| Sermon Thought by PKD Lee |
Matt 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
“Help! Where did the darkness come from? Bring light!”, I scream as I see the difficult situations around me. This is the shout of people in the world, as they blame the darkness on the people around them for their corruption, misbehaviour etc.
Jesus challenged us to be lights in the world, eliminating darkness. That means we are not to complain of darkness, but rather we are to be the solution to darkness. How does the darkness in the world eclipse our light?
The moment my love for people is replaced by unforgiveness, anger, sense of injustice, my light has disappeared and become darkness. Why does this happen? James 4:1-4 gives one of the reasons for this.
James 4:1-4 - Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
When someone takes away something I desire, my anger rises and my light disappears. The problem is as James puts it, friendship with the world! Chasing success, money, wealth, having a good reputation etc. These are the source of the darkness we spread around. As James says James 1:14-15 – “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
So worldly desires are the source of darkness. What about spiritual desires? I want to do evangelism, but am forbidden, do I get angry and fight? No! I may continue to do evangelism like the apostles did, but I do not get angry or fight. It is in this context that we need to understand Jesus’ command to love our enemies. How do we ensure that we do not create darkness in our lives and in the lives of others? Jesus commands us to repent, turn away from the world and turn to the kingdom of God.
Stop running after the things of the world, but use the things of the world for His kingdom. We shed light by love and not by anger, even righteous anger. In every situation, let the light of our love shine.