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I remember one time hearing a mother describe her children by saying that "they areas different as day and night."

            "The Light That Makes Everything Visible'"       March 2, 2008.

            Cicero United Methodist Church           Ephesians 5: 8-14         Jack Keating

            I remember one time hearing a mother describe her children by saying that "they areas different as day and night."

            And in the first lesson this morning, we hear Paul using the same contrast between darkness and light when he compares the old life without Christ with the new life in Christ. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul is speaking to believers when he says, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord." What he's saying is that before we come to Christ we are dead in our trespasses and sins and we are children of the Evil One. We are without any light whatsoever and we are content to be darkness. But then something happens. We have by God's grace been made "light in the Lord." And because Jesus came to save us we are in Christ and we are now light.

            And the really interesting thing here is that Paul doesn't say we are IN the light or IN the dark ... he says formerly we WERE the dark and we have now BECOME the light. I started wondering exactly why he chose to express himself in that way. And then I remembered that Jesus said, "I AM the light of the world." And so we, who were once children of darkness, have now become children of light.

            It seems to me that this Lenten season is a good time to evaluate ourselves in the light of this scripture. And we living as children of light should be living? Are we shining brightly in a darkened world or have we grown so dim that we (and the light we cast) can hardly be distinguished from non-Christians? Let's look a little closer at this scripture and see how we might apply it to our lives this week.

            THE CALL TO BE CHILDREN Of THE LIGHT

            In 1 Peter 2:9 scripture says, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praise of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light."

            How many times have we been tempted to put ourselves down by saying things like, "Oh, I'm a nobody. I'm just a loser. I don't have any faith. I'm just an ordinary run-of-the-mill Christian. I don't have any talents and can't do much for the Lord..."

            But friends, that's not scriptural. Each of us has been called to live different lives from those who are still groping in darkness and sin. We have the responsibility to show up in the world by living a contrasting way of life - by showing the world that Christ really does make a difference in how we live our daily lives. Wherever we go, we can cast an illuminating beam of light into the dark corners of the world while being a positive influence on those who are still in darkness. But in order to do this Paul reminds us, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." (Romans 12:2) And this is not some overnight happening but rather an on-going process as we seek to live out our lives each day.

            There were these two brothers who chose to earn their money by stealing sheep and selling them. As happens to all thieves, one day they were caught. And rather than putting them to death the villagers decided to brand the two thieves on the forehead with the letters S.T. for sheep thief. The action so embarrassed one of the brothers that he left town and was never heard from again. The other brother, however, was so filled with remorse that he stayed in town and tried to reconcile himself to the villagers he had wronged. At first the villagers were skeptical and most of them wouldn't have anything to do with him. But he was determined to make restitution. Whenever there was sickness, the sheep thief was there to help take care of the sick person. Whenever there was work that needed to be done, the sheep thief showed up to help. He was always there to lend a helping hand and he soon became an integral part of the community. His life was lived for others and as a consequence he was a friend of all and became well respected.

            Years later a traveler came through town and was sitting and eating lunch at a little cafe. He noticed a man with the strange brand on his forehead and people would stop by to say hello and even the children seemed to like him.

            The stranger's curiosity caused him to ask the cafe owner,"What does the strange brand on his forehead stand for?"

            The cafe owner thought for a minute and said, "It happened so long ago that I don't rightly remember. But I think it stands for SAINT."

            IS IT POSSIBLE TO LIVE AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT?

            How do we go about living as children of light? Well first of all, we have to want to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. Our actions should reflect our faith. We should try to steer clear of questionable things as well as things that we know for certain are just plain, old, sin. Paul implores us to live as children of light ... to produce the fruit of light. Our actions need to correspond to light. And, as a result, Paul names three things that are produced: goodness, righteousness, and truth. And that's in stark contrast to the by­products of darkness: malice, injustice, and falsehood.

            Goodness comes from a Greek word that describes love in action. It refers to giving of oneself. In 1 Thessalonians Paul reminds us to "Always pursue what is good both for yourself and for all." (1 Thessalonians 5:15)

            A life of goodness doesn't just happen. If you don't practice self-sacrificing love in the little daily things it sure won't happen for the big things. Christ in our lives makes a difference, and because of this we are gradually changing to the point that we make a difference.

            A story is told that Benjamin Franklin wanted to convince the citizens of Philadelphia to light the streets at night to protect against crime and as a convenience for evening travelers. When he failed to influence them by his words, he bought an attractive lantern and placed it on along bracket in front of his house. Each evening he lit the wick and his neighbors noticed the warm glow in front of his house. Passersby appreciated the light and soon others began placing lanterns in front of their homes too. And eventually, the city recognized the need for well-lit streets.

            Our call from Jesus is that our lives might shine so that others will see the need for God's light in their lives, as well.

            Walking in the light not only produces goodness which reaches out to others around us, but it produces righteousness. Righteousness means living in right standing with God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "God has made us righteousness before Him in Christ." And 1 Timothy 6:11 says that we are to "pursue righteousness before me." If we are pursuing right standing with God, others we will live the same on Monday morning as we lived on Sunday in church ... and people will see it. It will be obvious to them.

I'm told that there were these two little old ladies walking around an overcrowded English country churchyard and they came upon a headstone that was inscribed, "Here lies John

Smith, a politician and an honest man." "Good heavens!" said one lady to the other. "Isn't it awful that they had to put two people in the same grave?"

            The third thing that walking in the light produces is truthfulness. That means the absence of deception. Truth is about what we say ... goodness is about what we do ... and righteousness is about how we live. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4:25 that we are to "put off all falsehood and speak truthfully to our neighbor." And he also tells us that "speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, which is Christ." (Ephesians 4:15)

            The fruit produced here - goodness toward others, right standing before God, and truth in all things would certainly make a tremendous difference in our lives because it would begin to permeate every area in our life. Now don't get me wrong ... we all know that we sure don't measure up like we should in God's spotlight, but we continue to walk in the light we have been given. We continue to shine as we are able.

            A couple took their young son with them on a trip to Europe where they visited many great cathedrals. When they returned home the little boy's Sunday school teacher asked him, "Did you learn what a saint is?" Remembering the many stained glass windows which depicted the Christian saints he said, "A saint is a person who the light shines through." Maybe this week we could be persons who the light shines through.

            WHAT IS OUR PART IN ALL OF THIS?

            How do we go about producing fruit? Where do we start? If we see that we are not shining as brightly and we are not walking in the light, what do we do?

            Verse 10 in the reading says, "Find out what pleases the Lord." It says FIND OUT - YOU find out. This responsibility is on your shoulders here, not somebody else's.

            In THE MESSAGE the words are "FIGURE OUT what will please Christ - And then DO IT. The missing subject of that sentence is the word YOU. YOU need to make it your business to try to figure out what pleases the Lord. In the Greek the words find out have to do with the testing of metal. To discover by experimentation. Those who live as children of light will continually be trying to figure out what the will of God is in every situation so that we would please him rather than grieve him.

            But this takes our ACTIVE involvement in our Christianity. We can't be PASSIVE Christians. We are in partnership with God. Some things only he can do for us and some things we have to do for ourselves. YOU find out what is pleasing to God. YOU begin to walk in the light. YOU begin to believe the Word.

            Paul says that we are not to take part in evil - rather to expose sin. We do that INDIRECTLY by the way we live our daily lives. Matthew 5:16 says, "Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven." And we also do So DIRECTLY. We need to speak up and say, "I think this situation is wrong."  Often, I think we don't take sin seriously enough. Sometimes we participate in the same filth as the rest of the world. Instead of influencing, we are influenced:

            When we walk in the light we become spiritually awake. And verse 14 of that 5th chapter of Matthew is a wake up call for believers who are in a spiritual slumber. Or, as the prophet Isaiah reminds us, "Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you ... " These words were used as a part of an early resurrection hymn and were used at baptisms. Break off your sin by repentance and enter a life of holy obedience. And he shall bring you into a state of knowledge.

            An interviewer once asked a famous person, "What's it like to wake up one day and realize you're a great success?" And the reply was, "That doesn't happen; because if you're a success you haven't been to sleep."

            In the church today there seem to be a lot of Rip Van Winkle Christians - those who go to sleep not long after they made the decision to follow Christ. But along comes Paul exhorting the church to wake up. And the second part of Isaiah's verse is an invitation to those who are still in darkness to "arise from the dead" - to step into the light. To become the light, in fact, because of the salvation that Christ offers today.

            So this week I'd like to ask you to look back onto your own life since becoming a Christian. What positive changes have you seen? Where have you seen the biggest change - in your language, your desires, your values, they way you treat people? Is any real fruit being produced? --Any goodness, righteousness, truth? Are you actively trying to figure out what pleases the Lord and then do it?

            If you need help with those questions or how you might answer them, I'll extend the invitation to you again this morning, as we have for the last couple of weeks, to come forward at the end of this service and join with some of our lay folks in the front pew who will speak with you and join with you in prayer. And, if you are already working on those questions and feel God calling you forward to be a prayer partner with someone else, I invite you to come forward as well. I believe that God will call forward just the right combination of people needing prayer partners and those willing to serve in that role.

            You were once darkness - But now you are light in the Lord. Things are surely different now ... because the light makes everything visible.