Sermon Response: Finding and Choosing Light
By Nick DeanThe dew is heavy on the grass and its hue is warmed by a growing sunrise. Steam billows from my coffee, mimicking the slight fog that hovers above my backyard. Another day is being born. Humans stir while lights flicker. The world as I know it slowly begins to churn. Before I pick what’s for breakfast or fill my to-do list, I make a choice: true joy or another day as a slave to idols?Most days I don’t wake up and consciously ask myself that question, thereby setting me up to choose the ways of my flesh. That’s my default; I will choose to run hard after an ungraspable perfection. I will pinch and prod my looks, thoughts, personality and work to find and embellish flaws.There are whole days, likely weeks, that idols win in the battle for my heart and mind. Why do I choose to live life as if perfection is something I can attain without Christ?It’s because each morning I don’t choose true joy, I’m opting to live in a shallow world.
“How can you live with the terrifying thought that the hurricane has become human, that the fire has become flesh, that life itself came to life and walked in our midst? Christianity either means that, or it means nothing. It is either the most devastating disclosure of the deepest reality in the world, or it’s a sham, a nonsense, a bit of deceitful play-acting. Most of us, unable to cope with saying either of those things, condemn ourselves to live in the shallow world in between…"N.T. Wright, For All God’s Worth
On Sunday, Pastor Jim used this Wright quote and asked, “What are we missing that we aren’t more extreme about who Jesus is?”I think we self-medicate using self-reliance as an attempt to improve our standing. We live in the world looking for material and artificial ‘hopes’ and ‘joys’ not holding, unswervingly, to the hope and joy that He has promised.We downplay our sins, arguing ‘it’s not that bad.' We live as though we can mend our grievance against God by acting perfectly. But these actions render God’s grace and Christ’s death pointless. Did Christ die so we could continue to rely on our own strength?We abandon the Creator. We are all the greatest of sinners. That is polarizing. How can we believe our sin to be so small when we choose to live as if His death was not needed? Is there anything more offensive?
“Why are you cast down, O my soul,and why are you in turmoil within me?Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,my salvation and my God."(Psalm 42:10-11, ESV)
My goal is to start each morning remembering how deep my sin is, and then to run, as fast as possible, to the source of forgiveness. Running in the light. Loving the light. Soaking up the light. Pushing back darkness by admitting my love for perfection and by uprooting dark sin and laying it on life’s table, surrounded by fellow light seekers.It’s a paradox that a community committed to exposing darkness would create so much light. Redemption is just that: receiving light when you give up darkness.Start the day picking true joy, which means acknowledging that you're fallen and seeking Him as a steady foundation on which to rise. Don’t rely on your day to make you joyful. Rely on His joy to make your day full of light.Nick Dean is a member of The Commons City Group. He blogs at bynickdean.com This post was in response to Pastor Jim Essian's most recent sermon in his The Good King sermon series.