23 Mar I AM the light of the world

John 8:12

I Am the Light of the World

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated.

Good afternoon church, my name is Ellis. And it is my joy to be here and to serve all of us tonight. Today, is unlike our usual Sunday. We are going to focus on one single verse V12 and help us all to understand what Jesus means when He says, “I am The Light of the World”.

Imagine if today we were in this hall without a single source of light. It’s going to be pitch black. When you enter the door, you might bump yourself, when usher reach their hand out, they might accidentally slap your hands, we will step on each other’s foot. Imagine being the sound team, without a light they won’t know which cable to plug in, which button to press, it will be a complete chaos.

Funny story, years ago we had this campus ministry called BIG (building influential generation). We had our camp every year, which I personally look forward to each year. Our camp was quite brutal, but it was very fun. One of our rituals was having a bon fire on the second night, we sang alot, we played games, had toasted marshmallow, hot chocolate around the bon fire. It was so fun! During one of the nights, I was having trouble sleeping, so I borrowed Edrick’s car to sleep inside by myself. I was about to dose off, and suddenly I heard a big knock on my window. There, on the top of my head, I saw Tim’s head. He said “Ellis, wake up! There is still fire out there from the bon fire. I can see that from here”.

So we just grabbed any huge water bottles we could find, filled them with water from the tap and brought them to the fire. It was a bit further away from our main hall. So it got darker as we walked further. It was dark, cold and quiet. I put up music from my Blackberry. Back then we used Blackberry, if you have not heard of it, I’m not referring to a type of fruit, it is a mobile phone with keypads. I put on some music and put it in my hoodie pocket. I still remember Timmy said this big bright and tall mighty boy, “If something came up on me right now, i think i will jump and scream”. Thankfully, we managed to put it out safely and came back without any screaming. Praise the Lord.

Being scared of the dark is one of our most natural fears. For some reason, we intuitively know for sure that there is something unsettling about darkness, chaos, fear. You don’t have to teach the kids that. Genesis 1:1 tells us what the world was like covered in darkness. It was the first world problem solved and recorded in the bible – darkness. God said, let there be light. So, there is this idea of God and light since the very beginning.

 Today we are going to focus on 3 simple points:

1) The necessity of light

2) The problem of light

3) Application of light

1. The necessity of light

I think everyone in this room would agree with me that light is nonnegotiable essential.

It is a source of life. If there is no sun, we freeze, we die, plants die and there will be no food chain. It is a source of truth. It shows things around us. It reveals things, not just around us but also inside of us. Have you ever walked to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and you smack your little toes on the corner of your bedframe, ouch! I can already feel the pain like it’s engrained in my mind. Edrick can vouch how many times I have bumped myself around the house. Do you know why? Because in the darkness, we don’t know our surroundings. Even when you think you know where things are in your room, when it’s dark, we don’t!

It is also a source of joy. Research shows that people who are living near the poles, who live in complete darkness for months, they have this thing called SAD seasonal affective disorder similar to depression, possibly triggered by low levels of daylight. Isn’t that interesting? We need light not just for life, for knowledge, but also for our joy, our wellbeing!

On the other hand, light, if unmediated, can also be dangerous. It can take away life, truth and joy. Unmediated sunlight will be the end of life. With damaged ozone layers, the global warming’s effects are tremendous, increasing risk of cancer and many other health problems, ice is shrinking, oceans drying, eventually all living things will die.

Unmediated light will take away the truth, because it takes away the sight, it blinds us. You cannot see the sun without any some sort of filter or protections, you’ll damage your eyes!

Unmediated light can also take away our joy in a way that it exposes every part without discrimination. It does not sugar coat. When you stand in front of the mirror, when the room is dim, you can’t see much. But when you stand in a room full of bright lights, I bet you, you can see everything. You start seeing your strands of white hair, your pimples, your huge pores, your tiny-but-forming wrinkles. Fun Facts, do you know that all of us have soft tiny hair all over your face like monkeys. Do you know that we can shave them? it’s called facial shaving! OK that’s another story.

We are inevitably shown every part, the good and the bad. Nobody’s perfect. That means, none of us would ever be completely happy to know what we really look like, not just what we see physically (your belly, your double chin), but what we see inside in our heart and mind, emotionally, morally, psychologically, let alone spiritually. It can take away our joy, because we don’t like what we see.

That’s our introduction about the light. It is essential, we desperately can’t live without it, but it is also dangerous.

2. The Problem of Light

Now, let’s talk about the context. Israelites celebrate this thing called the Feast of Tabernacles. It’s a great feast, 7 days long party. Purpose of this feast is to remind the Israelites of God’s provision in the wilderness.

The feast was marked by some rituals.

1. They lived in temporary little tent, like camping, to remember what it was like without a home in their 40 years of wilderness
2. They have water pouring ceremony to remind them of the miracle when they had almost died of thirst, Moses struck the rock and out of that rock, flowed streaming water.
3. Every night of the feast, they lit giant lamps called candelabra, like a gigantic bonfire, maybe almost 21–22-meters height. They were so huge, that once lit, the light and smoke flood the city. Can you guess what it was trying to remind them? God’s presence in the pillar of cloud by day, and fire by night.

During those 40 years of wilderness, after Israel came out of Egypt, Israelites witness the presence of God, so near and so immediate. It gave them directions and protections from enemy. In a literal sense, the Lord went before them.

Back then, for the people of Israel, the presence of God has this sense of weight, sense of danger, overwhelming sense of power and needed to be treated with reverence and fear. I’m going to read few OT references for us to get a picture of this.

Exodus ch 3 – when Moses saw the burning bush, yet it was not consumed. Moses wanted to come close. God warned Moses not to come near, “take off your sandals, for the place you are standing is a Holy ground”.

Exodus 19 – It describes God’s presence on Mount Sinai in a form of a fiery thunder, lightning, a thick cloud, loud trumpet causing the mountain to shake and people of Israel trembled.

Exodus 40 – the cloud of the glory of God filled the tabernacle in the temple. Moses was not able to enter it. People could not stand up to look at it.

Number 11 – people of Israel grumbled against God. The Lord’s anger was kindled. The fire of the Lord burned among them. The people cried out to Moses. Moses prayed and the fire subsided.

Do you realise something in common? In the OT, not just a sense of great danger, when God wants to come near to His people, He can only come to a certain distance. Because His presence and glory is too great, too powerful, too overwhelming and so impossible to get near. As dangerous and unapproachable it is, yet there is deep longing in human’s heart reflected by Moses pressing, “Show me Your glory, Lord”.  There is something deep deep inside our human heart that is attracted to such magnitude of glory, even if it is dangerous.

CS Lewis says “We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words — to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.” ― The Weight of Glory (book).

Deep inside humanity, there is this pressing desire that we want to be a part of glory. What did God say? God said NO, it will overwhelm you, it will kill you and destroy you. No one can see My glory and live. So, God put Moses in a cleft of a rock to keep him safe. He allowed Moses to only experience a tiny glimpse of His glory by shielding Moses from His direct presence.

Do you get the feel so far? Through the years God’s presence was yes, in a distance, but near/present. It was always around them. But in Ezekiel 9-10, the bible tells us because of the great abomination of God’s people, the glory of the Lord departed from the temple as God declared judgment on his people. No more manifest presence of God.

Back to the context, these rituals of the feast, they did this every night, except the last night, because everyone was packing up to go home the next morning. There is this kind of sadness when you take off your Christmas tree and decorations. Many scholars say the last night was actually the worst for them because they can see these big cold dark lamps – and it was like a reality call to realise that the glory of God has been missing in the temple for centuries. It feels nothing but a heavy despair and left them wondering, “When will the light of God’s glory return to us?”.

We were told here in John 8, THAT was the night something happened. Jesus was standing in front of those great lamps. He announced his presence and cried out “I am the Light of the World”. I am that glory that you have been missing. I am not the prophet who points to the glory of God. I am the glory of God. I am the very presence of God.

And interestingly, this claim Jesus made was sandwiched in between 2 other stories. Earlier in John 8, there is this story about woman caught in adultery. The Pharisees exposed her in her sinful act, but then Jesus exposed the Pharisees. Jesus said, “let him who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her”. One by one the Pharisees left. It’s very natural isn’t it, when something is not pretty, not right, we prefer to keep it in the dark. 

So, here’s a woman standing in front of the most morally perfect being, her ugliest, most shameful skeleton being completely exposed. This raises an important question about light: What’s it like to stand completely exposed in all your sins in the presence of Jesus? Nothing is hidden. You have no secrets not in your mind, not in your heart, not in your activities. If you think that you’re getting away with anything. Let me tell you in love, my friend, you are not. You are not getting away with anything in the presence of Jesus.

Then our human instinct kicks in “oh no. That’s the end of me. That’s it”. But the surprising answer bible wants us to know is “It’s safe.” In fact, it’s the safest place in all the universe, to be caught in your deepest darkest secret in the presence of Jesus! He is not just our revealing light, but He is also our healing light. That’s the top layer of sandwich.

Now. The other layer, in John 9, Jesus healed a man born blind “I am the light of the World”. He is the true light, but instead of blinding, like we learned in OT, it is sight-giving. Instead of condemning and shaming sinners, He forgives and gives them life.

The upside-down principle of the kingdom of God. The world says cover up your sins and it will save you from your worst nightmare. The Gospel says, expose it to Christ, confess your entire skeleton, lay it all down and you will find forgiveness, freedom and joy. You will be given a new heart. You will be given new eyes that see. You will find new life. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation! The old has passed, the new has come.” Amen.

John 8:12 says “If you follow Me.. You will have the light of life”. Jesus did ot say “you will be near the light of life”, but Jesus assures us we will have it. In the OT before, God said to Moses, “you can’t have the light”, and now in contrast Jesus said, “you can”. The question is HOW? How can a light so intensely powerful, not blinding? How can the light so dangerous and unapproachable become safe and welcoming? 

Because Jesus has become the mediator. You know what’s crazy? Just as the glory of God left the temple, left Jerusalem from the East gate and ascend on top of Mount Olives to heaven, Jesus entered Jerusalem not through his usual route. Matthew 21 tells us Jesus ascended the mount of Olives, then rode a donkey down to Jerusalem entering through the east gate to the temple. Isn’t that crazy?

The Light Himself has returned but he did not end up ruling in the Holy of Holies, the most sacred room in the temple. No. He ended up hung on the rugged cross, nailed and naked, he was spat on and humiliated for you and me. And when He died, the sky turned black, a great heavy darkness covered the earth. At that time, it may seem like the curse of sin and death has won.

But that’s not the end of the story, the bible says that death could not hold Him. On the third day, the Light walked out that grave. He has swallowed and overcome the darkness of the world. John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. We never say that we open the door and darkness flows in. We only say, we open the door, and the light illuminates the darkness. The light always overcome the darkness.

Tim Keller said that the light of God will destroy us, because we are simply too weak and too sinful for it. But only because of the cross, finally the light can give us what we truly need without destroying us. The only way to look at the sun is to put a filter over it and then you can see the flame. Otherwise, it just burns you out. He said Jesus Christ is the glory of God in a way that we can enjoy and embrace, the form of beauty in which we can be united with, just like what CS Lewis said. 

And do you realise, Church? Jesus has been there throughout the Old Testament, Jesus Christ was not only the pillar of cloud and fire, but he was also the lamb who was slain, whose blood painted on each door frame so Israel can get out of slavery from Egypt. He was also the rock struck so water can flow out quenching their thirst. He was the cleft of the rock in which Moses hid, now we hide in what He has done and paid for us. The light of glory can come to us, and we can come to Him, and it won’t kill us because our sins have been paid. Only because Jesus has come to live the life we should have lived and die the death we should have died; we can finally have this light. Jesus says whoever follows will have the light of life.

Application: What does it mean for us?

Being exposed to light can feel uncomfortable. I totally get it when my daugther screams every morning the moment I open her blinds. She closed her eyes and cried “Mamiii i dont want like thisssss”. As Christians, we also have similar experience to some extent. When Christ begins to expose us in His light, we often feel uncomfortable, naked, scared even angry. But I want to tell you, those often-negative feeling are great signs; they are good things. That means, the light is working. It is doing something in us. It reveals, before it heals.

Precisely, when you feel indifferent, unmoved, that’s what most worrying. Because that means, your eyes are closed so tight, the light did not illuminate you.

Isaiah 6 when Isaiah described the vision of the Lord. The angels came down and shield their eyes in the presence of God. Angels are sinless being, but they still had to shield itself from the manifest glory of God in His presence. And how did Isaiah respond? He didn’t say “WOW, BRAVO this is amazing”. He trembled and said “WOE IS ME! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips”. The light shows Isaiah things about himself that he did not see before. But then, a burning coal was taken from the altar, applied to his lips and he was purified. The light of God that can kill the ungodly on the spot, is also the light that saves, gives life and purifies those who call upon the name of the Lord.

Unbelievers, if you are here and have not trusted in Christ, do you think that you can remain hidden to the God who speaks light into darkness? Nothing is hidden from him. My encouragement to you tonight is, come into His marvellous light, you think it will be your bad ending, but it’s not. It will be a start of your freedom and joy. Because Jesus has gone before you in your place, He has mediated the dangerous light of God on your behalf. So when you come, it will not kill you, instead, you’ll hear is ‘Fear not, My child, you can come. Come.’. Jesus made it possible for the light to dwell in you.

If that’s you, I pray that His grace will continue to stir your heart and keep pressing you through the pain and discomfort. The light that exposes and reveals you is also the same light that will save and heal you. 

To my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, the bible promises that the light has gone out to nations. How? God made it possible through this important occasion called Pentacost where the tongue of fire, the manifest presence of God comes and dwells in us. The problem with tabernacle and the temple is, when you built them, they are only in one spot. But when Pentacost happened, guess what? Each one of us get to be tiny tabernacles. Suddenly, we have millions of tiny mobile tabernacles carrying the light of life to the end of the earth. It’s the fulfilment of Act 1:8 “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth”.

When we witnessed the light and changed by it, and the Holy Spirit has come and minister to our heart, we will bear witness to the light. Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

A Theologian, Frederick Bruner explained in his commentary about the kind of good works here. It’s not the kind of good works the Pharisees had been doing, i.e. outward obedience to gain glory to themselves, they want to be the light. Jesus’ kind of good works are the kind of good works that He lived a perfect life showing us what we are truly created for, the way we are supposed to live, sinless never breaking the will of God. The kind of good works that will give glory to nobody but only to Father in heaven. The kind of good works that are based on the right motives, done for the right reasons. The bible says that when this good works is done, it is truly like a light amid darkness, a city on a hill.

Jesus shows us that way, the lamp to our feet, the light to our path. He embodies His obedience. Jesus doesn’t merely command us to obey; He becomes the obedience Himself and allows us to have Him [repeat].

Eleanor Roosevelt said that it is better to light the candle than to curse the darkness. Isn’t that true, too many of us are busy cursing the darkness, complaining about how things are so bad around us that we have forgotten that we have been given this precious light not just for our sake, but also for the lost and desperate world to see.

I want to close our night with these questions. Does your presence bring difference to people around you? Does your presence cause them to reflect themselves because there is just something different about you? If you know Ps Ferdinand Haratua – He is the pastor of our sister church, Rock City Melbourne, he used to use this term ‘offensive attractive’. Is your life offensive to people, to the point that they can say ‘what is this? It’s nothing like how we do things’. Yet it is not something that repels them, but it is attractive, there is this sense of awe and stir up curiosity and make them think ‘I want to know more about this person of Jesus’.

Jesus made the way for us to become little bearers of His light. Indeed, we are little bearers of His light. This is my prayer for all of us.

Discussion questions:

1. What struck you the most from the sermon?
2. Explain why God’s light is a problem and a necessity simultaneously.
3. What does it mean for you to be the light of the world? Give specific applications.
4. What can you do to help the church become a “city on a hill”?
5. How does Jesus make it possible for you to have God’s light?