Text: Matthew 5:14
Is your light growing dim? Sometimes Christians can feel that way. Pro-life Christians can be especially frustrated at indifference and lack of involvement by others. You may feel as if you’re not making a difference shining the light of life into this dark world. Need some encouragement? Need some motivation to keep going or to get going? Read on! This article is for you.
Jesus—the Light of the World
The prophecy about Jesus was clear. “The people who walk in darkness will see a bright light. The light will shine on those who live in the land of death’s shadow” (Isaiah 9:2). Jesus made it clear that he was the fulfillment of that prophecy. “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). “I am the light that has come into the world so that everyone who believes in me will not live in the dark” (John 12:46). We dare call that dark Friday when Jesus died “Good” because the darkness of sin and death met their match on that cross. Jesus’ horrible suffering and death were necessary as he paid the price for humanity’s sin. But they could not snuff out the Light of the World! The light of his resurrection shattered the darkness, and as Jesus said, there’s no reason for people to stay in the dark anymore! What a message of hope! How in the world is that wonderful message to spread?
You—the Light of the World
Jesus was clear about the answer to that question. “You are light for the world” (Matthew 5:14). The followers of Jesus are given the responsibility and the privilege of sharing this wonderful message of light and hope. Now from what I read about such lights in the New Testament, that means more than just sitting around kind of glowing! There are action words associated with the children of light. ”Produce” is an action word used by Paul. Children of light produce “everything that is good, that has God’s approval, and that is true” (Ephesians 5:9). In almost the same sentence Paul uses another action word, “expose.” “Have nothing to do with the useless works that darkness produces. Instead expose them for what they are” (5:11). Children of light produce what is good and expose what is not good.
The writer to the Hebrews makes a similar contrast with the action word “stand.” “Remember the past, when you first learned the truth. You endured [literally “stood your ground”] a lot of hardship and pain. At times you were publicly insulted and mistreated. At times you associated [literally “stood side by side”] with people who were treated this way” (Hebrews 10:32). Children of light take a stand against insult and persecution, and children of light stand with those who are mistreated.
Now let’s put these two pictures from Ephesians and Hebrews together and look at the contrast they present. First, children of light are to take a stand and expose the fruitless deeds of darkness. We are not to dismiss the deeds of darkness with the worn out, illogical cliché, “Well, I wouldn’t do such deeds myself but I must defend the right of others to do so.” We are not to overlook the deeds of darkness as irrelevant, as if they have nothing to do with the Church and her mission. In an age of relative truth, someone has to take a stand and say, “There is a truth.” In an age of moral pluralism, someone has to take a stand and say “Some things are morally wrong.” In an age where abortion is called “a right” and “a choice” and “a sacrifice” and even “self-defense,” someone has to stand up and call it wrong! In an age where sex outside of the one-flesh union of husband and wife is called, “reproductive freedom” and “natural” and “moral” and “safe,” someone needs to stand up and call it wrong! In an age when hastening someone’s death is called “good” and “merciful” and “compassionate,” someone needs to stand up and call it wrong!
Two months before the Republican Convention nominated him for president, Abraham Lincoln, speaking of slavery to some of his opponents said, “Why are you so careful, so tender of this one wrong and no other? … There is no place where you will allow it to be even called wrong! We must not call it wrong in the Free States, because it is not there, and we must not call it wrong in the Slave States because it is there; we must not call it wrong in politics because that is bringing morality into politics, and we must not call it wrong in the pulpit because that is bringing politics into religion … There is no single place, according to you, where this wrong thing can properly be called wrong.” But there is a place, there is a people, the children of light, who must take a stand and expose the deeds of darkness.
You are the light of the world, but not just to bring those dastardly doers of dark deeds to their downfall. That brings us to the second point of our contrast. The children of light are to take a stand with those who are hurting and produce “everything that is good, that has God’s approval, and that is true.” Pro-lifers, you are not just anti-abortion and anti-euthanasia, you are for life. As children of light you desire to stand with those not yet born, to speak up for them. You desire to stand with the lives of children and teach them the value that God gives to all life. You desire to stand with young people to respect them and help them respect and protect God’s precious gift of sexuality. You desire to stand with women and men facing a crisis pregnancy, and with women and men experiencing the aftermath of an abortion. You want to love them and offer the forgiveness and hope of Jesus Christ. You desire to stand with the elderly and people who have disabilities or terminal illnesses, to love them, care for them, and to be with them in their suffering.
You are not glow-in-the-dark symbols of light. You are the light of the world and you are to let your light shine so that people may see, through you, The Light of the world and praise him and find in him the kind of hope and healing that is not available anywhere else.
Be Encouraged—You Are Lights of the World
It takes courage to stand against the darkness. It takes courage to stand with those hurting in the darkness. That’s why we want to include a little “light physics.” For centuries there was debate about whether light existed as a wave or as particles. Albert Einstein came along in 1905 and answered the question by saying, “Yes.” Light, he said, was made up of tiny bundles of energy called photons, and when those photons are all zipping along together, light behaves as if it is a wave.
Individually, you are all little Christian, pro-life photons! But you are never alone. The Bible doesn’t even leave room for such a thought. There is no “child” of light, only “children of light.” The Bible doesn’t talk about a “son of light,” only “sons of light.” There is no “person of light,” only “people of light.” When Jesus said, “You are the light of the world,” the “you” is plural!
When you are out there being the light of the world, taking a stand against and a stand with, you are never alone. When you are volunteering in the caring pregnancy center or working in post-abortion counseling, there are others like you volunteering somewhere else. When you are teaching the children about the value of life in Sunday school or a chapel opening, there are others doing the same. When you are giving out chastity tracts to teens and respecting their ability to make God-pleasing decisions, others are handing out similar tracts. When you are in the nursing home or hospice center or in front of the abortion clinic or in the life chain, others across the country are there as well.
Alone you cannot be the light of the world nor the light of this country shining in the darkness of disrespect for the sanctity and dignity of life. But you are not alone. Together with so many others, you are a wave of light, a light set on a hill, a light shining in a dark place. And right in the midst of you is The Light of the world, the risen and living Jesus Christ. He is the source of your Light. He is the source of your courage to take a stand against the deeds of darkness. He is the source of your compassion to share with those hurting in the darkness. To Him and Him alone, be the glory.