|
|
|
|
|
Matthew 4:12-23
John was a light in the darkness. In a world where the religious leaders and political leaders were corrupt, John was a ray of light. He proclaimed the truth of God even when it was not popular. King Herod had married his brother's wife Herodias. John had openly criticized this adulterous relationship. As a result he was thrown in jail.
Elsewhere the Bible tells us the circumstances surrounding his death. Herod kept John in prison and would go to listen to him as he preached in his prison cell. But Herodias saw John as a threat so she plotted to have John killed. One day Herod was having a party with many dignitaries. At that party Herodias' daughter danced for the crowd.
Herod and his dinner guests enjoyed her dancing so much that he offered her anything she wanted up to half his kingdom. Herodias convinced her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter. Reluctantly Herod ordered John to be beheaded and his head given to the girl. And John the Baptist the great prophet was silenced.
Those must have been dark times indeed. Times when people could not speak the truth for fear of death. It was in the midst of that darkness Matthew tells us that Jesus went to Capernaum in Naphtali near Zebulon. This was a town on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. It was the entry way into the Galilee. It was a place where there would be Jews and Gentiles and even Samaritans.
Jesus went there some think to get away from Herod and hide out. But Matthew tells us that it was to fulfill a prophesy. The prophets had said that a great light would shine on the people who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death. That prophesy specifically mentions the regions of Zebulon and Naphtali. So Jesus went to shine the light.
And what was the light he shined? He preached "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near." They may live in the shadow of the darkness of religious and political tyranny. The kings and leaders of their place and time may have given themselves over to the dark side. But the light of the Kingdom of God was about to come upon them. It was about to shine and they had better get their hearts ready. And many, including Peter and James and John and Andrew, began following Jesus. And many where healed.
We live in a dark world. A world where the darkness of the human heart and soul seems to reign. We live in a world where people shoot one another in the streets. We live in a world where people are exploited economically, socially and sexually. We live in a world where the children and elderly have to lock themselves in their homes for fear of crime. We live in a world where if a stranger is friendly you automatically wonder what they are up to.
But I have good news. The Bible says that God is a specialist in shining light in the darkness. Jesus came to the darkness of first century Galilee and shined the light of the Gospel. Down through the ages God has shined the light in the darkness. When the early church was being persecuted and John the Revelator was in prison God shined on him and the early church the light of Revelation.
When Christians were being fed to beasts and burned alive and crucified, God shined the light through the early Christian martyrs who died for the glory of God or who practiced their religion literally underground in the catacombs. When the church was mired under by distorted theology and a corrupt leadership in the 16th century God shined a light through Martin Luther and the reformers. When the Church of England was spiritually depressed, John Wesley and the early Methodists shined the light of Jesus and sought to spread scriptural holiness. When much of the church had sold out to the horrendous institution of slavery, Quakers and some Methodist and other Christians stood up and spoke out against slavery even thought their lives were threatened. And through the centuries Christians have shined the light of God's truth on the darkness to advance civil rights and women's rights and protection for children.
And what is this light that was shined" "Repent!" The word means to turn around. In the Greek, it literally means to change one's mind. But not in the sense that one might change their mind to have tea instead of coffee. Rather it is radical transformation of the mind. The Greek word for repent is related to the word "metamorphosis." So it is a metamorphosis of the heart and mind.
So radically change inside, but why? Because the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!" What does that mean? It means God is coming to take over. In Christ God has taken over our lives who have accepted Christ. As a result we who once live under the tyranny of sin and death are now liberated to forgiveness and eternal life.
So the light that shines in the darkness is the good news of God's reign in our hearts and lives. But we need to turn to God accept this reign. We need to open our hearts and minds so that we can receive the light, the forgiveness. Then we can be freed and the light will shine on those who dwelt in darkness.
What kind of darkness do you face? Is it a spiritual darkness of guilt and sin? Is it a psychological darkness mental illness? Is it an emotional darkness of depression? Is it a social darkness of family relationships? Is it an economic darkness of unemployment or debt? Is it a physical darkness of disability and illness?
Whatever the darkness you dwell in I have good news. The light of God has come. His name is Jesus. He can bring light to the darkness of your heart and mind. He can shine light in your life.
Matthew 4:12-23
Back when Jesus was just getting started, they were going through dark times. John the Baptist got arrested for preaching against King Herod. So Jesus took off for Galilee to get as far away from Herod as possible. He went to Capernaum in the territory of Zebulon and Naphtali. Like the Bible says: "Zebulon and Naphtali on the road to the sea, land of the Gentiles; on the people that lived in darkness the light has shined. For the people who sat in the shadow of death, a new day has dawned." And that is when Jesus began preaching, "Change your ways for the Kingdom of Heaven is closer than you think!"
Jesus' message was like a light in the darkness. The people had felt abandoned by their leadership. The Priests and Pharisees failed to give them spiritual direction. And King Herod had silenced the one spiritual leader they had, John the Baptist. So Jesus' message that they were not alone and without hope but that the kingdom was near was a ray of light.
One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee he came upon some fishing boats. In one two brothers; Simon called Rocky and Andrew were just off shore casting their nets into the sea. Jesus called to them and said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of people." They dropped their nets and followed him. Then he came on a small group of boats. James and John and their father and the hired men were repairing their nets after a hard night's work. Jesus called them and they left their father and followed Jesus. They followed Jesus taking the good news to all the people, preaching in their synagogues and healing the sick! A new day had dawned for God's people!
Have you ever had one of the "Aha!" moments? You know one of those moments when all the pieces come together and it all makes sense. One of those moments when the truth dawns on you. And everything is seen in a new light. A moment when the darkness of ignorance and doubt is pushed away by the dawning of a new day?
I imagine that Larry Walters had one of those moments. Back in 1982 Larry Walters dreamt of flying. So one day he tied 45 weather balloons to a lawn chair and filled the balloons with helium. To his surprise the moment he cut his ties to the ground he shot up in the air and did not stop until he reached 16,000 feet. Now that he had gotten up, the issue was how to get down. Larry Walters had made provision for this. He brought with him a BB gun with which he planned to shoot the balloons one by one until he began to descend as a decent rate. The problem was that at 16,000 it is cold and his hands were numb and he dropped the gun.
I imagine at this point the truth dawned on Larry Walters. He was hanging thousands of feet in the air with no means of controlled descent. None of the news report I read about the event say this but I imagine Mr. Walters said a few prayers. We do know that he used the radio he had taken with him to call in a mayday. The truth had dawned on Larry Walters. He was in trouble and needed help.
By the way, he did get down safely but not before his ropes became entangled with some power lines blacking out a part of Long Beach, California. (Source: http://home.earthlink.net/~quade/lawnchair.html)
Jesus' coming was like the dawn of a new day. The people of God were living in darkness. The Romans, who merely tolerated their religion, were occupying their country. The religious leadership were more interested in their own promotion than in leading the people in righteousness. And John the Baptist, a man seen as a prophet by the people, was in prison.
The people must have felt alone and abandoned. Had John been wrong? Was the Messiah not coming after all? Were they to continue to dwell in darkness?
The people sat in darkness and Jesus' message was a light shinning in that darkness. Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is at hand." God had not forgotten them. The prophecies of a savior would come true. They might even be coming true in Jesus!
So what did the people do when the light of God's truth dawned on them in Jesus? Matthew tells us about what a couple of people did. Peter and Andrew left their nets to follow Jesus. For a working person fishing could be a lucrative business. Salted fish from the Sea of Galilee was a delicacy in Rome and fish were the main source of protein for the people. Peter and his brother Andrew owned their own fishing business and they just closed up the shop and walked away.
The other people we meet are James and John. They are with their father Zebedee repairing their nets. This was "Zebedee and Sons Fisheries." They were mending their nets; taking care of the family business and their father. They walked away from generations of Zebedee family tradition and left their father and his business in the hands of the hired men.
What did these people do when the light of Jesus dawned on them? They followed. They stopped what they were doing and followed the light. Even though it mean leaving a lot behind they followed Jesus.
What do we do when the truth dawns on us? You know sometimes we find ourselves in a dark place in our lives. We realize that we are in trouble. It dawns on us that we are dangling by a thread with no solid place to plant our feet. Our hands have become numb and we have lost our grip on our one hope for safety.\
At that moment we realize we need some help. I think that is why you are all here today. You all realized at some point in your lives that you needed help. And so you sent out a mayday to God to deliver you from the predicament that you in your own ignorance had gotten yourself into. I know that's why I am here. I realized that I am a sinner in need of a Savior.
That is the universal human predicament. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We all need someone who can forgive our sin and give us eternal life. And that someone is Jesus. He died for our sins and gave us new life.
I believe that most of you have come to that realization. I know most of you. I think you know that you are helpless and hopeless on your own. I think you have come to that realization that you are in need of God's help. That truth has dawned on you. At least I hope it has. Because if it hasn't you really are in for a rude awakening. It is a long way down.
But like I said I think most of you have come to that realization already. The question is: Now that the truth of salvation through Jesus Christ has dawned on us what should we do? Well, we should follow. We should listen to what Jesus has told us to do. We should go where he leads. That is what Peter and Andrew, James and John, and the other disciples did.
Jesus the light of the world had dawned on us. We have seen his glory and know he is the one who can save us. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, follow him. Go into all the towns and villages of your world and proclaim the Good News that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick and care for those in need.
Then maybe the truth can dawn on them too!
Matthew 4:12-23
John the Baptist had it coming. I mean if you go around calling the religious authorities a brood of vipers and telling the King that his marriage is illegitimate, its going to catch up with you. And it caught up with John. He was arrested by King Herod because of his preaching against the authorities.
The news should not have been surprising but I am sure Jesus and John's followers were shocked. Jesus took this news as the sign that the time had come for him to get moving. John had said that Jesus would increase as he decreased. Now that John was silent it was time for Jesus to speak up.
And Jesus went to the territory of Zebulon and Naphtali. You see the prophets had said the light would shine in the darkness there. So Jesus went into the darkness to shine the light of God. And he picked up the message of John and began preaching "Repent, change your ways, because the Kingdom is coming!"
It was at this time that Jesus began calling his disciples. He was by the sea and there were some fishermen there. Jesus called to Peter and Andrew and said follow me and I will make you fish for people. They left their nets and came. Then he saw James and John, Zebedee's boys, and he called them too. They too left their nets and followed.
The interesting thing to look at is what the people were doing at the time Jesus called them. You notice? They were all busy. Peter and Andrew were casting their nets into the sea, and James and John were mending their nets. It's not like they were sitting around doing nothing. They were gainfully employed.
Being fishermen could be a lucrative business. Salted fish from Palestine were a delicacy in Rome. Fish were also an important source of protein for the people of that area. James and John were carrying on their father's business. Peter had a wife and family to take care of. It's not like they were sitting around waiting for something to happen. They were busy doing important things!
People are very busy today. Have you noticed that? We have so much to do. Even our kids are busy! And the things we are always important. But we have all these electronic gadgets to make our work easier.
Problem is that we feel the need to do even more important things. So we start doing more than one thing at a time. Like talking on the phone while driving. We even have a word for it. We call it "multitasking." You do know what multitasking is don't you? Multitasking is messing up more than one thing at a time.
I'm good at multitasking. There is so much that needs to be done. And it is all important. We have to take care of our families, our jobs, our friends � We are very busy people.
But Jesus doesn't always wait for a break in our busy lives to call us to follow him. Sometimes Jesus interrupts our important activity. Peter and Andrew were busy earning a living to care for themselves and their families. And Jesus called them. James and John were honoring their father and mending his nets and Jesus said "follow me." Jesus called them away from their fishing to begin fishing for people.
When God calls us in the midst of our busy lives he demands a change. Peter, Andrew, James and John had to leave their nets and families to follow Jesus. Jesus had been telling people to repent. Part of the meaning of "repent" is a change. God was calling them to change their activity and livelihood because the Kingdom was at hand.
God sometimes calls us to repent and change our activity. He calls us to change our priorities. He calls us to change our actions and attitudes. He sometimes even calls us to change our professions and communities. Jesus doesn't wait for a break in our lives, he breaks in, he interrupts our busy lives, and he demands a change.
What are you doing? Excuse me! I need to interrupt you! I know what you are doing or thinking or dreaming is important. You can balance your checkbook later. You see God is coming. God is on the way and he wants you to follow His Son and that is after all the most important thing.
But what specifically is God calling you to do? Perhaps God is calling you to spend more time in study and prayer: to make Sunday School attendance a regular thing. Maybe Jesus is calling you to give more time to helping others: to give blood, to volunteer for some area of service, to pick up trash, or to visit a sick or lonely neighbor. Maybe God is calling you to make your relationship with His Son a priority: to attend church more regularly. Maybe God is calling you to accept His Son for the first time, to receive forgiveness and be saved!
Jesus is calling you to be his disciple and that calling means changing your busy life. That is true for individuals and that is true for us as a church too. We say here at that "Our Mission at Grace is - To Know Jesus and To Make Him Known To Others." For the past two years fulfilling that mission has meant paying off the debt the church owed on this building and the parsonage. Well, that part is finished.
I don't take credit for it. It is clear that it was only by the Grace and abundant mercy of God that we have been able to do this. But now our focus shifts to building for future ministry. And that may mean changing our attitudes and activities.
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light." At the heart of the Christian proclamation is the assertion that God in Christ has shined a heavenly light in the midst of a dark world. Our Old Testament lesson from Isaiah reflects this belief. It says, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light." Israel's existence was always tenuous. Throughout most of their history they lived in the shadows of giants like Egypt, Persia and Assyria: the superpowers of their day. But God shined a light of hope in their darkness and promised them a Messiah.
Jesus was the fulfillment of that promise. He was the light of God made flesh. Matthew records how Jesus fulfilled Isaiah's prophesy. He came announcing the arrival of the Kingdom of God. He preached, taught, healed, called people to discipleship and shined the light of God in their dark lives.
And so we, the people of God, the Church of Christ, still proclaim the light of Christ. We celebrate the fact that God has shined heavenly light in the midst of our dark earthly existences. We affirm that God shines the light of his love and grace upon those who dwelt in darkness. We proclaim that in Christ God brings joy and peace and forgiveness and grace to those who will believe. That assertion, that God has shined light on us, is at the heart of all we say and do as Christians.
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light."
And you know what, the world needs light of Christ. This world needs it because it dwells in darkness. If you don't believe me just open your eyes. Sometimes the problem with Christians is they don't open their eyes to see the darkness. We close our eyes to reality and go around saying, "all is peace and joy and love," and we don't see the darkness all around us. We have spent so much time talking about the light that we have forgotten the darkness. If our eyes are not open to see the darkness, how can we see when the light is shined in it?
Open your eyes! We live in a dark world! This is a world filled with injustice. People kill and are killed for drugs in one country and for bread in another. People starve to death when there is enough food to go around. People die diseases that are preventable and curable only because they can't afford the medicine. We may speak of a new world order, but wars persist. People like Ossama Bin Laden kill and terrorize. Civil unrest continues in Eastern Europe. Tensions rise in the middle and Far East. And much of it is fueled by the persistence of racial prejudices. Jews and Arabs hate each other in the Middle East, Serbs and Croats in Yugoslavia, Moslems and Hindus in India, Catholics and Protestants in Ireland. And individuals live under the oppression of Alcohol and drugs and domestic violence.
This is a dark world. There is no denying that. It is a world filled with the darkness of murder, oppression, and hatred in all its forms. The world needs light of Christ!
What I want to know is this: If the lights are on, why is it so dark? If the light of the world has come, as we Christians claim it has, why is there so much darkness? There seems to be a basic incongruity between our faith and the reality of the world. We Christians believe that the light has shined in the darkness. We say that Christ is the light of the world. But reality shows us that darkness still appears to be the order of the day.
This is an important question. Don't just dismiss it and refuse to acknowledge the darkness out there. This is an important question because it recognizes the reality of human life and seeks to apply the Gospel to it. We need to begin to understand why the darkness persists even though Christ has come. Then we can begin to shine God's light in that darkness.
So I ask: If the lights are on, why is it so dark?
The answer to this question is shown to us in our lesson from Matthew. It says, "Now when Jesus had heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. ... From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Jesus had been born about thirty years before. The light had already come into the world. But the powers of darkness still ruled. When Herod threw John the Baptist in jail that was just another example of the pervasiveness of the darkness.
The light had come into the world, but the world still did not see it. So Jesus began showing it to them. He taught and preached to help enlighten people's hearts. He demonstrated the power of God through healings and miracles. He showed them that the world was in the hands of a loving and gracious God.
But Jesus didn't do this alone. As we read in Matthew, he called people to follow him. The light of God' Kingdom had come and they were to help him bring the Good News of that light to those still in darkness. There was still plenty darkness left when these disciples died, but through Christ each of them brought light to someone. Dark lives were enlightened through their ministry: The woman at the well, Zaccheus, countless sick, countless publicans, sinners and prostitutes. And that was only the beginning; there have been centuries of light since then. All these were given new life in Christ through their efforts.
We live in a dark world. That is the truth. But it is also the truth that God has shined a light in that darkness. Every single one of us who have experienced that forgiveness and salvation of God, have seen that light. The light is here and it enlightens and brightens human lives. But there are so many who miss it. People have shut their eyes to the darkness and so they fail to see the light.
Shine that light. Follow the example of Jesus' first disciples. Show God's love to those around you. Shine the light of hope in Christ in the midst of someone else's hopelessness. Dispel the darkness of prejudice and hatred with the light of love that God has given you.
Christ came into the darkness of our lives and our world to bring light. And he called people, just regular people like us, to call people's attention to that light. God is calling you to be a part of Christ's ministry of shining light in the darkness. Open your eyes to the darkness around you, then shine the light of Christ in it.