The Lutheran Hour
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"A Light That Dispels And Delivers"
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Text: John 8:12
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Today, by God’s will, and with your ongoing support The Lutheran Hour is privileged to begin its 77th year of sharing the risen Christ, the Savior’s victory over Satan, sin, and death. From Duluth, Minnesota, on the shores of Lake Superior, the Lord’s resurrection message shines. It shines like a lighthouse. The Light of the Lord punches holes into the darkness as it delivers souls from danger, as it brings them into the Savior’s safe harbor of salvation.
Duluth, Minnesota? Why Duluth, Minnesota? Well, that’s easy – they invited us, and the members of the International Lutheran Laymen’s League are glad we came. For those of the listeners who think of Minnesota as being a fly-over state filled with polar bears and glaciers, I’d like to dispel some of the rumors that I’ve picked up the last few days. First, when you buy a car in Minnesota, snow tires aren’t standard equipment. In Minnesota you buy snow tires like everyone else. You put them on at the end of August before the first blizzard is expected, and you take them off at the end of June when the snow begins to melt.
Some listeners may think of Minnesotans as being serious. They’re not. Minnesotans have a wonderful sense of humor. You have to. Only a person with a wonderful sense of humor would say that lutefisk and lefsa are delicacies. If you really want to see a Minnesotan laugh, you need to be with them when they’re watching the Weather Channel and somebody announces a town has called off school because a meteorologist has fearfully predicted that there is a 40% possibility you might get two inches of snow.
The only time I’ve ever seen Minnesotans laugh more than something like that is when a good number of years ago their Governor gave an interview to Playboy magazine. In that interview he said, and I quote: “Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers.” Minnesotans laugh at such foolishness. They know better. In the year 1857 a pioneering Minnesota family was being destroyed by typhoid fever. Father and mother had already buried their four-year-old daughter at the top of the hill. Now it appeared that their son was also going to die. The doctor said, “If we had ice, we might be able to bring down his fever and save him, but he’d be dead before we ever got any ice from the nearest location.” Having heard that verdict, and without conscious thought, the boy’s mother, she just kind of wandered out to the dark farmyard. She prayed. If you had been there that day, you would have heard her pour out her heart as she said, “Lord, You have heard what the doctor has said – without ice our son will die. If You wish to take my boy home, I place Him into Your hands. Jesus is His Savior and he will be all right. But, if it be possible, I would like to keep him with me for a while.” Those who were there that night report that although there were no clouds in the sky, as soon as the mother finished her prayer, they heard thunder. In a few moments it began to rain. That rain turned to sleet, the sleet turned to hail. The hail piled up against the fences and buildings. It was thick upon the ground. They grabbed pitcher and pail and pot, and they packed that hail around that boy, and as they did, the mother said, “Doctor, here is the ice! God sent it.”
Long ago, Jesus said, “I have come to be the light in the world, that whosoever believes on Me will not perish. He will not abide in darkness” (John 12: 46). That dark night, the Lord sent His light of healing upon a despairing mother and father. That dark night, Jesus, the Light of the world brought hope, healing, and happiness to a pioneering family. That night, that dark night, the words of Saint Paul found a new meaning to a father and to a mother who had no hope. You remember what he wrote in 2 Corinthians: “God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts, to give the light, the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
Let me ask you, “Do you like living in darkness?” Some people do, you know. Some people like the dark. The Apostle John wrote, “The Light (that is Jesus) has come into this world, and people have loved the darkness rather than the Light” (John 3:19). Will you live in the light or will you stay in the darkness?
Let me tell you what it means to be in the darkness. On November 9, 1975, a ship by the name of Edmund Fitzgerald left Superior, Wisconsin, a port which is only a stone’s throw away from here. Loaded with taconite, she was headed for the steel mill at Zug Island near Detroit. Crossing Lake Superior, the ship was hit by a winter storm that produced waves as high as 35 feet. The ship tried to find some kind of shelter along the Canadian coast. Then it sailed toward the protection of Whitefish Bay. During the afternoon of November 10th, the Fitzgerald reported damage, loss of radar, a minor list. The last communication from the ship came at 7:10 p.m. The captain of the ship said the ship was holding its own. It wasn’t. It didn’t. A few minutes later, the ship, the Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared. There is a song about the feeling that the sailors felt that night. The lyric reads: “Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?”
My friends, I’ve been in a cave a mile underground when they shut off the lights. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. That’s dark, but I wasn’t afraid. I wasn’t afraid because I knew they were going to throw the switch again and the light was going to come back on. I have stood in the middle of the Sinai Desert on a cloudy night. There were no lights, no lamps, no stars above. That was dark, but I wasn’t afraid in the Sinai because I knew the dawn was going to come. But how did those sailors feel? How did they feel when the cold waves washed over their ship; when only hundreds of feet of dark Lake Superior water lay below them? How did they feel when the lights of that boat flickered off? That is a darkness unlike anything that I have ever known. It is a darkness without hope; it is a darkness without a future; it is a darkness that says tomorrow is never going to come. It is total, terrible, terminal darkness. “Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?”
Now, translate that darkness into your own lives. You may have had dark days, dismal, depressing, discouraging days; but I’m not talking about twilight days that are part of everyone’s life. I’m not talking about the storms that precede the stillness. I’m not talking about those difficult moments when you are pretty sure that things maybe, might, work out all right. No, I’m talking about that one day, your last day. That day which may come when a ship slips out from under your feet; or when a stroke or a heart attack drops you in your tracks. I’m talking about that last day when your eyes stop seeing, and your ears stop hearing, and your voice stops talking, your brain stops thinking, and your heart stops pumping. On that day will you know where the love of God goes? If you’re not sure; if you don’t know, then listen. Listen as I tell you of Jesus Christ who has come into this world to be a light; a light to those who sit in darkness, who are living in the shadow of death. Listen today as the Holy Spirit calls you from darkness into the Savior’s bright light of life. Listen as I tell you of Jesus Christ, the Light of the world.
When God made this world and everything that is in it, it was very good. As you have all seen in your short, brief lives, you realize that that perfect goodness of God is gone. In the greatest disaster that this world has ever seen, humanity rejected God’s authority and tried to improve upon the Lord’s perfection. From that day until the end of time, sin, like a storm, Satan, like a giant tsunami, can continue to sweep down upon every man, every woman, every child. They sweep down and they bring total destruction, and terrible darkness upon our hearts. And they bring eternal death. Left to our own navigational skills, there is no possibility of us reaching the safety of a secure harbor. Seeing humanity was foundering, God sent His Son into this world to be our Light; or if you prefer, a Lighthouse.
Now I am not a mariner and I know very little about sailing. My family there in the back row can tell you that the last time I was on Lake Superior it was in a sea kayak, and I tipped over. In spite of that ignorance, I do know a couple of things. I do know that a lighthouse, like those that stand guard at Duluth’s breakwater, has a twofold purpose. The light, the bright beacon of that lighthouse, is designed for two purposes. It is designed to warn people away, to steer ships away from danger, and it is designed to show them a safe harbor. That, in many ways, describes Jesus Christ, who came to be the Light so He could warn us away from spiritual disaster, so He could bring us to the safe harbor of salvation.
Jesus was born as the Light to show humanity the rocks of sin. Read through the Gospels and you will see Him again and again warning people of dangerous shoals and shores, of rough reefs and jagged rocks. Again and again it speaks of the Savior calling to sin-hardened hearts, asking them to come to repentance. Jesus, who was the Light shone into proud hearts and over-confident minds; He was the Light who said: Your sins are setting you on a collision course for eternal destruction, and unless your direction somehow is changed, you will make shipwreck of your souls. Back then, some people listened to Him and they were saved; but there were others who loved the darkness, (see John 3:19) just like there are still those love the darkness.
Years ago, when the Governor of the Bahamas asked some people what they most wanted to have happen from the government, from England’s home office, they said, “We hate the lighthouses. Tear down the lighthouses.” The people who made that unusual request were men who made their living by salvaging ships that had been wrecked, who profited by the disasters of others. When Jesus came into this world, there were many who wanted His light snuffed out. Sin and Satan, experienced salvagers of wrecked and damned souls, were joined by others who also hated the Light. A jealous king, legalistic Pharisees, one of His own disciples, the leaders of Jesus’ own church, tried to snuff out the Light of God’s love and grace. The day they had Jesus crucified upon the cross, they day He breathed His last, the day they shut Him into a borrowed tomb, they rejoiced for the Light had been snuffed out.
But, thanks be to God, Jesus did not stay in that closed tomb and His light once again burst forth as His resurrection happened and it punched holes in the darkness. Jesus rose and He showed to a dark world that death had been defeated. Jesus rose. Jesus rose from the dead and to those who are brought to live in His light, sin and Satan are shown to be nothing more than powerless shadows. Jesus rose and our living Lord remains as humanity’s bright path to forgiveness, happiness, and salvation. Jesus rose and is the illuminated path to paradise. The song asks: Does anyone know where the love of God goes? I can tell you. This organization can tell you. The Lutheran Hour can tell you. The love of God goes to a Bethlehem manger; the love of God goes to a Jerusalem cross; the love of God goes to a borrowed grave. Does any one know where the love of God goes? Jesus Christ, the Love of God, the living Light of life goes into the hearts of all who believe.
That is the message of Jesus Christ, the living Light that The Lutheran Hour has proudly proclaimed to this dark world for 77 years. It is the Lord’s message that we share with you today. I started talking this message about Minnesota; let me finish the same way. Let me tell you of a Minnesota town. In the 1800s a community was founded here. It was founded by dedicated unbelievers. They desired to build a wonderful utopia, a perfect place, a wonderful society, a town where the name of God and Christ would never be mentioned. They showed their dislike for the Divinity by hanging Christ in effigy in their streets. So much did they love this darkness, that when the 19th century evangelist J. Wilbur Chapman, who wrote about this town, stayed there, he said this: “Some years ago I was passing through that region and had to stay there all night long. I trembled for my life even though I stayed at the best hotel in the place.” Chapman concluded the story by saying this: “The town was destroyed by fire; they rebuilt it. Then came an Indian massacre, and after taking their revenge of blood, they rebuilt the town again. Then the town was partially destroyed by fire again. And then, after the town realized that their community had seen nothing but bloodshed and anything but purity and peace, they sent to the American Home Missionary Society and they said this: Can you send us a minister of Jesus Christ, please? A minister came to that town. More importantly, Jesus came to that town and His Light dispelled the darkness . Does anyone know where the love of God goes? By God’s grace, the living Lord brings that love into our homes, our hearts, our lives. That’s where the love of God goes when people are brought to the Light; as we pray you listeners will be brought by the Holy Spirit to the Light. It is where the love of God goes when people are brought to believe “Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed.” Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Ansers) for September 16, 2007
TOPIC: No Hell?ANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Ken Klaus responds to statements widely held by those who are seeking to learn more about the Lord. He first answered these questions, and others like them on two websites developed by the Lutheran Church-Canada. You can find them at: www.whatyoubelieve.net or www.whatyoubelieve.ca.
KLAUS: If any of our Christian listeners know someone who is looking for answers, they can take a look at either of those websites. So, Mark, what statements do we have today?
ANNOUNCER: Well, rather an interesting set. First, how would you respond to someone who believes there is no such place as hell?
KLAUS: I’m always surprised when I hear someone who says that. Over the years, I’ve known people who didn’t believe in hell because they don’t like the idea of anyone being punished for their sins. Others don’t believe in a place called hell because they reject the Scriptures, the Savior, salvation, and the immortality of the soul. It is possible others may have different reasons, but most folks’ unbelief fits into one of those categories.
ANNOUNCER: And how do we respond?
KLAUS: Here’s the scoop: the Bible clearly teaches that God created the world and all of humanity perfect. If things had stayed as God intended, discussions about hell would be irrelevant, because it wouldn’t have been needed.
ANNOUNCER: But Scripture tells how one of the angels led others in a rebellion against God. They were banished from heaven and later this angel, Satan, took on the form of a serpent and he tempted Adam and Even to sin. Humanity therefore became corrupted and fell under God’s condemnation – a condition from which we cannot free ourselves.
KLAUS: But so that anyone and everyone might be saved from hell, God sent His Son, Jesus. For us, Jesus lived the perfect life we could not. He obeyed the commandments we had broken and He died the death we deserved. By God’s grace, all those who trust in Jesus as their substitute and risen Savior are saved.
ANNOUNCER: But what happens if a person rejects all that God has said about that and instead gambles that there really is no hell? What happens if the Bible is right, and they’re wrong?”
KLAUS: I don’t have to reply to that, Mark, because the Bible does. In Romans (6:23) God says, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” People can believe there is no hell, but God says otherwise. Do we have time for another, Mark?
ANNOUNCER: Yes. What do you say to someone who believes they’ll go to heaven so long as they’re good enough?
KLAUS: Oh, I’d say the Bible and Christianity agree with what that person says. A person will go to heaven if he or she is good enough. Now all we have to do is define, “What is good enough?”
ANNOUNCER: And I suppose if you or I were making up the rules, we’d set that bar low enough so that we could all get through without making any major lifestyle changes.
KLAUS: Yes, but we’re not the ones making that decision are we? God is the one who is setting the bar; and He sets it high. Impossibly high. He says, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). He says, “The soul that sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20).
ANNOUNCER: So, then, who goes to heaven under their own power?
KLAUS: God answers that question, too. He says: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). That’s God’s way of saying: if you think you’re going to be saved, it’s not going to be because you’re good enough.
ANNOUNCER: Because none of us are that good, are we?
KLAUS: No, if we’re going to get into heaven, it is going to be through faith in Jesus Christ who has paid our debts and won salvation for all who acknowledge Him as their Savior.
ANNOUNCER: That’s what the Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Is there anything Christians could learn from these questions?
KLAUS: I think so, Mark. We need to realize the world wants to look upon religion as if they were going to a restaurant. They expect God to give them a menu of spiritual things. And then, having inspected that menu, they want to pick and choose those items that sound tasty to them. If they don’t like hell, they don’t order it. If they don’t want a Savior, they make up a religion where they don’t need Him.
ANNOUNCER: A really dangerous thing to do.
KLAUS: Yes, especially if religion is more than personal opinion. If there really is a God, and if we really are sinners, then people who reject the Savior are really sunk.
ANNOUNCER: Something this broadcast has done its best to prevent.
KLAUS: Because we know there really is a God and we really are sinners in need of a real Savior.
ANNOUNCER: This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Christ Is the World’s Light” by K. Lee Scott. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies” arranged by Henry Gerike. Used by permission
“Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies” From Every Voice a Song (© 1995 Concordia Publishing House)
“Oh, That I Had a Thousand Voices” by Chris Loemker. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC