Last Sunday, I talked about “spiritual light.” You can listen to the sermon here: https://benbergren.com/sermon-lighting-the-way/ .

Having only a limited amount of time on Sunday morning, I can only go so far before someone in the sound booth turns off my microphone. I know you are thankful that there are “checks and balances” at Bethel to prevent me from droning on indefinitely. However, this is the perfect place to go a little deeper!

Jesus said to his critics, “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12). Jesus tells everyone that He will be our fixed point of light in this dark world. If we don’t know where to go or what to do, He promises to guide us. It is also a promise that we will never be alone. All good news, right?!

But how does that work? We all know that Jesus was not talking about a literal light shining in the darkness the way a lighthouse that warns ships to be careful. We need to dig a little deeper to understand what Jesus meant by that. In Psalm 119:105 we read, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” The Psalmist (the person who wrote this) is referring to God’s word and more specifically the wisdom contained within the Bible.

We see that God’s guiding light through Jesus is contained within the scriptures to give us just enough light help us take our next step of life in faith. Yes, we would all love to have our journey lit up like a Christmas tree so that we know what is coming up next until we take our last breathe. But we all know that life (and faith) is not like that. We are given just enough light to take the next step. This is consistent with the prayer we pray every Sunday, “Give us this day our daily bread.” We ask for just enough bread to get through today. The allotment of bread and light seem to be the same. Remember that Jesus also said, “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35) There is a pattern and consistency in scripture! (This always gets my heart pumping when I see things like this!!!)

The question remains: how do we use God’s Word like a lamp for our path? What is it that makes this possible? The Holy Spirit. No, this isn’t some easy “pastor answer” so I can stop writing. Remember I have no word or time limit here. (However, there are some who have already stopped reading, I bet!) Listen to what Paul says about using God word (The Bible) as a lamp and how the Holy Spirit makes that possible.

“The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to them, and they cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14

 The lamp only works if there is fuel! The flashlight only operates with a battery! The Holy Spirit is the power behind using God’s word as lamp to discern our next steps.

We can’t just give someone a Bible and say, “this will guide you all the days of your life.” It is “foolishness to them, and they cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Anything from God is foolishness to those who do not believe in Christ. That is not a condemnation or judgment; it is true. God tells us to love those people too- not judge them.

It all begins with the gift of the Holy Spirit. Freely given, freely received. The Holy Spirit allows us to see things that others cannot or refuse to see in this dark world. It would be like receiving night vision goggles at midnight on a cloudy evening. Suddenly you can see! That is what the Holy Spirit allows us to do with God’s word. We cannot only see God’s word but we can make sense of it so that we can take an informed step.

We need what God provides! We need more of the Holy Spirit and we need the discernment to take our next steps in faith.

Understanding gives us the strength to be fearless like a llama… a Jesus loving llama. It is the Holy Spirit that also allows to be like a “spiritual moon” and reflect the Son.

Let us all pray for a greater measure of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Pr. Ben