Where Did It Go?

“Where did summer go? It went by so fast!”  This is the comment I have been hearing over and over lately.  Why, I have said it a number of times myself.  Of course, one of the answers to this question is that we are getting older and the older we become the faster time seems to speed by.  However, my mother-in-law on her recent visit to our home shared another theory.  She seems to think that because we had such a long winter and basically no spring, we are missing our prescribed number of “light units” for the year.  Consequently, summer has seemed all too short. (She is my mother-in-law!  I know better than to respond – I nod in agreement.)

All of God’s creation needs to have light to grow and to sustain life. Without light there is no life – life is shortened.  Our summer has been shortened.

There is a light, however, that is never dimmed or shut out by clouds and rain.  That life-giving light is the light of Christ’s love for each of us.  Jesus says to us in John 8, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

Jesus promises us that through Him, our lives will not be shortened but rather extended into eternity, where we will live in the radiance of God’s twenty-four hour light show.  It is the light that reaches into the darkness of despair and grief.  It is the light that sustains us and nourishes us and enables us to grow in our faith.  It is the light that can never be extinguished.  It is the ultimate life-giving light.

Yet with this light of eternal life also comes responsibility.  In Matthew 5 Jesus says, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

We were commissioned in our baptism to bring the light of Christ to the whole world.  There are those around us whose lives are being choked to death in the darkness of sorrow, neglect, suffering, and brokenness.  We are called to bring the light of hope, courage, and peace in Jesus Christ to their dark corners.

We have experienced this past summer the lack of “light units.”  We know what it is like and we don’t like it.  Let us make sure that those around us have enough light units needed to grow into eternity.  May our light so shine before others that they may see our good works and give glory to Him from whom all light comes – Jesus Christ.

Peace,

Pastor Mark