When you allow God’s light to shine through you in your community, there is no end to how far His sanctifying power could reach.
Last year, my husband and I had the privilege of witnessing the solar eclipse. It was a drive for us and involved an overnight stay, but, ohhh, was it worth it! I have never felt so close to God’s majesty and His creation as I did in the moment that the eclipse reached totality. At that point, you could remove the safety glasses and admire in awe the flames lapping out from the sun. It was magnificent! The entire experience just drew me into God’s heavenly space.
As the moon was beginning to cover the sun more and more, the birds started singing their “dusk” song. The wind also started to die down, much like it does when evening approaches. It started to feel cooler. What I was not expecting, and now understand why people say seeing a total eclipse at 97-99% just isn’t the same as 100% totality, was the amount of light that was still shining from the sun even at 99%! I was also surprised that when the sun was completely covered by the moon, it was like God turned off a switch, and it went from light to dark in an instant. It became much colder and all the stars came out! It was truly a lesson in the power of the sun’s light.
Jesus Himself is the spiritual representation of the power of light over darkness. "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:4-5). When Jesus hung on the cross, the earth became dark for those three hours. When He died, the sun shone again and daylight returned. The crucifixion exemplifies the horror of sin, and the darkness represented the exclamation point of Jesus' suffering for our sins. But God, in His mercy, on Resurrection Sunday, brought back to life the bright Morning Star, the Light of the world. In fact, when we all live in heaven’s glories one day, God will be the light. "And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God illuminates it, and the Lamb is its lamp" (Revelation 21:23).
Jesus imparts that light to believers. "Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”" (John 8:12). "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" (Ephesians 5:8-9). He calls us to walk in that light and shine it through our actions. "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, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:14-16).
As children of God, we don’t know who the Lord has called to ultimately be in communion with Him, but this lack of knowledge should not stop us from sharing the gospel with those we meet. In fact, there is a saying that says, “Be careful how you live, you may be the only Bible some people will read” (An Unspoken Bible). When we allow the light of Christ to shine through our lives, we will be emitting His sanctifying power and, as such, may see people turn to the Lord.
Let’s look at three scenarios where the sanctifying power of God’s light shining through can yield holy results:
1. Shine Your Light in Your Marriage
"To the rest, I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy." 1 Corinthians 7:12-14
There are many who gave their lives to Christ after they were married. I was actually one of those spouses. My husband did not grow up in any church and described himself as agnostic. As my walk with the Lord started to grow, I would talk more and more about my faith with my husband. We would have a lot of debates on our walks, as it was difficult for my husband to grasp the things of God since he is a scientist by profession and saw everything through the lens of science. I didn’t get upset or try to push my agenda, I just continued to share what I was learning. Not only that, but he could see me reading my Bible at home, participating in Bible studies, and that I had a new friend group who were Christians. I also returned to church and signed up to be a Sunday school helper. Basically, my husband was seeing a new version of his wife, one he had not seen before…
A year later, my husband gave his life to Christ, eventually went to seminary, and is now a bi-vocational associate pastor.
I can’t promise that this will happen for everyone. I know some wives and husbands who have prayed for their unbelieving spouses for years, but I do believe that God will bless your obedience as you shine your light in your marriage, sanctifying that covenant. I also believe that many of you will see that sanctifying power through the conversion of your spouse.
2. Shine Your Light in Your Community
“Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the Lord. Abraham came near and said, 'Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?' So the Lord said, 'If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account'... Then he said, 'Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?' And He said, 'I will not destroy it on account of the ten.'” Genesis 18:22-32
In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, we read about the wicked men who lived in that community. Abraham’s brother Lot lived there with his family. They were righteous in God’s sight. As the story unfolds, the Lord makes a way for Lot, his wife, and two daughters to escape from Sodom to Zoar, where God spares the city of Zoar from His wrath. The righteousness of Lot’s family essentially sanctifies that community.
When we shine our light in our communities, we are showing that we are called out from the norm, not in an arrogant way, but with humility, they see something different within us.
As I described earlier, I came to know the Lord in my mid-30s. It was actually through two neighbors. The light of Christ is evident in their actions… Something I wanted to emulate. One neighbor gave me a Bible. The other introduced me to the woman who would ultimately lead me to the Lord. Neither of these neighbors shied away from showing their Christianity in a bold, but humble way. By shining God’s light, not only did they lead me to sanctification, but my husband and then ultimately my children.
When you allow God’s light to shine through you in your community, there is no end to how far His sanctifying power could reach.
3. Shine Your Light in Your Church
“Whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.” John 3:21
It might seem strange to say we need to shine our light in church because, after all, aren’t we showing that light by attending? Maybe…
Sadly, for a few, church attendance is merely a Sunday exercise to tick off their spiritual list. These people might not attend any other ministry opportunities given by the church. They might not even be truly saved… You also have seekers who may attend your church. There are also new believers who are looking to learn from seasoned Christians. And then there are those who have known the Lord for a very long time and need to receive the light of Christ from their fellow congregant through prayer, hospitality, charity, love, and concern. In every one of these instances, we can see how shining God’s light in church can highlight the sanctifying power of His grace and love.
When we join a church, we are entering into a covenant with that church. Every communion Sunday, our church recites together the church covenant that was created back in the 1800s when our church was started. One of the passages says, “We engage, therefore, God helping us, to work together in Christian love; to encourage each other in the work God has given us to do, to promote a spirit of understanding and forbearance; to abstain from all bitterness and anger and evil speaking and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as god for Christ’s sake has forgiven us. We will so far as we are able exercise a Christian care over each other and will faithfully help one another as the need may be. We will rejoice in each other’s good and with sympathy and tenderness bear each other’s burdens.” This is precisely how you shine God’s light in your church. What a sanctified space!
As my example of the total eclipse of the sun demonstrated, it takes very little of the sun peeking through to still touch the earth with much light. In the same way, the smallest act of kindness will shine God’s light and sanctify all it touches. May we allow the sanctifying power of God’s light to shine through in our marriages, our communities, and in our churches.
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash Dyu-Ha
