Stumbling in the Dark
What do you
think about when you hear the words “Stumbling in the Dark”? Is it something about being up in the middle
of the night and trying to find your way around? Walking into furniture, stepping on toys, or
trying not to step on your pet? Or have
you ever considered the possibility of stumbling in the dark in broad
daylight? Think about that for a
minute. We all do it each and every
day. Whether it's day or night we all
stumble around. Not knowing what's
around the next corner, what's right or wrong, or what will happen the next
day, week, month, year. What I want to
talk about is even more frightening, because it has eternal ramifications. It's Spiritual Darkness.
Jesus made
Spiritual Darkness a reality. To show this
we are going to John Chapter 3 verses 1 through 21 and we're going to look at
this in sections. So from the New Living
Translation we read:
1 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader
who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one
evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God
has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with
you.”
I want to stop right there to point out two very important
facts. First, it was after dark that
Nicodemus came to see Jesus. He arrived
under the cover of darkness. Secondly,
Nicodemus didn't even start with a question.
Okay so,
Nicodemus has come under the cover of night, to talk with Jesus, whom he
believes is sent from God. He's trying
to find out more about Jesus, but doesn't want too many people knowing
this. Many of us like to hide what we do
in the dark. It's convenient and
comfortable. In the dark: No one can see
what we look like, No one can see who we are talking to, No one can see what we
do, No one can see who we hurt, No one
can see the scars, No one can see that we are hurting, No one can see the
tears. There is another type of
darkness that we can hide in, it's called Spiritual Darkness or Ignorance. Are you in spiritual darkness?
Nicodemus
didn't know he was living in spiritual darkness, at least not yet. Lets continue on with the reading for a
moment: 3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth,
unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” 4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus.
“How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” 5 Jesus replied, “I
assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and
the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit
gives birth to spiritual life. 7
So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born
again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t
tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people
are born of the Spirit.”
9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.
He's living in
spiritual darkness and ignorance. Now
he's opening the door to a change. He's
no longer content to live in darkness and he's trying to see what's out there. What he's missing. Jesus is guiding Nicodemus towards the
truth. Now remember, Nicodemus didn't
even ask a question to begin with. He
just said we know you are sent from God.
Nicodemus is asking Jesus a question without actually asking, What am
I missing? What am I lacking? What do you have to offer besides these
miraculous signs? Nicodemus, being a
sage man of the ruling council, thought discretion to be the right way to go
about this. Jesus didn't think so. He cut right to the chase and side stepped
all the pleasantries. When truth is on
the line Jesus doesn't mince words. He
comes right out and shines a light on the situation.
Jesus is
telling him right here, what's the secret to eternal life. What everyone in the whole wide world needs to
know. He says be born again. Born of the Spirit. Have your eyes opened to the light so that
you aren't stumbling around in the dark any more. You want to know the truth? Well you can handle the truth. It's just not what you are expecting. You're probably expecting something, like
clean you feet first and your head last, that will make you acceptable to
God. Or how about this one, take your
shoes off because everywhere you step is Holy Ground, God made it. It's the truth. Or, Kiss every child you come upon and make
sure that all of them are being taken care of, for they inherit the Kingdom of
God. Instead it's the simplest thing in
the world, Be Born of the Spirit. But
Nicodemus doesn't get it. His response
is along the lines of “What?!”, “That's not possible!”, “This is crazy
talk!” He was in a word,
incredulous. So Jesus' reply is one of
the most famous passages of scripture John 3:16 -21: 16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so
that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to
judge the world, but to save the world through him. 18 There is no judgment against anyone who
believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged
for not believing in God’s one and only Son.
19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the
world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions
were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the
light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the
light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
So, 2000 years
later and none of it's changed. We
stumble around in the dark. To some of
us it can be like a warm blanket. It can
be frightening to others. None of us
want our sins to be cleansed, because it might hurt, or because it's
embarrassing. We don't know, or
sometimes don't care, that only Jesus can fill us up inside. That He is what we ache
for. Not the next person, not the next
new car, next new job, or World Series, or Super Bowl or Olympics. It's all fleeting and useless. It's temporal and meaningless. Do you know what's permanent and what's
meaningful? Life in Christ! Nicodemus found that out. He came to Jesus at night, with a veiled
question, hiding behind truth and fact.
He left a believer.
We need to
shine the Light of Truth in the darkness and find the strength to walk through
dark places, so we can help shine the light of Jesus. Why?
Because there's only one way to heaven and Jesus is it. What more do you need? The alternatives are Sin and Hell. In John 8:12 (NLT) 12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and
said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me,
you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads
to life.” We need to stop
stumbling around in the dark. It's not
healthy.
Here's four
things to help you not Stumble in the Dark: 1.
Spend time in the Word of God.
2. Read your Bible daily. And don't just read it. Anybody can do that. What you need to do is really read it and
listen to what it's saying to you. I
mean, it's God talking to You.
3. Pray about what you read. Think about what you read. Absorb what you read. If you take the time to do that you'll get
more out of it. It'll lead you down the
path you need to go in life. 4. Talk with other Christians about what you
read and what it means to you and listen to what they have to say. It'll help you grow, not only mentally, but
also spiritually. You'll see life in a
whole new way. Not that life won't have
its own ups and downs. It's just that
you will have an assurance about your life that no one can take away. Let me leave you with this verse from John
12:35-36 (NLT) 35 Jesus replied, “My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in
the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk
in the darkness cannot see where they are going.
36 Put your trust in the light while there is still
time; then you will become children of the light.”
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