When I was just married in 1968, my wife and I visited a newly discovered cave in southeastern Minnesota.  One moment of the tour became permanent in my memory when the inexperienced guide took us into a deeper and much larger room, then shut off all the lights and joked about how much money our family could save in burial costs if the place now caved in on us.  He thought he was being humorous, but all he did was insure that it was the last time I'd ever go into a cave.  But it wasn't his foolish chatter, it was the darkness!  Your eyes never adjust to that kind of darkness, for there is no light by which they can see.  Then the young man struck a match and the entire room was filled with light.  It wasn't bright, but enough to cut through the oppressive darkness.  It was good to get out!

          I'm not sure there are enough matches in the universe to cut through some of the darkness in our world today.  And it's not just from the darkness of ignorance or superstition.  It's the darkness of the soul among so many supposedly enlightened people, educated people, people who are trying their best to suppress anything about God, anything that even remotely sounds Christian.  Rather than let the light of grace shine, they prefer people live in darkness.

          Jesus once spoke of such people.  He said, "Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." (John 3:19)   Like us, Isaiah the prophet lived among a nation in great darkness.

          All of this is the darkness of sin.  It is spiritual darkness and it separates people from God and people from other people.  Isaiah chapter 8 shows a situation in Israel that is pitch black.  Men, women and children refused to serve and obey God.  The people ignored God and consulted mediums and spiritists.  They'd either made a deliberate decision to do without God in their lives or they'd chosen to ignore Him.  Whatever the case, those men, women and children lived in the darkness of sin and in rebellion against God and His Word.

          Isaiah saw darkness in the public institutions of his day.  Kings, rulers, priests, and prophets were first in line to sin against God.  Injustice and evil of the rich and powerful rained down on the poor.  Widows, orphans, and aliens had to fend for themselves.  False prophets and teachers led thousands astray with lies and false beliefs.

          Isaiah also saw a spirit-filled world of darkness.  He knew about Satan and his evil hosts.  He wrote how they opposed God and His kingdom at every turn.  He saw them rejoice in the lies, prejudice, arrogance, and all forms of human sin.

          And Isaiah looked within his own heart and saw darkness.  He saw within himself the sin and evil desires that ran contrary to the will of God.  It was like in the days of Abraham when God could not find even 10 righteous persons in Sodom and Gomorra.  It is like Western Europe today where less than 5 percent of the people attend church on a regular basis.

          You and I can surely make our own list, and it should begin with ourselves.  But what about terrorism justified by those who oppose Christ?  Or promiscuity advocated by Hollywood and the media?  Or the taking of human life in all forms, including that procedure made legal 32 years ago today?  Or what about the continual progression towards depravity, from the unthinkable to the thinkable, from the thinkable to the acceptable, and from the acceptable to the preferable?  Or what about some churches and pastors who no longer preach the gospel?  Darkness seems everywhere.  Jesus said it well, "If the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:23)

          The whole book of Isaiah is a mixture of gloom and glory.  The prophet goes from the darkness of chapter 8 to the lightness of chapter 9.  Listen to his words: "There will be no more gloom for those who were in distress...  The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." (Isaiah 9:1-2)

          Why this sudden change?  How can Isaiah speak of darkness in one breath and of great light in the next?  How is this possible?  His answer?  Light comes with the birth of the Messiah.  The Messiah is coming, he said, the One who will be light for people walking in darkness.  Several centuries later, what Isaiah wrote became fact.  Jesus of Nazareth was born, the Messiah, the Light of the world.

          The purpose of light is to oppose darkness, to overcome and dispel it.  Jesus came to get rid of the darkness of sin, evil, war, and death.  He said, "I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)   The Good News is that no matter how strong darkness seems, the Light will always prevail.  Jesus is the Light of the World, and no matter how hard darkness tries, it cannot put Him out.  Darkness cannot put out a light.  Just the opposite.  The blackness of a cave is overcome by a single match.

          The title of this message is "Seeing the Light."  While I truly believe the Light of the World will overcome the darkness, I still wonder why some never seem to see the light.  Today is the anniversary of "Roe v. Wade," so permit me to say just one thing on that.  I am very "pro-life" and probably most everyone here is.  Human life is a precious gift of God and we all need to value it, in every stage of life, from the youngest to the oldest, no matter where it is located, whether inside or outside the body.

          But I must admit I'm confused by the latest attempts by abortion activists.  I am stymied by their reaction to the burial of fetal ashes in Boulder.  As you may have heard, a Catholic church there for years has been giving a respectable burial to the remains of abortion clinics, and all of a sudden it's being questioned, even being considered offensive.  Can people not see the light here?  Are some so fearful of losing their rights that they have lost all common sense?  Have we strayed so far from the Bible that burying human ashes is considered a cynical act?  I pray they will see the light, and I hope it's in my - or my children's - lifetime.

          Another thing:  How is it that Christianity is condemned as being barbaric when its principal enemy justifies killing Christians in its writings?  Two to three million Christian people have been killed in Africa and Indonesia in the past decade just for believing in Jesus.  And Christians who proclaim God's love are considered barbaric?  I've been hearing that somehow Christians "have it coming" for what happened in the crusades.  Who started this insane way of thinking?  I'm praying that all who defend radical Islam while condemning Christianity will see the light.

          And one more thing:  Why have so many Christians adopted pagan ways, and now defend them, often citing the Bible?  Take a poll of any group of Christians and you will probably get completely opposite positions on marriage, homosexuality, the Bible, even the reality of God.  Many Christians today actually believe Allah and the God of the Bible are the same, just with different names.  Dear friends, there is only one way to heaven, and I am praying that all who think otherwise will see the light.

          Jesus once said, "The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." (John 1:5)   How true!  There is still much darkness in this world, so you and I must heed the Lord when He said, "Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you." (John 12:35)   He also said, "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." (John 12:46)

          The darkness was deep and black at Calvary.  In the middle of the day, a heavy darkness descended upon the land.  For three hours Christ was forsaken by His Father and the forces of darkness held sway.  But it did not last, for the Light triumphed.  The darkness of the tomb was replaced with the brightness of the risen Lord.  May we all see the light, the Light of the World, Jesus Christ.

          A blind man in a great city was found sitting at a street corner with a lighted lantern beside him.  Someone asked him why he had a lantern, since he was blind and its light was the same to him as darkness.  The blind man replied, "So that others will not stumble and can find their way."

          You and I are that light.  May what we say and how we live help keep others from stumbling, amen

Copyright © 2005 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.