Have you ever been lost in the dark? My wife and I have watched a show called "I Shouldn't Be Alive", which shows re-enactments of scenarios and true life events that people have experienced on the border of death and dying. These episodes are anything from shark attacks, plane crashes, parachuting accidents, and mountaineering mishaps.
The last episode we watched was about a group of three men who were skydivers and their plane was crashing over the waters of the Pacific. The pilot and two other men died in the accident, but this one man survived. He spent at least 18 hours in the middle of the water and much of that time was spent treading water. At one point, he was treading water after being attacked by jellyfish and he saw something floating directly at him. He thought it was a sea-alligator or a turtle, but it turned out that it was a large log or driftwood. I turned to my wife and said these words...
How can someone be in such a situation in which they are facing death, in the middle of a vast ocean, and a lifeline like a log floats directly up to them, but not a word is spoken of how that log got there?
The idea that there is someone bigger than ourselves is hard for some people to grasp. In a non-believers viewpoint the wind and tides were just right. In a Christians viewpoint, God had a plan for that log from the seed in which it started, from the tree in which it was rooted, from the storm that knocked it down and split it, to the man that it would save in the middle of the ocean.
John 8:12 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."
Obviously, Jesus is talking about more than just the light that we think of that are in our ceilings or in our cars. He is not claiming to be the sun, but he is claiming to be the Son. The darkness he speaks of isn't the darkness that is slowly approaching as I look out my window. He is talking about the darkness of sin that is so prominent in our everyday lives. That is all around us in our workplace, our commute, our shopping ventures, and in our recreation. Christ is the light that shines on the sin in our world. Sin leads to death (sometimes physically, always spiritually). Faith leads to life in Christ. Through Him, sin is illuminated so we can see the traps and dangers that follow in giving into that sin.
Furthermore, in Matthew 5, Jesus says, "14 You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 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. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven".
Whoa, now Jesus is saying that we are the light of the world. I thought He said He was the light of the world. This is where all the pieces come together. By accepting Christ and believing in Him, we begin a relationship with God. This isn't a pen pal relationship in which we talk once a month and assume that He's got everything taken care of and life will be perfect from there out. No, I actually have a harder life since I chose to follow Him. Christ has called His people to be His feet and hands, carrying out His message and doing His work. We are the light, just as He is the light. It is our responsibility to let this light, which is Christ in us, shine so that the world around us can see it. This isn't always as easy as it seems.
So, to tie this all together with "I Shouldn't Be Alive", there is a lost and dying world out there. There are students in my classroom that may be living in horrible home settings. There may be people at a table next to mine at Chili's who forgot their cash or their credit card is maxed out. A homeless person may be shivering in the snow on an exit ramp on my way home from work. Maybe a truck is flipped over with the driver inside and it is on fire on the side of the interstate late at night and no one is around. Question is what am I going to do to shine my light so that they might be touched by it? There is more than meets the eye in this lifetime, it is our job as Christians to illuminate the sins that inhibit our culture and to show the world that there is so much more to life than our selfish desires.
I used to have a pen pal relationship with God. I mean it. I wrote a letter in elementary school, went outside to the driveway, tied it to a rock, and threw it up in the air. That didn't work, so I tried a balloon the next time.
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