In the Shadows of the World
In our text from Ephesians Paul is contrasting the difference between light and darkness. A contrast that we don’t fully grasp. That’s because we are never really in the dark. At night when you walk into a room you flip a switch and you have light. There are street lights and lights on the neighbor’s house that stay on all night. If anyone has ever gone on a tour of a cave you may have briefly experienced true darkness – most cave tours turn off the lights at one time in the tour. In fact, if you leave the lights off long enough you will begin to think that the cave is talking to you. (That’s because your brain will start trying to make sense of what’s going on around you. That is also what dreams are.) While it was never cave-dark for the people in Paul’s day, they certainly experienced a greater contrast between dark and light. They also did not have as much protection and security as we do. When it was dark then, there was a much greater danger lurking in the shadows.
With that contrast in mind we look to see what Paul’s text is about. If you read the verses just before the ones we read today, you will note that Paul is talking about greed, obscenity, fornication and silly and vulgar talk. Warning the reader not to be deceived and reminding them that they had been living that way – in the dark – before Christ came into their lives. The part of this text that we did read is talking about discipline. Paul calls the Ephesians to live in the light of Christ. We first note that Paul tells the Ephesians that they need to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. That makes Christians on a life-long journey of learning how to live in the light. Paul also tells us that we are to discipline others by example. For our lives in the light will show Christ to those living in the darkness. We can do this because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
We look to our reading from the book of Samuel. The text of Samuel is one of the most corrupt of the Old Testament. It also contradicts itself in several places. In the book Saul – the first king of Israel - is deposed from the throne twice yet, when he dies, he is still on the throne. That is in part what happens when more than one oral tradition is included when finally written down. Our story presents some problems as well but what is most interesting is that David is the one chosen. In the Old Testament times, the oldest son is the one who is most important. They were the ones that got the largest inheritance. David, the least important son, was out watching the sheep. That was probably because he was the most expendable one. In passing we also note that nothing is said about Jesse’s daughters. What our story says is that God chooses differently than the world. That which the world sees as most important may not be what God chooses. That is why we must always strive to find out what is pleasing to the Lord and not have our mind already made up.
Our reading from John tells us the same thing. The Pharisees cannot see Jesus for who he is because he does not fit in their already decided world-view. They certainly would not take the words of a sinner or the son of sinners as being true. Their belief that they knew the truth blinded them from seeing God’s truth. When confronted by the truth of Jesus they changed the narrative of what really happened to one that fit their belief. The blind man also shows, while he was afraid and did not fully understand the whole thing, how to share the story of Jesus with others. He did not use complicated words. He was not a great theologian. He just told others what Jesus had done for him – I was blind, now I see.
The story of David and the man born blind show us how to live in the light. You do not have to be important or have great knowledge. All you need to do is show others what Jesus has done for you. He has taken you out of the shadows and darkness of the world and called you to wake in the light of Christ. Now he calls you to shine light upon the world so that others may see and believe.