Light in the Darkness (John 1)

Have you ever experienced total darkness? A darkness so deep and so dark, that you could see absolutely nothing?

Living in the city, it is extremely hard to find total darkness. Streetlights and security lights and porch lights keep the darkness away. Perhaps we draw the curtains at night, but light still creeps in around the edges. Even if we live in a dark street, city lights from blocks or even miles away shine into the sky, overpowering the light of the stars. On cloudy nights especially, that light reflects back down, making the night full of light. On clear nights, the moon shines down; on the night of a full moon, it is often bright enough to read by.

Inside, we have nightlights and clock radios and digital light-up displays on our microwave ovens that stay lit even when we’re asleep. If we open our eyes, there is enough light even in the middle of the night to see something, even if, for some of us, that something is a bit blurry, until we reach over to the nightstand for our glasses.

In the rural area where my family lived for eight years before moving back to southern California, it was a lot darker at night than it is here. I kept a mini flashlight on my key chain, so that when I’d return home on a dark night, I’d be able to find my way from the car to the front door, and so that I’d be able to find the keyhole with my key. It was that dark.

But even so, there was still the moon and the stars; there was a sky that glowed from the city lights of Sacramento, some thirty miles away; and there was a lone street light not too far from the house. Given time, my eyes would adjust to the darkness, which was obviously far from being completely dark.

California has a number of caves and caverns, and I’ve had the opportunity to visit a few of them.

On one ranger-led cave tour, we all had flashlights that we carried. At one point in the tour, the ranger invited us to turn off our flashlights. We did, and discovered that, in that subterranean chamber, there was no light. We waited for our eyes to adjust to the darkness, but they never did. Many of us waved our hands right in front of our faces, trying to see them, but we couldn’t. We blinked, closing our eyes and opening them again, trying to notice something, but there was no difference—what we saw with our eyes open was no different than what we saw with our eyes closed.

In a situation like that, you begin to get uncomfortable, wondering if your eyes are even working anymore. It’s unsettling and creepy. Fortunately for us, it was only a minute or two before the ranger invited us to switch our flashlights back on.

The path of Christian living is a path of wisdom and mystery. Following that path involves, as the song says, “learning the mystery of what you are meant to do and be.” Repeatedly, the spiritual wisdom that we seek is compared to a light that shines in the darkness. It is very much like a candle lit in that darkest cave. In such a deep, enveloping darkness, the light of a single candle flame is amazingly bright as it casts its warm light, chasing away the darkness, and illuminating the path.

One of the themes of scripture in general, and of John’s gospel in particular, involves light shining in the darkness. As so many stories in scripture point out, people often find themselves walking in darkness. They are the blind leading the blind. In the darkness, people tend to go astray, veering from the path of wisdom. They—we—need someone who can heal our blindness and restore our sight. We need someone who can illuminate the path we travel.

So many people today do recognize that, at some level, they are in the dark. So many people yearn for that spiritual light; but they don’t know where to find it. They’re desperate to learn the mystery of what they are meant to do and be.

Unfortunately, the church is, for many, the last place they look. I don’t really blame them for this. At times, the church has used the light to blind those who were trying to see. As anyone who has ever counseled camp at Loch Leven can tell you, a flashlight is an extremely helpful thing to have at camp, except in the hands of a young, first-year camper who is shining that light right into your eyes.

The spiritual light that so many seek is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. When carrying a lamp, it does no good to stare into it. That’s not helpful at all. One needs to keep one’s eyes on the path, and allow the light to illuminate that path.

Yet how often has the church taken the light of scripture, the light of Jesus, and shone it directly into people’s eyes? How often does the church completely ignore the path of one’s life?
Far too often, I’m afraid.

And sometimes, the light shone into their eyes by the church is not even the true light of Jesus Christ. Instead of a full-spectrum sunlight or the warm glow of a candle, the light shown to them (or at them) by the church is an artificial light. It’s the light of self-righteousness. It’s the light of judgment. It’s a light that does little to expose the injustices in our society, our nation, and our world. It comes from a church that is too often living in spiritual darkness, caring little about living out Jesus’ passion and compassion for the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, doing little to bring peace and justice to the world.

Which is why, to let God’s light shine in the church and through the church, we need to reclaim the ancient wisdom. We need to reclaim the way of Jesus, the true light of the world. We need to reclaim the message of good news to the poor. We need to reclaim our role in proclaiming release to the captives and freedom to the oppressed. We need to reclaim peace and justice as core Christian values.

There is a better way of living. A life of meaning is possible. Jesus shines a light on this new way of living, so that all who desire can see it and learn to live it.

It is a way of living that unites us with all people around the world. Those who follow this way of living learn to see all people as their neighbors. It doesn’t matter if it is one’s closest friend, or a stranger from the farthest end of the earth. We are one people, one family, under God.

No longer would we tolerate even one death of a child that could have been prevented, not to mention the tens of thousands of such deaths that take place every day. No longer would we tolerate the lack of opportunities given to young people in developing countries, not to mention in many poor or urban areas of this country. No longer would we be satisfied with a world in which only the wealthy have access to education or health care.

Jesus shines a light on a way of living that leads to greater peace and greater joy. The people living in darkness try to acquire peace and joy through the accumulation of wealth, power, or material goods. Indeed, in this world, that really does seem to be the only path to peace and joy; but as many find out, it is a path to a dead-end.

Jesus shines his light on a different way of living, one that involves sharing, mutual concern, and the love of one’s neighbors, as the path to peace and joy. The people hear his words, and even repeat them to one another, but are blinded to the truth of what he says. The light shines, but the specks or logs in their own eyes prevent them from seeing clearly.

It takes some effort to see the light. We need to train our eyes to see what’s there. Sometimes we can’t see what we need to see, even though it’s right in front of us; even though the light is shining brightly. We can’t see it, because we haven’t trained our eyes to see it.

At the Exploratorium in San Francisco, they have, mounted on the wall, a series of flashing colored lights. A similar light display can be found at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.
The lights are synchronized, so that words or images are formed, much like the electric signs you see on buses or in some shop windows, except that these lights, instead of being concentrated close together, they are spaced very far apart. Because of this, it takes some effort to see the words and images.

Some people, all they see are blinking lights. They’ll stand right next to someone, and hear them say things like, “Oh, I see stick figures walking; now I see a train; and now there are words going across that say, ‘have a nice day.’” They’ll stare at the person saying these things, convinced that they’re making them up. But they aren’t. It’s just that some people have learned how to see what’s there, and others have not.

The light of Jesus is right there in front of us, but even so, many have not learned to see it. The way to see the light of Jesus is really quite easy for anyone willing to commit themselves to the task. All it takes is a commitment to practicing the spiritual disciplines.

One of these disciplines, you’re participating in right now, and that is worship. Others include:

• Bible study: which includes discussing with others what you’ve read, or reading devotional or theological books, or books about the Bible.
• Prayer: all types of prayer, but especially times of quiet contemplation or meditation
• Sabbath: an intentional time of rest, and opening oneself to God.
• Service: serving others, doing the “work” of Christ.
• Tithing: acknowledging that, ultimately, all you have is from God and belongs to God.
• Observing the liturgical year: letting the seasons and special days of the church calendar shape your life.
• Fasting: a practice that has lost favor in our self-indulgent world, but which can be a very powerful way to draw closer to God.

Practices like these will help you see the light of Jesus in your life. They’ll help you learn the mystery of what you are meant to do and be.

The good news is that, once you see that light—God’s true light—you realize not only that it is in front of you or around you, but also that it is within you. As followers of the way of Jesus, we are the light of the world. We are called to let our light shine before others. And we do this by doing the things Jesus would have us do: caring for the poor, speaking out for the voiceless, and inviting the world to Christ’s table.

The light is before you: learn to see it!

The light is within you: let it shine!