Friday, June 04, 2010

The True Light - June 4, 2010

Good Friday morning! The WCWS is underway! If you watched yesterday, you might be calling it the IPWCWS for illegal pitch Women's College World Series. As a fan, I grew quite irritated at the seemingly constant illegal pitch calls. The series also seems to be dominated by PAC10 and SEC teams this year. I count 3 out of the 4 match ups yesterday between the two conferences. Our lone Big12 team (Missouri) lost to the team from the way out there conference (Hawai'i).

John 1:9 - The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

Oops, this is a Christian devotional, I'll have to set aside the sports talk. We get excited about things in this world. Imagine getting so excited about the darkness that you ignore, wilfully ignore, the true light of the world. God sent word through Isaiah that the light would shine in the darkness (Isa 9:2). And when Jesus, the one who is the true light arrived here on earth, that prophecy came to pass. Jesus gave light to everyone, but many refused that light. Jesus told us that there would be those who loved the darkness more than the light. We see it all around us today; this is not some condition that only prevailed in the first century.

To wilfully ignore the Messiah that the people had anticipated for around 400 years seems kind of dumb to us, but we can read about it in the Gospels and Acts. How much more dumb is it then to wilfully ignore the light when we have not only Moses and the prophets, but the Gospels and Epistles? We live in a time with that much less of an excuse for not believing in Jesus. I am constantly impressed by the light shining in the darkness.

We live in a time where missions to far places are fast. A church can place a missionary in the remotest parts of the world in just a few days. The light shines in far away places. We also have access to the Word in many forms on a daily basis. The light shines near to home. There is also much argument about the True Light. We all correctly say "Jesus!", but ministers argue with other ministers, Christians with other Christians, and cults sneak off to the bush to worship in small, secret conclaves. Which is the true light?

A long time ago for us, but the blink of an eye in history, a man wrote about two forms of Christianity.

"for, between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference - so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy, is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked. To be the friend of the one, is of necessity to be the enemy of the other. I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels. Never was there a clearer case of "stealing the livery of the court of Heaven to serve the devil in." I am filled with unutterable loathing when I contemplate the religious pomp and show, together with the horrible inconsistencies, which every where surround me."

That was only a portion of a condemnation of a dual Christianity in the land... our land unfortunately. Frederick Douglass wrote the above words in the 1840's; if we removed but one word, slaveholding, from the quote, we might have trouble placing the words in the 19th Century. However, the more we learn about the darkness around us now, the more we realize that those words, slaveholding included, fit our times just as well. We have a Christianity of Convenience competing for hearts with the Christianity of Christ. Is it any wonder that Jesus prayed that all future believers would be one in Him? We have a good reason for confusion in our faith - there's a whole lot of somewhat different messages out there!

The True Light did come into the world though; heralded by John the Baptist and carried to the nations by 12 disciples and many others. We have only to believe in Jesus, read His word, and pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance. God will make sure we are not deceived.

I want to read all the words Jesus had about God taking care of my needs, healing the nations, and loving me. However, I also must read the words Jesus spoke about the world hating me because it hated Him first, how persecution will come, and the ones about suffering for Christ. I cannot just read the words that I want to read. When Jesus ascended to Heaven, He didn't leave us at a free amusement park to have fun until His glorious return. Part of me wishes He had done something like that, but instead Jesus left us with a group of leaders who talked about suffering and wrote letters telling us to arm ourselves for combat with God's armor. The True Light gave it to us straight; and to me at least, having to take up the full armor of God doesn't speak to a world of health, wealth, and constant happiness at all times. We may get to enjoy all three of those for a season, but the times of testing will come as well.

Oh dear! I think I blew my 10-minute time limit today. Sorry, try to read real fast. :-)

Bucky

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