May 30,31,2009

Sermon: "Is Your Light Diminishing?"

Scripture: Acts 2: 1-21

Reverend Larry M. Gerber

Speaking in tongues, pouring out of the Holy Spirit, the Light that shall sign: all are signs of the coming of the Lord.

Let's look at lights for a moment. There are all sorts of helpful "lights" in the world. We can be illuminated by them without letting them extinguish the light of the Spirit.

Fireflies. They are a fond memory many of us have from warm summer evenings in childhood. Their cheery glow drew our attention, and some of us even captured a few of these tiny creatures in a jar. Whether we called them fireflies, lightning bugs or glowworms, we saw their tiny lights as one of the marks of summertime.

About five years ago, Jane and I were attending a Christian Retreat at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. The evenings were set aside for relaxation and walking. One night as I was taking a walk around the lake there was a family of 4 in front of me. I began to pass them when I noticed that the little girl of about 6 was holding one fist tightly closed. I had seen earlier that she had caught a firefly. I asked: "What do you have in your hand?" to which she said: "Look, it is a ?" As she looked in her hand and saw nothing but a gooey mess, she said as she wiped her hand on her white shorts: "Oh well, it was a firefly, but I will get another one."

When did you last see a firefly? You probably haven't thought about that much lately, but now that you do, chances are your answer is something like "It's been a long time" or "I can't remember when."

That's not because you've become less observant. While there's no way to tag and count insect populations, experts think that fireflies are dwindling, perhaps by as much as 70 percent in recent years, and lots of anecdotal evidence supports that claim -- so much so that more than 100 entomologists and biologists gathered in Thailand last summer for an international symposium on the "Diversity and Conservation of Fireflies."

One bit of anecdotal evidence comes from Preecha Jiabyu, a man in Thailand who used to take tourists by rowboat on the Mae Klong River expressly to see the riverbanks aglow with fireflies. Now, however, the only lights he sees from the river are the fluorescent ones from hotels and restaurants. These days, he has to row more than two miles from the city to see any lightning bugs. Through out the world we hear similar reports of the diminishing firefly.

There's probably no single factor to blame, but likely causes include urban sprawl and industrial pollution that obliterate the insects' habitat. Another probable cause is the spread of artificial light. The glowing fireflies we do see are the males of the species, who use their flashing lights to attract the females. (The females spend most of their time on the ground and don't flash.) Researchers suspect that so much artificial light around is interfering with the mating ritual, and thus they are not reproducing.

Researchers acknowledge that the concern over fireflies may not seem as urgent as that over some other dwindling species, such as polar bears and tigers, but they see the fate of these tiny light-bearers as a harbinger of unhealthy changes in the whole ecosystem.

Remembering their cheery lights from warm summer evenings in our childhood, we hope they will still be around for subsequent generations to enjoy.

Speaking of light-bearers, note that today is Pentecost, the anniversary of that first-century day when the Holy Spirit came in a mighty way upon the disciples of Jesus hunkered down in an upper room in Jerusalem. The Bible's description of the sudden infilling of those disciples with the Spirit includes this: "Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them." Even since then, fire, which, of course, is a source of light, has been a symbol of the Holy Spirit. At the same time, that symbol also connects to Jesus, who said, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12).

The fact that these tongues of fire rested on each of Jesus' followers on Pentecost is a way of showing that when the Spirit fills us, we, too, radiate the light of God. Thus, Spirit-filled Christians are light-bearers. And over the centuries, Christians have "glowed" with that light as they have spread the gospel, shared the good news, gone about doing good, committed sacrificial acts of love for neighbor and even for enemies, and have sought to understand and do the will of God.

In some of Jesus' subsequent followers, that light of the Spirit can be almost visually seen. Several years ago, after the English writer Malcolm Muggeridge spent some time observing Mother Teresa working in Calcutta, India, taking care of dying people she plucked off the streets, he wrote a book about her he titled Something Beautiful for God. In it, he said, "God's universal love has rubbed off on Mother Teresa, giving her features a noticeable luminosity, a shining quality".

In most of us who follow Jesus today, the light within us may not be quite that apparent to others, but when we confront darkness in our lives, we often become conscious of how the way of the Lord is the primary light of our lives.

The thing is, in this world, there are lots of other lights, some that seem more glitzy or powerful or, in some fields, even more illuminating. And just as fireflies are finding their inner lights overpowered by bright but artificial lighting, so, too, we Christians sometimes find the light of God within us -- especially if we don't tend it -- growing dim. Is your light growing dim?

Peter defended the excitement of the day and the many tongues, or languages, by reminding the nay sayers that it was only 9 a.m. How could they possibly be drunk. These disciples were on fire for the Lord.

When John wrote about Jesus' coming into the world, he described Jesus as "the light of all people." Then he went on to say, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:4-5). Yes, the darkness -- sin, despair, evil, troubles and so on -- may not overcome the light of Christ within us, but other lights may overcome it.

Here are some examples

The light of education. Some of us who first met Jesus as children or teenagers had a little spiritual light glowing inside us when we went off to college. There, we encountered not only new information, but also new ways of thinking about it, all emanating from the lamp of scholasticism.

The light of psychology. Perhaps you have struggled with some personal baggage from the past that interfered with your ongoing life. You may have prayed about it without finding the kind of help you needed. So eventually, you sought some professional counseling, and through it, you found some relief and new perspectives that set you free from the old bondage. Given those results, the counseling certainly qualifies as light for your darkness, and therefore a good light. But it does not necessarily follow that it is a better light than the light of the Spirit. Our need to get right with God and to open ourselves to the Savior who can make us righteous can only come to fruition through the Light.

The light of the culture is a good light as well. Secular life itself has a glitter that sometimes seems to outshine the light of the Spirit within us. If you've ever been with a group of people who seem quite happy without the morality and values of religion, you may have wondered if you were mistaken to cling to the way of the Lord. The light of secularity can appear powerfully bright at times. It can illuminate certain pleasures. At times, it can even shed a benign glow. Yet it has neither the heat of inspiration nor the inner-path-lighting ability of the Spirit's light.

 Whether they are the lights of medicine, learning, behavioral studies, sociology, human motivation, technology or anything else, it's important to understand that these lights do not require us to make an either-or choice as in, "either we will follow Jesus or we will follow science."

Absolutely not! In many cases, it is quite possible -- quite important, even -- to allow more than one light to illuminate our lives. But one of those lights always needs to be emanating from the fire of the  Holy Spirit. That's because while some of what science, behavioral studies, technology and so on shows us is important for our daily existence, our lives are always more than daily existence. The light of the Spirit is a light not only for day-to-day living, but also for eternity, and we make a mistake to let its light get washed out by the seemingly brighter light of human discovery or secularity.

It seems like every organization has a special mission or charity. Wherever I go I am asked if I wouldn't like to donate just one dollar to any number of good charities. Nothing wrong with most of those. They are mostly upright and helpful organizations, but none of them can replace the Light of Hope through the Holy Spirit.

The coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost lit the fire of the church. God's Spirit is still and must always be the main source of light for Christians. Individually and as the church, we should do what is necessary to keep ourselves good places for the Spirit's flames to burn hotly and the Spirit's light to shine brightly. It's not our job to extinguish lesser lights that shine for the benefit of humankind so that we're the only light in town; indeed, sometimes we should help their light be seen as supportive lights, and we do.

At the same time, however, we should never be so dazzled by other lights that we no longer shine for Christ or no longer "reproduce" and bring forth new generations of Christians. 
                                                                                           Today's scripture simply says that: "everyone who calls upon the Lord will be saved." (v. 21).

The message of the Holy Spirit, was for all walks of life: the Jew and the gentile, men and women, owners and slaves, young and old?a sign for all walks of life. A sign that everyone who calls upon the Lord will be saved, not everyone who supports all humanitarian entities (not that they are bad, indeed they are very good), but if you do not call upon the name of the Lord you will be left out. There are many and varied lights in the world and most of them are good, in fact they are needed, but all together they do not sub plant the Light of the World.

Be a witness to the One True Light and let it shine for Jesus so that on that glorious day of His return you will be ready!!

There may be some here today who want a closer walker with their Lord. There may be some who never confessed Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and others who just need a time of renewal. If you want to be a witness to your faith, if you want a closer walk with your God, come forward during the last hymn and kneel or stand at the altar and make your confession to Almighty God. Will you come? Will you come?

Pastor Jim and myself will be here to pray with you if you so need.
Sources:

Casey, Michael. "Experts fear fireflies are dwindling." ABCNews, August 30, 2008. http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=5691154.

Firefly Watch. mos.org/fireflywatch.

Muggeridge, Malcolm. Something Beautiful for God. Harper & Row, 1971.

"The UK glow worm survey." galaxypix.com/glowworms.