Have you seen the light?

John 1: 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

That was some kind of wind storm we experienced last week. There were power outages in many areas of southeast Idaho. And we were lucky enough to experience one at Grace Lutheran Church just in time for the Ash Wednesday Service. All things considered, the lack of light and people with candles and flashlights added a nice ambience to the service.

Often we will hear a story of someone who suddenly sees the light. Usually this refers to a person having an epiphany. By epiphany I mean an intuitive grasp of reality through something simple and striking. Epiphanies are also called brain storms, sudden realizations, or blinding truths. If you have ever had an epiphany you know how startling they can be. I have had my share of epiphanies. They are usually in the form of the realization that what I was doing was profoundly stupid, and dangerous.  Things like skiing off the cat track and onto the black diamond ski run, or driving too fast on a narrow and snow covered road. But there are also good epiphanies. One of the best, if not the best, is when a friend realizes that Jesus Christ is Lord. The blinding truth can set into motion any number of follow on actions for most people. The joy of realizing that Jesus Christ is Lord can have a profound impact on some people. And for others the impact can be gut wrenching. In essence this fact can throw their whole world into a turmoil. The realization that what they have been told up to the epiphany about their religion was nothing but lies can be troubling to say the least. A profound sense of alienation, real and imagined, is possible. Those who perpetuated the past version of the truth may in fact alienate the new believer in Christ because they no longer accept the lie that has been perpetuated. The god of old being replaced by the Triune God is comforting to some, and traumatic to others.

What does this mean for those of us who are long standing followers of Christ? Simply put, we need to reach out in love to those who are new to the faith. We need to be accepting, nurturing, caring, and all the other good “ing” words. We should encourage their growth in Christ. The light of Christ is a very bright warm light that now surrounds a new believer. Helping their transition is an excellent was for us to fulfill the commandment to love others as we love ourselves.

PRAYER: Lord of All Creation, You bring light to the darkness. The sun rises and and sun sets because that is Your will. And to light of Your Son, Jesus Christ, rises in the hearts of new believers, help us to help them. Show us Your will, guide our hands to reach out in love. Let our words of encouragement be Your words O God. We ask this in the strong name of Jesus Christ, Amen.