“Journeying into the Light” John 8: 12-20

And Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” 

Imagine that you are in the pitch black of night. You can’t see anything at all. You give it a moment for your eyes to adjust before you decide that light is needed. You flip on the beam of your flash light and a single beam makes it possible for you to take one step at a time in the right direction without stumbling. 

For several years, a flashlight was my constant companion while at church camp as a counselor. Especially when I worked with elementary aged children. At the particular camp I volunteered at - the bath house was located a bit of a distance away from cabins, so several times during the night, myself or another one of the counselors, picked up our trusty flashlight and walked with our students down to the bathroom.

There is a big difference however, between the light emitted from a flashlight, and that which comes from a light bulb. Flip a switch with a light bulb and a whole room lights up, even in the darkest of nights, while a flashlight’s beam will only light, one, maybe two steps ahead of you at a time. 

When Jesus proclaims that he is the light of the world and that we will never walk in darkness, I think a lot of us wish Jesus acts as a light bulb, lighting up a room in such a way that we can see everything in front of us. But I’m not sure that is what Jesus is talking about when he  proclaims to be the light of life. Maybe, just maybe, Jesus’s light is a bit more like that flashlight, making it so we can only see one or two steps in front of us - making us take one step forward in faith, knowing that Jesus walks with us, so we can take the next step.

Another thing that you learn from a flashlight, is that everyone pretty much needs their own. Sometimes, one person can share the light from their flashlight and two people can walk forward, but it does not work very well to have one flashlight trying to lead a group - a lesson quickly learned by counselors of elementary students who don’t want to carry their flashlights. 

When we don’t have our own connection to the Light and try to rely solely off of the faith of others, we stumble along the path. The Pharisees were struggling with this type of stumbling in today’s passage. They don’t understand what Jesus is talking about, cannot see the truth in his words, so they accuse him of bearing false witness. Jesus says that his testimony is valid, and goes on to explain that one cannot know God, one cannot come into the light of Truth, simply by relying on the law. They needed more then that to step forward in faith.

Back to camp. This past year, I worked with high school students, and we did an exercise I never experienced before. Under the pitch blackness of night, the campers grabbed a hold of a rope, were blind folded, and did a trust walk in darkness. It was painful at times, to watch them stumble their way along the path. Everyone walked with caution. A few students were frightened. And it took us quite a while to get to the “trust” part of the trust walk. 

I think we all go through dark times in our life. Times when it is hard to trust God and we feel like we are stumbling along the path. For me, such times come when I feel disconnected from the light of Christ. When I can’t bring myself to pray. Times when I forget to switch on the flashlight, letting Jesus lead my way step by step. Times when I ignore the flashlight beam, because what I really want is the light bulb to shine brightly. 

May we, along this Lenten journey, not neglect walking in the light of Christ. May we trust him, to guide us each step of the journey, one step at a time. May we trust that the words he testifies to are true. Amen.