Speaker: Pastor Stephen “Tig” Intagliata
Bible Passage: John 8:12
Summary: Jesus as the light of the world means 1) he illuminates the path toward an abundant life, 2) he gives hope where there is darkness and despair, 3) he brings to light that which is hidden. May we keep following the path of Jesus, may we stay hopeful, and may we have the courage to expose what is hidden in order for us to grow and have healthy relationships.
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
–John 8:12
Today we’re starting a sermon series on the “I AM” statements of Jesus. This morning we’ll look at Jesus as the light of the world.
Earlier we sang a song that said “Longing for Light, we wait in darkness”. It’s part of the human condition to experience darkness and yearn for light to dispel that darkness.
This morning I’d like to suggest three ways that I see Jesus being a light to the world, what it means for Jesus to be light in the darkness of our lives and our world.
First, Jesus is the light that illuminates the way, who shows us how to live in a world that offers us so many paths that choose from to find happiness.
Second, Jesus is the light that gives hope in the midst of the darkness of despair that seems to plague us time and time again.
And third, Jesus is the light that brings to light that which is hidden and which need to come out into the open.
These are just three ideas that I came up with, and I’m sure there are many more. During the sharing time, you’ll have a chance to share what you think that Jesus is the light of the world means to you and to our world.
First, Jesus illuminates the way. Finding our path and direction in life can be a big challenge. It’s a lifelong journey, where we are faced with choices and decisions every step of the way.
Some people choose a more hedonistic approach to life, where they just seek what gives them the most pleasure—their guiding motto might be “if it feels good, do it!”. Hopefully people grow out of this at some point once they realize it isn’t as great as a blueprint for true happiness that they thought it was!
Other people just go with the flow and let their path in life be shaped by what’s trendy—they get swept up in the current of popular opinion, and take their cues from celebrities and influencers on social media.
Or sometimes we make our decisions largely by letting our feelings and our heart guide us. “Let your heart guide you” we might say. Or “follow your dreams”.
Now I’m a pretty feelings- oriented person, so I’m kind of drawn to this feelings and dreams approach to giving me direction in life. And I think there’s a place for it in how we make decisions. It is good to listen to our heart and have dreams.
But at the same time, feelings can be fickle, and emotions can trick us. And fads just fade away as the winds change direction.
And we can end up going down rabbit holes that lead us to dark and disappointing dead ends.
But Jesus shows us the way that gives us true meaning, purpose and joy in life.
Rich Mullins has a great song that talks about this. It’s called The Maker of Noses. He starts off by describing a world where people live in peace and harmony with one another, where there is no poverty or crime, where justice reigns and truth finally wins.
He’s really talking about this idea of shalom, a holistic view of peace and well-being, that we hear about in the Old Testament.
Then he says “everyone I know wants to go there to, but when I ask them how to do it they seem so confused, and when I turn to the world they give me this advice:”
They said boy you just follow your heart but my heart just led me into my chest
They said follow your nose
But the direction changed every time I went and turned my head
And they said boy you just follow your dreams
But my dreams were only misty notions
But the Father of hearts and the Maker of noses
And the Giver of dreams He’s the one I have chosen and I will follow Him
This song reminds us that following Jesus through learning more about him, obeying his teachings and living like him is the way, the path toward this vision of shalom, or the abundant life as Jesus calls it.
Jesus said it was a narrow path, it’s a costly road to go down because it puts Jesus at the center and not us. But it’s worth it because it’s the path that Jesus said will lead not to dead end rabbit holes but to a life that brings us deep purpose, fulfillment, and joy.
So Jesus is the light of the world in that he illuminates the path toward a truly abundant life.
Second, Jesus is the light of the world because he gives hope to those living in darkness and despair.
Right before Jesus says he is the light of the world, there is the story of the woman who was caught in adultery by some very self-righteous religious leaders who were about to stone her to death.
Then Jesus’ shows up and his response was pure gold. He said, OK, whichever one of you is perfect can throw the first stone. And one by one, they all put down their stones and probably put down their heads and slipped away.
Then Jesus said to the woman, “where are your accusers? Did even one of them condemn you? “No, Lord”, she said. Then Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
Can you think of a better story of despair being transformed into hope? An encounter with the compassion and grace and forgiveness of Jesus turned this woman’s life around and gave her a new lease on life.
In our society today, there is a dire need for the church and for people who claim Jesus as Lord to embody hope by showing compassion and grace and forgiveness to people that the world demonizes and condemns.
Instead, groups of people like immigrants, homeless folks, and people who identify as LGBTQ are treated as less than human, hated, and blamed for all of society’s problems.
These attitudes and behaviors in the church, by Christians, are causing lots of people, many of them teens and young adults, to leave the church or not ever set foot in one.
They’ve lost hope in the church because they don’t see the church providing hope to people who desperately need it.
A couple of weeks ago I attended an event at a church where I worshipped with people, many young adults, who I could see were recovering, reclaiming that hope. And it gave me a renewed sense of hope as well.
The service was at Hyattsville Mennonite Church, and it was the Mennonite Action group that had marched all the way from Harrisonburg to Washington DC to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
There were also folks there who were allies that had supported the marchers in different ways. It was standing room only, and there was great 4-part harmony singing, scriptures and poems were read, and different people shared testimonies.
One of the most moving testimonies was from a young man named Shawn. Sean shared that he grew up atheist, then in high school got involved in an evangelical church.
But over time, Shawn became disillusioned with the hypocrisy he saw in the Church, especially as he experienced the attitudes and actions of Christians toward people living on the margins of society.
Sean shared that he left the church and became an atheist. He wanted nothing to do with Christians or the church.
Then back in January, he happened to see a story on the internet about Mennonite Action’s witness for peace in the Cannon rotunda of the Capitol. Sean was so moved by seeing a group of Christians actually living out Jesus’ way of peace that he decided to learn more about this group.
And that led him to seek out a Mennonite church where he lived in Chicago, where he has become involved and is living with a renewed sense of purpose and hope in life as a follower of Jesus. Praise God!
Sean’s story renewed my hope as well. It’s another example of how Jesus and people who follow Jesus can be light which brings hope in the midst of all of the despair and darkness in the world.
You know, sometimes we, me included, put a lot of hope in politics and politicians, especially during an election year like this one.
There is some truth that our elected officials can make a difference for good in our country, so it’s understandable that we feel hope or despair, depending on who is in power or who is leading in the polls.
At the same time, let’s not put too much hope in politicians and political parties because we are ultimately citizens of God’s kingdom and our ultimate hope is in Jesus, not any worldly leader or political party.
The last way I want to mention about how Jesus is the light of the world is this: Jesus bring to light what is hidden and which needs to come out.
We see this in the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, which is told in the fourth chapter of John’s gospel.
The woman had a lot of baggage and pain due to past relationships. She probably lived with a lot of shame, and due to the fact that she went to the well alone, she was probably somewhat of a loner and outcast in her community.
We see Jesus treating her with dignity and compassion, and he drew out things from her past that she had kept hidden. There at the well he gave her living water, and she was so moved that she went running back to her village, shouting,
“Come and meet this man who told me everything I did! Could he be the Messiah we’ve been waiting for?” And the story says that everyone came streaming from the village to check Jesus out.
Friends, all of us keep things hidden and buried that are painful, that we’re not proud of, the mistakes we’ve made and the not-so-pretty things about ourselves.
But in order for us to grow and mature and become whole people with healthy relationships with ourselves, God, and others, these things need to come out and be dealt with.
I think the health care professionals in our midst know this all too well. A good counselor or therapist helps bring things to light that we weren’t aware of because it was hidden or buried too deep.
Or a good doctor like Emmanuel knows that a ruptured appendix needs to come out, right Emmanuel? You can’t just put a band-aid over it and expect it to heal.
And a tooth that is infected below the surface needs to be extracted in order for the gum to be healed, right Johhny and Virginia?
Jesus was a master of getting to the root of the religious leaders’ hypocrisy, pride and self-righteousness—he knew the root of the matter was in here, in the heart, so he called people to change from the inside out, not just on the surface.
I think of the story of when the prophet Nathan confronts King David in the book of 2 Samuel in the Old Testament.
Nathan approaches David regarding his relationship with Bathsheba and the cover-up of their affair. He did this by sharing a story of a rich man who took and killed a poor man’s only lamb.
David was angry at the injustice this man committed. Then Nathan says to David “You are the man!” (not “You da man!”, like David was cool, but “You are that man!” like he was exposing David’s sin.)
Friends, just like Jesus and Nathan, we need people in our lives who have are willing to call out, bring to light things in our lives that are causing us and others harm, so we can deal with them and change in healthy ways and find reconciliation with God and with other people.
Stories of toxic relationships and abuse in the church remind us that we need to create an environment of accountability, honesty, transparency, and humility, where the truth can come out, where sin can be dealt with in ways that are redemptive.
The truth can hurt, but as Jesus said, the truth is what sets us free.
So friends, let’s remember Jesus’ identity as the light of the world who said that if we follow him, we will not walk in darkness but have the light of life.
Let’s walk as children of the light who live into the reality that Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness of our lives and our world.
May we keep our focus on following Jesus, who illuminates our path toward a truly abundant life.
May we keep hopeful, knowing that Jesus brings hope to even the most darkest and despairing situations we may face.
And may we have the courage and humility to submit ourselves to the counsel of Jesus and others to bring into the light those things that we hide but which need to come out in order for us to grow and have healthy, life-giving relationships with ourselves and with others.
The good news is that the light of Jesus shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not over come it. Amen.
