October 17, 2010
Dear friends in Christ.
How many of you have heard of Xeroderma Pigmentosum? It wouldn’t surprise me if very few of you had ever heard of it, because it is not a well known disorder. In fact, the only reason I know about it is because during my South Dakota days, when I was driving nearly 1500 miles each month, I listened to a lot of books on tape. One of the Authors I enjoyed listening to was Dean Koontz, who, at that time, had written two books in which the main character, Christopher Snow, lived with xeroderma pigmentosum. Now to explain to you what xeroderma pigmentosum is, I give you Christopher Snow from Dean Koontz’s Fear Nothing. © 1998 pp 22-23:
I have xeroderma pigmentosum—XP for short—a rare and frequently fatal genetic disorder. XP victims are acutely vulnerable to cancers of the skin and eyes. Even brief exposure to sun—indeed, to any ultraviolet rays, including those from incandescent and fluorescent lights—could be disastrous for me. All human beings incur sunlight damage to the DNA—the genetic material—in their cells, inviting melanoma and other malignancies. Healthy people possess a natural repair system: enzymes that strip out the damaged segments of the nucleotide strands and replace them with undamaged DNA. In those with XP, however, the enzymes don’t function; the repair is not made. Ultraviolet-induced cancers develop easily, quickly—and metastasize unchecked. The United States, with a population exceeding two hundred and seventy million is home to more than eighty thousand dwarfs. Ninety thousand of our countrymen stand over seven feet tall. Our nation boasts four million millionaires, and ten thousand more will achieve that happy status during the current year. In any twelve months, perhaps a thousand of our citizens will be struck by lightning. Fewer than a thousand Americans have XP, and fewer than a hundred are born with it each year. The number is small in part because the affliction is so rare. The size of this XP population is also limited by the fact that many of us do not live long. (Koontz, Dean. Fear Nothing. New York: Bantam Books. © 1998 pp. 22-23).
Though XP is indeed a rare disorder, in some ways, it is an accurate illustration of what we were according to our sinful nature. Don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that XP is the result of some type of sin or anything like that. However, what I am saying is that in the same way that those with XP find themselves friends of darkness, and in some ways, enemies of light, according to our original sinful nature, that is what we once were. We were once friends of the darkness of sin and unbelief and enemies of the Light. There was a time when we would hide ourselves away from the Light of Jesus Christ and the Gospel of Salvation because we did not want our evil deeds and desires exposed by that light. We were comfortable in our sins, in our unbelief, and our separation from the Lord our God. But then came the day when everything changed. Then came the day when the Holy Spirit entered our hearts and struck the match of the Gospel. On that day, when the Holy Spirit struck the match of the Gospel in our hearts, he produced the spark of faith that lit the candle of hope and trust, illuminating our hearts with the flame of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior.
For most of us, our time loving darkness and hating the light is something that we cannot remember, simply because the majority of us in this congregation came to faith in Jesus Christ, early in life. The majority of us came to faith on the day that we were baptized either as infants or as young children, when the Holy Spirit came into our hearts through the water and the Word, creating faith in Jesus as our Savior. However, for others, this change came later in life, perhaps as a child, a teenager, a young adult, or even farther into your adult years, after you heard the Word of God for the first time or maybe even the fiftieth and at that time the Holy Spirit did his work calling you from the darkness of sin and unbelief into the Light of the Gospel and the Salvation that is now yours through faith in Jesus Christ, your Savior. But whenever it was that the Holy Spirit struck that match of the Gospel and lit the illuminating flame of faith in your heart, calling you form the darkness of sin and unbelief, through the faith that was created in your heart, you are now a child of God; a child of the light in Jesus Christ your Savior!
This is the life that the Apostle Paul is now calling on us to live in our lesson today. If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to open your Bibles to Ephesians 5 beginning with verse 8. Now, while you are turning to Ephesians 5:8 let me give you a little background on what we are reading. When Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians, he broke it into two parts. The first three chapters talk about how God’s amazing grace forms us together as a body of believers, while the last three chapters show us how we, as God’s people demonstrate that grace in our lives by what we do. This is what Paul is telling us today as he calls on us to live as Children of the Light! Take a look at Chapter 5 beginning with verse 8: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:8–14, NIV)
Though there was a time we lived in darkness as darkness, since the Holy Spirit called us to faith in Jesus Christ we are now Children of the Light. We are children of the light who have been called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. We are Children of the light who have been taught what God’s good and pleasing will is! This is the will of God that we learn right here in worship, in Sunday school, in Bible Study, and in Confirmation class. Since we were little children we have learned just how important it is for us to grow in the grace of God and our knowledge of our Savior. Since we were little children our parents have sought to lead us down the path of righteousness, away from the fruitful deeds of darkness. Since we were little children, our parents, our Sunday school teachers, even our Pastors have exposed the fruitless deeds of darkness by shining the light of God’s Word upon them. In the same way that the morning sun dispels the darkenss of the night, so also the Son of God, through the light of his Word enables us to discern between that which pleases the Lord and that which is a fruit of darkness. Thus, as Paul calls us to live as Children of the Light, he calls us to turn our backs on the fruitless deeds of darkness. The problem, however, is that in this life we will never be completely free from the darkness that once held us. We will always be enticed by that darkness. We will always be tempted to walk down the dark ally of sin convinced that our own candle light of faith will be enough to keep us from succumbing to temptation, instead of trusting the Lord our Savior, avoiding that darkness completely and living as his children in his light.
Thus the Apostle Paul continues in verse 15 of our lesson: “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:8–20, NIV)
Right here, in verse 15 and 16 we come to the very heart and core; the very reason for this Stewardship emphasis of time! Right here, the Apostle Paul is calling on us to make the most of very opportunity we have been given to live as children of the light. Right here the Apostle Paul is calling on each and every one of us to make the most of every opportunity we are given to grown in our faith and our knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Savior. But how do we do that? Of course by attending worship every week so that we might here God’s Word proclaimed to us and grow in our faith. But what about Bible Study? How often haven’t we simply been too busy to gather with other Christians as we dive deeper into the Bible together? What about our own personal Bible Readings? How often haven’t we been too tired or too busy after a long day of work that we can’t be bothered to read the Word for ourselves, but we have plenty of time to catch up with the news paper, read another chapter in our favorite book, or simply veg out in front of the TV for hours? How often doesn’t it happen that we simply can’t find the time to pray, unless we are running from one place to another, or lying in our bed, trying to say our prayers even as we drift off to sleep? How often haven’t we failed to make the most of every opportunity to grow in our faith as Children of the Light?
We all have, and I’m no different! For the truth is, I am guilty of every one of these things that I mentioned. Yet it is the Lord who forgives us. It is the Lord who reminds us that we are his, and it is the Lord who gives us the strength and the courage to change ourselves to be better stewards of our time! With the Lord’s help we can become better stewards of our time and live as Children of the Light by changing 1 simple habit. Maybe that means you get up a little earlier on a Sunday and gather for Bible Study, or you set aside just 15 minutes each day to read a little from the Bible and pray. Maybe it means you purchase a good audio Bible and put it on in the background while you are doing other things. Or maybe it means something else. You have to decide how you are going to make the most of every opportunity the Lord gives you to grow in his Word as a child of the Light.
Now, just imagine how your life would change if you did that! Imagine how your life would change if, in your lives as children of the light, you started gathering for Bible Study and delved into the Scriptures with fellow members of our congregation. Imagine how your life would change if you spent just 15 minutes each day reading the Bible for yourself and praying about it. Imagine how your life would change if you listened to an audio Bible on your commute to work rather than all the bad news that streams over the air waves today. Imagine how you would grow in your faith and your knowledge of Jesus Christ your Savior. Imagine how your confidence in your salvation would grow because it was no longer something that the preacher was telling you but it was something that you read yourself. Imagine the comfort that you would be able to give to others from the very things you had read for yourself through the Word. Imagine how others would recognize you as a Child of Light and by your actions they would see your faith in Jesus Christ your Savior. Now, imagine what it would be like if our entire church did this. I don’t have time to get into it, but I’m sure you can imagine ways in which this congregation would grow and change for the better!
How amazing it is to realize that it was the Lord Jesus who called us out of the darkness of sin and unbelief to his glorious light of salvation. How amazing it is to think that it was the Lord Jesus who chose us to be his own and called us to live as his Children; as children of the Light. Though we were once enemies of the light, through faith in Jesus we are now enemies of the darkness. We are children of the light, purchased by Christ our Savior who called us from the darkness of sin to the wonderful light of his salvation.
Amen.
Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN
