Turn On the Light

 “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)

I love to look at stained glass windows in churches, especially the ones that depict scenes from the Bible. The beautiful interplay of colored glass bordered in strips of lead creates a striking image as it conveys of the glory and grace of God.

From centuries-old cathedrals to modern-day churches, the stained glass window has been used to help tell the gospel story.

Here’s the thing, though: without light shining into the stained glass windows, the windows are drab and dark. The pictures are lifeless. The sanctuaries that contain the stained glass windows have a cold, almost gloomy, feel to them when the windows are darkened. But when the light shines on the windows, the windows come to life, and so does the room that contains them.

Light, it seems, is the necessary ingredient that must be added to any stained glass window in order for the window to display the glory for which it is designed.

I feel like we are like the stained glass window. We are beautifully created in the image of God. And, for all you presbies out there, you know that our chief purpose is to glorify God and enjoy God forever. But in order to fulfill the purpose for which we were created, we need light. 

Jesus is our Light. You knew I was going to say that, didn’t you? I’m an ordained minister – I have to say that. But it’s true, isn’t it? Jesus is our Light. When Jesus takes up residence in our hearts, there is a radiance about us that was previously not there. We are not fully alive apart from Jesus. 

Problem is, even with Jesus as our light, I feel like sometimes we keep the light turned off. Or we use the dimmer switch, and we keep his light low. Interestingly, when a dimmer knob is turned to low, it is exercising resistance to the flow of electricity to the light; when the knob is turned to high, it removes the resistance to the flow of electricity, so that the light can shine brightly.

Sometimes I think followers of Jesus have turned the dimmer switch to low, or even to “off”, because I don’t see much light in them. They bicker amongst one another, they are divisive, they set aside common courtesy and civility, they demean all who oppose them. And lest I be accused of pointing the finger, I confess that I, too, go through times when I have shut Jesus down and I have failed to shine his light in my life. It’s not pretty when we do that. When we increase our resistance to the lordship of Jesus in our lives, then we become dim, dull, lifeless even.

"See to it that the light within you is not darkness" - Jesus.

“See to it that the light within you is not darkness,” said Jesus (Luke 11:35) I think he means for us to set our internal Light knobs to wide open. No resistance. Let Jesus take control. Jesus also said that if you have a light, you shouldn’t hide it under a bushel (Luke 11:33; Matthew 5:15). Again, don’t dim the light.

You really are a beautiful work of art created by the best Artist in the world. The only thing that will make you even more beautiful is to let a little light shine in you. 

Turn on the Light in you, so people can see how beautiful you really are.