Light in the Darkness

The following video transcript has been lightly edited

  We live in a world in which tragedy strikes our own lives, those that we love, and we see it in the news all over the globe. When tragedy strikes, we often wonder, where is God, and how do I respond to the tragedy that's before us? Is it possible that there's still an all loving and good God in the midst of a world that is broken like this?

So, what I want to talk about today is how Christ's entrance into the world brings tidings of comfort and joy, even in the face of tragedy. John says that Jesus is the light of the world. And that's true. The light in darkness. Christ's arrival and what we see as God is revealed through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ are three things.

One darkness is the enemy of God, and we can hate that darkness with a perfect hatred. Two, that Christ offers us light, gives us vision to see hope even in the midst of tragedy. And lastly, that hope that we experience and who we understand ourselves to be in the world to be in light of Christ sets our path to be a people who live reflecting light in the world.

So let me sketch a few of these ideas out for you. So that as you might either be figuring out how to respond to tragedy or care for someone in the midst of tragedy, you can try to make sense of it yourself. You know, one of the things that happens in the midst of tragedy is that people question God's goodness.

Does God exist? And we say things like, well, because of the evil and suffering in the world, a good and loving God can't exist. To be candid, I understand the emotional response to that. But the challenge with it is, if that's true, then the life we live is neither good nor bad. It is just a thing, and our experience of life is nothing more than chemical and electrical responses to an environment.

And it's all quite meaningless. We will come and go, and that will be all that there is. But I think that each of us resonates with this idea that there would be something more, that this life is just a shadow of a fuller life. And in fact, this is what the scriptures teach us. That creation was created and is free.

And in the midst of that freedom is in bondage to the, to a decaying world. What we see is that decay and that evil and sin and death in the world brings and shatters the lives of people. And that God has come not to appreciate that, not to give that value, but those things are God's enemy. And that is what God has come to rescue us from.

Jesus tells us that the thief comes to kill, to kill and destroy, but that he comes so that we might have life and have it to the fullest. The scriptures over and over again talk about how evil and death are the enemy of God. And in 1 Corinthians, we see God conquer death, and we're reminded that there's a future coming in which all things are set right and resurrected.

And so when you experience tragedy, you can hate that tragedy. You can hate that evil. You can hate that sin. You can hate that darkness. And then, in fact, it's a good and healthy thing for you to hate it, because those things are God's enemy, and they're not. Not what God desires for you or this creation.

And so one of the things that we might want to do is we might ask ourselves, do I give myself permission to hate the evil, death, and sin in this world, because those are not things of God.

Second, what we see is we see Christ come and conquer these things. So creation was created freely. Creation is not a full extension of God. Creation is something altogether different. What we see in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ is we see that God doesn't abandon creation, but rather comes to save creation. And as Christ enters in, Christ overthrows sin and death and evil by experiencing them, by taking them on God's self. And of course, throughout Jesus ministry, we see that Jesus is no friend of sin, no friend of evil, no friend of disease.

And in fact, he attacks them and overcomes them and brings healing and offers forgiveness, reminding us that when Christ come, Christ reveals and gives light and life and grace and mercy. And because we have seen Christ's life, death, and resurrection, it inspires Paul to say that he is confident that neither power nor death nor evil nor any circumstance can separate us from the love of God.

And so what that does is it frees us to be a people who don't have to fear death, who don't have to fear evil, who don't have to try to justify it, but rather we get to be a people of hope, offering the good news. That God is bringing restoration. There's a room in my house that has a midnight, has a, has a dark out shade on it, and it does a fantastic job. That thing can be closed, and it could be twelve o'clock, and all, and the room is dark. But as you pull it up, light floods in. That's where we are, in terms of chronological time. Christ has come, Christ has begun to pull the curtains back, to lift the shades up, and the light is pouring into the world. And so that goodness and beauty and love that you see, that is the true reality.

We are not yet at the time in which the light invades everything and obliterates death, evil and brokenness, but that time is coming. And so you and I can live with a sense of confidence. We don't have to think that everything happens for a reason. We don't have to believe that there is no hope. Rather, we can believe that Christ has come and that Christ has risen, that Christ will come again. And because of that, we have a future hope so that we can offer it to the world.

Lastly, as Paul continues to build on these ideas in Romans, he offers a quick sketch of how to live in a world that still has darkness in it. And he says, let love be genuine. Hate what is evil. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Be patient. Persevere in prayer.

This is a quick how to. If you imagine when you get a TV, there's two options. There's the five step quick start so you can begin watching TV. Or there's the manual that you could read through and understand all the features. If you just want a quick start guide of how to live in the midst of a broken world, this is it. Let love be genuine. Hate what is evil. Cling to what is good. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Be patient. Persist in prayer. Endure suffering. Get along with everyone as much as you can. And reflect that light of Christ. Because we believe that the world That as it is now is good, but it is broken and there's a time coming when it will be restored.

And so you and I want to continue to push forward. And so let me ask you, when you think about that quick start guide, which one of those things could you maybe take a step in? Maybe it's hating what's evil. Maybe that's a hard thing for you. Maybe it's allowing your love to be genuine. Maybe it's weeping with those who weep. The idea of entering into the suffering of others is hard for you. But each of us have a school, a workplace, a community, a neighborhood, a family. And so we get to be those reflectors of light. In the midst of a world that is still filled with darkness. But we know that that darkness is receding. That in Christ's life, death, and resurrection that it has been illuminated, and that the darkness is receding and will one day be gone, and the created world will be restored, and we will live in a place of harmony, in a place of peace, in a place of radiant beauty and love and goodness. And so until that time, we want to be the people that reflect that light and that hope even in the midst of tragedy. I hope this is helpful for you. If you're going through something really hard and you want to reach out, please go ahead and reach out. kyle@kylepipes.Com or Kyle@gracecommunitysyr.org. And I would love to engage you. So I hope you're having a good week and I look forward to talking to you more soon.

Take care.