Wednesday, April 2, 2008
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Every once in a while we think someone left the floodlight on in the backyard, so I look outside the window to discover the floodlight isn't on - the moonlight is! It's one of those really impressive full-moon nights. The most beautiful one, for my wife and me I think, was when we were on vacation in the mountains. Our cabin was nestled in this quiet valley next to this gentle little stream. Not long after dark, I noticed that the valley was like ablaze with light! The full moon was rising in the eastern sky and it was casting this celestial glow over everything. It was perfectly positioned in the sky to just totally illuminate the valley we were in. But then, something made me realize what I was really looking at, and I said as we stood on the porch in admiration, "You know, that moon really isn't producing any light at all. It's only reflecting the light of the sun."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Glowing Hunk of Rock."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Corinthians 3:18. Paul says, "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." Now as followers of Jesus Christ we are supposed to light our world. God has positioned you where you work, or live, or go to school, or where you shop, to make a difference, a Jesus-difference there. By your love, your joy, your Jesus-treatment of people, you're supposed to light up what would otherwise be a much darker environment.
But we are like the moon; we have no glory of our own. This verse says we reflect Jesus' glory! He says it in another way in chapter 4, verse 7. "We have this treasure in jars of clay so that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." You see, anything we do for the Lord, it's all God. Now we should be a lot brighter, I think, than we are. There are a lot of important things He wants to do through you, but maybe you're not making nearly the difference you should be making. It's probably because of one basic spiritual misunderstanding about who's the "sun" and who's the "moon." Maybe these are things you've been asked to do for the Lord, but you're afraid to say "yes" because you feel inadequate. You want people you're around to hear about Jesus, but you just haven't said anything because you're afraid you'll mess it up. God is putting before you some ways that He wants you to make a difference, but you keep shrinking back. But see, you're missing something. You're not the "sun." You don't have to produce the power, or the words, or the strength, or the light to pull it off. It's Jesus who does the work. He's only asking for you to be available. He knows you and I can't produce the light; that's His job! He just wants you to be in a position to reflect His light onto the people around you. That takes a lot of pressure off. That means you can help somebody be in heaven with you someday.
In chapter 3, verse 5 in 2 Corinthians He says, "Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent." See, you can dare to step up to responsibility that would be impossible if it depended on you. It doesn't. It depends on the Son of God! This "reflected" glory neutralizes our feelings of inadequacy and pride. Maybe you've begun to feel a little prouder of the kind of Christian you've been, or some of the things you've done for the Lord. Hey, news flash! You haven't done them! You're only a glowing piece of rock." It's all Jesus, reflecting His glory through you. What are you doing taking any credit for any of it? If the sun were to go out some full-moon night, we would immediately know where the light's been coming from all along and how little the moon has to do with it. The light of the Son of God never goes out, and He chooses to reflect in on your valley, through your life, your personality, your abilities, even your weaknesses. Isn't that amazing? You can light up your world with light that does not come from you, but from the very Son of God himself!