Chan Willis – C.P.C.

                                                                                                                                                                June 26, 2010

“Response-ability:  Light Bright”

Luke 16:10a; Matthew 5:14-16

            What in the world are you doing to show others God’s goodness?  This question is the “bottom line”, the ‘ultimate challenge’, if you will, for our Cross Country children this week.  During this month of June, each week they have had a bottom line that began with the phrase, “what in the world are you doing…”  ‘What in the world are you doing’… ‘to take care of what God made?’  … ‘to use what God gave you?’  … ‘to encourage others with your words?’  And this week, ‘to show others God’s goodness.’

            I, for one, can appreciate the importance of this phrase, ‘what in the world are you doing’… for it was certainly on a number of minds after the first Sunday of our new schedule!  And I think that we ALL (myself included) are still trying to figure out just ‘what in the world’ we ARE doing to grow together as the family of Christ God has called us to be.  We must recognize, though, that ‘growth’… physical or spiritual… is not always easy.  That’s why they call it ‘growing pains’!

            It is that ‘painful’ aspect of being a follower of Christ that brings us to the ‘bottom line’ question our young people are considering today:  What in the world are you doing to show others God’s goodness?” Friends, that is the question that we all should continually ask ourselves.  When we wake up in the morning, rather than worrying about whether or not the kids are going to fight about what they have for breakfast, or what we are going to wear to work, or what bad news is awaiting us on the Today Show, we should instead be concerned with ‘what am I going to do today to demonstrate God’s love for me, and for others?’  ‘How am I going to let ‘this little light of mine shine?’ 

            Now, this may sound kind of silly to you.  We have much more important things to be concerned about than how we are going to show others God’s goodness… about letting my ‘light shine.’  The only ‘light’ I need to be concerned about is paying the ‘light’ bill!  Or maybe ‘lightening’ my heavy load at work.  Or not forgetting to turn the ‘lights’ on outside at night to keep the house safe.  I don’t have the time or desire to ‘let my light shine before men’… there’s too much else going on in my life.

            Well, what IS our purpose in life?  To serve ourselves?  To be ‘successful’?  To be ‘happy?’  Our Westminster Catechism declares that “the chief end of man(kind) is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”  Our overarching goal in these brief lives we have on this earth is to give glory and honor to the One who gives us that life in the first place.  To ‘glorify God and enjoy Him forever!’

            And how do we do that…  ‘Glorify God’?  Jesus said in John 15:8 that “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”   1 Peter 2:12 says that we are to “live such good lives among the pagans (non-believers) that … they may see your good deeds and glorify God.”   If we truly want to show God our appreciation for all that He has done, and will do, for us, then we must demonstrate it by our actions.  To “let  your light shine” so that others “may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

            As I look around this sanctuary, I see a lot of faithful followers of Jesus Christ.  People who, in the words of Proverbs, “trust in the Lord with all your heart.”  But the question that we all must continually ask ourselves is what am I DOING to demonstrate that trust?  How are you using the gifts God has given you to touch other peoples’ lives, and be a living witness to the goodness of God that is inside of you?  Is the light of God’s love shining for all to see… or are you hiding it ‘under a bowl’? 

            In a book by Craig Groeschel entitled simply “it”, the author asks “if your church closed up tomorrow, would anyone miss it?”  That’s a pretty sobering question.  Would they?  What are we doing as a church, and as individual members of this body of believers, to impact the community outside these walls?    Are we making a difference in other people’s lives of a lasting nature? 

            As many of you are aware, a few years back we were engaged in a ministry known as “Lifeline.”  It was a Christ-based program for individuals referred by the court system dealing with anger-management and chemical dependency.  Under the dedicated leadership of Wallace Carr, along with a faithful couple from Baton Rouge, as well as a number of faithful volunteers from the congregation, Lifeline indeed made a ‘difference’ in people’s lives… both outside the church and inside the church.  Unfortunately, funding became an issue that caused us to ultimately discontinue that ministry.

            My point is this Lifeline was a way that we as a church were tangibly impacting the community around us.  And you and I MUST give thought to how we are being called in similar ways to be the light of Christ… an eternal ‘lifeline’… to ‘Covington and beyond.’  I know that many of you have a heart for serving others.  I look at the countless hours that our Property and Grounds-keepers put in to keep our facility looking and functioning well.  I think of the phone calls, notes, meals and visits that are given to members of our congregation when they are sick, in body or in spirit.  I know how many of our adults put in their time and energy to bring the Good News of the Gospel to our children.  We are great when it comes to ‘shining’ in here… but what about ‘out there’?

            In a brief letter to his brother Philemon, the Apostle Paul said that “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.”  (v. 6)  As I said earlier, the paramount reason that we are to share our faith, in word and in deed, is to glorify God.  And as others see actions on our part that stem not from any selfish motive, but from a love for our Heavenly Father, then they too will be drawn to know more about this ‘awesome God we serve.’  Yet another important aspect of serving God’s people is that as we witness to others… by both our words and our actions… we ourselves grow in the fullness of our own understanding of “every good thing we have in Christ.”  In giving of ourselves in Christian service, we are reminded of all the good things we have been given.

            I don’t know how many of you have ever been on a mission trip.  If you have, then you know the somewhat guilty feeling you can get with the realization that you have been given much more than you gave.  In having had the opportunity to travel to Mexico, I will never forget the hospitality, the love, the light that shone through the lives of the people I met.  A light that was none other than the light of Christ in their hearts… real, genuine, full of hope and joy.  Not fearful of their outward circumstances, but confident that their future was secure in the nail-scarred hands of Jesus.  As we use our hands to serve our Lord, we too can be filled with that same hope and joy!

            There are, as many of you know, a number of Bible verses that relate to Jesus and light.  In the opening words of the Gospel of John, the Scriptures declare that “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood him.”  (1:4)  That word ‘understood’ is also translated ‘overcome’… to be  “overpowered,” or “extinguished.”  Later in that same Gospel Jesus would declare, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”  (8:12)  And in those words from Matthew we read earlier, Jesus would turn that same imagery toward His followers:  “You are the light of the world… let your light shine before men…”  These words of Scripture remind us that we do indeed live in a world filled with darkness.  But that God, just as He did at creation when he said, ‘let there be light’, sent life-giving light into the world in the person of Jesus Christ.  And all because of Jesus, we need not fear… for “whoever follows (Him) will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

            There is a song I like to sing at the contemporary service that speaks to this subject of ‘light shining in the darkness.’  I’d like you to listen to part of it now.  Don’t worry… I’m not asking you to try to sing it.  Just listen.  It is entitled, “You Shine”… 

“Why should I fear man…When You made the heavens

Why should I be afraid…When You put the stars in place

Why should I lose heart…When I know how great You are

Why should I give up…When Your plans are full of love

In this world we will have trouble

But You have overcome the world

You shine  Brighter than the brightest star

Your love  Purer than the purest heart

You shine  Filling us with courage and strength

To follow You…”

Friends, the same ‘Shining star’ who Himself was called “the Light of the world” also named YOU to be that same “light of the world.”  “Arise…shine…for your light has come; and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.”  Do NOT be afraid… do NOT lose heart… go NOT give up.  “Let your light so shine before men that they see your good works and praise your Father in heaven.”   The same Father who fills you with courage and strength to follow His Son.  Jesus Christ.  The Light who shines through you into the darkness.  And the darkness will NOT overcome it!  Brothers and sister, God is GOOD!  Soooo… what in the world are you doing to show His goodness?