Sunday, March 6, 2011
And you will do well to pay attention to the word of truth, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
In September 2009, my dad and I biked from his house in Minneapolis to where we then lived in Milwaukee. It was a five-day adventure that mainly saw us using the rails-to-trails system across Wisconsin, the old railroad beds that have been converted into bike trails. One of those trails is the Elroy-Sparta Trail which features three railroad tunnels. One of the tunnels is about ¾ of a mile long. It’s cut through the rock of the hills, and as you begin to enter it, you realize the rock is seeping with water, water flowing in small gutters on either side of the trail. You’re surrounding by rock which is stained black from the years of train smoke. You take a few steps into the tunnel, and then looking forward, you can’t see a thing. It’s pitch black. There’s a cool breeze blowing through the tunnel; there’s the constant sound of running and dripping water; but you can’t see a thing. You enter the tunnel, your eyes get adjusted to the dark, and looking ahead, you can’t see a thing except for a distant light from the other end of the tunnel. You can see that the tunnel is open on the other end, but that’s about it. It’s not like the light from the other end of the tunnel is really going to help you walk the length of the tunnel. Essentially, it’s pitch black with just a glimpse of the future, a glimpse of the opening at the other end.
What this means is that you have to walk your bike. Riding a bike in those conditions is impossible; it’s too dark. You use a bike light or flashlight to see your way through, to help you stay in the center of the tunnel where the trail is dry. You depend on that bike light as you get deeper and deeper into the tunnel’s darkness.
And you will do well to pay attention to the word of truth, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
In that Elroy-Sparta tunnel, there’s the promise of the light at the end of tunnel, the opening on the other end, but it’s a distant light, a distant promise. What you depend on, what you count on, what you need as you take each step is the bike light, the light that shows the trail immediately ahead of you. You will do well to pay attention to that light until you get to the other end of the tunnel.
And you will do well to pay attention to the word of truth, pay attention to the word about Christ, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, until the Last Day when Christ appears again.
We need a path that’s going to bring us out of here, because we’re walking through a dark tunnel. There’s a cold breeze that blows. There’s the constant sound of running and dripping water. The walls of this life are stained black. It’s pitch black inside this life. We’re surrounded by sin and its effects. It’s pitch black, and left on our own, left without any light, there’s no chance of navigating this world. Even if we think there might be a light at the end of the tunnel, even if we think there’s some kind of hope beyond death, without the light to guide us, without the light to lead us, without the light to bring us through this life, well, there’s just not any hope of getting through the black tunnel.
We would do well to pay attention to the word of truth, we would do well to pay attention to the bike light, we would do well to pay attention to the light that points out the path that leads us out of this dark tunnel of life.
Pay attention to the word of truth, the word that points to Jesus, the word that gives us life in this dark tunnel. Pay attention to the word of truth until the morning star rises in your hearts—the Morning Star meaning the star that appears at dawn, the Morning Star meaning the best and brightest of the stars that’s still shining even after all the others have disappeared, the Morning Star meaning Jesus, the Morning Star meaning the light at the end of the tunnel.
We’ve got that promise of the Last Day, the promise of the day when Christ will appear again, the promise of the light at the end of the tunnel, the day when things will open up to eternal life, the day when we will rise with Christ and live with Him in the new world, but it’s a distant light, it’s a light that appears far down the tunnel. And until that day dawns, until we reach the end of the tunnel, until Christ brings us to that day, until then we would do well to pay attention to the light that we do have, the light we have for now, the light in the midst of this dark tunnel of life, the light that shows us the trail today. We would do well to pay attention to the word of truth, we would do well to pay attention to the Scriptures, to the word about Christ, to God’s Word that’s light for us.
So back in the tunnel, my dad and I were very thankful to have bike lights. We couldn’t have gone through the tunnels without bike lights. We would’ve had to turn back and find another way around. We were thankful to have those bike lights, but the trip wasn’t about the bike lights. Our memories of the trip aren’t about the bike lights. The trip was about the trail. It was about the relationship we had to the trail, to the way that would lead us home, to the way that would get us out of that tunnel, to the road that passed underneath our tires. The light shined, but the path was the key.
So, too, with Scripture. We need Scripture, we need the Bible to shine its light of truth, but the path is the key, the way to everlasting life is the key, Jesus is the key. And that means that the word of truth is only as good as what it points to. The word of truth doesn’t point to itself; it points to Jesus.
So when I call you today to pay attention to the word of truth, I don’t mean just pay attention to the Bible; it’s not just about an intellectual agreement with what the Bible says; it’s not first and foremost about the Bible. Our understanding of God doesn’t begin with what we say about the Bible; our understanding of God begins with what we’ve heard about how He saves us, how He brings us into a right relationship with Him.
Calling us to pay attention to the word of truth, well, that’s about paying attention to what the word of truth is about—Jesus Christ. The Bible is the bike light, the Bible is the thing that shines light on the path, but it’s the path that we need, it’s the relationship with Jesus that we need, it’s the way to eternal life that we need, it’s the way out of this dark tunnel, that’s what we’re called to pay attention to. It’s about the relationship we can have with Jesus Christ, our Savior, the One who will guide us to eternal life, the relationship the Holy Spirit gives us through faith.
And you will do well to pay attention to the word of truth, pay attention to the word about Christ, as to a light shining in a dark place, as to a light shining on the path.
And that’s significant. Because the danger is that we could make our faith to be about the Bible. We could test each other about our knowledge of the Bible. We could make faith in Jesus to be all about faith in the Bible. We could doubt one another’s faith if we find out that we struggle to know the Bible, or struggle to believe everything in the Bible.
But it’s not about the bike light; it’s about the path. It’s not just about the Bible; it’s about Jesus being the Way to eternal life. The Bible’s the source of knowledge, the Bible’s where we find out about God, but that’s not what our faith is in. Our faith is in Jesus. I mean, the Bible does tells us confidently about who Jesus is and what He has done for us, but ultimately, our faith is in Jesus, our relationship is with God, our trust, hope, peace, confidence, comfort, joy, and all of that is in Jesus. It’s Jesus that saves us through the cross and resurrection.
Today as welcome new members and celebrate all of the people who have joined Bethel this past year, today we’re not focused on their relationship with the Bible. We’re focused on celebrating that they have a relationship with Jesus.
Does that make sense?
Because if it was just about the Bible, well, then we’d just be standing in a dark tunnel with a bike light. We’d be content with what we had. We’d be content with having the Bible, but that would mean very little for how we moved forward, how we lived our lives, how we thought about ourselves.
Instead, if it’s about Jesus, well, then we move forward with the help of the light of the Bible; it’s about the path that shows up in the light of God’s Word. We’re not content to stand here in the darkness; we want to see where this path leads. We’re not resigned to staying here in the darkness; we’re moving ahead and calling others to come move ahead with us. We’re moving forward, being led by God, being led by the path of Christ, being drawn by Christ to follow Him to eternal life. We’re in a relationship with Jesus.
And you will do well to pay attention to the word of truth, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
This is a message for anyone who has ever struggled with doubting the Bible, struggled to believe what the Bible says, struggled to say for certain that they believe everything in the Bible is true.
This is a message that says there’s room for everyone here, even when we struggle to believe in the Bible. There’s room here, because the most important thing is your relationship with Jesus. That’s the key, that’s the path, that’s the way out of this dark tunnel. We teach that the Bible is a light for that path, but our relationship is with Jesus.
When someone comes to me who’s going through something difficult or just has a spiritual struggle, my first question to them is not, “How’s your faith in the Bible?” My first question is usually something like, “Where’s God in this?” My concern is primarily about their faith in Jesus. Believing in the Bible, that can come later. But first, do you believe that Jesus died and rose again? Do you believe that Jesus saves us from our sins so that we can have eternal life? Do you believe that God has called us to be in community with other believers? Do you believe that God will lead us out of this dark tunnel?
That’s what this light is for. That’s what this word of truth is for. That’s what the bike light is for. It shines on the path, the path that leads us out of this dark tunnel. The path gives us hope beyond the darkness that we see all around us. That’s what we pay attention to. That’s what we’re called to see. That’s what we’ve been given through the word of God and the Holy Spirit. We’ve been given a light for the path, the path to the other end of the tunnel, the path to eternal life.
And you will do well to pay attention to the word of truth, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.