MESSAGE FOR SUNDAY MAY 15TH 2022
(Please read Psalm 139; Revelation 3: 14-22)
THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD 1:
William Holman Hunt’s painting, The Light of the World (above) is so popular. When (as disciples) we see this painting we know immediately that our own story is found here upon the canvas.
Hunt presents us with the figure of Jesus preparing to knock on an “overgrown and long unopened door”—is it the door of our own heart and our mind?
The door has no handle on the outside and therefore can be only opened from within, illustrating that we are free to keep the door of our heart locked, leaving the Divine Guest on the doorstep, or, if we choose, free to let him enter into our life.
Jesus approaches the door like a gentleman; we can tell he is not going to beat it down, nor show any anger, nor pass through the locked door as he did after his Resurrection when he visited his disciples in the Upper Room. He does not want to impose himself against the will of the occupant of the house. On the contrary, his knocking will be a gentle tap and the invitation he makes, should we choose to listen, will be reminiscent of Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if you hear my voice and open, I will come, and we will sit side by side, and share a meal together. ”
Nonetheless, while a gentleman, Jesus is still an imposing figure and there is no doubt that this one is in charge. He wears two crowns upon his head: The crown of glory and the crown of thorns, now in bloom.
Jesus occupies the centre of the painting, his solidity and mass symbolizing (perhaps) that he is alive for ever more, firmly and substantially waiting for the stirring of the sleeping soul. He may knock gently but he will also knock persistently. We can’t help but notice a sorrowful expression on Jesus’ face. How long will he have to knock? Is he knocking in vain?
It is only after noticing Jesus and the locked door that our attention is drawn to the secondary elements of the painting: the brambles, the bat, and the lantern.
The brambles represent vice and sloth which have taken over the unkempt garden of virtue because of neglect. Flittering around in the darkness, above the door, is a bat, a nocturnal animal and a symbol of darkness, of ruin, evil, and neglect. Fruit has fallen to the ground and lies uncared for and unattended. Self-assured and comfortable, the Laodicean church has stopped bearing fruit in the kingdom of God. Jesus was knocking on the door of a church whose members probably thought He was already inside. He has every right to bash down its door. Here also is a warning light. An invitation to supper (fellowship) is also (always) a call to repentance.
Making the painting a night scene allows Hunt to use Christ’s lamp as the primary source of light. Whether it is symbolic of the light of conscience, the light of the Word, or the light of the Church, it is Christ who holds it, and the way in which the cords of the lamp are twisted around his wrist shows the unity between the light and Christ: All three emanate from him.
The lamp’s rays fall gently upon the door, the weeds, and the fruit. If the door were to be opened there is no doubt that the light would be “a lamp for their feet and a light for their path” (Psalm 119:105), and the occupants would hear “the night is far spent; the day is at hand” (Romans 13:12).
What will happen next? (MFR)
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THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD 2:
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “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).
When Jesus said, “I AM” he was making a great claim; telling those gathered at the Feast of Tabernacles he was GOD. I AM was the Covenant Name for God.
When he called himself THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD he was saying HE WAS THE LIGHT – not a light, not carrying a torch – THE LIGHT. The festival was known for its great Menorah lamp stands and Jesus stood up and made this claim while those lamps burned in the night. Some say the lights were going out.
Light can make all the difference. Making decisions in the dark can lead to some regrettable consequences. Back in the days before electricity, a tight-fisted old farmer was taking his hired-hand to task for carrying a lighted-lantern when he went to call on his ‘best girl’. “Why, when I was a courtin’ I never carried one of them things. I always went in the dark.” The hired worker replied, “Yes, and look what you got!”
So, what does light do?
LIGHT REVEALS:
CS LEWIS: “I believe in Jesus in the same way that I believe in the sun – not because I see it but because by it I see everything else…”
19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
“But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light…” (Ephesians 4:13)
This is why people avoid God or church – they don’t like what God shows up. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).
LIGHT GIVES LIFE:
Nothing will live without it; we can’t see colours without it, nothing will grow without light. The Romanian orphans were starved of love and of light.
We need light to live a full life. The apostle John said:-
In him (in Jesus Christ) was life, and the life was the light of men (Jn. 1:4).
“I have come that they may have life and life abundantly…” (ETERNAL LIFE)
LIGHT SCATTERS THE DARKNESS:
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1: 4-5).
Darkness is associated with spiritual blindness, sin and even death…
Yet, it only takes a tiny candle to illuminate a whole room and scatter the darkness!
LIGHT GIVES WARMTH:
Did you know that one small candle, properly reflected, will raise the temperature of an igloo from below freezing to over 45 degrees? In the Bible, warmth is often equated with the comfort and consolation of God. Isaiah 60:20: “Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.” Ecclesiastes 11:7: “Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.”
LIGHT GIVES GUIDANCE:
“Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me.” (Psalm 43)
“The Lord is my light and salvation – of whom shall I be afraid?!” (Psalm 27:1)
“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” (Jn 14:6)
The Bible is “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path…” (Psalm 119)
When Jesus says to us, “I am the light of the world…” he makes a promise to those who will follow Him… and his light:
that he will reveal our real selves to us;
that he will give his light and his life to us;
that he will scatter our darkness – forgiving us;
that he will be a comfort and a warmth to us;
that he will guide us by his word of promise and truth –
that we will never be lost and stumbling in the dark –
Re 22:1 Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.3 There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him;4 they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. 5 And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign forever and ever.
God’s first act: let there be light!
God’s final act: in eternity He will be the light of those who have chosen to follow Him. There will be darkness for those who do not. When the lamps by which men walk go out his light will never be extinguished! (MFR)
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“Lord, this instinct to avoid You,
to hide away,
seems universal…
but why should I seek to escape from You?
Is it because I fear You,
or feel guilty
or unworthy?
Where shall I hide when You are everywhere?
The top of Everest is as accessible to You
as the deepest mine shaft.
The blare of my radio or TV can’t drown
Your voice within.
Locked doors and curtained windows do not
keep You out.
Where can one hide?
The answer is nowhere!
Flight is not the solution to the problem.
The true response is surrender.
God is not after me to punish me
But to win me,
not to blame me but forgive me.
Why, then, should I seek to hide?
O God, take this fear of You from my heart…
Let me look into Your face and say:
Here I am, Lord.
You’ve won!”
God-flight by Flora Larsson (God In My Everyday)