Don’t let the lights go out…

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the world. Live as children of light…                        Ephesians 5:8

 

Are things getting better or are they getting worse?

It might simply be a question of optimism or pessimism, but I tend to think it is so much more.

One leads to hope, the other to despair.

One leads to action, the other to resignation.

One assumes a God who is present, active, on the move; the other sees Him as distant, uninvolved, waiting.

And if things are only getting worse then what in the world is He waiting for?

 

Are things getting better or are they getting worse?

You can take it generally as it applies to all the world.

Or you can take it personally as it applies to your own life; your own direction; your particular circumstances.

 

Are things getting better or are they getting worse?

When I polled a gathering of adolescents (HHYGers) the vast majority of hands raised went toward worse.

I find myself wondering why.

Do they speak from personal experience, another confirmation that they believe themselves to be in a struggle of simple survival?

Is this an effort to “toe the party line,” an example of giving the “church answer” in Sunday School?   Have we conditioned them to see their world as digressing, unraveling, darkening?

 

I’m not sure I have a definitive answer. I’m not sure there is a definitive answer. Trying to figure out why a teenager does or says or thinks is as convoluted as trying to decipher the same about myself   Sometimes there is no clear answer. Perhaps it is all of the above (or none of the above).

 

Still, regardless of their rationale, in this case it is difficult to completely dispute their conclusion. When God created, fashioned, made he declared it all to be “good.” One certainly wonders if He would say the same today. It’s clearly not all good. But does this necessarily mean that it’s not good at all?

 

A case might be made that in some sense things are indeed better than they once were…even in the beginning. When He created he asked those he had made to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Surely He could have filled the earth on His own but He asked us to participate…and we have. Mission accomplished, or at least much further along than it was…in the beginning. Progress was HIS idea. And since the time of His original fashioning some pretty amazing things have happened. Countless songs have been written, many of which declare the praises of the One who created. Countless stories have been lived and told. Countless innovations. Countless “advancements.” Countless love stories. Countless acts of kindness and mercy and compassion. It hasn’t all been bad. It’s not all bad now. In fact in some ways it may be better than it was, or at least more complete, which, by the way, is what is so often meant by the word translated “perfect” throughout the Bible…complete.

 

Is it possible that we live in the context of two divergent but simultaneous trajectories, one demonstrating the catastrophic effects of a fall that is plummeting and spiraling and reeking more and more havoc, the other steadily and methodically climbing and advancing according to His design and as a testimony to His continued presence and involvement?

 

In this conversation the contrast between light and darkness has often been used as an analogy. In some confounding but unmistakable way the world may be getting darker and brighter at the same time. The difference between the two is as much within as it is without.

 

We are either getting brighter or darker. It’s as if we are born with a thousand tiny lights within, capable of personally becoming brighter or darker, capable of either contributing to the global brightening or the darkening. The things we do and say and think have the potential either to bring light or to take it away. The temptation is to assume that the difference between the two is a private affair but we are all far too connected for that. The judicial system of our country is not satisfactory to describe things as they are. The idea that we are free and have the right to do and say and think as we please as long as our decisions do not infringe upon the same rights of those around us lulls us into thinking that our apparent isolation keeps us from really affecting those around us. Radical independence is a fallacy. EVERYTHING that we do or say or even think affects those around us. Like a string of twinkling Christmas lights, when one of our own tiny lights goes out so do several others. When a light within us is extinguished there is an inevitable series of further consequences. Those who love us, those who look up to us, even casual acquaintances are all affected. Lights go out. Darkness gains ground. Things get worse.

But the reverse is also true. When a light comes on in us, other lights return. Light expels darkness. Things get better.

 

With all of this in mind there are two important things that we must understand.

 

1) Trust turns on the lights.

Live as children of light…and find out what pleases the Lord. (5:8,10)

Perhaps nothing extinguishes the light within us more quickly or rampantly than rationalization. We assume that something is only worth doing (or avoiding) if the rationale for it makes sense to us. There was a time for each of us when we reached out toward a brilliant flickering fire, or a sweet smelling stovetop or an inviting power socket. Someone cried out for us to “STOP.” We didn’t understand why at the time. Now we get it (either because we waited until we got wiser or we reached out anyway and still bear the memories and scars). Living as “children of light” compels us to trust the One who beckons, by responding with obedience even when we don’t fully “get it.” We choose sexual purity even though so much within and around us provides rationale to “go for it.” We choose holy living even when we can come up with all sorts of excuses. We choose to believe that what He wants (what pleases Him) is better than anything we could come up with on our own. And we obey. And our hearts get brighter. And the world around us does too.

 

2) It’s NOT too late.
Wake up, O sleeper

rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you. (5:14)

As unnerving as darkness can be, it does not have to be permanent. Grace says that lights can come back on. Light has come into the world. The one who said, “Let there be light” has not forgotten those words. In fact He sent that WORD and continues to send light even still into the darkest recesses. Things CAN get better. If God has anything to say about it things WILL get better.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts… – 2 Corinthians 4:6

 

But though His light expels darkness it is not forcefully invasive…it waits for an invitation.


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