The Resurrection Means God’s Light is Our Delight
By Pastor John Eich Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Alma, MI
1 John 1:5–2:2 –This is the message we heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light. In him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him but still walk in darkness, we are lying and do not put the truth into practice. 7 But if we walk in the light, just as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar, and his Word is not in us…. My children, I write these things to you so that you will not sin. If anyone does sin, we have an Advocate before the Father: Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the entire world.
This past Monday, parts of the United States were able to witness an awe-inspiring sight – the total eclipse of the sun. Isn’t it amazing that the universe is laid out so perfectly that we can calculate the exact time down to the place, day, and minute that such phenomena occur? That could not happen if the universe was just a random accident. It is another proof of the divine majesty of the Creator. By the way, the next full solar eclipse will come right over mid-Michigan … in the year 2205. I’m keeping my eclipse glasses. How about you?
People travelled from all over the United States and the world to see the awe-inspiring sight of moving from daylight into darkness. The birds stop singing. The temperature drops. And there is an eeriness that falls upon the land. Then as the moon keeps moving, light begins to shine again and warmth, and life begins to stir from its unnatural sleep.
Most of these folks, however, miss the real darkness and the real light they should be paying attention to.
How can some not see the darkness in this world? The violence? Shootings in our schools, threats of terror, bombings, wars? Do we not see the collapse of the family and the embrace of an “anything goes” sexuality? Do not we witness a world where neighbor has turned on neighbor for even the most foolish of reasons, including that they belong to the “wrong” political party. Many of you know of someone who wrestles with a personal darkness. Drugs, porn, alcohol, depression? There is darkness out there! But before we get too caught up in the darkness out there in the world, let us remember the darkness that is in here, in us.
That darkness is our own sin, our own failure to live up to God’s standard. This is not just an occasional eclipse of God’s will. It is continual darkness trying to obscure the light of God’s will. At times we may even embrace it. We embrace the idea of getting even with someone who has wronged us. We willingly gossip and spread the rumors we have heard. We let our eyes feast on the images that lead us into sexual sins of thought and deed. We turn our backs on God’s expressed will so that we can do what we want.
It is death that shows us that there is darkness within us. Death is proof that we are not perfect, that salvation is not something we can obtain on our own. That darkness points us to a need for light.
The resurrection of Jesus proves that Jesus is the light we need. God’s light is our delight.
This light John writes about is not simply some warm, fuzzy feeling. It is the light of God’s glory – glory that shows itself in diverse ways at various times. In the Old Testament, God would reveal his glory in flames and smoke. In the New Testament God’s glory is seen in Jesus. Today we see that glory in His word and sacraments.
God is light. I think John chose the word light because it carries a positive connotation. Light helps you avoid danger. When you walk in darkness, you may stumble over an obstacle, or fall off a cliff or down the stairs, or worse. Darkness is full of threat and fear. But light changes all that. It exposes dangers and frees you from fear. It is full of hope and promise.
This is the gift that God gave to each of us. He looked at us and saw how broken and how lost we were in the darkness of sin. He saw how sin eclipsed the relationship He wanted to have with us. He saw the shadow of death that hung over us all…and he loved us. He loved you. He came into our world with a bright beaming light and placed it in a manger. That light, Jesus, then lived among us, he was what you and I could not be, he was perfect, he never sinned. He did what you and I could never do, he offered his life as a sacrifice for all sin, everyone’s. He did this to save you and me from darkness, from death, and from hell. This is the light we needed. This is the Savior we still need. He shines upon us lighting the way, being our guide in the darkness leading us home to be with him always, forever, in heaven.
But not everyone wants God’s light to illumine their sin. Satan works hard to get people to sluff off sin as a joke, narrowminded, outdated thinking or the way the church controls simple minded people. Scripture says they hide their sins in darkness because it would shame them if they did them in the light.
But John writes in our text: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
For most of us saying we have no sin is not our problem. God’s light has revealed our sin, and we admit it. Yet our problem may be that we tend to generalize our sinfulness. “I’m a sinner, forgive me.” But do we honestly look at our specific thoughts, our specific actions, and specific words and compare them to God’s law? We admit we are generalized sinners. But our sin tries to eclipse that we are also specific sinners.
But does not John also write here, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” We know not only that we have sinned, but will still sin today, tomorrow and for however long our Lord allows us to live in this broken world. The mark of the saint is not sinlessness but sin-consciousness! In this life we never get beyond the awareness of remaining sin. Therefore one of the great signs of maturity in Christ is a deep and abiding awareness of one’s brokenness in sin.
Yet no one who remains united in fellowship with Him—deliberately, knowingly, and habitually practices sin. A believer will struggle with sin and sometimes give in, but giving in to sin is no longer the norm. As we grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord we are growing in holy living. The light returns daily in our lives through repentance. As the Spirit leads us, we will walk increasingly in the light of God’s word.
Only through that awareness can we find the cure, the light that shines into our hearts. Not only to show our sin, but to lighten us with God’s grace, mercy, and peace. God’s light is also His love. A love that transcends our understanding. A love that knows no limits or conditions. The love of God shines the light of his forgiveness into our hearts.
And when we do sin, through faith in him, Jesus is our Advocate, who does speak in our defense. He does not claim that we are innocent of the charges against us. Rather He declares that He has appeased the eternal wrath of God by becoming the sinner for us and being punished with our deserved punishment. He paid our debt.
Think of sin as snow that falls in April. In a day or two the powerful sun melts it, and it disappears! The powerful Word of God assures us that Jesus paid for our sins in full. In Christ’s forgiveness, God no longer sees our sin. The Son has taken them away. As Christians, God sees us as saints through Christ’s perfect life no matter what we do! What great news this is for us!
So, we daily fight against our sins in Christ’s strength! How do we get that strength? John wrote, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another…” (v.7) John pictures Christians gathering together around the Light of God’s Word. If a group of people are camping on a cold April day and someone lights a large campfire, it does not take long for everyone to gather to it to get warm. We gather together here around the light of Jesus to warm ourselves and each other in His love.
Miraculously, the light of Christ is enlarging God’s kingdom. We see it in baptism. It happens as you listen to God’s Word and take it to heart. We reflect his light as we patiently wait for the Lord’s deliverance in dark and trying times. Sometimes sin will try to eclipse the light of God. But it will not happen. God’s light keeps shining and breaks through the darkness with the aura of his grace and mercy.
As extraordinary as an eclipse is, it is simply the natural world behaving in the way the one and only God who created it set it up to behave. But I think anything that can give us a little jaw-dropping awe and wonder to stop us in our tracks — to quiet the din and buzz of everyday busyness — can be a terrific opportunity to reflect on God’s grandeur.
God’s light is our delight. The grandeur of God’s light causes us to quiet the din and buzz of everyday busyness and so we say with the psalmist:
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Set this glory of yours above the heavens. (v.1)
Amen