A life of faith involves contrasts. To live as a believer means to do things differently than one has before coming to faith. Scholars tell us that in the early church those who came to faith were called the enlightened ones. This was because they were thought to have received spiritual insight. Jesus referred to his followers as the light of the world, Mt. 5:14. In a similar fashion Ephesians 5:8-14 and John 9:1-41 both use the imagery of light and darkness to explain key issues of faith that have more to do with soul power than candle power.
In John 9:1-41 Jesus puts mud on the eyes of a blind beggar and sends him to the pool at Siloam to complete the healing. The disciples debate whether the man or his family’s sins caused his blindness, then religious leaders question whether or not the man was healed. The reading closes with Jesus asking the man if he believes he has been healed and then revealing himself to the man. The religious leaders overhearing the conversation react harshly, which Jesus points out shows their spiritual blindness. In a similar manner, Ephesians 5:8-14 uses visual contrast to describe a life of faith. “For once you were darkness, now you are light in the Lord.” v.8a. The words are part of an appeal beginning in the middle of the fourth chapter which encourages believers to renounce the pagan customs of their past, and embrace fully the teachings of their new faith.
In each passage the story is more about spiritual timing than the time of day. The offering is for believers to reflect the light, of The Light of the World. The word for the pool in John’s gospel (Siloam) means sent. So figuratively, if not literally, Jesus sent the man from doubt to certainty, from darkness to light, that he might experience healing. In part, believing calls us from spiritual blindness to the insight of faith. To achieve this we must overcome our individual fears and doubts along with the unknowing of others.
Toward the end of my Mother’s life I was in her hospital room late one night. As I sat by her bed chatting, all of the lights in the hospital and for an entire block flickered and went out. I had always experienced my Mom as very strong even powerful, but in a voice quite soft and somewhat frightened she said, Joey give me your hand.” As I took her hand, I said more as her son than a minister, “Mom are you afraid?” In a voice with greater depth and power than I had at the time, she responded, “Not of dying , but I don’t like the dark.” Just as Mom finished those words the lights came back on (really they did) and as I looked at my Mother and knew she was dying, I knew just as strongly she was more alive than most anybody I had ever known. Some move toward enlightenment, some are sent, and some need a hand.
Dr. Joey K. McDonald