This was used at the little church in Lynnville (IL) on March 30, 2003. The main Scripture is from the Gospel of John, chapter 3, verses 14-21, with referrals to Numbers 21: 4-9, the first chapter of Proverbs, and the 5th chapter of Matthew…
At the beginning of my sophomore year of high school, my friend Larry and I both joined the Technician’s Club. I don’t know how other schools did it, but at Edwardsville it was the members of the Technician’s Club who were responsible for setting up and operating the sound system at every school event requiring it, as well as designing, installing and operating the light show for everything from plays to school dances to concerts. So it was that the very first major production that we got to work on was helping the older members set up the lights for that years’ Homecoming Procession and dance. Since we were the new kids on the block, our job was to help set-up the spotlights and light bars, and to run extension cords as instructed. And when finished, the effect was beautiful!
That part of the school was fairly new, then, and the gym had been built to accommodate around 4000, if I remember right. It was two stories tall, with a balcony forming the second floor. There were a full set of bleachers on both floors facing each other, with a 10’ walkway connecting the two sides of the upper level. The ‘Royal Court’ had its seating, complete with fancy chairs and thrones, on one end of the gym floor just under one of these walkways. Each of the couples of the court were to walk out in a procession from the doorway at one side of the other end, to the center of that wall, and then proceed across the center of the basketball court, to finally take their places with the girls seated and their escorts standing behind them. Above where they were to sit was our 2000-watt spotlight which was to follow them as each couple came out and proceeded across the floor. Lighting the court area were three light bars on the floor hidden by plants, each having three 150-watt floodlights aimed at the seats. On the other balcony walkway, over where they would begin their walk across the floor was ‘BIG BERTHA’! Big Bertha was an old spotlight that we jokingly said had been used by William Shakespeare in the Globe Theatre before coming to the Edwardsville High School. It was aimed and locked on a general flood of the court-area seats.
Now, the older guys had done all of this before… or so we thought. So all we did was set up everything, aim the lights so as to hit a person’s face when they were in place, and make sure that no cords or fixtures were visible to a casual glance. We were ready!
Since all of the older guys were attending the dance, we sophomores were responsible for running the show that night. People came, music started, and soon it was time. Turn on the floodlights… kill the house lights, fire up Big Bertha, and ready on the main spot… everybody was at their assigned places and everything went like clockwork! The first couple came out followed by the main spot and crossed to their seats. The spotlight swung back to pickup the second pair as they started across when… Poof! The main spot and all of the floodlights go out! After a mad scramble to find which circuit board had those breakers, Larry snapped it back in, and we continued. Another couple and… Poof! No lights! Throw the breaker again and go a little bit, then… Poof. As best I recall, the lights went out thirteen times during the royal procession… including just as the King and Queen began their march across. Larry had his thumb pressed tight against the breaker trying to hold it in but just wasn’t able to do so. An unforgettable night for all! During the whole affair, the only light that stayed on was Big Bertha! But I have to admit, she at least kept everybody from panicking!
Jesus tells us that sinners would have been uncomfortable even in that light! In verse 19 of today’s Gospel reading He said, “… men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” Barnes’ Notes says that this is true of all wicked men. They choose to practice their deeds of wickedness in darkness. They are afraid of the light, because they could be easily detected. Hence, most crimes are committed in the night. So it is with the sinner (in regards to) God. (The sinner) hates the gospel, for it condemns his conduct, and his conscience would trouble him if it were enlightened.
Verse 7 of the first chapter of Proverbs says that, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Knowledge brings us truth, and Jesus says that, “whoever lives by the truth comes into the light.” So… if we fear God… that is, if we acknowledge Him AS God, ruler and maker of all that is, ever was, and ever will be… then we are responsible for increasing our personal knowledge of Him in everyway that we possibly can, because with that knowledge comes truth… and that truth will bring us light… And that light IS Jesus!
The Gospel of John begins by saying, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men… the true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it”. Later on, in the 8th chapter of John, Jesus spoke to the people saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jesus IS the Light!
The second part of that verse from Proverbs says that, “fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Now, we just learned that wisdom and instruction bring us to the light, so the fools that despise these things must live in darkness! Darkness is the emblem of ignorance… of iniquity and error… of superstition… whatever is opposite to truth and piety. Men are said to love darkness more than they do light when they are better pleased with error than truth… with sin than holiness… better pleased with the ways of Satan than the ways of Christ. Again, in today’s verses, Jesus says, “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” The ‘Life Application Commentary’ says that…
Many people don’t want their lives exposed to God’s light because they are afraid of what will be revealed or because of the demands the light places on them. They don’t particularly want to be changed.
After that Homecoming dance, we sat down to figure out what had happened. It seems that when the building was built, they had put both upper and lower levels of each wall on one circuit. When we added up the spotlight, the nine floodlights, and all of the little lights that the band had to play by, we were pulling about thirty-five amps through a twenty-amp circuit breaker. From that point on, every production that Larry and I set up was calculated out, and no circuit was ever allowed to exceed 75% of its’ rated load. Now, sometimes that meant making very heavy extension cords to run to several different rooms around the school, but we never again lost the lights during any production!
By the same token, we must all be very attentive to ‘keeping the lights on’ in our own lives. We must study God’s word and learn the truth… and we must use that truth to fight back the forces of darkness… those things that would pull us away from the light and into the world of evil and eternal torment!
In the Old Testament book of Numbers, 21st chapter, we hear the story of God sending vipers among the people because of their turning away from Him, once again, and worrying more about themselves than God. After they repented, God had Moses construct a bronze snake and put it on a pole. When ever someone was bitten, all they had to do was look up at that image and believe that God would save them, and they would not die! Why did God do this? Jesus says that He is like that image… He must be lifted up (a euphemism for death on the cross… the victim was literally lifted up above the earth) for all to see. Then, all sinners are to look to Him and believe so that they might be saved! Again, to what do we, mere sinners, owe this glorious chance for redemption? GOD’S LOVE!!
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life… Whoever believes in him is not condemned… but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
Jesus is the Light. And God sent us the Light because of His love for each and every one of us! We have only to look at the light and accept it… accept it as the gift that it is… and then live our lives in gratitude of that gift. And the way we show that gratitude is by studying, praying, and acting upon what we have discerned as truth. For truth is light… and light is always stronger than darkness!
In the 5th chapter of Matthew, Jesus says that, we… each of us listening to this… are the light of the world. You don’t light a lamp and hide it away… you put it on its stand, and let it give light to everyone in the house. In the same way, we should let our light… the light of Jesus… shine before men, that they may also see the truth. For it is only in truth that we find the light, and it is only by that light that we find our way to God! Let there Be Light!
Let us pray…
Our heavenly Father, we your humble children invoke your blessing on us. We adore you, whose name is love, whose nature is compassion, whose presence is joy, whose word is truth, whose Spirit is goodness, whose holiness is beauty, whose will is peace, whose service is perfect freedom, and in knowledge of whom stands our eternal life. Unto you be all honor and all glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
scluebbert 