When the Lights Go Out

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and

A light unto my path.”

Psalm 119:105

What do you do when the lights go out?  You light a candle or you get a flashlight!

Now apply that to life.  There are moments when life just seems to go dark… moments when we just can’t see the path ahead.  “What do I do next? Which way do I go from here?”  As a pastor I have heard people ask these kinds of questions.  I often hear them from someone whose marriage is falling apart.  Perhaps there has be infidelity.  He or is she is wondering, “What should I do?  Should I get a divorce?  Should I stick with him even if he doesn’t want to stick with me?  Should I fight for my marriage or should I flee?  What do I do?”  Sometimes it’s a person who’s lost a job or a college student trying to choose a path through life.  “What should I do?  Which way should I go?”  I could go on, there are just many moments in life when the path ahead… even the next step seems shrouded in darkness.

So what do you do when the lights go out in life… when the path ahead is hard to see?  You take hold of the candle and the flashlight that God has provided you.  That candle… that flashlight is God’s Word.  “Thy Word,” the Scriptures tell us, “is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path.”  The Word of God is both lamp and light.  Think about those two images.  A lamp in the ancient world illuminated your feet – it showed you the best place to take your next step.  The law of God is like that.  It may not tell you what career to choose or new job to seek.  But it will guide you morally down that path.  It will tell you that truthfulness and integrity are keys in taking that next step.  It will tell you that “storing up treasures on earth” are not the best foundation on which to build your life – since “moth and rust” can destroy them and “thieves” can break in and steal them.  The Word of God won’t tell you if your marriage can be saved but it will tell you that if at all possible a marriage is worth fighting for… The Word really is a lamp unto our feet.

The Word is also a “Light to our path.”  That’s what a flashlight does.  It shines out ahead and shows us the right way to go.  God’s Word does that. God’s Word of Gospel holds out ahead of us the promise of where God is taking us, of the future He has in store for us, of what He desires for us.  God’s Word tells us that He wants us to have life and have it abundantly.  God’s word promises “treasures in heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy and thieves cannot break in and steal.”  God’s word says He has prepared a place for us in His Father’s house.  God’s word promises that His chief desire when we take the wrong path is to forgive us and set us on the right path.  He so desires to work all things together for good in our lives that He gave his one and only Son.  His Son died and rose again to open the pathway to life for us.

What do you do when everything seems dark in your life?  Take hold of God’s word.  Pick it up and read it, study it, take it to heart.  It’s a lamp that will help you with next steps and when you take wrong steps.  It’s a light to your path… a light that gives you hope… a light you can trust will lead you to the future God has promised.  If you ever needed good reason to go to Bible study or daily read His word – I just gave you two good ones.  

Is Your Welcome Mat Out?

Revelation 22:17 (ESV)

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

This morning as I walked out of the apartment, my eyes took notice of our “welcome mat.”   I thought to myself, I wonder how welcome people really feel when they ring our doorbell.  What happens when someone rings our doorbell is that Molly - our normally lazy, gentle, quiet dog - goes nuts.  She barks and barks and barks until she finds out who is at the door.  Hers are not quiet little yips.  Molly’s are loud, “I am the watchdog,” full throated barks.  I am sure that anyone, who does not know Molly, hearing her barks as they ring our bell – probably doesn’t feel welcome..  Our welcome mat is right there, but some may wonder – “Do they really mean it?”

That got me to thinking about how we as Christians welcome people.  Is our welcome mat out?”  That’s so important.  After all our God and Savior is a welcoming God.  There are any number of things Jesus said and did that make this obvious.  When people tried to silence the blind man in Jericho, Jesus commanded them to bring him.  When the disciples tried to turn away mothers with babies, Jesus said, “Suffer the little children to come to me and forbid them not.”  When Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see Jesus, Jesus called him down out of that tree.  “Zacchaeus, I must stay at your house today.”    Again and again our Savior invited people.  “Come unto me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”   Jesus being crucified for our sins and raised to life again was God opening His arms and inviting us.  “I,” Jesus promised, “when I am lifted up from the earth will draw all men to myself.”  In the gift of His Son God was definitely putting out the welcome mat to one and all.

So, I ask again, is your welcome mat out?  After all, as believers, you and I are Christ’s ambassadors in this world.  He invites and welcomes people to Himself through us.  How we greet people at church is so very important.  I often hear that this church or that is unfriendly.  The reality however is that it’s not churches who are unfriendly.  It’s people.  So, when you see someone new at church do you introduce yourself, welcome them, ask if you can show them around, or do you walk right by?   When you see someone you know but can’t remember their name, do you pretend not to see them?  Or do you show you care about who they are by humbly admitting your own frail memory and reintroducing yourself.  When you see a new person struggling to find their way through the hymnal and bulletin, do you ignore them or do you offer to help?  When you notice someone is missing from worship, do you wonder what the pastor is doing about that?  Or do you call them to let them know you care and see how they are doing?  Welcoming people at worship is every believer’s responsibility – not just the ushers or the greeters or the Pastors.   

Let’s take it away from Sunday morning worship.  We are Christ’s ambassadors everywhere we go.  So what do people encounter when they meet you – a loud scary bark or a welcome mat?  Is the door to your office always closed or is it often open, inviting people in?    Do you appear to people to be too busy to talk, or do you communicate, “I have plenty of time, sit down. let’s visit?”  I have a friend who is a very busy Christian counselor. However his desk is always clean and cleared off.  I asked him why.  He said, “I want people to feel relaxed and welcomed.  A cluttered desk says, “I’m really too busy for you.”   You can see I don’t always do so good at that.  When you see someone you know at a store, do you  greet them and stop for a moment to visit, or do you walk right by hoping they didn’t notice you?  When your kids want to play with you, or your teens want to talk to you are  you just too tired, or do you perk up and pay attention?

Now I know that most of us are probably good and bad at welcoming people.  I didn’t share this blog today to make people feel guilty.  I just know that I need to be more aware.  I also know how grateful I am that our God is welcoming, loving, gracious and forgiving.    He is patient with my impatient barking.  He is the same with you.  He comes daily into our lives to clean up the clutter, to gently hush our bark, to sweep off the front porch of our lives and to put out once again the mat that says to one and all – You are welcome here.  Come on in and meet Jesus. 

The Light Shines!

John 1:5 (ESV)

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

I know that this is only my second January in Germany, but I have to tell you – this is the hardest time of the year for me.  Why?  Because of the darkness.   Right now the sun goes down around 4pm and doesn’t come up again until after 8am.  The daylight hours are short, cloudy and rainy.  I can’t even imagine how people that live further north deal with daylight hours that are even shorter.  I now have a greater appreciation for people who suffer with SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder.  This is a depression that comes on from lack of sunshine.  Don’t get me wrong – I am not depressed but I do miss the sunshine.  IN the mornings, it’s so dark that some mornings I have trouble forcing myself out of bed..  At times the physical darkness is oppressive.

That’s also true spiritually.  The darkness of sin is just as oppressive, really more so.  I saw it today in the sadness of a woman who just laid her husband’s ashes to rest in the cemetery.  I read it in the pleas for prayer from a woman whose husband just got home after a month in the hospital.  Last night he had to turn right around and go back to ICU because of multiple blood clots.  I have witnessed it in spouse after spouse standing in my office devastated because their husband or wife wants out of their marriage.  We have all experienced it in sinful habits we hate and yet continue.  Guilt, worry, fear, grief, discouragement, depression, sadness – all are words that describe the power of the darkness.  The darkness of sin is oppressive.

There is one thing that sustains me in January.  The days are getting longer… a little bit each day.  Spring and Summer are coming.  Come June the sun will be shining at 5am and won’t go down till after 10pm.  The cafés of Frankfurt will set up tables outside.  New flowers will grow.  Trees will leaf out..  The weather will get warmer.  Germany’s beautiful Spring and Summer will once again come.  I can’t wait.  There is no doubt.  The sun will shine.  The darkness will recede.  How do I know?  Because it happens every year… because it is already happening right now.  Every day, minute by minute the days are already getting longer. 

That’s what Epiphany does for us.  Epiphany means to make manifest  January 6, the day of Epiphany is the day we celebrate the visit of the Magi – the men from the East who followed the light of the Savior’s Star.  Epiphany holds out the promise of light and hope, peace and forgiveness, new life now and forever.  Epiphany says “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.   That light – the true light that gives light to everyman… the true light who forgives all our sins… the light that conquered death and rose again- that light is Jesus Christ.  He “shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Last year I messaged a friend who lives in Alaska to ask him how to deal with the darkness.  He said, “Get outside in the light as much as possible.”  What great advice!  How do you deal with the darkness of sin, of grief, worry and fear?  Spend as much time as you can in light of Jesus.  Confess your sins… pray to Him… read his word.  For “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. “  A Blessed Epiphany to all of you!