the True Light was coming. There was a way out of their darkness.
Now John himself was a mighty man, and "great in the sight of the Lord." Jesus
once said of him, "What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you,
and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written: 'Behold, I send My
messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.' For I say
to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the
Baptist." -- Luke 7:26-28.

But for all his powers, and the importance of his mission, he himself was not
that light. And he was the first to admit it! There were some Jews of his day
who had been waiting for that True Light to come into their lives. Men sent by
the Jews asked John whether he was the One they had been waiting for. He
replied, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do
not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal
strap I am not worthy to loose." -- John 1:26-27.

No, John himself couldn't be that Light, as little as any mortal person can be
the True Light in our lives. How happy John was, though, when the True Light
finally did appear, and he was able to point Him out to the people! The next day
John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a
Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.' I did not know Him;
but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water."
-- John 1:29-31.

Jesus Christ, the God-Man, that perfect, sinless Son of God, sent by the Father
to be a ransom for many -- He was and is the True Light in our life! Jesus
teaches of Himself, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not
walk in darkness, but have the light of life." -- John 8:12. Finally! A cure for our
darkness! As Isaiah says, "...A light to the Gentiles, To open blind eyes, to bring
out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house."
-- Isa 42:7. No longer must we muddle along in the darkness of our sin, looking
vainly to ourselves or to other men for some sort of light. For the sake of the
perfect life of Jesus, and the awful price of our sin that He paid for with his
blood at Calvary, God has removed our transgressions from us. Not temporarily
but permanently. Removed them, in fact, "as far as the east is from the west."

We no longer have to bear the awful consequences of our sin - Jesus did that
for us. We spoke last week about the active and the passive obedience of
Christ. His active obedience was the fact that He kept the commandments
perfectly all His life, so that He could give us, by faith, the perfect
righteousness we need. His passive atonement was when He suffered and died
so that His blood would cover our multitude of sins. In place of our darkness,
Christ shines His light of forgiveness and eternal life! The world around us has
no use for that Light. It rejects it and flings it back into the face of God with a
contemptuous laugh. Our text says, He was in the world, and the world was
made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own,
and His own did not receive Him. For those who reject the True Light, it will
become a powerful searchlight, to seek out and expose their sins, and the
wretchedness of their attempts to save themselves by their own works. Indeed,
on the Last Day, it is that very Light which will condemn them, as Jesus says,
"He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges
him-- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” -- John 12:48.

Our text goes on: ...But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to
become children of God. Jesus is that True Light in your life. He is a brilliant
Light that not only brightens your darkness, but eliminates it altogether! Oh,
your sinful flesh you still have with you, but the consequences of your sin have
been completely blotted out. Though your sins were as scarlet, Scripture says,
Christ has made you as white as snow. We who, according to our flesh, were the
children of darkness, have been reborn through faith in Jesus Christ. Through
Him we have received the adoption of sons, and are made co-heirs of eternal
life.

Have the sorrows of life been weighing on you recently? Have the crime and
corruption, the wickedness and the darkness of this present evil world made
you afraid to open a newspaper or turn on the TV? Well cheer up! As we sang
just a few weeks ago, God urges you to "Rejoice, rejoice believers, and let your
lights appear!" The short days of winter are already getting longer now – the
light is coming up! Let this remind us that, in the midst of this world's deep
darkness, we have a Light! As the star shone over Bethlehem to guide the wise
men to their goal, our Savior is shining in our hearts once again this Epiphany
season. That Light comes to guide us, to illuminate our lives, and to bring us at
last into the light of the everlasting day of heaven! As John says in the verses
just before our text, In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And
the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. -- John
1:4-5.

When the time for Jesus' crucifixion was approaching, He told His disciples, "A
little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest
darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is
going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons
of light." -- John 12:35-36. As we enjoy another Epiphany season, may we live
in and reflect that sparkling True Light of our Savior. Let us work while it is
day, seeking first the kingdom of God, and making the spreading of that Light
our highest calling. May we ever pray with the hymnist:

Abide with heav'nly brightness,
Among us, precious Light;
Thy truth direct and keep us
From error's gloomy night! AMEN.