Let’s shine our lights into the darkness, let’s practice the fruit of repentance, and let’s show those who see our good works how to give glory to our Father in heaven.

It is difficult for us to comprehend the degrees of insecurity around the world. Although we have faced difficulty in the west, it doesn’t even compare to the severity of problems other regions have had to face. The most I have suffered during this pandemic was not being able to get a bicycle for my wife for our anniversary; a minor inconvenience when considering how many people are struggling every day to feed their families. 

We are so familiar with the Sunday school stories of the Bible that we often overlook the devastating wasteland where they are set. Each of the Gospel narratives begin with Israel in one of its darkest periods of history. They are exiles in their own land, oppressed by the Roman government, governed by an evil king, led by a corrupt priesthood, and following a hollowed out version of their faith. The prophet Ezekiel described the glory of God leaving the temple almost 600 years earlier. This was their lowest point. 

A Dark Wilderness

The first section of Matthew’s Gospel (Chapters 1-4) can be described as Jesus in the wilderness. Everything from the way that Jesus was born in a stable, how He had to escape Herod’s slaughter by going to Egypt, His baptism in the Jordan River, and His temptation in the wilderness are meant to show the darkness of the world into which Christ entered. 

Many of these stories are designed to show us the lengths that Jesus went to relate to our struggles. He is submitting Himself to the harsh realities of the human experience. He understands our weakness because He emptied Himself. 

It also shows us a structure of Matthew’s Gospel by setting up the various themes of the book. One of which is the idea of light in the darkness. Matthew quotes Isaiah 9, a passage we often read during our Christmas services, to demonstrate the power of a small light into a dark world. Jesus didn’t enter into His creation in a cloud of glory with an army of angels, He was born as a baby into the smallest city and worshipped by foreigners who followed the light of a star. Yet, this is the moment that changed the world. 

This light is God with us. It is the radiance of His glory. It is an understated light at first, but it slowly spreads throughout the world. We are still being guided by this light and it continues to bring life to those dwelling in the shadow of death. 

Opposition to the Light

By chapter 4, we see that John the Baptist has been imprisoned and Jesus has to leave His hometown of Nazareth. There is a lot going on behind the scenes here that Matthew doesn’t tell us, but the point is that the mission of the Kingdom is not off to a great start. It is being opposed by the darkness. 

Jesus is rejected by the people from His hometown. They point out the illegitimate nature of His birth, resorting to slander and gossip in order to discredit Him. This is how the darkness operates. They hate what the light reveals so they respond by redirecting their own guilt on others. 

So Jesus took His ministry to Capernaum, right on the shore of Galilee. However, the religious leaders were critical of His decision to go north. They surmised that if Jesus was going to have a messianic ministry, He should do it in Jerusalem, the theological capital of the world. Besides, “What prophet ever came from Galilee?” Perhaps they had forgotten Jonah, Elijah, and Micah. 

Galilee was one of the darkest places in Israel at that time. It certainly was not the Bible belt. In many ways, it reminds me of New England and the Northeast. But it is in the darkest places and among the hardest to reach people that the light of the Gospel shines the brightest. It shines equally on those who accept it and those who reject it. Some recoil while others are brought to life. 

Where do we go from here? 

Lately, I’ve felt like the world is on my shoulders. I feel pressed down and overwhelmed. It’s easy to feel like the darkness is consuming us, but the truth is that darkness has no weight, and it is easily dissipated by the smallest of lights. As my dad always said, “The darker the night, the brighter the light.” This isn’t the time for us to retreat from the darkness, but to press into it as we shine brighter. 

When Jesus was rejected by His hometown and the religious leaders, He didn’t change His message. That’s what we might do. Calling people to repentance is not very popular today and it will likely get us labeled as intolerant. Jesus picked up the message that essentially got John the Baptist thrown in jail. He declared without hesitation, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
As the culture turns on us, we might be tempted to back down, but we cannot change the message to reflect the culture. Darkness only reflects more darkness. So holding a mirror up to the world won’t make a difference. We need to shine the light of the Gospel and point people to Jesus. They will reject us, but, remember, they rejected Jesus first. We have to be faithful to what God has called us to do and trust Him to bring the light to those who need it most. 

I’ve been racking my brain, trying to figure out how we can do outreach when our gatherings are limited. How can we evangelize when we are isolated from everyone? Some Churches are doing a great job with technology, but I suspect we are all wondering how we are going to be able to make a difference when the task seems so overwhelming. I don’t have all of the answers, but I can’t help but think that maybe it is the appropriate time for us to preach the Gospel to ourselves. We should come out of this season of isolation with such clarity and fluency of the Gospel that we will shine like Moses when he came down from Mount Sinai. 

We have the hope that the world needs. Every other institution has failed. Let’s shine our lights into the darkness, let’s practice the fruit of repentance, and let’s show those who see our good works how to give glory to our Father in heaven. 

Adam Miller is the president and host of Songtime Radio and serves as the pastor of South Chatham Community Church. 

You can hear his teaching on our daily broadcast on the radio or online, watch his preaching live on Facebook, and read his weekly sermon manuscripts on our website.