Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] It's great to see you today, and I'm just going to take a few moments to encourage us that we have been called children of light. All of this month we've been looking how the light shines in the darkness and that's resulted in you and I getting a new identity, which I'm going to unpack in a moment. Just a few weeks ago, or just over a week ago, Nita and I had a little walk around the Christmas market. It was a cold night, it was dry, it was dark, winter's evening. And we were walking around the Christmas market that was so beautifully laid out on the cathedral green. And it was pretty. There were smells, there was a buzz of atmosphere, there were lots of fairy lights around, there was lots of joy.
[00:00:46] And as I looked out on that scene and I just wondered how deep some of that stuff was in people's lives, how deep that festivity went, how real it was, whether if there was a power cut and all the fairy lights went out, whether that would be reflective of the light that would go out in people's hope. Were people just one fairy light away from knowing true joy and light in their lives? And then this last week, something happened that you may have noted, and that was that the shortest day of the year took place just a couple of days ago. The good news about that is that we are now on our way to summer.
[00:01:33] Every day has a little extra amount of daylight and I love sunshine. In fact, the 20 June is going to be the longest day next year. And the sun will set at 09:50 p.m.
[00:01:52] Can you imagine that that's coming? We got that all to look forward to.
[00:01:59] But darkness, dark days have a real impact upon people.
[00:02:08] They have an impact on us physically, psychologically in so many ways.
[00:02:15] Darkness is understood to be something that has a definite real difference that it makes within our lives.
[00:02:28] And we live differently today to many years ago. If you go back to the days before electric was created, often people would work to the hours of daylight. So the winter was shorter working days and you sort of went into semi hibernation when the sun went down and you had a shorter working day. Today we have electric lights that extend that working time. So if you're glad of electric, just think if it didn't exist, you could have had shorter working weeks right now. And then in the summer they would work longer when there was longer hours. Always a bit of a downside to that, isn't it? But today we've sort of tamed the environment and we have the same working hours, winter or summer. And in a way, our body is just not designed for it. Our frame, our understanding, is just not designed to engage in a way, because darkness makes a difference.
[00:03:27] And I know that when there's a lack of daylight, it can impact in so many ways. Experts have said this, that living without light can cause a number of consequences. It can create exaggerated emotions. No, it can't. Yes, it can. It can create hallucinations, it can create a rise in blood pressure, it can create extreme tiredness. And even strokes can be caused by excessive exposure to darkness, to not having light.
[00:04:05] The NHS finds that cases of depression are increased in the autumn and the winter. Professor Russell Foster, a neuroscientist at the University of Oxford, he commented. He said, if people lived in darkness for long periods, then we know that this will cause problems. For example, it will cause a change in metabolism, change in mood, in fact, a change in everything.
[00:04:35] Darkness heightens our fears. It increases our sense of vulnerability, and it makes us potentially feel more alone. Living in darkness is not good. We were designed to live in the light.
[00:04:53] But the Bible talks about another sort of darkness, not the darkness that we experience when the lights go off and when the sun sets. But there is another darkness, another reality that the Bible talks about. It says that there is a form of darkness that Jesus came to address in John's gospel, chapter eight, verse twelve. Jesus said this again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world.
[00:05:27] Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
[00:05:37] The darkness Jesus refers to in this verse is not just the evil around us, and there's a lot of that. There are wars, there's violence, there's all sorts of corruption that surround us in this world.
[00:05:57] That is a darkness around us. But the darkness that Jesus refers to us is a darkness that's got under our skin and in our hearts.
[00:06:06] It's not just out there, it's in here.
[00:06:09] It's a darkness that is so deep within us that there is a fight continually taking place between the darkness and the light in our lives.
[00:06:21] Now, some people think that Jesus came to this earth to give us some form of pep talk about how to just be better at overcoming that inner darkness. But Jesus didn't come to give a pep talk. He didn't come to raise a new standard. Jesus came to obliterate the darkness, to destroy the works of darkness, to overcome the works of darkness. The light has come and darkness has not overcome it.
[00:06:57] And as a result, those who begin to follow Jesus, we are called people of the light, or children of light.
[00:07:08] As a result of this moment where our savior comes to this world in the form of a baby born of a virgin Mary, grows up experiencing many of the things that we experience, and yet was without sin. He's the only person that that inner battle with darkness, he's the only one who has won every one of those battles, and he won them through his childhood, and he won those battles through his teens, and he won those battles through his early twenty s. And then we read of him coming to 30 years of age, still winning the battles of darkness. Darkness had no finger on him. Darkness could not touch him. And he was tempted and tested in every way. He didn't have a simple, easy life. And then he gathered some people together, and he began to teach them about the light. And he began to call others to become children of the light. And then he gave his life on a cross.
[00:08:14] And that was the moment. The Bible talks about where he shattered the works of darkness. The Bible says he made a public spectacle of darkness triumphing over darkness by the cross. That was the moment there was a physical earthquake took place in Jerusalem as he died, that there were other signs. There was a big curtain in the temple which represented the unreachable presence of God. And at the moment jesus died, that curtain tore in two because jesus came, and the light shone in the darkness and conquered and won victoriously. And that light shines today. And as a result, you and I are called children of the light.
[00:09:04] In fact, ephesians five, verse eight says these words, for once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord, so live as people of light.
[00:09:25] In other verse, in one, Peter two, it says these words, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
[00:09:49] This gospel transforms the victory is not just a victory out there. It's a victory that takes place in here. It impacts the very struggles right at the very center of all of our lives and our hearts.
[00:10:08] Now, I don't know if you've ever experienced complete darkness.
[00:10:13] There have been some moments, I think, particularly a number of years ago, I had an opportunity when I was visiting some friends in India, I had an opportunity to go to one of these dark room experiences. We had to leave our illuminated watches and our phones and a locker outside. And we walked in. We were given a stick, the door closed, and we could see nothing.
[00:10:35] And, you know, what happens in those moments is your eyes begin to try to adjust. They only need a little bit of light. If you're out on a very dark night, even a little bit of starlight, it causes your pupils to expand in order to try to take in any traces of light you can find anywhere so that you can still see. And it's amazing. Sometimes you can walk into a room that feels dark and after a few moments you're enlarged pupils, a little bit of hue of light around and suddenly you can begin to see around you. But I don't know if you've been in a place when your pupils expand and there is nothing they find that will allow them to even adjust to see. It's just complete and utter darkness.
[00:11:24] No one can see in this total darkness, but our eyes are always trying to.
[00:11:32] If you've ever been to a darkened cinema or a theater and then you leave and you go out through the fire exits they often cause you to leave from and you walk into a sunny day. For a moment your eyes are trying to adjust because your pupils were enlarged to take in more. And now they're getting too much and they're quickly trying to dilate in order to adjust to the environment.
[00:11:57] And this other darkness, this other darkness that's within us and this other darkness that's within the world, it's always trying to cause us to be blind to some things that are there.
[00:12:13] It's trying to give us an inability to see things as they are. And it has an impact upon our perspectives, our hopes. Darkness wants to eliminate hope from your life.
[00:12:26] Darkness always wants to take away peace and joy.
[00:12:31] And there are times when this darkness will try to blind our perspective from seeing any rays of light or hope. And it can feel too much.
[00:12:44] But we read in the scriptures that when the light of Christ shines, it's so brilliant, it's so magnificent that actually, if you've ever tried, and don't do this, but if you've tried to stare at the sun, it's just too much. It's millions of miles away and yet its brightness is so significant that you can't even look at it from millions of miles away. And the sun, Jesus, the brilliance of God, the light of Christ is so magnificent that the eyes just cannot fully comprehend and cope with it. It's simply too much. And this light of Christ, born into the world on that first Christmas morning, is so bright that even the apostle John, writing in revelation one, he says this.
[00:13:37] Remember John on the Isle of Patmos, where he wrote this, would have been used to seeing the mediterranean sun rise and set every day. The glorious, beautiful sunshine. He knew what it was, and he said these words on a revelation of Jesus. He said his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.
[00:14:01] That's the light of Christ. It's not just a cute baby in a manger. It's the brilliance of a light that is way beyond the comprehension of our eyes.
[00:14:12] And we also see someone else who encountered Jesus, Saul, who became the apostle Paul. While he was on his mission of darkness to destroy the church.
[00:14:24] Saul had an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. And in acts nine, we read of this, and it says, as Saul was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him, and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, saul, saul, why are you persecuting me? Just a few verses later, in verse eight, Saul picked himself up off the ground. But when he opened his eyes, he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus.
[00:15:02] There is such a brilliance to the light of Christ, and it can be tempting to shield our eyes, to try to not look at his glory.
[00:15:14] And I find that it can be also so easy for our eyes to become adjusted to the dark so much that we resist looking to the light.
[00:15:29] If your eyes have ever adjusted to that point where the darkness is now the new norm, the light doesn't feel comforting.
[00:15:40] The light feels confronting the light feels like something to hide from and resist, not something to run towards.
[00:15:51] Because our eyes have become accustomed to the dark. I've seen people shield their eyes and turn away from the light of Christ. Their eyes have adjusted to the darkness of this world, and they choose that living in darkness will be better than looking to the light.
[00:16:14] They hide their life in shame. They don't want to see what could be seen. They don't want to know who they really are. They don't want the light to reveal things to them.
[00:16:26] They would just rather stay in the darkness because their eyes have adjusted to the dark.
[00:16:33] And I know that darkness is not good for anybody, but I've also seen those who are children of the light.
[00:16:43] And maybe there's a pattern of behavior, something that you've got involved in, something that has been an act of darkness, something that has been the enemy's strategy on your life, and your eyes just have become dulled. And there's a darkness that begins to grip your heart.
[00:17:04] And I've seen so often that the biggest friend in your life is the light. But at those times, it's really easy to resist the light and to keep in darkness. I meet people that darkness is beginning to win in their hearts, and suddenly you find them cutting some light things out of their life because they can't look at it.
[00:17:29] Their fellowship with other believers reduces, their engagement with worship fades. Their devotional activities dissipate.
[00:17:40] Prayer is a past habit, not a present reality, because the light hurts their eyes and they just want to turn away. It's easier. But I want you to know that darkness is bad for you. It's bad for me. And God has come to bring light because he wants to liberate us from everything that wants to hold us back in chain, everything that wants to corrupt our lives. Jesus has come to set us free.
[00:18:14] If your eyes have adjusted to the dark, Ephesians five says these words, don't participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them.
[00:18:29] For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret. Everything exposed by the light is made visible, for what makes everything visible is light. Therefore, it is said, get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
[00:18:54] As I come towards a close, there's a recognized medical illness called sad.
[00:19:07] It stands for seasonal affective disorder.
[00:19:13] And you can purchase lamps that give you a replacement light, because this sad is particularly about the lack of lights that people experience in the winter months and the impact that has upon someone's body.
[00:19:34] You can get lamps that try to replicate light to come into your life in order to try and remedy those things that your body is experiencing as a result of the longer dark days.
[00:19:48] The NHS website says this. The light produced by the light box simulates the sunlight that's missing during the darker winter months. And it's thought that by exposing yourself to one of these lights, that it will encourage production of certain things in our life that don't happen. If there is no light, if the lack of physical light in our bodies and the introduction of light boxes in our bodies can bring around a physical change, how much more will an exposure to Christ bring around a deep rooted, seated change in our lives?
[00:20:33] If you suffer from feelings of hopelessness, feelings of resentment, anger, criticism, feeling down on yourself, feeling inadequate, have a lack of peace or have fears, or maybe this past year has been a year where it's felt like you've walked through a dark valley in your life, I want you to know that there is a light. And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome you. And I need the glory of this light to not just be in a nativity scene of the Christmas story. To not just be in books that fill our bookshelves, to not just be present in the word of God, but we need to be exposed to this light. It's no good reading about the light in travel journals or looking at websites that talk about other people's journeys to other parts of the world. You cannot catch sunlight from their stories. You have to be exposed to the sunlight. You have to be exposed to the light of Christ in your life. You cannot hear the testimonies of others or even have someone lay hands on you and say, receive my light. You have to experience the light of Christ. And when the light of Christ comes, it changes everything, changes us right to the very core of our being, because his light shines into this darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. We've got people in this room that have been transformed over the last twelve months by the power of this light in their lives, by the light of Christ, he has shone into your lives and he has brought a whole new understanding of the world around you. That's what the gospel does.
[00:22:16] But you know, the NHS, they recommend that these sad lamps are used for 30 to 60 minutes each morning before you start your day.
[00:22:31] That's two to 4% of someone's day filling their life during those two to 4%, storing up on light so that their body will respond to the light in the appropriate way, so that they can get through the day surrounded by the darkness.
[00:22:51] If you and I don't intentionally expose our lives each day to the light of Christ, our eyes will adjust to the darkness.
[00:23:02] We'll still be saved, we'll still be children of the light, but we will live like children of the darkness.
[00:23:14] We've identified this morning that Jesus is the light that brings this reality to our lives. And this morning, if you have never accepted the light of Christ, if you have hidden your eyes from him, if you've pretended, if you've turned away, if you thought you're too bad he could never love you, then in a moment, we're going to give you an opportunity to say, shine on me, light of Christ. Shine on my sin, on my darkness. Come and bring hope and transformation to me. Come and win the victory in me. And in a moment, I tell you what, this place will go wild with celebration for anyone who receives the light of Christ today.
[00:24:01] Can't earn it, can't deserve it. Jesus has done it all for you. You just need to receive him.
[00:24:11] But listen to these words of Jesus, because he has taken the attention off himself and he has placed it on his followers, and he says these words in Matthew's gospel, chapter five.
[00:24:27] This is talking to you. He's looking at you and he's saying these words.
[00:24:34] You are the light of the world.
[00:24:39] You, me, we're the light of the world.
[00:24:45] Because the light of Christ illuminates so brightly in our lives that we're like candles walking around in this world.
[00:24:56] Take in the light of Christ with us. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in Heaven.
[00:25:21] Church. Let me speak. Isaiah 60. Over your life, arise and shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord shines over you.
[00:25:39] For look, darkness will cover the earth and total darkness the peoples.
[00:25:47] But the Lord will shine over you, and his glory will appear over you.
[00:25:57] Hallelujah.
[00:26:03] Shine over you. Let's pray together.
[00:26:10] Kids, you have been brilliant this morning, and in a moment, we're going to celebrate that. But we're about to move into, I would say, the pinnacle moment of our service.
[00:26:23] This is the moment where people who have walked into this room, overcome by darkness, can leave this room transformed by light.
[00:26:40] This is a moment.
[00:26:42] This is a moment that could be marked in your diary for years to come. On Christmas Eve in 2023, the light shone in my darkness, and the darkness has not overcome. This is the day that you and I move from being a child of darkness to a child of the light.
[00:27:07] So if you're in this room this morning and you would like to invite Jesus to shine his light and his love upon your life, then I'm going to invite you to pray a prayer.
[00:27:24] It's a simple prayer, really. It's nothing particularly magic about the word. It's heart. The heart, it comes from that God hears the cry of our hearts, and it's a prayer that says, God, darkness has been winning in me, and I'm sorry.
[00:27:40] Can't blame anyone else. It's been in me.
[00:27:44] And I need you to help me. I need a savior. Please forgive me for all the mess I've made. I thank you. That's possible because of the cross of Jesus, which overcame darkness.
[00:27:57] And I ask that you will shine your light in my life, and I will know your love and will follow you. That's all the prayer is going to say.
[00:28:06] And if you'd like to pray this prayer for the first time. Then, as I encourage everybody to say this out loud, I want to encourage you who will be saying it either for the first time or maybe even as a prayer rededication to pray it with meaning to pray it to God.
[00:28:25] So come on, church. I encourage us all now to pray this out loud together to encourage those who'll be saying this for the first time. Here is the prayer. It goes like this.
[00:28:36] Jesus, I thank you that you are the light of the world.
[00:28:43] I thank you that you've overcome darkness, even the darkness in my heart.
[00:28:53] I'm sorry for the things I've done wrong, for the things I've said wrong, for the wrong motivations and attitudes I've had.
[00:29:08] Please shine your light in my life.
[00:29:13] Overcome the darkness.
[00:29:16] I give my life to you.
[00:29:19] In Jesus name am.
