Center for Faith & Culture

A Candle in a Wind Storm

I preached on Epiphany Sunday at the University Campus of Olivet's College Church of the Nazarene.  I gave everyone a birthday candle as they entered the sanctuary for the morning service.  I asked worshippers to keep the candle as a reminder that those of us who follow Jesus Christ have been commissioned - as He was - to be a light to the world.  Light to a dark world is an image the Biblical writers used often to describe the mission of Christ and His followers.  For example, in the prologue to John's gospel, John wrote of Jesus as light.  In John 1:4-5, he wrote: "In Him was life and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it." 

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church at Ephesus, addressed Christ's followers as light when he wrote, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Live as children of light."  (Ephesians 5:8)  Jesus Himself, in the Sermon on the Mount, used light imagery to describe the disciples' mission.  He said, "You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  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.  In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven."  (Matt 5:14-16)

Two weeks later, I did it again.  I gave Sunday morning worshippers another candle to reinforce the reminder of the mission Christ has given His followers: a commission to be difference-makers in a very dark world.  But that morning, I changed the emphasis.  Now I wanted to warn worshippers that if they determined to become a more intentional witness to the grace and goodness of God, then they would run into opposition.  I reminded them that Christians are light - candles so to speak - in a very drafty world.  When believers get serious about being light in a dark world, that is, when believers begin to take their calling, their vocation as ambassadors of the good news seriously, then the winds of adversity will begin to blow harder and threaten to extinguish the light and plunge their part of the world back into its comfortable darkness.

It's true, you know.  We American evangelicals sometimes have a hard time understanding that when it comes to being spiritual light, we don't live in a benign universe.  There is a struggle, a war between right and wrong, good and evil, holiness and sin, light and darkness.  And every time believers begin to shine as light, they enlist in that war.  Christians, by virtue of their calling, become volunteers in the struggle.  They become part of the campaign.

The notion that the universe is benign - that there is no intelligent intentional evil in the world - the notion that the universe is a morally neutral platform is a naïve deceit.  There is a war, a fight between good and evil and right and wrong.  If we believe the New Testament, then we are involved in a spiritual battle.  The Apostle Paul makes mention of this truth in Ephesians 6:10-12, when he wrote:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.   For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The Apostle Peter makes mention of this truth in I Peter 5:8-9, when he wrote, "Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith..." 

Indeed, the popularity of movies that depict this struggle between good and evil attest to people's recognition of the truth of these scriptures:  "Star Wars, "Spiderman," "Lord of the Rings, and "The Dark Knight" are examples of movies that have this struggle as their basic premise.  And what believers don't understand or appreciate as well as they ought is that they are soldiers in this battle.  It's not a comforting image.  However, if we believe Scripture, we have enlisted in this war.  And the fight occurs in many places.  It occurs in our lives every day; it occurs around us more often than we would like to notice.

God has been and is victorious in this battle.  Jesus has overcome the world.  It was Jesus who said "He who is in us is greater than He who is in the world."  Christians need not fear.  We must be alert.  I don't think, as a matter of course, believers are as alert as they ought to be.  Why not?  Because they are usually surprised at discovering that ill winds are trying to blow out the light of Christ in their lives.  They are usually surprised when they discover that this call to be Christ-like sometimes feels like a war.

So followers of Christ who are serious about being light in a dark and drafty world must protect the light, or protect the flame if you will, so that it will keep shining.  Withdrawal and hiding aren't options.  Putting the light under a bushel is just as absurd. 

But we have a strategy!  We have a place that provides protection for us so that the light of Christ might stay lit.  That place is the church.  The Church of Jesus Christ keeps the light bright.  The church, with all its flaws and imperfections, the church which consists of all those less than holy people who attend it, the Church of Jesus Christ keeps the light burning.

Just for the record, this is not supposition.  Jesus declared it.  When He asked His disciples who they thought He was, in Matthew 16, Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God."  And Jesus responded with these words:

Blessed are you Simon, Son of John.  Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.  And I tell you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock (confession) I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

According to this seminal passage, the power of death and Hades itself will never conquer the church.  This imperfect institution in need of redemption, this broken body of Christ, will keep the flame of light alive.  The brighter the light believers determine to be, the more they will need the church.  Yes, they need that place of the preached gospel, studied scripture, shared sacrament, imperfect fellowship, and humble service.  It is Christ's church, for which He died, that protects the light of Christ from the ill winds of adversity and animosity.

So if Christians desire to be light or brighter light or truer light, they will want to surround themselves with the divinely ordained creation that Christ called the church.  If believers are to be light, then they will need to be a part of Christ's Church.  Without it, they will have much less defense against Satan's winds of adversity and opposition.

Obviously, formally involving ourselves in the institution of the Church or nominally participating in its rituals will be of little help.  Christians must actively participate.  They must give themselves fully to the church.  They cannot sit on the sidelines.  They must love it, enter into it, and become a part of it.

Christ has called His followers to be the light of the world, and we are not to discriminate.  Disciples of Christ are to be light to their families, their friends, their co-workers, their fellow church members and even to their foes.  The more serious they are about it, the more adversity and opposition they will face.  Ill winds will blow all the harder.  And so, the light must be protected.  According to Christ's Word, the institution that the powers of Hades will never overcome is the church.  We must protect our light with Christ's church.  If we want to be a bright light in a dark world, we must find our place in the life of His church.