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'Things Are Different Now'

Psalm 89:11-18; Ephesians 5:8-14

How many have heard the statement, 'They are as different as day and night.'? Paul is using this same kind of contrast between darkness and light when he is speaking of the old life without Christ as compared to the new life in Christ. In this scripture Paul is speaking to believers when he says, 'You were once darkness but now you are light in the Lord.' (vs. 8). He is saying that before we come to Christ we are dead in our trespasses and sins. We are without any light whatsoever and are content to be darkness. But then something happens. We have by God’s grace been made 'light in the Lord.' Jesus said, 'I AM the light of the world.' We who were once children of darkness have now, in Christ, become children of light.

The Lenten Season is a time to evaluate our lives in the light of scripture. Are we living as children of light should be living? Are we shining brightly in a darkened world or have we grown so dim that we can hardly be distinguished from non-Christians?

As Christians we are called to live as children of light. I Peter 2:9 says, 'But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praise of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light.'

Many times we put ourselves down by saying, 'Oh, I’m just a nobody. I’m just a loser. I don’t have any faith to speak of. I’m just an ‘ordinary run-of-the-mill Christian’. I don’t have any talents. I can’t do much for the Lord...'

That’s not scriptural. Each of us has been called to live different lives from those who are still groping in darkness and sin. We have the responsibility to show up in the world by living a contrasting way of life--by showing that Christ really does make a difference in how we live our daily lives. Wherever we go we can cast an illuminating beam of light into the dark corners and be a positive influence on those who are still in darkness. In order to do this Paul says, 'Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind' (Romans 12:2). This is not an overnight happening but a process as we seek to live out our lives each day.

Let me tell you a story that shows how that can happen. Two brothers earned their living by stealing sheep and selling them. As happens to all thieves, one day they were caught. Rather than kill them the villagers decided to brand the two brothers on the forehead with the letters S. T. for sheep thief. The action so embarrassed the one brother that he left town and was never heard from again. The other brother was so filled with remorse that he stayed in town and tried to reconcile himself to the villagers he had wronged. At first the villagers were skeptical and most of them wouldn’t have anything to do with him. But he was determined to make restitution. Whenever there was sickness, the sheep thief was there to help care for the sick person. Whenever there was work that needed to be done, the sheep thief showed up to help. He was always there to lend a helping hand and he soon was an integral part of the community. His life was lived for others and as a consequence he was a friend of all and became well respected.

Years later a traveler came through town and as he sat eating his lunch at a little cafe, he noticed the old man with the strange brand on his forehead. People would stop by to say a few words to him and even the children seemed to like him.

The stranger’s curiosity led him to ask the owner of the cafe, 'What does the strange brand on his forehead stand for?'

The cafe owner thought for a minute and said, 'It happened so long ago that I don’t rightly remember. But I think it stands for SAINT.'

How do we go about becoming saints, that is, living as children of light? First of all we have to want to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. Our actions should reflect our faith. Steer clear of questionable things as well as things that you know for certain are just plain wrong. Paul says we are to produce the fruit of light. Our actions must correspond to light. Paul names three things that are produced by living in the light: goodness, righteousness, and truth. These are in stark contrast to malice, injustice, and falsehood.

Goodness comes from a Greek word that describes love in action. It refers to the giving of oneself. In I Thessalonians 5:15 Paul says, 'Always pursue what is good both for yourself and for all.' A life of goodness just doesn’t happen. If you don’t practice self-sacrificing love in the little daily things it won’t happen for the big things. Christ in our lives makes a difference, and because of this we are gradually changing to the point that we make a difference.

Benjamin Franklin wanted to convince the citizens of Philadelphia to light the streets at night as a protection against crime and as a convenience for evening travel. When he failed to influence them by words, he bought an attractive lantern and placed it on a long bracket in front of his house. Each evening he lit the wick and his neighbors noticed the warm glow in front of his house. Passersby appreciated the light and soon others began placing lanterns in front of their homes too. Eventually the city recognized the need for well-lit streets.

May our lives shine that others will see the need for God’s light in their lives as well. Walking in the light not only produces goodness which reaches out to others around us but produces righteousness. Righteousness means living in right standing with God. II Corinthians 5:21 says, 'God has made us righteousness before Him in Christ.' I Timothy 6:11 says that we are to 'pursue righteousness before me.' If we are pursuing right standing with God and others we will live the same on Monday morning as we live on Sunday in church and people will see it. We won’t have to go around telling others, 'I’m a Christian.' It will be obvious to them.

Two little old ladies were walking around an overcrowed English country churchyard and came upon a tombstone that was inscribed, 'Here lies John Smith, a politician and an honest man.'

'Good heavens!' said one lady to the other. 'Isn’t it awful that they had to put two people in the same grave!”'

The third thing that walking in the light produces is truthfulness. It means the absence of deception. Truth is about what we say whereas goodness is about what we do and righteousness is about how we live. It isn’t just politicians who have trouble being truthful. Paul says in Ephesians 4:25 that we are to 'put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor' which tells me that Christians have had to struggle to be truthful right from the start. Paul promises us, though, in Verse 4:15 that by 'speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is Christ.'

The fruit produced here -- goodness (toward others), righteousness (before God), and truth in everything -- would make a tremendous difference in our lives because it would begin to permeate every area of our life.

We all know that we don’t measure up like we should in the light of God’s spotlight, but we continue to walk in the light we have been given. We continue to shine with that reflected light.

A couple took their young son with them on a trip to Europe where they visited many cathedrals. When they returned home the little boy’s Sunday school teacher asked him, 'Did you learn what a saint is?'

He remembered the many stained glass windows which depicted the Christian saints and he said, 'A saint is a person through whom the light shines.'

Let us be persons this week through whom the light shines through.

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