Refining Fire, Light of Life
———————
John 8:3-12
“3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 4 they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.
5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ 6 They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ 8 And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’
11 She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’ 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’”
———————
Light Requires Fuel
What is the main source of light – in fact, the main source of energy in general – in our material lives here on Earth? From the coal and oil that power our modern lives on down to the growing grass and our feed animals that eat it, the sun is key to our lives here on this planet.
How does the sun work? Have you ever considered it? How is it that the sun gives off so much energy, energy that finds us here in Earth’s atmosphere as warmth, and light? The sun is such a central miracle in our day-to-day lives, yet one I think most of us take for granted.
Our own sun converts 464 million tons of hydrogen into 460 million tons of helium every second to produce the warmth and light we experience here on Earth. To produce that energy, our sun burns away about 4 million tons of mass each second.
In other words, the sun functions because it explodes – constantly. It explodes in place, due to a miraculous situation called “hydrostatic equilibrium,” or a form of stasis in which outward pressures (ie, the sun exploding) perfectly counter-balances inward pressures (ie, gravity).
We talk through apparent contradictions in the Bible often. We talk about “having God” and yet still being called to “seek God.” I love these passages in the Bible where God seems to be telling us two different things through his holy word. I’ll tell you why.
First, you’ll never encounter REAL contradictions in the Bible. The Bible never tells us that “bad” is “good,” that “up” is the same as “down,” or that “darkness” and “light” are one and the same. We only find APPARENT contradictions in the Bible, NOT REAL contradictions.
For example, we’re told in the Bible that to forgive is to be forgiven. We’re told that to give away our money to charity is to gain riches. We’re told that to serve other people is the way to true happiness. And we’re told that to die is to gain eternal life.
I love these apparent contradictions, because they are evidence to me of just how far beyond our tiny, human-sized understanding God’s wisdom truly lies. So when I find these apparently contradictory passages reading my Bible, I perk up. I pay attention more closely.
In Malachi 3:2-3 we are taught: “But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver….”
GOD’S REFINING FIRE BURNS AWAY OUR SELF-WILL, OUR EGO, OUR PRIDE: THOSE MOST POWERFUL HINDRANCES TO SEEKING GOD, AND TO LIVING IN GOD’S WILL. Job 23:10 “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”
WHEN WE PUT OURSELVES INTO THE CARE OF GOD, WHEN WE LIVE IN A WAY THAT TRUSTS GOD’S WILL AND NOT OUR OWN WELL, GOD’S REFINING FIRE CAN BE USED TO BURN AWAY OUR PRIDE AND OUR DESIRE TO LIVE IN SELF-WILL.
AND WHAT DOES A FIRE PRODUCE? WHAT IS THE RESULT OF THE “REFINING FIRE” MENTIONED IN MALACHI AND JOB? LIGHT. LIGHT REQUIRES A SOURCE OF FUEL. FOR THE SUN, THAT FUEL IS HYDROGEN. FOR OUR LIVES IN FAITH, THAT FUEL IS SELF-WILL.
———————
Light Can’t Be Contained
John 8:12 “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” THE LIGHT OF LIFE.
To start to examine the teachings in this passage, we’ll first make a short detour through the Sermon on the Mount. At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, we find a fascinating scripture passage. “You are the light of the world,” and it’s from Matthew 5:14-16:
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”
This translation reads people don’t light a lamp and put it under a “bowl.” But I think something is lost in using the word “bowl.” In the original Greek, this word is “μόδιον (modion),” which means “a basket used for measuring.”
More traditional translations use the word “bushel,” here instead of “bowl.” This is much closer to the original Greek. Because a bushel, also, was a basket used to measure. A measuring basket. Why does Jesus tell us not to light our lamps and put them under a measuring basket?
THERE ARE AT LEAST THREE TEACHINGS FROM THIS PASSAGE ABOUT NOT HIDING OUR LIGHT. The first teaching, of course, is about the way righteousness shines through us from God’s grace. When we live in the light of God’s grace, that grace shines through us.
Ephesians 5:8-10 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth).” This verse doesn’t say “you now live IN the light.” It reads “you ARE light.”
THIS IS THE FIRST TEACHING FROM THIS PASSAGE: AS GOD’S GRACE SHINES THROUGH YOU, SHARE IT WITH OTHERS. LET IT SHINE. DON’T HIDE IT AWAY AND KEEP IT TO YOURSELF. IT WAS A GIFT TO YOU TO START WITH. IT IS ONLY RIGHT TO SHARE IT.
The second teaching is related to the first. At the time this was written, a home was lit entirely by oil lamps. And fire was nowhere near as easy to spark as it is today. So one needed to keep at least one oil lamp lit.
So when you left your home back in New Testament days, you would extinguish your lamps all around the house, so that the place didn’t burn down while you were away. But you would keep one lamp lit, and that lamp you wanted to be sure didn’t go out.
When you got home, you could light all the other lamps in the house from that one lamp. THIS IS THE SECOND TEACHING FROM THIS PASSAGE. “YOU ARE THE LAMP OF THE WORLD, AND THAT LAMP CAN LIGHT ALL THOSE LAMPS AROUND YOU AS WELL AS YOUR OWN.”
So the first teaching is about being a light to others. The second teaching is about being able to use our own lights to start the lights of others. What’s with this word ““μόδιον (modion),” then? Remember, it means not just ANY basket, but a basket used TO MEASURE.
This is the third teaching from this passage. GIVE THE LIGHT OF YOURSELF BEYOND MEASURE. LET THE LIGHT CONTINUE TO SHINE. WHEN YOU FEEL OUT OF OIL IN YOUR LAMP, RELY ON LETTING THE LIGHT OF GOD SHINE THROUGH YOU.
WE ARE CALLED TO LET OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS ILLUMINATE THE PATHS OF OTHERS, JUST AS THAT OF CHRIST HAS ILLUMINATED OUR OWN. AND WE ARE CALLED TO LET OUR LIGHT SHINE BEYOND MEASURE. BECAUSE WE CAN IGNITE OTHERS’ LAMPS TOO.
———————
Light Is the Law of Grace
Fire provides warmth and light to all those around it. One fire can light many more. A single flame in a village can provide warmth and light to all those around. This is how the Law of Grace works. In Earthly Law, “possessions” only nourish the person who actually has.
John 1:5 “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:17 “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” THE LAW OF GRACE – THE LAW OF LIGHT AND TRUTH – WAS GIVEN TO US BY JESUS CHRIST.
In John 8:12, we read “when Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” John 1:5, “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” GOD MADE HIS LIGHT, TO SHINE IN OUR HEARTS.
But please allow me to go on. Because the next verse is where it gets really interesting. 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” THE LIGHT COMES FROM GOD, AND NOT FROM US.
To me, here is what is going on. We turn from Self-Will, and we turn towards God’s Will. This is Repentance, and it is possible because of Jesus and the Atonement he offers us. In that turn of Repentance, we enter into a new relationship with God. We build that relationship over time.
As part of the work of our relationship with God – daily prayer, reading the Bible, worship – WE ALLOW GOD TO CONTINUOUSLY REFINE US, SO THAT WE CAN BE MORE USEFUL TO HIM. TO EXPRESS GRACE IN ALL ITS FORMS: KINDNESS, LOVE, FORGIVENESS, CHARITY.
Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Ephesians 5:8-10: “you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.”
FIND OUT WHAT PLEASES THE LORD. You know how I think of this Divine Fire, this Refiner’s Fire, which helps make me more willing to live in God’s Will, that helps me become more useful to God? You know what term I give this in my mind? This beautiful expression of God’s Grace?
IT IS A DUMPSTER FIRE. A DUMPSTER FIRE. BECAUSE WHAT I AM ALLOWING GOD TO BURN AWAY WHEN I ALLOW HIM TO DO HIS WORK OF REFINEMENT IN MY OWN LIFE, TO WORK HIS PROCESS OF REDEMPTION ON ME, IS THE TRASH OF MY SELF-WILL.
I am allowing God to burn away my sins, and most importantly my PRIDE. Because in my PRIDE, I will follow my Self-Will every time. In my PRIDE, I think I know best, not God. In my PRIDE, I think “eh, I’m saved! We’ll fix it later. Let’s go and buy that apartment now.”
———————
Are We Spotlights? Police Flashlights?
Being the light of the word out in the world has its challenges. We are only human, after all. We strive to be more like Christ, but in practice we fail over and over again. So I’d like to take a moment to share a few warnings from my own personal experience.
The first way we can get the whole “be the light of the world” thing wrong is by thinking the light of God that shines through us is somehow the result of our own effort. We turn the light – this light we are supposed to be shining out to light the paths of others – on ourselves.
THE FIRST WAY WE GET “BE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD” WRONG IS BY SHINING THE LIGHT ONTO OURSELVES. LIKE A STAGE SPOTLIGHT IN A PLAY. “LOOK AT ME! I AM SO RIGHTEOUS! I HAVE THE LIGHT OF GOD! IT SHINES, CAN YOU SEE, EVERYONE?”
I think it’s pretty clear how this way to mistake “be the light of the world” is all about Self-Will. This is fully a Tree of Knowledge situation. Genesis 3:22, “and the Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.’”
We can recognize good, and we can recognize evil, and we fall victim to becoming a spotlight when we think WE ARE GOOD, BUT THE WORLD IS BAD. Because our first instinct when we do something BAD is to blame the world. “Those lousy bums the Browns – THEY LOST again!”
But when we do good, we tend to reflect that back onto ourselves. “The Browns did great this weekend; WE WON!” So we look around at the world, and we see the evil of sin all around us. And we see that we are somewhat better than average, somewhat more good. We take credit.
“But Pete,” you might say. “I deserve God’s grace!” “Why?” I might ask. “Because I believe in God, for one thing.” James chapter 2: “even the demons believe in God, and shudder.” “But Pete, I follow all the rules!” “That’s an excellent start, but with Jesus there is more than Law.”
“But Pete, I have faith! I believe in Jesus!” “And that is excellent. You believe the truth. But where does your faith come from?” Ephesians chapter 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and THIS IS NOT FROM YOURSELVES, it is the gift of God…”
“Fine. It is all a gift. My ability to have faith AT ALL is a gift. I don’t deserve it. But I’m allowed to be PROUD of it, right?” Ephesians chapter 2:9 “...SO THAT NO ONE CAN BOAST.” Paul teaches us in 2 Corinthians, 12:9, “I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses.”
And Paul goes on in 2 Corinthians, 12:9 “...so that Christ's power may rest on me.” There is no way in which our trying to be the light of the world can be about ourselves. THE LIGHT OF CHRIST LIVES IN THE DOMAIN OF HUMILITY. PERIOD.
Here is the second way we can get “be the light of the world” wrong. If you’ve ever been pulled over while driving, you know how the scene unfolds. First, you see the flashing lights of the police cruiser behind you. Then you wait for the officer to walk up towards your window.
If you’re anything like me, you’re trying to think of a reasonable excuse for why, exactly, you WERE driving 80 miles per hour in a 65 mile per hour zone, when suddenly, you get the police flashlight in your eyes. You say “good evening, officer,” and then BAM! That light!
Why do police shine their flashlights in your eyes? They are out on the roads to keep us safe – safe, I might add, from idiot preachers like me, in a hurry to get somewhere, who drive 80 miles per hour when they should be driving 65.
Police shine their lights on us because they want to gain some knowledge about what is really going on. “Hello there. Do you know how fast you were doing just now?” Then BAM! “Oy vey, take it easy with the light, officer!”
The officer needs to gain some understanding of the situation, you see. Do his pupils dilate? Is his face flushed? Is he having trouble focusing his eyes on things? The police officer shines the light because they need to understand, because they need to judge.
Sometimes, we shine our light on the world like this. THE SECOND WAY WE GET “BE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD” WRONG IS BY SHINING THE LIGHT ONTO OTHERS IN A JUDGING WAY. LIKE A POLICE FLASHLIGHT. “THIS PERSON IS DOING WRONG OVER HERE!”
Like the mistake of turning the light of the world into a spotlight on yourself, this way of getting “be the light of the world” wrong is entirely based on Self-Will. It’s based on taking credit for a gift God gave you, through grace, that you did nothing to deserve or merit.
“But Pete,” you might say. “This person over here really IS doing wrong! They sin, and their sinful behavior offends me.” “That is good. It is holy to be offended by sin, and to not want to commit it yourself. But we, also, are sinners, aren’t we?”
“Well yes, you and I WERE sinners, but we sin less now that we’ve found Christ.” “That is true. We have been given – and we have accepted – the gift of grace. So all we really did was accept a gift. Are you saying we should be praised for saying yes to a gift we were offered?”
“But Pete: I AM SIMPLY BETTER THAN THESE SINNERS OVER HERE!” To that I would remind us of the Gospels. WHAT DOES OUR OWN SALVATION HAVE TO DO WITH THE SINS OF OTHER PEOPLE? NOTHING. BUT IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH WHETHER WE JUDGE.
———————
Calling People OUT vs Calling People IN
Let’s go back to the verse I quoted earlier from Ephesians. Ephesians 5:8-10 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth).”
“THE FRUIT OF THE LIGHT CONSISTS IN ALL GOODNESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND TRUTH.” WE ARE TAUGHT WE WILL KNOW OUR FAITH BY THE FRUIT IT BEARS. AND I ASK YOU: WHAT BAD FRUIT CAN BE BORN FROM LOVE?
AND WHAT GOOD FRUIT CAN BE BORN FROM JUDGMENT? NOTE THAT I DID NOT ASK “WHAT GOOD FRUIT CAN BE BORN FROM UNDERSTANDING?” Understanding can be done from a place of love. From a place of compassion. From a place of empathy.
Judgment, on the other hand, assumes you can fully grasp, apprehend, and therefore evaluate something. You must know much about a person to judge them. THERE IS A VERY CLEAR, VERY IMPORTANT DISTINCTION BETWEEN UNDERSTANDING AND JUDGMENT.
UNDERSTANDING SOMETHING CAN BE DONE IN LOVE. THAT IS WHAT WE CALL “COMPASSION” OR “EMPATHY.” JUDGING SOMETHING PUSHES YOU AWAY FROM WHAT YOU JUDGE, WHEREAS UNDERSTANDING DRAWS YOU CLOSER.
If the way we handle the behavior of others calls them IN, and it’s done out of LOVE, the fruits of our faith are UNITY, and that is RIGHTEOUS. If the way we handle the behavior of others calls them OUT, and it’s done out of JUDGMENT, the fruits of our faith are DIVISION.
Notice that in this passage from John, Jesus most certainly points out the sin of the woman. He says to her, “has no one condemned you?” And then “go forth and sin no more.” This isn’t some sort of version of “everyone do whatever anyone wants,” or “sin doesn’t matter.”
Jesus very clearly does two things in this passage. He calls a sin what it is: a sin. But on the other hand, Jesus Christ, the most perfect example of a human being any of us have ever heard of, refuses to CONDEMN the woman. Instead, he calls her to repent.
THERE IS NO HATE WITHOUT DIVISION. HATE CHEERS DIVISION. LOVE MOURNS DIVISION. LOVE SEEKS UNITY. Love encounters and engages with the world through curiosity, understanding, compassion, and empathy. Hate wants to judge it and move on.
WHAT SORT OF LIGHT ARE WE CALLED TO BE? A CAMPFIRE. GO INTO THE DARK PLACES OF YOUR LIFE, AND STOP THERE LONG ENOUGH TO LIGHT A CAMPFIRE. GATHER OTHERS AROUND THAT FIRE. IT WON’T BE DIFFICULT. I PROMISE YOU.
AND REMEMBER WHAT FUELS THAT FIRE – WHAT IT IS THAT PRODUCES THE WARMTH AND LIGHT THAT FIRE PROVIDES. BECAUSE WHAT FUELS THAT FIRE IS YOUR CONTINUOUS RENEWAL OF A LIFE PLACED IN GOD’S HANDS.
EVERY DAY WE PLACE OUR LIVES IN THE HANDS OF GOD – THROUGH CONTINUOUS RECOGNITION OF OUR WRONGS, OUR PRIDE, OUR ATTEMPTS TO LIFE HAPPILY IN SELF-WILL – WE ALLOW GOD’S REFINING FIRE TO DO ITS WORK.
GOD BURNING AWAY THE IMPURITIES OF OUR SELF-WILL AND PRIDE PRODUCES THE WARMTH AND LIGHT OF A CAMPFIRE. THIS IS HOW WE FUEL THE FIRES IN OUR LIVES THAT WILL BRING OTHERS TO GOD. BY ALLOWING GOD TO BURN AWAY OUR EGOS.
