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Location: Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States

Sunday, January 23, 2005

1/21/05 Matthew 4:12-23 Let's Do It!

1/23/2005
3rd Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Matthew 4:12-23
Sermon Title: Let’s Do It!

Please join me in prayer. Eternal God, pour out your Spirit upon us that we might be aware of your presence in our midst, that we might be attentive to your Word, and that we might be faithful always to your way, through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen
Today’s Gospel reading is traditionally read every year on this Sunday, the Third Sunday after Epiphany. Most pastors like to use it because it appears to focus on how we are to respond to Jesus’ call to follow him.
Every time my pastor spoke on this particular Gospel lesson he would remind the congregation that just like the disciples left everything, we were to also to be prepared to leave everything to follow Jesus. I would nod my head in agreement, but I knew deep down in my heart that the chance of my leaving everything and following Jesus was slim to none.
Oh, I use to be able to justify my not following Jesus’ call. My favorite was, after all Jesus had personally called them. I mean he was there as a live person, God himself. How could they resist his invitation? Why I am sure that if Jesus were alive today, and he personally asked me to follow him, I would drop everything and follow him. I just know that I would, and then the reality of the Law struck me as I realized that I probably would not leave everything for Jesus.
Some of you that know of my background might be thinking that is exactly what I did, when Penny and I closed our business, moved to Saint Louis, and I start attending the seminary. It appears that I did leave everything behind to follow Jesus, but what you do not know is that Jesus through his Holy Word had been calling me to be a pastor for more years than I would like to admit to.
The way I see it, is that Jesus did more than just call me, he forced me through events in my life to follow him. I mean I dug in my heels, even when I knew that I was to be a pastor. I just could not leave my security behind. It was not easy, but God in his perfect wisdom saw to it that I finally saw it his way.
I am sharing this with you this morning, not so that you think I am someone special, but because I am not special by any stretch of the imagination. I am just a forgiven sinful human being on a spiritual journey like every one of you here this morning. That is why I am going to approach our Gospel reading in a way that is probably differently than you might have ever heard it preached before. For you see I think we focus so much on Jesus’ call to the disciples and their response that we miss what it is really about; Jesus the light of our salvation.
This text is the fulfillment of our Old Testament text, Isaiah 9:1-2, where Isaiah writes. “Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan-- 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
Matthew like John uses the themes of light and darkness to contrast Jesus, who is sinless with those who are of a sinful nature, those who follow Satan. Jesus is the Light. Not a light like the kind of light a light bulb gives off, a light that will burn out, but a light that drives out the darkness of sin, a light that gives a believer wisdom, a wisdom that only followers of Jesus can have, the wisdom of faith.
Saint John tells us in his Gospel that the darkness could not overcome the Light. What that means to each of you today is that there is no darkness in your life that the perfect Light of Jesus cannot overcome. There is none, for the Light of Jesus Christ still burns brightly, waiting to illuminate the darkest corners of your life, even those places where the scary things live.
The problem is that too many times we think that we really do not need the Light of Jesus in our lives, for our lives really do not look that bad. We can manage. We get really good at hiding our darkness, the darkness that threatens to overcome us. We think we will be okay, and then the darkness closes in around us. A loved one dies, our spouse says, “I do not love you any more.” A child says, “Sure, I smoke a little pot, so what”. And the list goes on and on.
Darkness closes in and it becomes just like when we were little children. Only now it is not monsters hiding under the bed, or in the closet, it is life itself that we are afraid of. The darkness takes many forms now, and the Light seems to have grown dimmer.
But has the Light grown dimmer? If it appears that way, maybe it is because you have put distance between yourself and the Light by not being in Bible study and regular church attendance. Or maybe it is because you have put too many things between yourself and the Light, things like the gathering of more goodies to add to your ever-growing stack of possessions, those things that you have to keep working harder to keep.
If you feel that the Light of Jesus is not shining very bright in your life right now, let me give you some good news. The Light has not grown dimmer; it is still as strong as ever. It is still there, lighting up the darkness.
Just like green plants instinctively grow toward the light our exposure to the light of Jesus calls us to grow toward him, to live in the life saving light of his love. It is only in his light that we are fulfilled as human beings, as we learn how to use the gifts and talents that God has given to us, his people. We no longer have to remain in the darkness of our fears, our faults, our failures, our sins.
Earlier I had mentioned how we are still fearful, that our fears had changed from being fearful of the monsters under the bed or in the closet, to being fearful of life itself. It affects our lives, how we relate to each other and we need to understand that we do not have to live in fear, for the Light is always there.
I want to share with you a story that might help you, if you are fearful of life. Every summer when I was young I would spend time at my grandparents’ house in Illinois. My bedroom was in the basement, and boy was that basement dark. It was a perfect place for monsters to hide. I will tell you that I was not going to give what ever monster was living under the bed the chance to get me, so as soon as I shut the door at the top of the steps, I would run down the steps, flip the light switch off and jump into bed. I would then pull the covers tight around me so that no feet or hands would accidentally hang over the edge. There was no way that I was going to be grabbed by a monster.
One night I was awakened in the middle of the night by a noise, actually more than one noise, for that basement was noisy as the furnace came on, and the water pipes started cooling. I was scared to death, but I laid there until it got light and I heard my grandparents moving around upstairs.
I jumped out of bed, being sure to not put my foot near the edge of the bed, you know, just in case the monster was still there, and bolted upstairs. At the breakfast table I told my grandpa about how poorly I slept, but not about the monster under the bed. My grandpa just smiled, for he was a wise old man.
He looked at me and said, “Dennis, you did not have to lay down there and be afraid of the dark all the time.” You see he knew. “You could have come upstairs and sat with me. I knew that it might be too scary for you in the basement so I slept on the couch in the room at the top of the steps. All you had to do was open the door to the basement and because I left the light on you would have seen me on the couch, you were never alone.”
I will never forget that, there I was, suffering needlessly with the only thing separating me from the comfort of my grandpa and the light was a door. The light was there all the time, my grandpa was there all the time. I just could not see the light or my grandpa because you see when I went down into the basement I had shut the door. I was the one who had blocked off the light, the light that would have allowed me to sleep peacefully, to not be afraid.
Is that where you are? Have you been shutting the door of your heart to the light of Jesus? Maybe you have because you think that you do not really need his Light, after all life is good. Maybe you are afraid of what the Light of Jesus would do if you let it fully illuminate your heart, your life.
Whatever excuse you might have for not living your life in the full Light of Jesus, do not be afraid to open that door. Just do it, trust in him, for the Light of Jesus Christ still burns brightly, waiting to illuminate the darkest corners of your life, even the places where the scary things live. When his wonderful comforting Light washes over you, you will be free to live life to the fullness he wants you to live it, now and in eternity. Amen