The Light of the World

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand
into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light,
and safer than a known way.”
... Minnie L. Haskins (1875-1957), “The Desert” (c.1908),
Introduction

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I
am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee;
yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my
righteousness.
-- Isaiah 41:10 (KJV)

I grew up in a violent dark world. A world of hatred, fear and insecurity. The working class communities of Scotland were not known for their warmth and love. Alcoholism was the acceptable way, violence and hatred was the answer to life's problems. "Real men," never showed their emotions. If you had enemies you destroyed them before they destroyed you. The "strongest," were the dominant force. Things that were different, or that we did not understand, were attacked with ferocity, without any hint of compassion, in fact, compassion was a vary rare commodity. If one were to survive he had to be stronger than his enemies, a dog eat dog world, so to speak.

Into that world of mine, stepped Jesus Christ. My mother came home one night and told us she had met Jesus. My mother had been a very nervous, timid woman, in fact, she took valium, to deal with her life with a very controlling alcoholic. And in walked this little woman, transformed by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. My father exploded, our house was turned into a house of violence. My mother suffered a thousand beatings, simply for the cause of Christ. That might mess with some theology of prospering under Christ, yet there it was. And all the time she encouraged her children to love their father, that God had a plan for him.

There was no situation that was not turned to the glory of God. Many times our electricity was cut of. One time it was of for three months. And every night for three months there was a brilliant star that seem to light up our living room. I would sit and stare at "my," star. My Mom told me that the Lord had sent a star to light up the darkness of our room, I believed it. When there was no food on the table, she told us that we had to believe and that the Lord would provide, and then we would hear a letter dropping. We would rush to the door and there would be an envelope with money in it. We found out years later that a wonderful woman in Christ would often be led by Jesus to put her tithe in an envelope and drop it through our door. No name, just obedience to the Holy Spirit's leading.

As a child, I would walk down the road, and my mother would stop and talk to the "bum's." Down and outs, rejected by society, foul smelling men, foul talking men, but never in front of my mother. She would tell them about Jesus, how He loved them, how He died for them. One night one of these men responded to my mothers invitation to come to church, a small Assemblies of God church. He was dressed very badly and smelled worse. As they took their seat somewhere near the back, some people moved. The man realized and began to weep, telling my mother that he was not dressed "properly." My Mom told him "don't you worry about how your dressed, Jesus doesn't care how your dressed.” Just then the men of the church came back and led this man to the front of the church and sat him down in the front aisle.

This is the Jesus that I love. This Jesus who looks at the worse of sinners, the rejected of "moral," society and embraces them. He reaches out across the divide of decent society and says " Oh how I love you." The light of Jesus shines into the darkest corners of hell with a glorious love that cannot be comprehended by an enemy whose only design is to divide and destroy. He embraces the "untouchables," with a love that cannot be comprehended by an enemy who knows only division, strife, fear, hatred and suspicion.
Jesus was so full of love and compassion.

While He healed as part of His authentication, Jesus also healed because He cared deeply about people. This care can be seen in His dealings with the lepers. They were the untouchables of Jesus’ day. Their fate was a horrifying one. Not only would they suffer horrendously and ultimately die, they were completely shunned by society. They were not allowed to enter towns and had to shout, “unclean” if they came near anyone.

Often townsfolk would throw rocks at them and jeer. Perhaps one of the most touching moments in the ministry of Jesus was when a Leper shouted to Him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean” (Mt8:5). Jesus then did the unthinkable. He touched this man (how men today still desperately need a touch from Jesus).

Now Jesus could have easily healed this man without touching him. All He had to do was speak the word and it would be done, for as we know the Lord has all authority over diseases. “Jesus put out His hand and touched him saying, I am willing, be cleansed” (Mt8:3). Jesus touched the untouchable with compassion and love and healing.

Jesus has been doing that every day since then. His compassion reached into the gutters of life.
Jesus is still the light of the world. His light shines through His peoples love, their compassion. Jesus loved the lost of this world so much so that He died for them, His love has not and will never diminish. We, as His salt, His light, are the preservers of this very same love. Jesus says, and I paraphrase, if you simply love one another of like mind, big deal, even the publicans and the sinners do this. This world changing love, this all conquering love lights up the darkness of this world and brings hope to the hopeless. To those hearts that lie broken and trodden on in the dirt of life, He says ,"I have come to give you a new heart."

The Character of Jesus is higher than the highest heavens. His love and compassion and mercy and obedience are beyond what our feeble minds can comprehend. And since we can only compare with what we know, we can say with full assurance, and still fall pitifully short, that our Saviors love would render the deepest ocean to but a single tear from the Masters eye. The sun that blazes brilliantly in the sky, but a spark compared to our Lords burning passion. The universe and all others combined, smaller than the smallest chambers of His heart. This is the God we serve; this is the Jesus of the Gospels; this is Jesus, God amongst us:

The Bread of Life, The True vine, the Good shepherd, the Light of the World, The way, the Truth and the Life, The Gate for the sheep, Yahweh, Victorious Champion, Master, Lord, King of Kings, Lord of Lords,The Resurrection and the Life, The Lamb of God,He is Worthy to be praised,He is the Hope of mankind,He is Every breath that I take, Mighty councilor,The Almighty, The Christ, My Savior, The Anointed One, The Prince of Peace, The Alpha and the Omega, The Beginning and the End, The Author and the Finisher of our faith, Messiah, The Potter, The Comforter, The Conqueror, Creator, Ancient of Days, The Living Water, Majestic, Omnipotent, The King Eternal, The Everlasting Father, The Exalted One, Faithful and True, A Father to the fatherless,He is the Fire that burns within, My Rock and my Fortress, The Foundation of the world, The Fountain of Life, The God that Healeth thee, He is Higher than the heavens, Incorruptible, Infallible, My Keeper, The Lion of Judah, My Righteousness, My Strength, Merciful, The mighty One of Israel. He is Perfect................He is the Lord my God and He is one God. I shall love the Lord my God with all of heart. I shall praise the Lord my God with all of my soul.............Let Jesus be praised! He is all these things and so much more. But most importantly, He is alive!

Now, more than ever, the redeemed of the Lord need to rise up with a Love so great, so mighty, that it overcomes the darkness that threatens to envelop us. This is our time to be walking in His presences so that the Love of Calvary would flow from every part of us and heal the brokenhearted. Let us be the ones that embrace the rejected of society that they may know that He is alive and that in Him they will find redemption. We can have all things brothers and sisters, but if we do not have love then we have nothing.