The Lutheran Hour
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"Walking in the Shadows"
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Text: Matthew 4:16
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! The Savior’s life, His death, His resurrection are life and light to all who believe. In Him we rejoice.
Darkness. It is impossible for most of us to understand real darkness. I’ve heard the story of one man who probably could have appreciated the dark. The man’s story begins on the West Coast. A cave had been discovered there and was awaiting investigation. Now, spelunkers will tell you that, although there is honor connected with exploring a cave for the first time, it is almost always a dangerous proposition. It should never ever be done by one person, especially if that individual is inexperienced. In spite of the obvious dangers, one man, the man of our story, decided he wanted to capture all the glory of seeing the interior of that cave for the first time. To that end, he bought a lamp, and a very large ball of heavy-duty twine. In a small backpack he, with foresight, put extra matches, fuel for his lantern, some food, and a supply of water.
Without bothering to tell anyone of his intentions or whereabouts, the man set out. At the cave’s entrance, he lit his lamp and securely tied one end of the twine to a tree. As he took his first steps into the cave, he gave the twine a strong pull to make sure it held. It did. His light would show him the way in and out; and if for some unexpected reason the light failed, he could fall back on the twine lifeline. The man, with eagerness, clambered over rocks and maneuvered through deep, damp, dark passageways. “Safety first” was his motto, as he always made sure his path was made traceable by the twine. He squirmed, slipped, and struggled through the rock-lined path. Sometimes the passageway was so narrow, he had to remove his backpack, carrying it in one hand behind him, while his other hand held the lantern in front. In this way, he eventually reached a great, glittering cavern. He set down his lamp, his pack, his twine and, with his rock-hound’s hammer, began to gather specimens. Each discovery was eclipsed in beauty by the next.
It was then, some how, some way, his lantern went out. Not slowly, but suddenly. The man found himself in the dark. This was darkness which he could touch. It was a darkness which wrapped itself around him. Knowing his safety depended on retrieving the twine, and/or getting the lantern going again, the man deliberately, then desperately, tried to find his way back. The matches could have helped, but they were in his pack. His pack was with the lantern and the twine. The record of the man’s wandering was left in the dust of the cave’s floor. Back and forth he went. Retracing, repeating, retrying. In the dark, no record was made of the man’s thoughts, his despair, his depression, his discouragement, the absolute loneliness he must have felt as he wandered in the dark. There was no one there to watch him when he finally sat down. There was no one there beside him when he died in the dark. Since no one knew where he had gone, no search parties were sent out. It was only by accident, when other explorers came to the cavern, that his corpse was recovered and brought home.
No doubt many of you are saying, “That story can’t be true. Nobody would be that foolhardy.” Maybe not. I don’t know. I do know that people die, figuratively and literally, in the darkness all the time. I know that people live their entire lives, figuratively and literally, in the darkness. Most of all, I know that darkness is not something that is to be desired. One of the first things God did, when He began the process of creation, was to dispel the darkness. Already in the first verses of the Bible, God’s command separated light from darkness. Looking at this beginning which had been brought about by His Word, God saw that the light was good.
Most of us would agree with that simple statement. Ask the citizenry of Barrow, Alaska. They, better than most of us, can understand that light is a good thing. Situated above the Arctic Circle, on the farthest northern tip of the state of Alaska, the sun sets on the afternoon of November 18, and it doesn’t rise again until January 24. The people of Barrow endure 65 days of darkness–65 days when the sun doesn’t shine. Yes, the inhabitants of Barrow have artificial light, but most of them can tell you that electric lights are not the same thing as feeling the sun upon your face. Fluorescent and incandescent bulbs don’t answer people’s physical and emotional needs. For two months of the year, the people of Barrow endure a world where the sun never rises. Nobody needs to tell the 4,500 inhabitants of Barrow, Alaska, to celebrate on January 24th, when the sun once again peeks over the horizon.
Light is good. Dark is bad. Because that’s true, we’re told not to park our cars in dark corners of parking lots. We’re warned, things can happen in the dark. People, who design modern offices and public buildings, work very hard at minimizing dark places and shrubbery shrouded sections, where an evildoer might lurk. Large jewelry stores have complex alarm systems, but storeowners know that nothing dissuades a would-be thief like having the front of their store bathed in light. When we leave our homes for an extended period of time, we’re told to get some timers for our home, that shut the lights of the house on and off.
Light is good. Dark is bad. That’s why thieves, rapists, and drug dealers operate in the dark. That’s why riots break out in the dark. That’s why people do things in the dark they would never think of doing in the light. Light is good; dark is bad. Even our vocabulary reflects our love, our desire, our need for the light. When something sinister or evil is exposed, we say that it has been “brought to light.” When somebody catches on to something good, we say that they have “seen the light.”
Light is good. Dark is bad. It is easy for us to understand why a small child could be afraid of the dark, of the things that they believe are hiding in the closet, under the bed, or right around the corner. We adults understand when the little ones are reluctant to go into the dim, musty attic, or the dark, damp basement. We understand, because we don’t especially like going into those places, either. We, as adults, can be semi-sympathetic when our children want to sleep with the lights on. Who knows what dangers, real or imagined, the darkness might hide?
Now if physical darkness is that frightening, how much more so is the darkness that is within each and every one of us? Before you think I’m going to start ranting and raving, let me assure you, I’m not. I’m just going to talk to you about what I see on the evening news. Each night, I see the reports of all types of crimes which have been committed. These crimes have not been perpetrated by people who are raving mad. No, they’re done by regular people–people like you and me. When their neighbors are interviewed, how do those neighbors describe the accused? “Well, he seemed pretty normal to me. He was kinda quiet, but we didn’t think anything of that. He was just a quiet neighbor.”
There is a darkness inside each of us. I’ve seen regular people, who in the grip of road rage, have used their cars like guided missiles, weaving in and out of traffic, cursing and shouting at anyone who gets in their way. I have seen wonderful, loving parents go to a child’s basketball game, football game, any kind of game; go to a dance recital, an art contest, a science fair, and become raving fanatics as they criticized judges, referees, coaches, teachers. I’ve seen people wait in line to buy movie tickets, for entrance to an athletic event, to apply for a driver’s license. They all seem nice; but when someone, even inadvertently, tries to cut into line, those nice people go wild.
There is darkness in all of us. I have in the course of my life, known some wonderful mothers, women who would have thrown themselves in front of a truck to save their children; who would have donated blood, a kidney, a lung, bone marrow, anything, everything, to assure the safety of their child. But I have also had many of these same wonderful mothers confess to me that there were times, not many, but times when they were ashamed of themselves–times when they came to the end of their rope; when their patience was not only frayed, it was non-existent. At those moments, the mothers confessed that, through their minds, for an instant, there flashed the idea of an action of which they were ashamed to describe in detail.
Please understand I’m not pointing fingers here. I have to confess; I understand many of these things, because I’m guilty of many of these things. There is nobody, not the kindest of little old ladies, not the most gentle of grandpas who, when they are being completely honest, won’t admit to the darkness that is inside of them. They are not happy about it; they may have spent their entire life hiding it, done a wonderful job of hiding it, but the darkness is there.
Now, I know you can watch daytime talk shows promoting the idea that there is an untapped well of goodness inside of you. They will tell you that you can change things if you follow this regimen or apply this program. Humankind has come up with many wonderful ideas, but no human invention can dispel the darkness, the loneliness, the lostness. The truth is, you knock down the darkness in one spot, it crops up in another. You may, by sheer force of will, be able to keep the darkness at bay, but you know it is there, ready to snap and growl, and tear and rend. You know it. I know it. We all do.
So far in this message, I’ve called that nasty thing which is inside of us “the darkness.” The Lord and His Word call it “sin.” And God, who is Light, in whom there is no darkness at all, hates the dark that is in each of us. Understand, He doesn’t hate you and me. He loves us. It’s the darkness within us that He can’t stand. It’s the dark deeds that we do that He can’t abide. That’s why, when God wanted to show His displeasure to the Pharaoh of Egypt, one of the plagues which came upon that land was darkness. It isn’t by chance that on the day Jesus was crucified, darkness fell over the world. It will not be coincidence that when Judgment Day comes, and people are found without the Light of the Lord, they will be cast into darkness.
Does all of this talk of darkness sound discouraging, depressing, and sad? It ought to. This world has produced some brilliant surgeons, but not one has found a way to surgically remove this darkness. There are drugs on the market that altar moods and change attitudes, but none which can dispel the darkness. Politicians can promise a chicken in every pot, a car in every garage, but none would be so bold as to say he can take care of your darkness. No philosopher, no artist, no composer, no scholar can drive out the darkness. It is part of us. It is inescapable. It is damnable. Now I know that makes some people upset. They would have me talk about the good things people do, there are many; the sacrifices some folks make, they are prodigious; the gentleness some individuals show, it is wondrous. But having said all of that, the darkness remains. Ask one of the good people; the ones who have sacrificed; the individuals who are gentle; they will tell you the darkness remains. All of us, on our own, are helpless and lost.
What a sad message this would be if it had to stop here. What miserable lives would be ours, if that were the final word. But darkness is not the final word. There is more. There is Light. God’s Holy Word, which so many today describe as being oppressive, speaks of the Light. Hundreds of years before God’s Son the Savior was born, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah predicted: “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” (Is. 9:2). With those words, Isaiah was describing every man, woman, and child who had ever been born, who would ever live. He wanted everyone to know that if you are living in darkness, there is Light. As you approach death, the darkness need not fall, because even then, at that moment there will be God’s Light.
But Isaiah didn’t stop there. He spoke words of encouragement about the Light. He said, “Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God” (50:10). Of course, Isaiah did not live long enough to see Jesus, to experience the depth of His love, to see, really see, just how much God cares for those who were living in the dark and who had the dark living in them. Isaiah’s faith was based upon prophecy. But you, unless you shut your eyes, can live your days in the Light of Jesus. You know, I can understand a child who is afraid of the dark. I have difficulty understanding an adult who is afraid of the Light. If you are not afraid of the Light, won’t you let me spend just a few minutes telling you about Jesus–He is the Light.
Jesus, God’s sinless Son, was born into this world of darkness for the express purpose of saving you. When He was born in Bethlehem, the darkness of the world was not pleased with His arrival. Sly King Herod did his best, did all he could to snuff out the Light. During Jesus’ life, Herod was joined by others. The people that Jesus grew up with, tried to kill Him. So did the religious scholars of Jesus’ day, and His church, and His government. Satan tried to extinguish the Light through varied temptations. You and I would have tripped on those temptations, but Jesus didn’t. He rejected the devil’s temptations to move into the darkness, to become a Servant of the darkness; and He did it for us. God’s laws which we have broken, Jesus fulfilled. The punishment which we deserved; the punishment which would have sent us into eternal darkness, Jesus took upon Himself. Jesus willingly went into the darkness of death for us. But He did not go as we would have, stumbling and staggering and blindly groping. Jesus was the Light, He is the Light, and in His presence, the darkness of damnation was dispelled. Jesus’ resurrection, His return to us, shows that darkness is no longer master. Jesus is the Light of the world.
To be the Light was Jesus’ job. To be the Light is who Jesus is. To destroy your darkness was the reason He lived, died, and rose. Now all who know Him as their Savior are freed. They are no longer groping in the dark. Jesus the Light lives within their hearts. And where the Light of Jesus lives, darkness has no place to stay. That is why you will see Christians living differently. They may be touched by all manner of dark things, but Jesus rules. Even when it comes to something as dark as death, Christians are different. The Light is in them. They mourn for a loved one who has died, but not as people who have no hope. With the Light of Jesus, they know that death is but a shadow; and for a believer, eternity is something wonderful. Of course, you don’t have to take my word for all this. Listen to Jesus. This is what the Savior said: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
Darkness. It is impossible for most of us to understand real darkness. Rose Crawford was someone who could. Rose Crawford had been blind for 50 years. It is understandable that Rose wept with gladness when the bandages were removed from her eyes following surgery at an Ontario hospital. For the first time in her life, Rose could see. She was accosted, assaulted, and there are no other words for the overwhelmingly bright, overpoweringly beautiful world that she saw for the first time. It was a beautiful moment for her, and all those around her. That was the good news.
Here’s the bad news. Twenty years of Rose’s blindness had been unnecessary. For two decades, Rose remained unaware of advances in technology that could have restored her sight. Nobody told her. She had given up. Rose could have seen at the age of 30, rather than 50. The doctor who did her operation said, “She just figured there was nothing that could be done about her condition. Much of her life could have been different.”
Are you, my friend, still in the dark? Do you assume that darkness is permanent? Do you think there is no hope, and your tomorrow will be just as dark as today? If that’s your thinking, you are wrong. There is a cure for your darkness. Jesus Christ is the Light. God-given faith in Him is the cure. Jesus can change your life, bring you Light, remove your own personal unique darkness, just as He has done for millions of others. Jesus was born to be the Light; He lived giving people the Light; He died; He rose, so that people might be brought out of darkness into the marvelous light of God’s love. Do not stop Him from giving you His Light. Do not sit in your darkness. What He offers you is a bright present; a brilliant future; clarity beyond your imagination; an eternity beyond your comprehension. If you would like to know more about this Savior, if you would like to see this Savior who sends Light into the darkness, call us at “The Lutheran Hour.”
Lutheran Hour Mailbox (Questions & Answers) for January 23, 2005
Topic: If God is All-Powerful, How Come He Rested on the Seventh Day?ANNOUNCER: And now Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions from listeners; I’m Mark Eischer. Today’s question comes to us from a young man in high school, who asks, “If God is infinitely powerful, why did He have to rest on the seventh day of creation?”
KLAUS: If you compare different translations of this passage from the Book of Genesis, you’re going to find a fair number of Bible translations that use the word “rested.” The King James Version says, “God rested.” The New International Version says, “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating He had done.”
ANNOUNCER: Now in most of your sermons you use the New International Version.
KLAUS: I do, although just about all of the Bible passages I’ve memorized were memorized from the King James. Whichever translation I use, it still pretty much comes out that God rested.
ANNOUNCER: But the real issue here is that, it doesn’t seem like God should “need” to rest, should He?
KLAUS: No, He shouldn’t. I imagine that skeptics and others who like to shoot holes in the Bible, would use this to argue that if God was tired and needed to rest, it would imply that He is somehow limited in the things He can do. Maybe He’s not so omnipotent after all.
ANNOUNCER: Which can’t be true; so what’s the real answer?
KLAUS: The answer, Mark, is that the Hebrew word (italics) shabat which many translations have rendered as “rested” can mean several things. It doesn’t have to mean that God, on day seven, looked around, yawned a few times and said, “Wow, this has been a really tough week. That creating light thing really is taking it out of Me. I think I’ll just lie down here for a couple of millennia and take a nap.”
ANNOUNCER: What else could that word mean, other than to rest?
KLAUS: A great many times the word can be translated, “to stop” or “to cease.” It doesn’t automatically have the added connotation of being tired.
ANNOUNCER: Are there other English translations that say that on the seventh day, God stopped His work of creating?
KLAUS: There are. Young’s Literal Translation says, “God blessed the seventh day, sanctified it, for on it He ceased from all His work.” God’s Word, that’s the name of a translation that says, “God blessed the seventh day, and set it apart as holy, because on that day He stopped all His work of creation.”
ANNOUNCER: Why do you suppose it is better for us to say, “God stopped His work of creation” rather than to say, “God had to rest”?
KLAUS: There are a number of reasons and I’ll try not to get too wordy. First, as we’ve already said, the word (italics) shabath more often than not, is translated by saying stop or finish. Second, there are other words the Old Testament uses which, when they’re translated, mean rest. Exodus 23:12, where shabath means to cease from labor. And the word nuach and naphash indicate resting.
ANNOUNCER: So if I understand you correctly, the Bible is not saying that God needed to take a break. What He did was, after the sixth day, He had basically completed His work of creating the world.
KLAUS: That’s what I’m saying.
ANNOUNCER: when we were talking about this earlier, you gave another reason why you think we ought to be saying, God stopped His work of creating.
KLAUS: The argument goes something like this: As you read the Genesis account, the Bible summarizes each day’s creation activities with the words, “And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day.” “And there was evening, and there was morning – the third day.” It keeps on going like that. It says that for all six days. But on the seventh day, the day God stopped working, it doesn’t say anything like, “And there was evening and there was morning – the seventh day.” Now from that, we might think that God is still resting from creation, or we might think that God had completed His work of creating the world. The question is, which of those two choices seem to make the most sense.
ANNOUNCER: I’d have to say that God’s been keeping pretty busy ever since those six days of creation.
KLAUS: Indeed He has. As you read in the Bible, you don’t see Him resting a lot. He sent a flood; He delivered the children of Israel out of slavery; He performed miracles; fulfilled prophesies. He continued to preserve His creation. Then came Jesus’ birth, His life, suffering, death, resurrection. The Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples; gives birth to the Church. God still is listening to the prayers of many millions of people every day. I would have to say that if God is still resting, He’s been keeping pretty busy at the same time. So on the seventh day, God stopped His creating but He didn’t stop His work. And He never tires of giving us His gifts of life and forgiveness.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.