Darkness Defeated by Light

Mike Hosey, An Elder

A couple of thousand years ago, spiritual darkness covered all the places where men lived. There were a few glimmers here and there that kept men from walking off of sin-high cliffs or into sin-hard walls. These glimmers were the law that God planted in the hearts of everyone, along with the scriptures and the prophets (Romans 2:15, Psalm 119:130, Amos 3:7, Hebrews 1:1-2). These three worked in concert to speak the words of God. But men mostly ignored them because their hearts were evil (Jeremiah 17:9).  Then one day, a great light entered the world of men (John 1:1-5, John 1:14). The light was a man, and he lit by his example the places where they lived. His name was Jesus. His light shined brightly, and people fled their darkness and flocked to him.  Their minds were changed. Then their lives were changed. The whole world began to glow with his light as the people who followed him began to both reflect him, as well as become like him. 

Then, as suddenly as he entered the world, he left it. He was murdered by men on a criminal’s cross because they hated what he had to offer. They loved their darkness more than they loved light (John 3:19). The world seemed cold and dark again. People who knew him mourned. They had seen the good of his light and feared they would not see it again.  But they were mistaken. His murder had been the fulfillment of a prophecy.  He had been crushed for our sins (Isaiah 53:5). He had been killed for our love of darkness. God had placed on him all the wrongs of the world of men, and allowed them to be destroyed when his body was killed (1 Peter 2:24).  But those who loved darkness more than light could not understand the brilliance of his final moment. He had modeled love (John 15:13). He had given his life so that others could live. He had engineered a light that could never be extinguished because people would always remember his love. 

Three days after Jesus had been murdered, he rose from the dead! A miracle of all miracles! It was perhaps the most beautiful moment in all of human time. People would no longer remember just his love, but they would understand it, and now remember his victory as well. Failure would no longer reign supreme (Romans 6:6).  In that beautiful moment he modeled for us victory over sin. The sins of the world did not keep him dead. And if you accept his power, your sins will not keep you dead, either. Allow your sinful self to die and follow Jesus.  He will raise a new you. The sin that both failed you, and caused you to fail, will be gone. The darkness that surrounded you will be pushed away with brilliance. Your life will be marked by victory and light. You will begin to be more like Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Fickleness and Faithfulness

Mike Hosey, An Elder

An unfortunate quality of humanity is that we too often tend to be fickle. Fickle means to change frequently in regards to one’s loyalties, interests or affections. You can see this sort of thing with the public’s interest in pop musicians, movie stars, and clothing fashions. One year the public may be listening to the beats of one particular rapper spitting out his rhymes, or fawning over the beauty of one particular blonde starlet, or wearing skinny jeans to church. The next year, that same public is listening to banjos, worshiping the brunette curls of the next diva, and wearing retro-parachute pants and flip flops to church.

When it comes to life’s entertainment trivialities, fickleness isn’t that big of a deal. But when it comes to those things deserving of loyalty, fickleness becomes dangerously problematic. Imagine if husbands quit marriage when the next fine thing walks by. Imagine if mothers gave up parental affections when the newness wore off of their children. The world would be a greater hell than it already is. In fact, those places where the world is hell, are very often marked by people who have either misplaced their loyalty, or have allowed a fickleness to reign supreme in the ordering of their lives.

Believe it or not, this evil can be reframed in a positive light. Fickleness allows us to observe the quality of our loyalties. Consider the triumphal entry of Jesus on Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:1-11). As Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey, crowds of people throw their cloaks and palm branches on the ground before him as he rides in, all the while shouting words of adoration and praise, and affirming his royalty by associating him with David, and recognizing him as a prophet. But just a few days later, when Jesus stands trial before Pontius Pilate, the crowds (likely populated by some of the same people from just days before), call for Jesus to be crucified, and for a notorious prisoner, Barabbas to be released instead of Jesus.

Any people who had changed their minds in that few days were never really devoted to Jesus to begin with, and their honoring of his lordship was false. True loyalty is, by definition, devoid of fickleness. True loyalty is tried and proven and even defined by hardship. It does not go with the flow. It may bend, but it doesn’t break. The truer it is, the more unchanging it is.

The true followers of Jesus were not fickle – even as they were martyred, they remained steadfast and faithful.

Who Do You Obey?

Mike Hosey, An Elder

All people are obedient. Burglars, rapists, murderers, thieves, drug dealers, drug addicts, cops, preachers, cookie baking grandmas and Sunday school teachers are all obedient.  All of them.  We like to think of ourselves as rebels – either with a cause or without one. But that self-image isn’t entirely accurate.  You will inevitably obey something. And if you are obeying something, then you are submitted to that thing, and therefore not a rebel in regards to the thing that you obey.

In fact, Paul teaches this very idea.  In Romans 6:16-18, he persuasively argues that you are either a slave to sin, or you are a slave to righteousness.  And a slave obeys. 

If you’ve ever been addicted to anything, you know this truth firsthand. The cigarette calls your name at work, and you obey its call. The bottle calls you into the club or bar, and you obey its call. The caffeine calls your name, and you dutifully amble over to the coffee pot. The sugary pastry calls your name, and you obey that call over and over again.  This is the case with all sin to which one has submitted oneself. And it also is the case with your larger sin nature – the nature that tells you to resist God’s calls or commands. To obey your sin nature puts you in rebellion against God.  To obey God, puts you in rebellion against your sin nature. 

God has set up the universe in such a way that both of these rebellions have consequence. Consider, for instance, Isaiah 1:18-20, where the prophet tells Israel that if they are willing and obedient they will prosper, but if they resist and rebel then they will be consumed by violence. His statement is made within the context of describing their sin. God is telling his people that even though they have sins that are scarlet, he can wash them away if only they will obey his way. Not to obey, however, is to resign themselves to a world that will devour them. That Old Testament prophecy holds true for today’s Christians even more so than it did for those ancient Heberews. The spiritual connection is much more pronounced. To rebel against God is to step into a world where Satan is looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).  Such a consequence is hellishly undesirable. It will touch every life domain. However, to obey the gospel, and therefore rebel against your sin nature and a world that hates God is to set yourself free from the chains of sin and death. Every life domain will be freed (Psalm 107:10-14).  For if the son has set you free, then you are free indeed (John 8:34-36). 

What chains are holding you in slavery?

The Two Sides of Disobedience

Mike Hosey, An Elder

Disobedience comes in two forms.  In one form God tells us things not to do, and we disobey when we do them. For instance, God tells us not to lie, and then we lie to save ourselves from some discomfort.  Or, God tells us not to covet our neighbors stuff, and we spend a great deal of effort trying to acquire things like our neighbor has. On the other hand, there are things that God tells us to do, and when we refuse to do them, we are in sin and disobedience (James 4:17). For instance, God tells you to be part of a faith community (Hebrews 10:24-25), but some prefer to avoid gathering with spiritual brothers and sisters.   Most people I know don’t have a problem understanding the things they’re not supposed to do.  And most of those people do a fair job of avoiding the big things that God has told us to avoid.  It seems we are programmed to know that we shouldn’t entertain lust, or that we shouldn’t steal, or that we shouldn’t kill, or that we shouldn’t lie.  But it seems harder, sometimes, for us to recognize the programming that tells us to do certain things.  

One rather disturbing story in the Bible that illustrates how there are consequences for not doing what we are told to do is found in the character of Uzzah (2 Samuel 6:1-8).  King David calls for the Ark of the Covenant to be delivered from the House of Abinadab. Abinadab’s two sons, Uzzah and Ahio, set out to do just that.  They place the Ark on a cart drawn by oxen.  At some point, the Oxen stumble, and Uzzah stretches out his hand presumably to steady the Ark. This seems like a good deed, but God strikes Uzzah dead.  The problem is that Uzzah had violated a couple of dos, and at least one don’t. God had prescribed for the Ark to be carried with poles by men (Exodus 25:12-14). Certain Levites – the sons of Kohath -- were to be the ones who carried it (Numbers 4:15).  It should not have been on a cart. And of course Uzzah should never have touched it (Numbers 4:15). Interestingly, if Uzzah and Ahio had done what God told them to do, they would not have been in a position to do what he had told them not to do – which was touch the Ark. 

If you are busy doing what God tells you to do, like worshiping with other believers, engaging in study of his word, attending to prayer, stirring others up to good deeds, or loving God with everything, then you won’t be in a position to do those things he has told you not to do.