Taking Flight Part 5: The Flight of the Illuminator

“Taking Flight Part 5: The Flight of the Illuminator”

By:  Pastor Andy Whaley

How many times in your life have your heard the phrase, “shine your light?”  It begins when we are very little as we are taught to sing, “This little light of mine”.  But what in the world is this light we are supposed to let shine?  The intriguing answer comes from Jesus Himself:

“so let your light shine before men that they might see your goods and

praise your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:13-16

Jesus says that “good deeds” are a light shining bright in the midst of a darkened world!  No, not for the purpose of earning salvation – that’s His job.  He did it once for all time when He climbed up on that cross and as He walked out of the empty tomb.  However, Jesus commands good deeds for a very important purpose - to reveal our Father in heaven.  To illuminate what God and His love looks like in real life.  Jesus did it first when He took flight from heaven down to earth.   He approached humanity living in darkness, and brought His light of life.  He is the very power that illuminates our lives!

In Matthew 5:1-12 Jesus proclaims the power of the illumination he brings, “blessed are you when you figure out that you are poor, blessed are you when you figure out that you are meek, blessed are you when you figure out that you’ve gotta’ depend on God alone – for everything.  Blessed are you when your life is touched in such a way that you are changed.  When you care about grace, mercy, justice, and peace!  These things empower you.  These things illuminate you.  These things send you out in the Father’s name to be a light in the dark. 

But beware, the darkness hates these things!

I love this phrase from Dr. gene davenport author of “Into the Darkness: Discipleship in the Sermon on the Mount”,

“The disciple must face the world fully aware of the desire of the darkness

to pervert and destroy the witness of the Light!”

The darkness will fight against the light!  That is true.  But an even more challenging truth is that we were called specifically to shine our light in the darkness.  Not to run from it.  Historically, there are four flight patterns people take when approaching their cultural surroundings:

1.)  The Separatists – Those who desire to simply escape the world and its darkness.  To evacuate.  To avoid being tainted by evil.  This is what the “Essenes” did.  They moved out to the desert and hid in caves.

2.)  The Antagonists –Those who desire to simply critique and judge the culture.  To point fingers at people - their decisions and actions.  Unfortunately, they offer no alternative/positive input.  No restoration.  No healing.  We see this evidenced in the Pharisees of Jesus day.

3.)  The Copiers – Those who desperately want to be “relevant.”  They mimic society, copy it and bring it into their spiritual setting.  But something unexpected happens when you copy the current culture – you begin to live out more of what you see in the world and live less like illuminators.  We see this in the Sadducees of Jesus day.  They held to their Jewish traditions but copied the Hellinistic Greek philosophy that stated, “there is no resurrection of the dead.” They followed the ethnic law but had no hope at the end of the story – can you imagine?

4.)  The Sell-Outs – Those who truly like what the culture is selling and buy it.  You see this in the Herodians, the people that ruled Jerusalem during the days of Jesus.  They sold out to the Roman occupation.  They claimed to be the kings of the Jews, but were only interested in serving themselves. 

Unfortunately, each of us, left to our own human nature falls into one of these 4 ways of approaching culture.  And that is one of the reasons why Jesus came.  To forgive us from this type of thinking and behavior.  To free us up to take a different approach!  To beat back the darkness with light!

In stark contrast, to the 4 patterns listed above, Jesus forever reigns as the true king of light in the midst of the darkness, and offers, by way of His own sacrifice, the gift of eternal life to all.  His flight is a majestic voyage of miraculous proportions filled with creativity and imagination.  He flew from heaven to earth with a cultural purpose: create a new society in which life thrives.  And as His followers we have been called to the same purpose:

1.)  To Bring Hope = Affirm the things that are good beautiful in the world – because God is behind it!

2.)  To Provide Clarity = Speak the truth to power in love! To stand in the middle of relationships. To bring about reconciliation, healing, and restoration.

3.)  To Create Direction = To provide positive, creative life solutions and produce Jesus counter-cultural goods.  Instead of just complaining about what is bad or only pointing out the negative.

4.)  To Uphold the Common Good = To Serve everyone! To have a positive impact on humanity!

Take a look at how Christians in the 2^nd Century lived this out:

The Christians...busy themselves on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. They obey the established laws, but in their own lives go far beyond what the law requires. They love all mankind, and by all mankind are persecuted…They are poor, and yet they make many rich; they are completely destitute, and yet they enjoy complete abundance.

To put is simply:

What the soul is in the body;

So are Christians in the world!

(letter from “Mathytys” to Diognetus”)

“You are the light of the world.  Let your light shine before men,

that they may see your goods and praise your Father in heaven.”

Amen!

 - Andy