Summary How many of us truly shine as lights in this world today? How many of us could be called a point of light or a source of light? Download Link Right click and "Save as..." to Download

 

---

 This past week I picked up a newspaper – actually I found it online – it is called the Asian Journal. The Asian Journal is an online newspaper that provides news of all of the countries in Asia. In this particular edition that I picked up there was a very interesting article. I would like to begin with this article this morning.

The article is about a lady named Jed Sy. Jed Sy was an inmate in jail in Ma-a City Jail in Davao City on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. The article actually appeared and is dated March 8, 2008. I would like to read to you from the article.

It says, "Female inmate Jed Sy who has been accused of drug trafficking confessed to almost losing her sanity while doing time in the cramped, overcrowded detention facility in Ma-a Jail. With over 100 other female inmates Jed and company had to cope with and squeeze in three small individual cells with little ventilation and light, some of them even sleeping in shifts. For Jed nighttime was the hardest because aside from the congested jail she always thought about her daughter whom she had to leave behind. Jed's Chinese husband is a drug trafficker. When he fled she was the one arrested and later charged."

The article goes on to talk about the improvements that have been made at the jail. I found this article interesting for a number of reasons. Jed Sy is a member of the United Church of God. She was arrested on January 1, 2005, has never gone to trial, and sits in the city jail of Davao City on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. There is a lot more to the story.

On New Year's Eve, December 31, 2004, Jed was with her daughter in a restaurant waiting for her husband. Jed and her husband, Allen, were a fairly wealthy couple. Jed grew up in the church but she married an individual who was not in the church. He is a Chinese national, and yes it turns out that he was indeed a drug trafficker, which she was not aware of. She and her brother actually owned several pieces of property and one of these pieces of property had a warehouse, which was rented by six other Chinese nationals who were known by her husband. She was not aware that they were making in this warehouse something called 'shabu' in the Philippines. It is the primary ingredient for methamphetamine. And, yes they were drug trafficking.

On December 31 as Jed and her 3-year-old daughter sat in a restaurant waiting for her husband, they became impatient. He didn't show. Three hours passed and finally Jed and her daughter went home. This was not unusual. Jed and her husband had an erratic schedule. He often traveled to China on the spur of the moment. And so she was not terribly concerned that he did not show up. The next morning very early she was rousted out of bed by the PDEA, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. The PDEA knocked on her door. They rousted her out of bed. They searched her home and told her she was under arrest. Then she discovered for the first time that the night before a raid had been conducted on the warehouse and six Chinese nationals were killed. There was a shootout at the warehouse, but her husband was not to be found. Even to this day he has not been found. It appears that he fled the country and escaped, probably back to China. She has heard nothing from him in three years. Or it is possible that he could be dead. Unfortunately for Jed Sy, her husband had insisted that she keep the property in her name, that she was the owner of the property.

You have to also understand that in Davao City there is a mayor who ran a campaign on getting rid of all drugs in Davao, and he actually got laws passed in the city of Davao which allow him or allow the policemen to shoot to kill if they find anyone dealing drugs. No questions asked. No need for a trial, you are simply shot. It is well known in the city of Davao that there are police death squads who travel the city, and if they find anyone involved in drugs they simply either hang them, shoot them, or in some way leave them on the side of the road dead. And virtually if not every day, every week, people are found dead on the side of the streets of Davao as a sign to other drug dealers. In fact, in 2005 when we went to the Feast of Tabernacles in the Philippines we flew from Cebu City down to Davao, and before you land in Davao you receive a little card that is given to you. On the front of the card is a picture of the mayor. Eduarte is his name. The picture of the mayor welcomes you to Davao. On the backside of the card is a warning. It says if you are coming with drugs, if you are coming to do drugs, you will be shot no matter what your nationality. That is your welcome to Davao City, this little card that you get before you land.

Jed was arrested. No evidence. Nothing at all. She had no knowledge of this. She was put in jail January 1, 2005. As of today she has never had a trial. She sits in jail waiting for the government to process her and to give her a trial.

Back in 2005 we met Jed's mother and her daughter (at that time she was 4 years old, she is now 6 years old. Jed's mother is now raising the daughter. She also is a member of the church in Davao.) Here is Mr. Ed Macareg's update that he gave me in the fall of 2005 about Jed Sy. He said, right now Jed is like the Biblical Joseph in prison. Not only has she improved the women's prison by providing electrical fans for all the rooms, and mattresses for all to sleep on, but she is respected, trusted, and looked highly upon by jail wardens and inmates. She has free access to use her own cell phone. She has her video player and TV and is able to watch our sermon videos at will. Jed is also working as an accountant in the city jail's cooperative enterprise. She works at an air-conditioned office and uses their computers. Thus, she presently finds safety and fulfillment there. Mr. Macareg referred to her as a light to the prison, as an individual who made things better in spite of the desperate circumstances she finds herself in.

This morning I received another update from Mr. Macareg. I had asked him what was going on since we had not heard about her or seen her. In fact, it was in some ways coincidental that I found this article about her that was dated March 8 in the Asian Journal. Here is what Mr. Macareg wrote recently. The court hearing yesterday was postponed. It is coincidental that March 8 was the date of the article in which she was interviewed about the prison, and also on March 8 there was a court hearing, which she was to go to. He said, the court hearing yesterday was postponed (dated March 9). While all parties on the defense side, Jed and her brother were present, (her brother was also charged because he was also part owner of the property) the prosecutor forgot that she still has to cross examiner the defense witness who presented her testimony the last time. Mr. Macareg writes, I could see that the prosecutor seemed overwhelmed with hundreds of drug-related cases and she is the only one who has to process all of these. Our government seems understaffed in this regard but overstaffed in other nonessential departments. Our lawyer could have taken advantage of that situation but he wants to be above board in everything so he does not. Thus, yesterday the prosecutor found out she was not ready to do the cross examination, so once again it was postponed to April 17. Then Mr. Baker wrote me this morning and said, the April 17 date was also postponed. So after three and one half years in jail with no trial, Jed Sy is a light to people in a way that is quite extraordinary. One hundred women in this prison look to her virtually as their spiritual leader. She is an individual who has modeled God's way of life in an atmosphere that would have destroyed most people. In fact, as she said in the interview, the one thing that almost destroys her is the fact that she is separated from her daughter. There is at this point no particular end in sight.

Turn with me to Philippians 2. There is a particular point I want to make as a result of this article and of course this particular example. Not only is it heart wrenching to read of someone who is a part of the church who finds herself in this extraordinary circumstance, but when you see what the apostle Paul writes in Philippians 2, there are a number of issues and number of things that do become quite obvious.

Philippians 2, beginning in verse 14. Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.

I guess the issue or the question that should be asked of all of us this morning is, how many of us truly shine as lights in this world today? How many of us could be called a point of light or a source of light? Is it not true that more often than not we prefer to go unnoticed – not that this is necessarily a bad thing. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves. We want to slip into the background. A light can hardly ever be in the background. Even a very small light has a great impact on a dark room. When you are traveling down a dark road and you come to an area that is lit it is a remarkably different feeling. Even a small amount of light makes a big difference. I get the feeling that the apostle Paul here is talking about being noticed. The Greek word for light here is phoster. It means an illuminator. The phrase can actually be translated, be luminaries in the world. Shine as a luminary. Or as one translation says, shine as stars in a very dark and perverse world.

Young's Literal Translation translates this verse this way. That ye may become blameless and harmless, children of God, unblemished in the midst of a generation crooked and perverse, among whom ye do appear as luminaries in the world.

Now when we think of luminaries, we even use the term stars as someone who is very important, someone who is recognized wherever he goes. We talk about luminaries, individuals who are always recognized. These are politicians, these are movie stars, these are individuals who wherever they go you recognize them. Paul used that word to describe Christianity. That wherever we go we should shine as stars.

It really struck me, not only reading what Mr. Macareg wrote, but also reading the newspaper article. The newspaper article actually went on, it is quite a lengthy article, to talk about what she has done in this prison. Because of the wealth that she had and had access to, she provided mattresses for all of the prisoners and the jail allowed that. She provided fans for all of the rooms. She actually provided tablecloths for the tables, and napkins for them to use. She made herself a light to 100 women. All of the jail officials said it is easily recognizable in the jail today where she sits.

The Living Translation translates this verse, you are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a dark world full of crooked and perverse people. Let your lives shine brightly before them.

It is quite a calling and quite a command, you might say, from the apostle Paul that your life should be a light to all who see you.

I found it also interesting a few years ago when the senior President Bush established a program that he called Points of Light. This program was to recognize people who made a difference in the lives of others. And in the course of his presidency over 1000 Points of Light awards were given in the United States. Some of them were quite extraordinary stories. Some of them were heart-wrenching stories where you would read about what people had done, and you could see how it affected other people's lives. There are many extraordinary stories. You can find many books that catalog or report some of these and tell how people make a difference.

I found a two-volume work recently that intrigued me and found it very interesting. It is actually a two-volume work written by a nurse telling about all of the experiences of nurses in caring for people. The titles are "Making A Difference, Volume 1" and "Making a Difference, Volume II." It is all about nurses. Often we don't think about how individuals who come to work in the morning with life and death situations facing them, and people's lives, people needing help and people needing encouragement, and people needing hope. Whether it be young children who are dying of a horrible disease, or an elderly person living out his or her life. These are the comforters. These are the individuals by profession who come there. And I found it intriguing that this book had been written by this one particular nurse. It wasn't about her. It was about all of the other nurses who put their stories together. It is quite remarkable to sit and read.

Barak Obama has a book out titled "Working Hard to Make a Difference."

All of these are about one particular theme. That is, how your life, not your words, not your doctrines, but how your life affects other people, how you life can impact someone else. And it is something that is so profound and so powerful that you can never take it for granted. We hear these terms quite often.

A few weeks ago my wife and I had the opportunity to be in Jordan, and also in Israel. One of the most profound and moving experiences was to visit Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem is the holocaust museum in Jerusalem. We had a couple of hours one morning and we thought we would go there and spend a couple of hours. It is a very modern building. It is organized like a maze. And you walk through the whole story of the holocaust. We thought we would be there a couple of hours. Six hours later we were still in the museum. The last part of the museum you walk out of the main museum part and you walk over to the children's portion. You talk about an experience, you walk in there. What they have done in this particular building, they have it completely dark. It is like looking out at the night sky and stars are twinkling all around you. And then they have pictures of the children, and they have names of the children being read. They are read continuously. I don't know if it is 24 hours a day. Certainly it is all the time it is open. They are reading the names of the children and giving their ages; 1.5 million children died in the death camps of World War II; 1.5 million children...and to hear their names. But more than that, to see the lights blinking all around you. It is like you are looking up at a sky. The effect is to be standing in an open field totally dark and seeing the lights blinking. Each one of these blinking lights represents a child who died in the holocaust. When you walk out of there you look back and reflect on it, it was at that point that the concept of a point of light really struck me. If you are looking for a title, the title of today's sermon is "Points of Light", how you and I can become and should become points of light in a very dark world. If you can imagine standing out in an open field in a very, very dark night with no moon and suddenly seeing the stars blinking in various parts of the sky, and to equate that to the people of God scattered around this world...I found the effects of walking into that dark room and looking at the blinking lights so overpowering and the message it gave without even showing...you had to look to the side as you walked in like a vestibule to see the pictures of the children on the wall, and to see their names, and you could hear, of course, their names in a very low voice as they were being read over and over again. It was profound. But the blinking lights, and realizing what each light represents, was powerful.

Let's go to Genesis 1. The Bible uses the concept of light and darkness quite a bit throughout scripture. In fact, if there is one particular symbol, a symbol I guess would be the best word, the symbol of righteousness is light and the symbol of evil is darkness. If there is a consistent symbol from beginning to the end of the Bible, that would be the symbol. And it begins right away in the very beginning. Notice what we have in the beginning.

Genesis:1:1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. — In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Then something goes wrong. Something happens. We know that God never created anything imperfect. And yet suddenly we go from perfection in the heavens and the earth to... the earth was without form, and void. And notice the representation of that world then. Darkness was upon the face of the deep.

It's rather profound when you consider that the something that went wrong as we understand it was the rebellion of Satan. The world was bright and light. There was plenty of brilliance. The angels were about. And then there was a rebellion. And suddenly it was dark. There was no light. Again, I find that rather profound. That we go from the light which is the power of God, which is the righteousness of God, and then we have the rebellion of Satan and everything goes dark. So we have the setting up of a symbol that continues throughout scripture, light picturing righteousness, and darkness picturing evil. Of course, the very first thing we have God doing in this restoration is what?

Verse3. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. Now we know because we can read all of Genesis 1 that the sun was not being created at this point. The sun was already there. It was created with the heavens and the earth. There had already been light. There had already been beauty. But there was something that covered it up. There was something that kept the light from being penetrated. So we find what is happening here is that God separates that. He removes all of that which is in the way. And now there is light again. And I imagine that even though the world was in quite a state, quite a mess at this point, that there had to be a tremendous amount of beauty even in just simply light cascading over the world for the first time. Who knows how long this lasted? We don't know how long the earth was here in this particular state, but after whatever length of time in this state God removes what is in the way and suddenly there is light cascading over the earth again. It is a beginning. Beauty, light, warmth, and of course the coming kingdom of God ultimately. We have a beginning here, quite remarkable.

Commentaries actually draw a comparison between Genesis 1 and Philippians 2. They make a comparison that Paul's statement to Christians is that the light of the world comes from God, just as the light for Christianity comes from God as well. Obviously, through Christ. That light doesn't just generate itself. It has to be given. And then it has to be shared. And the power of that particular example. We see that light was brought to a dark and chaotic world in the same manner Christians bring light to a dark and perverse world. Commentators say it is not coincidental that the light and darkness are used in that way.

Turn to John 1. Notice also in what has been called the second account of creation, the second place in scripture where the concept of "in the beginning is used." Notice what we find in John 1. Not only do we talk about the beginning, but we talk about light again. In other words, this is not some obscure concept. This is a powerful concept that permeates the scripture.

John:1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it (or as the margin says apprehend it.) The light is so powerful the darkness cannot overwhelm it. The darkness cannot put out the light. The darkness has no power over the light. So we see again this symbol, this analogy from Genesis 1, of darkness and light, and we see it repeated here. And we see that Christ is the source of that light for Christianity.

Notice verse 7 talking about John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

So we see Jesus Christ. In the beginning back in Genesis 1 we have the introduction of light that changes everything about the world after who knows how long it sat in darkness. The light comes. And then you see in John 1 the world at a different time has another light, has a light that comes called the light , that also brings this same feeling to the world. Beauty, light, righteousness, a change in activity. And it is the light and Jesus Christ is that light.

Look at Matthew 4. When Jesus Christ began preaching the gospel he quotes ISyah 9. Matthew 4 is the lead-up to the time of the beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount where Christ seeing the multitudes went up to the mountains as it says in Matthew 5. But noticeMatthew:4:12Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;. Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali. We were privileged to see this, driving through Nazareth a city today, and driving up through Capernaum, all of the ruins there, small cities there on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. This is where Christ came. This is where he went.

14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by ISyah the prophet, saying:"The land of Zebulun (which is that particular area) and the land of Naphtali, (this is about as far north as you can go in Israel, just north of the sea of Galilee, a very small village at that time of Capernaum. And it is there just beyond the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by ISyah the prophet, saying: " The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan. (You are also not far there from Syria, right across the border, right across the River Jordan. You are in the area of the Golan Heights not far away. It is all very condensed in a small area. So Christ is here in the land of Zebulun, Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan. This is the primary route between Damascus and the Mediterranean Sea. It is fairly flat. You travel through there until you get to the Sea of Galilee and it becomes a series of hills and small mountains. I'm sorry..., the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. This is the northern part of Galilee which was influenced heavily by the Gentiles that surround that area, certainly in the time of Christ. And it was looked down upon by those in Jerusalem. This was a Gentile area. This was an area that was not worthy of hearing the message. If you are a religious leader of the 1st century as Christ certainly was, you didn't go up there. Nobody does. That is way out of the way. It says, Galilee of the Gentiles. 16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death  Light has dawned."

So there seems to be some significance to taking the message to this particular area even. Where it was a remote area, an area that you would not expect to introduce the gospel. This is where Christ introduces the gospel message, and it is compared as going from darkness to light.

In John:8:12Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Jesus Christ declares himself to be the light. That was appalling to the Pharisees, absolutely appalling. Because the only other being that is referred to as the light is found in Psalms 27 where it says The Lord is my light. But Christ declared in John:8:12Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life., "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

So you find that Christianity is based upon a principle that Jesus Christ lives in us and therefore that light shines. We are to become points of light in which we shine as Christians. This is a rather powerful responsibility, a rather powerful responsibility that every Christian must bear. You are the light of the world. You are the points of light.

Notice verse 13. the Pharisees were very upset with what he said. In fact they were so upset they said, You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true." You are a liar. Only God could be the light. But Jesus Christ declared himself to be the light.

During the course of Christ's ministry in Luke:16:8And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. he refers to Christians as being the sons of light. He talks about the people of this world are smarter than the sons of light, referring to knowledge of the way things are done in the world. But he refers to them as sons of light. If Jesus Christ is the light, obviously those who become Christians are sons of the light, followers of the light, and those who reflect the light. The light shines out from them.

Christians are also called lights. Look at Matthew 5. On their own they are called lights, not simply children of the light. They are also called lights. Matthew 5. Now we get to the Sermon on the Mount. Tradition has a particular location where you can go and see, there is a church there and a scene where you can look out across the Sea of Galilee. It is quite remarkable. It makes a lot of sense that this is the appropriate site. If this isn't the site, it would have been somewhere near there on the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee. This hillside is rather interesting because it has a flat knoll and then it kind of goes down and is almost like an amphitheater there. You can actually see it when you walk there. It is like there is an amphitheater where someone could sit at the top of that, and the sea of Galilee behind, and it comes out just flat enough that people could sit at sort of an angle. So you can actually envision as you stand there and look across as to what it must have been like when Jesus Christ sat down. The commentators find it interesting that Christ comes and sits down on this rather nondescript mountainside. It doesn't even have a name. This isn't like Mt. Nebo, or Mt. Hebron, or Mt. Tabor, or some of the famous places in the Bible. This is a nondescript hillside that Jesus Christ chooses to give what is arguably the most famous message that he gave in his ministerial life. The beatitudes are given here. It is called the Mount of the Beatitudes. It doesn't even have a name. It is a nondescript hillside where Jesus Christ taught the most powerful things he had to say. And some would say where he talks about the law, he does, and how it applies under the new covenant.

Notice verse 13 after the beatitudes. "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

I found an interesting comment. I believe this comes from Adam Clarke. He says, "There was a species of salt in Judea which was generated at the generates at the lake Asphaltides (which is actually the Dead Sea) and it is called bituminous salt." To this day you can go down to the Dead Sea and the biggest industry there is salt, producing salt out of that area and it is sold all over the world. There is a certain area of the Dead Sea that is filled with this substance called bitumen. Now I am not familiar with exactly what bitumen is, but it is a real money maker for both Israel and Jordan on both sides of the Dead Sea. And it is sold all over the world. I am told every computer, every camera has a bit of bitumen in it. It is used for some of the connections, some of the things found in all of our electronics equipment. But it ruins the salt in that particular area. So the commentator says it is called bituminous salt because it is easily rendered vapid at has no other use but to be spread on a part of the temple to prevent slipping in wet weather. During the first century this unusual salt had no flavor to it. The bitumen ruined the salt and therefore it was taken and spread around the temple to keep people from slipping. Christ talks about being trampled underfoot as its only value, just as we use salt today. So the commentary says, "This is probably what our Lord alludes to in this particular place." They understood what he was saying. They understood this salt that was ruined by the bitumen. And so therefore it was of no value as salt. The mixing therefore ruined the salt.

Verse 14: "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. And if you were sitting there at what is called the Mount of the Beatitudes there are about three other hills either across the way or beside, and at night we drove up to Tiberius and then Capernaum, you could see the tops of these hills. Today there are cities; it would have been a village back then. But no doubt Christ looks across from where he is speaking and sees these villages sitting on the tops of these hills. The commentators identify particular names. Clark gives a particular name of a village set on a hill. And you can see it from a long way. As you drive up to Tiberius today which is just south of there, along the sea of Galilee, you can see for a long way as you come around the hillside. And you see these cities today. It wasn't the same back then but the principle is the same, like a city set on a hill. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men. How? That they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

You begin to see a connection also made in scripture that light involves good works. Light involves things you do , not necessarily things you say, or even things you believe. All of those are very important. You must believe the right doctrines. You must say the right things. But the light to the world is more about what you do. And the Bible equates it with good works.

The Bible, as I also mentioned, refers to the world as darkness, and evil and darkness are equated together as well. The lake of fire is described as what? Outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, Christ says, in outer darkness. Matthew 8, Matthew 22,and Matthew 25 all refer to the lake of fire or to the final judgment as a point of darkness. The end result of Satan as we see in scripture is that he will be cast into outer darkness for all eternity. So darkness relates to evil, darkness relates to sin, and light relates to righteousness. Both involve works. Works of darkness and works of light. We are told Satan and his demons are the rulers of darkness. Ephesians:6:4And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord..

Look at 1 Peter 2. Even our calling is what? It is compared to coming out of darkness into light. The day it really clicked with you and you began to understand God's way of life, the true way of life, and you made the effort to contact the church and you began attending services, and it really made sense to you, that is called coming out of darkness into light. Sometimes we even refer to it as the light bulb going off. We use that example. Light brings truth. Light brings goodness and righteousness. Darkness brings evil, sin, and ultimately death.

1 Peter:2:9But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Our calling is one from darkness to light.

1 John:2:9He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.. Again, the same principle is found here. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. So sin, evil is darkness. Righteousness, the true way of life, is light. So you begin to reach certain conclusions. If you are a Christian you have no choice but to be a light. You can't go back to the darkness. You can't mirror the darkness if that darkness is simply an absence of light. But darkness is so encompassing, it so overwhelms you that you can't imagine what light is like when you are in darkness.

This example was quite profoundly emphasized to me a number of years ago when we had the opportunity to visit the slave castles along the coast of West Africa, especially along the coast of Ghana. There must be a half dozen or so of them. The slave castles were built over 500 years ago. I think the oldest of them was 1453 by the Portuguese. They are these huge castles, huge fortresses built to house the slaves before they were taken on the ships and shipped to North America in some cases, the Caribbean, Europe, and other places they were to be slaves. This is also quite a moving place to visit when you go into these castles. They have almost like a city built on one level. You will have a church, the storehouses, the dwellings, all of these for the Europeans, and then below they have the dungeons where the slaves were kept. There is actually a plaque in one of the castles that reads, because it is really true when you read what happened with the slaves it is something to the effect, we as Africans apologize to our fellow Africans for our part in the holocaust of Africans. For 350 years the slave trade continued it is estimated that 25 million Africans died. What would happen is one tribe would overwhelm another tribe, capture the enemy, take them to the Europeans and sell them, or trade them for guns, food, or other things. So it wasn't just a one-sided thing. The blacks apologized for their part in what happened. Here is what would happen. They would bring slaves into the castle. Here you have this seemingly wonderful environment for the Europeans. The churches, the storehouses, and it is right on the beautiful coast of West Africa, everything is there, a beautiful place to live. It is quite profound that in the Portuguese castle underneath the church is where the dungeons are. And they would take the slaves and bring them down into the dungeons. The Africans were bigger and stronger than the Europeans. The Europeans were short, and were not nearly as strong as the Africans. They would put the Africans in the dungeons in total darkness for three months standing shoulder to shoulder, no way to sit down, no facilities to use for what they needed to use them for. There was none of that. And they were put in these dungeons. So part of the tour, they take you downstairs, you wind your way down into the dungeon. They say, this is the women's dungeon. It is less than half the size of this room. They said there were 300 people put in here at a time standing shoulder to shoulder. So when you are standing in this dungeon they close the door, the only opening, and it is absolutely dark. There isn't a bit of light. It is an incredible feeling. Without light at all darkness can be felt. And the guide would say, can you feel that the floor has some give to it. That is the buildup over years of human waste that has been pushed into the floor. That is what you are standing on. The only time they saw any light was when they opened it up about once a week and threw food in at the top. And threw water in to kind of wash out some of that. That went on for three months, and those who survived were put onto the ships and shipped away. But the darkness! It is not just happenstance that when human beings are punishing human beings, where do they put them? In darkness. Darkness is a punishment. It is as though it sucks you in. Even a small amount of light in a very dark room becomes incredible. So when they opened the door, or turned the lights on, it was an incredibly different feeling. They said, this is the way the Africans felt when the stood here waiting to be shipped away. It was an incredibly moving experience.

The idea of light, the idea of being a point of light is a very important point. Over the years in pastoring different churches I have looked back over the church and identified in my mind people who stood out to me as points of light. Individuals in congregations that could be looked upon as someone who shined that light, that reflected from them, and they were powerful witnesses in the Church of God for what we stand for.

The first church I ever served in was in Atlanta, Georgia. The memories are very fond for me. It is where I met my wife. It is where we were married a few years later. But I was there as an assistant. And there was a gentleman there who even to this day stands out to me as a point of light. His name was Bill Wilkinson. Bill Wilkinson was an elder in Atlanta, Georgia when I arrived. And I used to go visiting with Bill Wilkinson. He taught me so much that helped me so much as a young man coming out of college and serving in the ministry. But one day he took me downstairs in his home into his basement. He was a very successful salesman. He sold building supplies for a big company in the Atlanta area and he did very well. He took me downstairs into his basement and he showed me a huge workshop. He showed me trim work that was very detailed. It was obviously custom trim work. Various designs that would go around the trim at the top of a room, or around a cabinet. It was very intricate. He said, this is a business that I have. It has been very successful. He says, a number of years ago I promised myself that this business would be dedicated to the people of God. And every nickel, he said, I have a separate account and every nickel I earn from this business goes to a widow or someone in need, or goes into a holy day offering. He said, this is something I committed to doing. Then I began to watch. Over time I began to see there would be a widow in our congregation who would have a need, and by the time we would get there to see if she needed some third tithe assistance, she would say, no, Mr. Wilkinson has already been here. He took care of it. Or you go to see a family who was out of work. Do you need help? No, Mr. Wilkinson has been here. He virtually became the third tithe fund for the entire Atlanta church from his business. A real light. What a powerful light. What a thing to do, to very quietly do that. And it made a big difference in that congregation. When he died on the Day of Atonement or the day after the Day of Atonement a few years later, it was a big shock to that area. It left a huge hole. There was darkness in that church that had not been there before because of the light that he was.

I also recall in coming into the Houston area, which was an area I served for a number of years, just the people that stand out in your mind as being lights in the congregation. There were two men who were probably the most unlikely lights you could ever imagine. Their names were Arthur and Huey. Arthur Peterman and Huey Woods. They are both deceased now. But these two men were the oddest couple you have ever seen in your life. Arthur was about 6' 4", probably weighed over 300 pounds. He was just a hulk of a guy. Huey was probably 5" 4" and probably weighed 120 pounds at best in his life. They were fast friends. Walked into church together. Arthur passed out songbooks, and Huey stood at the door and greeted people. There was a bit of a problem, though. Arthur couldn't see and Huey couldn't hear, but they made a great couple together. Arthur had these huge Coke bottle glasses that he wore. He really couldn't see very well. And Huey couldn't hear, so he had a hearing aid to try to help him. You could see them trying to carry on a conversation. Arthur would get frustrated with Huey, and Huey would try to point something out and Arthur couldn't see it. But they were fast friends. And they served in the church. Neither of their wives was in the church. They came together and dedicated their lives to the church.

They used to go to the Feast every year in Big Sandy, and they would camp in Big Sandy. And every year Huey, because Arthur couldn't see so he couldn't drive; Huey couldn't hear but he could drive; and he had this huge car, a big Cadillac I would say back at that time, and each year they would hook up this U-Haul trailer to go to Big Sandy. And they would take everything. They took their beds, their chairs, their coffee tables. They took everything so they would be comfortable in their tent in Big Sandy. So in order to do that they had this big U-Haul with two axles on it. They just had me in stitches with their stories. I would come back from the feast and go and visit Arthur and Huey. How did your feast go? They would tell me about somebody they helped, somebody they did this for, they had these people over, and they did these things. One year I came back from the feast and went by to see Arthur and Huey. They didn't live together but I would go and visit them often together or see them someplace in a restaurant and talk. So Arthur and Huey began telling me this story of what had happened during the feast.

If you have ever driven from Houston to Big Sandy, not far out of Houston...Houston is pretty flat...13 feet above sea level so that is pretty flat. They say the highest point in Houston is an overcast. It is really flat. But not far out of Houston you get into the rolling hills of East Texas. It is these gently rolling hills. It is a pretty easy drive up US 59 to get to Big Sandy. Well Arthur and Huey were telling me their story about going. They had their U-Haul and had everything loaded. They are on their way. They are talking. Huey can't hear a word Arthur is saying but he is talking. And Arthur can't see a thing Huey is pointing out, but they are having a great time. They are on their way to the feast. They were coming down this hill and picking up speed. Arthur looks over and says, Huey, there's a truck trying to pass us going down the hill. And Huey said, truck passing us? That couldn't be! But Arthur couldn't quite see what it was. Huey turns and looks to his left. He says, well, Arthur, it's a U-Haul trailer coming down the lane! Arthur says, that's impossible! How could a U-Haul get down there without somebody driving it? Huey says, I don't know, but it's a U-Haul trailer coming and it's gaining on us. And Arthur said, Huey slow down and let him pass! So Huey slows down and it gets alongside. Huey said, Arthur, it's our trailer! And sure enough they looked behind them and the trailer was gone. It had become unhitched. Two axles had rolled to the side and it was coming down the hill passing them. Fortunate for them, at the bottom of the hill the trailer crashes on the side of the road and they are safe. They hook the trailer up. They are telling me this story.

Arthur and Huey were lights in that congregation. They served in ways that a lot of people never knew about. They had no family in the church. And they had a lot of tragedies in their lives. Arthur probably had one of the greatest tragedies that I experienced while I was in Houston. There was a murder that occurred very shortly after we arrived in Houston. We noticed it because it was in an area called Kingwood, which was an area we looked for a home. Two people were beaten to death in their home. My second Sabbath in Houston Arthur comes and asks me to talk to him and he is just shaking. He can hardly control himself. His wife came, whom I had never met before. They sat down and said, you heard of the murder in Kingwood. Our son committed the murder. He is about to commit suicide this afternoon and we can't find him. We think he is going to go to a police station and try to make them shoot him. Take an unloaded gun into the police station and have them shoot him. What can we do? Of course, there wasn't much we could do. I said, let's go try to find him. We got into our vehicles and were driving and on the radio, news flash, a man with an unloaded gun walks into the Humble police station and the policeman fortunately did not shoot him. His son was Arthur Jr., who grew up in the church. My first visit with Arthur Jr. was in jail and he is serving life right now. What a tragedy for the family. They were neighbors of the people who were murdered just down the street. And it was their son. The tragedy they experienced, yet the life they brought to the church! The ability to be a light in spite of their personal tragedies was an incredible witness to me.

Every place I have ever pastored there were people who stood out in the congregation. Sometimes not so much for what they may have said but what they did. Maybe it was a smile, maybe it was friendliness, maybe it was any number of things. They stood out. They were lights in that congregation.

When we were in New England we had so many new people coming into the church. When I would visit a new person and I would invite them to church I would say, when you come to church on the Sabbath be sure you meet Larry Levine. Larry Levine was a real short Frenchman from Canada who had this big personality. He was also saying to people, "Greetings and salutations!" And he was just bubbly. And I would always tell new people, go and meet him because he will introduce you to the church. He is a light.

There are also unfortunately also those in every congregation who are the very opposite of that, who are either cynical, sour, and bitter, or have no real ability to light up and to help people and encourage people.

We had a lady who was in the Providence congregation years ago who was so difficult. Everything she said was negative. Everything she said was cynical. She told me everything that was wrong about everybody in the church the first week I was there. And I would try to avoid her. I would actually go to the other side of the hall and try to avoid her. I felt badly about it. This is a member of the church, but she just pulls you down when you talk to her. I think God was punishing me, because this lady we had trouble getting a ride to church. She would get a ride for about three months and people would say, I can't handle it anymore. Find somebody else to bring her to church. And so one day a deacon came to me and said, we are out of people and you live only two towns away from her. Would you bring her to church? Here I am the pastor so I couldn't say no. So I had to bring her to church. For the next three years I took her to church. Finally, one day I just couldn't contain myself. I said, Mrs. So and So, do you know why people avoid you at church? She had no clue. So I proceeded to explain it to her. We spent eight years in that area, and when we left I finally for the first time saw her smile at church and saw her a little different. But she had no clue she was that way. She had no clue.

The Bible is also filled with examples. Let's look at one of those examples. Acts 9. A powerful example of a lady in this particular case. Acts:9:36Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.. At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did. Now she also had the right doctrines. She also said the right things. But she is being pointed out here for what she did.

37 But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows (Why the widows? Because these are the individuals that she served) stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them.

She picked out a segment of that area and she served them. What a wonderful example. What a light she was, what a point of light. And of course the rest of the story, Peter raises her. She is one of the few people in scripture resurrected from the dead. Dorcas/Tabitha, full of good works, full of charitable deeds. The Bible is filled with these examples of how a Christian is to be a point of light for the congregation and for the world. You are always a light.

I want to give three very simple points as I bring this to a conclusion.

How to be a point of light instead of a room of darkness.

• You are an example to others whether you like it or not. You will be either a good example or a bad example. You will either encourage people or discourage people. If your speech is negative and laced with cynicism you won't be a very good example. You may have friends who think and act just like you do, but you won't be a point of light. You won't be someone who shines in the congregation of God's people. You won't be someone who shines in a dark world. You become a room of darkness yourself. Darkness kind of implodes upon itself. You talk about a black hole. It kind of implodes upon itself. Individuals who exude darkness, who have nothing good to say, kind of implode upon themselves. They point only to themselves. The first point is you are an example. Don't think you aren't, whether you are a young person, an old person, whatever, you are an example. Is it a good example or a bad example? Are you a point of light or a reservoir of darkness?

• Your example will last a long time. It will take several positive actions by you to overcome one bad example. That's just the way we are. People will gravitate and hold onto the negative. That's just the way they are. I found an interesting thing while serving in Houston . The Houston congregation began in the ‘50s. It included everybody, they were all interrelated, intermarried. I told that this was the most incestuous congregation I had ever been involved with. All of these families...you have to be careful who you correct. if you are correcting one you have 50 in the family that you have to deal with too. You can either create more work for yourself or try to isolate the problem. In fact, I remember the first week I was in Houston a crusty old deacon who had been around from the very beginning wanted to go out to lunch. We went out to lunch and we talked. We were introducing ourselves...I am the new pastor. When we finished lunch he looked across the table at me and said, I want to tell you one thing. We have been around all the way back to the beginning. Dick Armstrong was our first pastor, and nothing you say will ever impress us. I thought, well that's a great introduction to the area. We became very good friends, and worked together for many, many years. But it is simply the remembering. In fact, I gave a sermon one time in Houston, just simply...if I assigned someone to give a sermonette, maybe a younger person, I would have one of the elders come to me and say, you know, when he was 16 he got in a lot of trouble here. You better check and see what he did before you let him give a sermonette. It was kind of this long memory of what these individuals had done. And I can tell you, your example will last a long time. People will remember, and unfortunately they will remember the negative. It will take several positives to overcome the negative.

• You control your example. No one else does. You determine your attitude. You may think because of circumstances you deserve to be in this attitude. But no you don't. I think of people like Arthur Peterman and all he went through in his life. He could have easily sat in the corner and moped and said, this just isn't fair. But he didn't. He was handing out songbooks and doing whatever he could to serve the church. You control your example. No one else does. You can be a point of light or you can be a room of darkness. You determine that. It isn't determined by someone else. It isn't determined by events. Events can throw you for a loop. People can throw you for a loop. But you are still in control.

There is a song that came out a number of years ago, a song sung by Kenny Rogers. It kind of emphasizes the point that if you choose to be positive, if you choose to be optimistic, then your whole life can be viewed differently, and you become a much better example and light to other people than someone who always has something to complain about. This is the story. It is a little story but was also put into a song by Kenny Rogers. It is called The Baseball Song.

Little boy, in a baseball hat, 
Stands in a field, with his ball and bat,
says "I am the greatest, player of them all"
puts his bat on his shoulder, and tosses up his ball.
And the ball goes up, and the ball comes down,
he swings his bat all the way around,
and the worlds so still you can hear the sound
as the baseball falls, to the ground.

Now the little boy, doesn't say a word,
picks up his ball, he is undeterred,
Says "I am the greatest, there has ever been,"
and he grits his teeth, and tries it again.

And the ball goes up, and the ball comes down,
he swings his bat all the way around,
and the worlds so still you can hear the sound
as the baseball falls, to the ground.

He makes no excuses, He shows no fear,
He just closes his eyes, and listens to the cheers.

Little boy, he adjusts his hat
picks up his ball, stares at his bat,
says "I am the greatest, the game is on the line,"
and he gives his all, one last time.

And the ball goes up, like the moon so bright,
Swings his bat, with all his might,
and the worlds as still, as still as can be,
and the baseball falls, and that's strike three.

Now its supper time, and his Mama calls,
little boy starts home, with his bat and ball,
says "I am the greatest, that is a fact,
but even I didn't know, I could pitch like that."

Optimism in the face of negative changes everything. You wonder why Christ used the example when he said you are to become like a little child. A child takes negative and makes it optimistic. A child has this eternal optimism. You see it in children. You should also see it in Christians.

We are told in Ephesians 8 that light will extinguish darkness. Light has to do with your works, who you are, and what you do. Darkness has to do with your works as well, who you are, and what you do. We must ask ourselves the question, what is it? Light or darkness? Will you be a point of light in the church of God? Will you be a star that shines in a dark and perverse world? You really have no choice. If you are a Christian you must be a light, and you must be a light 24 hours a day. Wherever you may be and whatever the circumstances, you can't turn off the light. When I walked in Yad Vashem and I saw the darkness standing in an open field and then the lights began to flicker, it really struck me profoundly what God must look for when he looks down on this world, and he sees whether it be a poor lady in the Philippines in Davao City who is still locked in jail and has never had a trial, unfairly treated, and yet she shines as a light in the Philippines. We have members in Hong Kong, we have members in Singapore. Mr. Baker has even had visits in Myanmar/Burma. Look at all the horrible things that are happening there. And India. You come across to the Middle East and we have two students there. You come across to Europe and you come across Africa, and you come across the United States. What does God see? I think God is a very optimistic and positive God and He sees the positive. He sees the lights that are blinking, as his people who shine like stars in a crooked and perverse world.