In the light
by Pastor Jim Strelan
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The people walking in darkness have seen a great light (Isaiah 9:2a).
When we were in Papua New Guinea, we often experienced the phenomenon of flying ants swarming to the night light, especially if there was rain around. It would get so bad that we had no option but to switch the lights off and go to bed. In the morning, there would be a big pile of ants on the floor. Having no light to attract them, the ants couldn’t survive.
I’m sure you know what it’s like to be in darkness. You know what it is to be in despair, to be confused, to be wracked with guilt or just feeling broken. We all do. If we look inwards, often, what we see is pretty dark. We don’t like being in a dark place. Without light, we just stumble around. We may as well be blind. It’s as though there is no hope.
The passage from Isaiah promises us light because it points to Jesus, the Messiah (read verses 6 and 7). The blind man in yesterday’s reading called Jesus the ‘son of David’, a messianic title. Jesus rescues the man from his darkness by giving him light. That’s what Jesus does. He opens eyes. He makes new. He brings change. He dispels the darkness and brings things into the light. He is ‘the light of the world’ (John 8:12).
Jesus calls us to look out, look up and see his light, bathe in his light and then be light to those around us.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor who was imprisoned by the Nazis, knew darkness. But in that place, he kept being drawn to the light. He said it like this: ‘In me there is darkness, but with you there is light. I am lonely, but you do not leave me. I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help. I am restless, but with you there is peace.’
Lord Jesus, dispel the darkness and shine your light into my life. Amen.
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