By The Rev. Dr. Paul A. Leggett
Sunday, May 24, 2009 · Ascension Sunday
Sermon Text: I John 1:5-10
Sermon Theme
The author of I John does not believe there are shades of gray in life. For him, the world is divided clearly into light and darkness with nothing in between. Light is identified with truth. This truth is found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Darkness represents sin and evil. Between these two there is no middle ground. John is concerned about Christians who fail to take these twin realities seriously. Rather than being naive or simplistic, John is confronting us with our continuing need for “the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses us from all sin.” For John, what we call “gray,” is simply our excuse for sin. The risen and ascended Jesus Christ is all light. God is light. There is no light apart from him. This is our confidence and joy.
Sermon Outline
- Light. The message of the Gospel is that God is light. There is no darkness at all in him. Darkness is the opposite of God (“Darkness” here refers to that which opposes God’s will, not to mystery or the unknown as in God himself abiding in “thick darkness,” Exodus 20:21). There is darkness in the world but the darkness does not come from God. We are never told why God allows the darkness or what its actual origin is. God may even use the darkness for his sovereign purpose but God is never the source of the darkness (Genesis 1:1-3; Isaiah 45:7; John 1:5). As we celebrate Memorial Day, we need to remember that war is a tragic form of the darkness. The light overcomes the darkness wherever it is found. We need to realize this if we are to make sense of the world and our place in it.
- Lie. If light is identified with God and truth, then darkness is an expression of lying and even Satan himself. Christians, because of their sinful nature, still have darkness within them. The irony is that, in acknowledging the darkness within us, we are following the light. Too often we deny our sin or excuse it. However, to deny the darkness is to be in the darkness. To confess our darkness, or our sin, is to come into the light. God who alone is light is the only One who truly sees our darkness.
- Lord. Today is Ascension Sunday. In Christ’s ascension, he is elevated to the right hand of God. He takes his place as Lord of all and Lord over all. John’s pattern of the Christian life calls us to complete acknowledgment of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We walk in the light. We have fellowship with one another because the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. The darkness is real but has no ultimate power over us. For John, the ascension of Jesus Christ begins with his being “lifted up” on the cross. On the cross, Jesus not only forgives sin, past, present and future, but conquers Satan, the “father of lies” (John 8:44). The victory of the cross changes everything. It enables us to be completely honest and fully confident. The cross gives us the light to see the world being reconciled to God. This is what it means to walk in the light of God.
Questions for Us
- We perceive life as a mixture of gray areas. Good and evil, right and wrong, are often not so clear to us. Why do you think this is true given the fact that "God is light and in him there is no darkness at all"?
- Why do you think John emphasizes the point that acknowledging the sin in our lives is a sign of our being truthful both to ourselves and to God? What are some of the ways we justify the darkness in our lives? Why are lies so appealing to us many times?
- How does living in the light of God's continued forgiveness in Christ enable us not only to walk in the light but to see the light of God in the world around us?
