Dear children of the Light, Jesus Christ,

     Are you waiting for the light–for the sun to shine upon us again–without clouds and fog?  The recent more “dismal” weather makes me shift to the spiritual realm. How many live constantly in a spiritual fog zone!

     We heard the Gospel reading this past Sunday, from John 9:1-41, Jesus words: “As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world” (v. 5).  As true God (yes, veiled in human flesh), Jesus is the One, true Light from heaven–“God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven….” (Nicene Creed).  And as I preached last Sunday on this text about our need to SEE JESUS in our daily lives, still the truth is: Whoever repents of their sin and believes in Him–trusts in Him–loves Him–follows Him–listens to Him; they absolutely belong to Him.  THESE ARE THOSE WHO SEE JESUS AS THE LIGHT!!!

     Here comes a strange question:  Are you in the dark?  Are you clinging to sin and the evil of this world?  Are you enjoying the darkness over and above the light? You are not alone.  Let’s be honest and clear: Our sinful nature loves the darkness. It delights in doing what we know we should not do.  It delights in not doing what we should be doing.  (This is the whole Romans 7–struggling with sin thing.)  But this is what we are having to contend with every single day.  Our flesh loves darkness.  Who we are in Christ loves the Light.  And the battle presses on.

     What is the Christian-saint/sinner to do?  Listen to God’s Word preached to you. The Holy Spirit gives this Word to us for this primary purpose: that it be communicated to us by His called servants of the Word–pastors.  Listen to your pastor preach God’s Law and His Gospel.  It is all for you.  You need both.  When God’s Law reaches your ears, do not shut it out, but welcome it.  Yes, the Law hurts; it stings; sometimes in an unbearable way.  But our sins need to be exposed with the light of God’s truth diagnosing our great need for help–for deliverance–for forgiveness.  How sin-sick we are!  (We do not always think so, so that’s why we need the Law preached.)  And then, listen to the Gospel.  Jesus Christ has dealt with your sin once-and-for-all.  We must ever be running and looking to Christ and His mercy and grace and pardon, because that’s what we really need; that’s what we always need…because we keep on sinning–not always out of pure delight but because of our sinful weakness.  We cannot help but sin.  So, we need the Light of Christ–His death for our sins–His resurrection to life, that we live and are raised up daily in Him–the new creation that He made us in our baptism.

     Okay.  So all of the above signifies our need for Jesus Christ–the Light of the world–the One who frees us from darkness.  

(Here are some additional Bible passages.  This is worth your effort as you read about Christ the Light and what it means for Christians.  Check out: Matthew 5:14-16;  John chapter 1;  2 Corinthians 6:14;  Ephesians 1:15-20; 5:1-21; 6:10-18; Philippians 2:12-18;  Colossians 3:1-17;  2 Timothy 3:1-5;  1 Peter 2:9-10;  1 John 1:5-10.)