LIGHT – You are the light of the world – Wk 1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
And the earth was without form and void and darkness hovered over the face of the deep.
If you are familiar with Church at all you will realize that – this phrase is how the bible begins.
Genesis Chapter One, teaches us that .....In the beginning before cars, before, trees, before life
had even begun…..Darkness covered everything.
If I close my eyes and imagine it, I see fog rolling in – its dark – its windy – its dreary and lifeless
– everything is totally dark
And in the middle of all of this death and dreariness – in the middle of all this darkness the voice
of God the creator cries out ….LET THERE BE LIGHT.
And instantly – everything begins to change – light appears – and for the first time ever a new
day dawns – as hope begins to come into the world ….
Now this story of Genesis 1 is not only the story of ancient times – its also the story of the
world we live in today. Lets be honest, the world we live in is a dark place – things are jacked up
and seriously broken – we living in the days of BP Oil Spills and Tsunami’s - Political Upheaval
across the globe – Not only the US economy – but the worlds economy is incredibly unstable –
Crazy stuff going on in Iraq, Iran, Pakistan – all of these things have the world on edge and just
like the beginning of time a fog of confusion is blowing in and darkness is swirling all around us.
When we look around, we can easily see that things are dark …not only in the world as a whole
but also – and more importantly in the world of the individual lives of people - people that live
around you – that live around me.
There are times we notice and other times we don’t…
but there are people all around us that are living in a very dark place…..
You may know some people that are experiencing these very situations
There was a girl that a few months ago at the beginning of the summer did something stupid,
she knows she should have done it – she knew it when she did it – but she did it anyway – and
now, many of her friends have dumped her – they want nothing to do with her – everywhere she
goes she wonders … do they know – are they talking about me …her past follows her everyday.
There is a young man that just moved into town – he doesn’t know anybody – he’s tried, but he
doesn’t fit in, things are so different than where he came from – and he wants nothing more than
to go back home.
There is a 15 year old girl that is uncomfortable with herself, she struggles to fit in with the
“good group” so she found some friends that do like her, they were kind of rough around the
edges, but they accept her - she’s started partying, drinking a little – no a lot actually - she
wants to stop … she knows its dangerous and she knows its wrong …but its who she is now …
There is a family that lives not far from you that the Dad just found out he lost his job, not sure
what going to do – there is a young man that lives every single day with the guilt of his hidden
sin – and a kid who doesn’t want to show his face anymore because of all the lies that have been
told about him ….
And in the middle of all this fear – pain – guilt – confusion – in the middle of all this darkness …
God cries out …..LET THERE BE LIGHT!
And that is where you come in……
You are the light of the world. A city 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 men, that they may see your good deeds and
praise your Father in heaven.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been thru a tough time before, but for most people especially
those that do not know Christ, when they are going thru tough times, its almost as if the
situation they are in blinds them to the goodness of God….so they never turn to him, because
they never turn to him for help – they stay in the situation they are in ….dark and hopeless.
But you see, God has placed you in their lives so that you can bring change – so that you can be
their ray of hope – so that you can shine a light that opens their eyes to the goodness of God
and when they see that God is good …they will turn to him for salvation and their life will never
be the same.
You are the light of the world!
But what does this look like – how is thing of “being a light” actually lived out?
Sometimes its living out by the simplest of actions ….
Woman gets in accident – husband kneels down and kisses her “I like it”
Girl cutting herself – parents have told her how embarrassed they are of her.
Couple from Detroit getting $900 of food from a friend.
Boy new to school – someone walks up and says – can I sit here.
Girl in Africa who drank clean water …. From you.
And Darkness covered the face of the deep then God said let their be light ….
a new day dawned.
And the young girl was able to drink clean water.
The boy had a friend.
The family had food to eat.
For the first time in her life – the girl knew that someone actually cared.
And the wife – though still broken – still felt loved.
In a world that is full of doubt, pain, suffering and broken dreams – in the middle of all the
darkness God says…..let there be light.
That light is you ….it is me.
We are the light of the world – we are a city set on a hill, God does not want us to hide – so let
us shine our light to the people around us – so they will see our good works and glorify our
father our father in heaven.
We live in a dark dark world - you are the light ….this week ….find a way to shine.