Last night we had a big storm and our power went out. It was very dark in the house, except for the flashes of lightning and our meager flashlights. All the normal cliches could apply about not being able to see very well and possibly bumping into things. But it was gloriously bright when the power was restored. We could see everything.
Instead of reflecting on a legalistic “you need Jesus or you’ll screw up” kind of storyline, it has me thinking of the deeper, fundamental and glorious claim that John makes right at the beginning of his gospel. It’s a claim that we have to reckon with regarding Jesus. Do we believe the hype? Here’s what John says, as interpreted by Eugene Peterson in the Message version:
Everything was created through him;
nothing—not one thing!—
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn’t put it out.
Jesus made us. We came into existence by his word and in his light. Yet we die – in sin and brokenness, shame and sorrow, isolation and division – we all know it feels like death even though we’re breathing. But we come alive again when we embrace, and let in, that glorious light, which is the “Life-Light to live by.” As we let him in, we too “blaze out of darkness.” It’s not a “little light of mine” at the tip of my finger. It’s THE Light, unquenchable, living in and through us!
Take heart if you feel dead today. Simply embrace the Light, who is Jesus, then let it blaze today – in you, through you and among us, together. There is yet hope for us, and He is near.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Joel
Joel Searby
