Sermon Transcript

The Scripture says every time that we come to the Lord’s table to receive communion, we’re to examine ourselves, so open your Bible with me to Ephesians chapter 5. We’re going to let God’s Word examine us this morning.

As you’re turning there, let me ask you a question. I want you to think back all the way to the time that you were about four years old. Was that a happy season of your life? Yeah! I mean, that’s the greatest time of your life, right?

But, there was this traumatic moment when Mom and Dad put you to bed, and you didn’t want to go to bed. If the truth were to be known, for a four-year-old, the reason you don’t want to go to bed is because it’s dark in there! How many of you remember needing a night light when you were a little kid? Some of you are honest. How many of you still need a night light, because it’s just a little scary when things are dark? How many of you like the room totally dark? You don’t want any light anywhere? Slap the alarm clock off, because it’s giving off too much light?

Well, listen, there is something that God has stamped into our souls that ought to make us a little scared of the dark. God didn’t design us to live in darkness. He wants us to live and walk in the light. The title of the message today is God’s Night Lights. Do you know what God’s nightlights are? It’s you! You are God’s nightlights. I want you to see it from the Scripture, Ephesians 5 [ESV].

Let’s begin in verse 7, “Therefore do not become partners with them…” Them who? “Them people who walk in darkness.” Because the next verse, verse 8 says, “…for at one time you were darkness…”  Notice it doesn’t say, “At one time you walked in darkness,” it says one time you were darkness.

You see, the problem in the world is not that it’s dark, the problem in the world is that the world is filled with dark people. The people are filled with darkness, and before you came to Christ, you were dark. You had a dark existence, you walked in darkness, you loved darkness, and you were darkness.

But there’s good news. The passage goes on to say, in verse 8: “…but now you are light in the Lord.” It doesn’t just say that you’ve seen the light; it doesn’t just say that you love the light; it’s “you are the light.” You are light in the Lord—that’s the indicative.

And, of course, in Ephesians we’re learning there’s always an imperative that follows the indicative. So, what does Paul say next? “Act like it!”—“Walk as children of light.”  You see, the reality is, even for those of us who trust Christ—even for those of us who long to serve Him and follow Him and obey Him—there is still something that draws us into darkness. There is residual darkness in us. And “us,” we are light, we’re to act like it and to walk in the light.

The truth of the matter is, there are some people here this morning—if the truth were known—you spent your whole week in darkness. And it’s a darkness that you can feel. Did anybody feel the darkness out there this week? Were you in a setting…Darkness is just the absence of light, and maybe there was an absence of light in your home this week, or maybe there was an absence of light in your workplace, or maybe there was an absence of light in your school. Or maybe there was just an absence of light in your own soul.

Do you know what it feels like? It feels like things we put labels on. Things like stress. Maybe you’ve got so much responsibility and so much pressure on you that you’re just buried under the load of this darkness—and you can’t see your way out. For some of you it feels more like despair or hopelessness, and you’ve been backed into a corner, or maybe you’ve made some wrong choices or maybe you wandered off into dark places and you’ve partnered with dark people. You’re wondering, “How do I?…I can’t even see out of this dark place that I’m in.”

For others of you, it may feel like an oppressive evil–that you’ve got some type of addiction to something–and you’re powerless to break this addiction. The thing that you want to break the most, you find you’re powerless to break and you feel like, “I just don’t know if I can ever get out of this dark place.”

I’m talking to some people, that you know the Lord, you love the Lord, you wish you were in a better place. You are light, but the problem is, you’ve wandered off into darkness. God is calling us, this morning, through this passage of Scripture: “You are to walk as children of the light.”

We are going to see four things that are going to help us get that done. The first one is this:

1. Remember the darkness. (7-8)

 

You need to remember the darkness. Paul says, at one time you were darkness.

Do you remember what that was like? Do you remember what that felt like, to live outside of Christ and to be controlled and smothered and consumed with darkness? We need to understand what the Bible has to say. Can we just do a little Bible study here for a few minutes? Because this theme runs from the very first verse of the Bible all the way to the end.

Do you remember, in the beginning, the world was consumed with darkness, and God spoke, and what did He say? “Let there be light.” And I prayed, even this morning, that God would speak that word to you. Whatever darkness that you are feeling, in whatever darkness you’re walking, that God would speak into the darkness and say, “Let there be light right there!” In that dark marriage, let there be light there. In that dark schoolroom that you walk into, let there be light there! And remember—who is the nightlight? It’s you! And God is speaking into this world, sending you as His nightlight into the darkness.

So, let’s see what the Bible has to say about darkness. The first thing that we understand about darkness, from the Scripture is this: darkness is our fallen common condition. You are born into a dark world as a dark person. Isaiah 9:2 says this, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” Understand this: until or unless you bring your life to God, as the Light, you will walk in darkness! Until God turns the light on in your soul, and you see the reality of Christ and Christ shines in your existence, then you are walking in darkness.

If you’ve never trusted Christ, you are born into this world full of sin and full of darkness. Sin has extinguished the light in your soul. And your biggest problem is that you can’t even see what’s right side-up and upside-down. What’s good seems evil to you, and what’s evil seems really good. That’s a dark way to live!

And the Bible says that’s our common fallen condition when we come into the world. If you’re wondering why the world seems so broken, and you seem so broken, it’s because you are walking in darkness, and this morning God wants to say, “Let there be light right there!” And if you’ll open your eyes to see the light of God in this message, you can be called out of darkness, transferred out of the domain of darkness, into the kingdom of light. That is the promise for everyone who will hear and see what God offers. So, darkness is our fallen, common condition.

Here’s another thing: darkness is our first love. Not only are we born into darkness, but we actually like it there. And Jesus said this in John 3:19, “The light has come into the world…” Who was that, by the way? It was Jesus! He announced Himself: “I am the light of the world.” “…And people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” And they loved their evil so much, they were not drawn to the light. And He said (in verse 20), “Everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” So, even though God has sent the Light–there is light available this morning–people who love darkness resist and hate the light.

We’re getting to that time of year in Michiana where the sun shines again, right? And it’s a glorious thing! Kind of…unless you’re a person who likes to sleep a little later than when the sun actually comes up. I don’t know about you, but the way that my bed is positioned, and the windows in my room—and the particular spot where my head is and the place that my head looks—there is a particular season of the year when the sun comes up earlier than I do. And there is a beam of light that comes sneaking through a little hole—a little gap between the shade and the window—where that light comes in.

Can I just tell you? I hate that! I hate that light, right? Because it is shining right in my eye! That is the condition of a person who loves darkness: “I’m trying to sleep, here! I do not want to wake up!” The light can be intrusive. The light can be irritating if you’re a person who loves the works of darkness. So, this morning, if you love the way your life is going, and you love the sin that you’re involved in, and you love the pain and the tragedy and the drama that your life is, you’re probably not going to like the light that shines into the dark places of your life.

I remember, a few years ago, Andrea and I were doing a FamilyLife Weekend to Remember marriage conference in Evansville, Indiana. How many of you have been to Evansville? Darkness or light? We won’t ask! Anyway, Evansville was a place where—for years—there had been a FamilyLife Weekend to Remember marriage conference, and it had always been a great crowd. It took place in a particular hotel that was a nice place for couples to come and have a getaway and be instructed in marriage. For years, it had been a really successful conference.

Well, about six weeks before the conference, the hotel actually shut down and was going through this huge renovation, and so they had to, kind of on the fly, find another location in Evansville where you could have a nice marriage getaway. Well, there was only one other kind of nice place to do that. The only problem was, it was connected to the casino in Evansville. Some of you are thinking, “Yeah. . .that’s a great place!”—Now, see, you’re walking in darkness!

So, here we are, going into a casino to do this Christian marriage conference. Well, because it was a casino, very few of the Christians actually signed up for the conference. So, we walked into the casino, and we were there, and we taught these biblical Christian marriage principles to a lot of people who were really excited—not only about the marriage conference, but about the casino. And so, all I can say is, it felt so dark! And I even thought, “Hey, this is a great opportunity. I’m going to walk through the casino and see what’s it’s like in there. I’ve never been in a casino before.”

I just felt the darkness! It was amazing. You see the pictures on the walls with all these smiling happy people, who were like boasting of their earnings. But the actual people who were in there—nobody was smiling, especially not smiling were the wives who were watching their husbands lose the money that they were supposed to spend on the romantic weekend with their wives!

And we live in a world that is filled with darkness, and there are people who actually love it in the darkness. I trust that this morning, God will turn the light on for you and give you more of a love for the light than you currently have for the darkness. Darkness is our first love. I trust it is not your current love.

Darkness reduces our visibility. That’s probably the most obvious thing I will say today. In John chapter 12:35, again Jesus is speaking, and He says this, “The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.” He’s lost! He can’t find his way out. He can’t see the path to safety.

Earlier this past week, I was in Phoenix, Arizona. We were having our annual Harvest Pastors’ Retreat, where all of our pastors got together—just a great time of sharpening and encouragement and vision-setting. A group of the guys—younger than me—decided they wanted to go hiking up Camelback Mountain before the sun came up. Andrea and I, the previous year, had actually hiked Camelback, and it was a wonderful time. Actually we did it twice, but we did it in the daylight. It was hard enough to find our way in the daylight! At four-thirty in the morning, I said, “No, thank you!” I think I would have a better chance of actually surviving the hike if we did it in the light.

Well, these guys apparently survived. But, that describes so many of us: we’re walking in darkness and we can’t see the path, so we turn an ankle or we fall off a cliff, and the truth of the matter is, our lives are filled with damage and chaos and scars and breaks and wounded-ness—because we’re bumping into things. We’re colliding and we’re walking into walls.

If you’re like me, and you’re a parent, your children leave these little obstacles for you where, in the middle of the night, your toes find them—and it causes excruciating pain! Now, if you could have seen it, you would have avoided it. Just like our lives when we walk in darkness. If you could have seen what you stepped into, you would have avoided it. But you’re walking in darkness. You can’t see it! And maybe that describes your life this morning.

Darkness reduces our visibility, and so we’re filled with hurt or we’re filled with fear—this overwhelming sense of not being safe. We have panic attacks because we can’t see how we’re going to get out of this. Or you’re paralyzed even to take the next step. You feel stuck, because you don’t know what you’re going to step into next. It’s a place of darkness.

Darkness exposes us to the power of Satan. Acts 26:18 says this, “Open their eyes…” This is a prayer of the apostle Paul. Why? Because it’s dark when you close your eyes! “[God, would you] open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.” Do you see the analogy there–living in darkness equated with “under the power”—exposed to the power of Satan. And Satan uses that power to deceive us; he uses that power to smother us in guilt and shame.

Do you know what the enemy does? Satan tempts you to sin, and then when you do sin, he makes you feel stupid for doing it. That’s how Satan works in our life. He tempts you to sin, and then when you do sin, he taunts you because you did. That’s what it means to live under the power of darkness! Well, isn’t all this encouraging news? Aren’t you glad you came to church this morning? You’re like, “Does it get any better?” Well, as a matter of fact, it does.

Here is the good news: Darkness can be overcome! No matter how long or how far you’ve strayed into darkness, here’s the truth: God is light! 1 John 1:5-6 says, “God is light, and in him [there] is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” Unfortunately, there are people here this morning who walked in darkness all week long, and here you are this morning, and you’re pretending to have fellowship with God, and you’re lying to yourself, and you’re lying to God. You’re lying to others about the true condition of your life.

John goes on, in verse 7, and he says, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another [and we have fellowship with God], and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” God says, “Walk as children of the light!”

 

2. Pierce the darkness. (9-10)

 

You see, our command, point number 2, is to pierce the darkness. Look here in Ephesians 5:9. Paul says, “…(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true)…” Underline those three words: “good, right and true.” Then, verse 10 says, “…and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.” You are light, so walk as children of light!

Do you understand? The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is the difference between light and darkness. There are only two teams. You cannot have one foot in darkness and one foot in the light. Contrary to the culture’s opinion, there are not “fifty shades of gray.” There is only darkness and light, and you are to walk in the light! Move towards the light. If you’ve been walking in darkness, and you claim you are a child of the light, then you need to move toward the light. Every step you take, God gives you more light.

Let me give you this verse—I didn’t put it on the screen, but just write this reference down—it’s Psalm 36:9 (it’s a very simple phrase, but it’s so profound! This is what the psalmist says), “In your light do we see light.” What does that mean?

Imagine you’re in a completely dark room—or maybe you’re on a trail that’s completely dark—and you have a flashlight, and you shine the flashlight on your feet. Each step you take, you get more light to take the next step. And so, as you step into the light, the light for the next step appears. God says, “In Your light we see light.”

Now, some of you, you want a beacon, to see all the way down the trail, to know where it’s going before you ever take your first step. That’s not the way it works. You’re walking in darkness and you’re saying, “I just don’t know if it’s safe over there in the light.” Listen! “In Your light we see light.” Just take the first step into the light. And then God gives you more light. Take another step, and God gives you more light. And so, we pierce the darkness as we walk in the light. God is calling you into more light, and God has more for you.

Notice, he calls light, here—and it’s a great analogy—he says, in verse 9, “…the fruit of light…” It’s interesting, when the Bible takes two word pictures and puts them in the same thing. It’s like, “Lord, how do I explain ‘fruit and light’? I’ve never seen a ‘light tree’ produce ‘fruit of light.’” So, how do you explain this?

I think he’s simply making the contrast between “root” and “fruit.” Do you know the difference? He doesn’t say that light is a root. He says light is a fruit. In other words, you don’t do good and right things, and somehow generate light from what is good and what is true and what is right. What is good, what is true and what is right are the fruits of walking in the light. What is good, what is right and what is true. And he says children of the light do this. They try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Do you get this?

You see, God has put you on this earth—not to pleasure yourself, but to pleasure Him—and as you walk in the light, your desire becomes the desire of God. You find your greatest pleasure in seeking God’s pleasure. So, how does a person discern what is pleasing to the Lord. He’s already given us the formula. You need to ask yourself three things: “Is what I’m about to step into true, right and good?”

Now, think about those three things. How do I explain this? How many of you dads were here Friday night and you attempted to dance? That was great—we turned this whole thing into a dance floor—it was the Daddy/Daughter Dance; it’s an annual event, and it was great. Those of you who have sons, you have no idea what happened in this room! We all dressed up, and we danced with our daughters, and one of the parts of that night was, we had a big buffet. And so, here you have all these daughters and their dads going through the buffet line.

Everything on the buffet was real food: there was no cardboard, there was no poison. You could select anything on there, knowing it was true. It was all food. There was fried chicken and there was broiled chicken (and all the dads took the fried chicken, and all the ladies took the broiled chicken), and then you got a little further down the buffet, and there were the green beans. And all the dads passed the green beans, and all the ladies got the green beans on their plates.

Now, listen—everything on the buffet was true. Real food. The green beans were “right.” They were good for you. If the moms and the wives would have been there, we probably all would have eaten more green beans, because it was the right food to select, on the buffet. But then, later in the evening was when they set out the glorious cake-pops and doughnuts! Can I just tell you? Everything on the buffet was true. The green beans were right. But the cake-pops were good!

So, this is what God’s trying to say to you: when you’re trying to discern what pleases the Lord, everything the Lord tells you to do is true. You need to reject the lies of whatever it was in the darkness. There are some things you need to do because they’re right, but there are some things we get to do because they are good! God not only wants you to be right, He not only wants you to believe the truth, He wants you to experience how good it is to walk in the light!

We discern what is pleasing to the Lord, because it’s not just pleasing to the Lord—it pleases us. When you walk in the light, you do it for God’s glory, but you also do it because it’s good for you. And, if you look at the contrast between somebody who spends their life walking in darkness, and somebody who spends their life walking in the light, you see completely different outcomes. The one who walks in the light has believed the truth, he’s done what is right, and he has experienced what is good. The one who walks in darkness has been deceived by lies, he’s spent his life doing things that are wrong, and it’s been bad! You can see, in your life, the contrast between the darkness and the light. We’re to pierce the darkness.

Not only that, we’re to:

 

3. Expose the darkness. (11-13)

 

Look at Ephesians 5:11. Paul says, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Now, verse 11 would be a lot easier to obey if God would allow us simply to escape the darkness. You’re like, “Okay, God, I don’t want to walk in darkness. Why don’t You get me out of this place, because it’s really dark down here, God? Have you seen the workplace I have to walk into? Do you see the family I have to live in? Do you see how I’m bombarded by media? It’s so dark down here! God, if You don’t want me to take part in it, would You just allow me to escape it?”

No, God doesn’t want you to escape it. God wants you to expose it. God has not completely called you out of the darkness. He has sent you into the darkness as a light. You are God’s nightlight, to expose the darkness. So, how does this work? How am I supposed to expose the darkness?

Look at verse 12: “For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.” You see, a lot of people make the mistake of thinking, “Well, I need to study the darkness, I need to expose myself to the darkness—so that I can really understand the darkness—so I can speak to the darkness.” No, it’s exactly the opposite of what He wants for you. He wants you to be innocent about what’s in there. It’s shameful. All that stuff is shameful. You shouldn’t even be speaking it. You don’t need to know what’s in the darkest movies, in the darkest novels, in the darkest places. No! God wants you to expose that! So, be in the world but not of the world.

He goes on in verse 13 and says, “But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible…” So, how do we expose the darkness? Can I just give you some real practical suggestions? Let’s just really make this practical. If we’re going to obey the verse and expose the darkness, how does this work?

Get family right. A real simple suggestion—probably simpler than you think. How about this? Get married and stay married! That shines a light on the darkness that is sexual immorality and divorce, and the pain of children growing up without their biological mom and dad. Just get family right!

Recently, Andrea and I were out with a young couple in our church—just a wonderful family—and they brought their two children. You know, sometimes you kind of wonder how it’s going in a restaurant when young families bring young children. How many of you would be embarrassed to go with your children, with the pastor, to a restaurant? Anyway, we had a wonderful time with this family, and it was very obvious that this was a great marriage and they’d done a great job training their children (all children are in process; all husbands are in process; all married people are in process—none of us gets it right all the time). But, a phenomenon happens (that actually used to happen when we had young kids; it doesn’t happen anymore, because all our kids grew up). Somebody across the restaurant is kind of watching, and probably not expecting great results—when a young family with young children walk into a restaurant nearby their table. And yet, after an hour, that couple came by the table and just leaned down and were like, “Your children are so respectful—and they’re just having a wonderful time! And I just want to thank you! How do you do that?”

And, you know what was happening? The light was shining into the darkness! Just simply because we’re just trying to raise children in the fear and the instruction of the Lord. We’re just trying to get family right, and these are actually our biological children, and we’ve just kind of all committed to the permanence and the intimacy and the durability and the forgiveness and the forbearance that goes along with getting married and staying married.

Now, some of you are single, and I hope you understand that you can play a part in this as well. There’s a young lady in our church who, years ago, God put on her heart to make herself available to the foster care system. There was a seven-year-old little boy who became a part of her life, and moved into her home. Part of the process was, she had a family photo album on the coffee table. The little boy began to look through the album and asked, “Who’s that?” The young lady said, “That’s my mom.” And then the little boy asked, “And who’s that? Is that her boyfriend?” She was like, “No, that’s my dad—she’s his wife.” And the little boy said, “Your mom and dad are married?”

Apparently, he’d never seen such before. And she began the process of showing him, “Yeah, it’s God’s plan for moms and dads to raise kids and stick together through thick and thin, with forgiveness and forbearance,” and all of those things. Do you know what was happening? God was shining a light into his little dark world. So many of us have the opportunity to reach into children’s lives. Maybe it’s something with Safe Families, or maybe it’s sharing in helping other people in the process of getting their families right.

Speak a blessing every chance you get. Here’s another thing. Every time a teenage girl goes into her algebra class, in a dark environment, and she sees another girl in there who’s struggling—and it just seems she’s under stress and a load—and she asks what’s going on, and she shares how God loves her, shares a verse or shares her testimony. . .do you know what’s happening? God’s shining a light.

Every time a father moves toward his teenage son, who no longer moves toward him, and helps him and coaches him through the battle of temptation or what to do with money, or how to be responsible, and he opens up a Scripture. Maybe a Dad leads the family at the end of dinner in what God showed him in his time with the Lord that day. Do you know what’s happening? God is shining light into the darkness.

Suffer well. Here’s another thing. And some of you do this so well! Some of you are facing physical health issues, and some of you have had setbacks in your business. And yet, you’re not bitter at God, you’re not angry, you’re not questioning. You may question, “God, what do You want to teach me?”—but you’re not like, “God, why me?” Not that. But you’re suffering well.

Do you know what it says to healthcare workers, and people who see people struggle all the time—the difference between those who walk in darkness and those who walk in light? It’s a huge difference. Suffer well! It shows the world that we have hope outside of this world, because we walk in light.

Share with someone in need. So many of you have gone down to Hope Ministries, or have been a part of Project Warm or Transformation Ministries. A couple of weeks ago, there was a phone call in the church office, and there was a man who asked if the pastor would come to St. Joseph Hospital and pay him a visit. I didn’t know the man’s name—we had no record of him ever attending our church—but I had some time; I went down there that afternoon and I stepped into the room.

His name was Bob. I asked, “Hey, Bob, why did you call for me?” And he answered, “Well, you’re my pastor.” I was like, “Well, Bob, I’ve never met you and I don’t see any record of you ever being at my church.” He said, “Well, I’ve never been to your church—but you’re my pastor!” I said, “Why do you call me your pastor?” He said, “Well, you have to understand that—for the past year—I’ve been living at a senior assisted care facility, and a group from your church comes down there every week, and we sing and we pray and they open the Scripture—and they’ve been such an encouragement to me! And they say they’re from Harvest Bible Chapel, and so when I had this health episode and ended up in the hospital, I just wanted to meet the pastor of that group of people—because I may never get to your church, but I want to be part of a church like that!” Now, listen, that was not any credit to me. That’s a credit to somebody who moved out of a comfort zone, into a place of darkness, and shined a light! That’s how you expose the darkness on the outside.

Stand for what’s true, what’s right, and what’s good, no matter what it costs you. Take your Bible to school. Bow your head and thank God for that meal you’re about to eat—at that lunch table—under the snickers and under the marginalization of somebody who might think you’re weird! Do you know what you’re doing? Shining light in a dark place. So, stand for what’s true, no matter what it costs you.

Now, let me say this: all that’s about exposing darkness on the outside. But, listen! That’s not just where darkness exists. How do you expose the darkness on the inside? The truth is this: you and I have dark places in our hearts, where we need to let the light of God shine. And do you know how that darkness gets there? It’s when we sin and we hide it and we cover it in dark places, because we think God can’t see in the dark! But He can see in the dark! And if you want to overcome that sin, if you want to be set free from that sin, do you know what you have to do with that sin? You have to punch it in the face, grab it by the collar, and drag it out of the darkness and into the light! Do you know how you expose the darkness?

You confess secret sin. That’s why our small group ministry is so important, that’s why it’s so important to be in the regular flow. If there is something that has grabbed you and defeated you and dragged you into the darkness, that you expose it to the light, by simply looking another brother in Christ in the eye and saying, “I need you to pray for me. This week I failed in this area, and I go on record: I don’t want to live in the darkness.” So you have to expose it to the light.

Acknowledge secret hurt. Now, some of you have committed sin; others of you have had sin committed against you, and that’s caused damage and hurt. Maybe somebody has lied to you and slandered you, or hurt you and cheated on you and been unfaithful to you. Listen, you don’t have to live in the darkness of that hurt. You drag the hurt into the light and you bring that out. Expose it to God and tell God on those people. And you tell other people, in a discreet way, how you’re hurting, so they can surround you and help you and love you and encourage you and pray for you. You drag it into the light.

And then, admit secret weakness. So often, we think we need to put on a mask, and we need to appear strong and further down the road in our walk with God than we actually are. No. That produces pride, but when you admit your weakness and admit, “I don’t have it all together, and I’ve got issues and I need help along the way. . .”—do you know what happens? You expose that to God’s light, and He pours strength into your life, because you’ve demonstrated humility by being willing to admit your weakness.

One other thing, here:

 

4. We must awake from darkness. (14)

 

Great verse! Look at verse 14: “For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says [quoting from Psalm 60], ‘Awake, O sleeper [that includes some of you who are sleeping in church right now! Wake up, wake up, wake up!], and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’”

I told you, this past week I was at the pastors’ retreat in Arizona. Andrea was not able to come with me, so I roomed with another pastor whose wife was not able to come with him. It was Pastor John Secrest, who just planted Harvest Bible Chapel in Naples. Tough assignment! Pray for John! John was there without his wife.

I’d never met John before, so it’s a great way to get to know each other, to spend a couple of days in a hotel together. As we were talking about what time we were going to get up in the morning, he set his alarm. I remember going to bed, and about 6:30 that morning, I heard John’s alarm. This is what I heard. How many of you have an alarm that sounds like that? Really? And that wakes you up?! Are you a light sleeper? Well, bless your heart! How many of you need a little more something that sounds like this…? Yeah.

Do you know what this verse is saying? “Christ wants to wake you up!” So often, we sleep through things that God wants to urgently get us involved in. And this is a message, and every time you open your Bible, every time you hear the voice of God—the Spirit of God on the inside—it is not a harp, it is a foghorn. Wake up! Why are you spending your life sleeping in the dark!

Jonathan Ether, the young man who played the drums this morning—we were talking earlier—he was like, “The problem with an alarm is that it signals the end of something really good!” But, if we could see that God’s alarm is the beginning of something so much better, we would wake up—arise from the dead!

I’m going to ask the ushers to come forward; they’re going to distribute the elements of communion. As we celebrate communion this morning, I want you to understand that every time we celebrate communion, it is another opportunity to awake, to arise from the sleepiness.

Understand this: these elements—the bread which represents the broken body of Christ—the juice which represents the blood that was spilled out on our behalf…do you know what this is communicating to us? It’s communicating to us the alarming story of Christ on the cross. And this is what happened: Christ loved us so much, He was not content to let you remain in the darkness of sin. And so, do you know what happened as He hung on that cross? The whole world went dark! There was a thick darkness!

Jesus Christ loved you so much, He was willing to experience darkness so that you could experience His light. He died on that cross. They took His body off that cross. They laid Him in a tomb, and they rolled a stone in front of that tomb. He was laid in darkness. But, three days later, demonstrating the power that light has to overcome the darkness, the stone was rolled away. He was risen! And it is something that is an alarming jolt, to wake us from our sleepy existence. So many drowsy Christians, just content to sleep in the dark. God wants to wake us up this morning!

So, as we receive these elements of communion, understand this: this is only for Christians. If you love the darkness, you like playing in the dark, just let those elements pass by. But for those of us who are children of the light, we’re so grateful that Christ experienced the darkness so that we could experience the light, and we would celebrate this with a soberness and a gratefulness for what Christ as done on that cross.

Awake, O sleeper! We’re to remember the darkness, even as we remember the darkness that we once lived in and the darkness that Christ experienced. We’re to pierce the darkness and live in a way that pleases the Lord by believing what is true, doing what is right, and experiencing what is good. We’re to expose the darkness by going out of here on mission, understanding that we are God’s nightlights. And we’re to awake from darkness.

Listen, let this be the moment when—if you’ve been a drowsy, sleepy Christian—you hear God’s alarm. God’s trying to give some of us a wake-up call, and He does not want you hitting the snooze button over and over, procrastinating what God wants to do in your life. And so, as we receive these elements, let this be a moment of repentance, confession. Maybe there’s some area of sin you need to drag into the light. Why don’t we just bow our heads for a moment. Would you thank the Lord for what He’s done—being exposed to the darkness of your sin, so that you could be exposed to His light? Maybe you need to commit to Him right now that you’re going to drag secret sin, secret hurt, secret weakness into the light.

Lord, we thank You for the darkness that You experienced on that cross, so that we could experience Your light. And now, we remember and we proclaim Your death as we receive these elements.

So “He took the bread and He broke it and He said, as often as you do this, do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, He took the cup and He said this is the blood of the new covenant. He said as often as you do this, do this in remembrance of Me.” Let’s stand together and let’s celebrate the light that is ours in Jesus Christ.