Darkness & Light (John 3:14-21)

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In these verses, John dedicates significant space to contrasting the concepts of darkness and light.

The temptation is to read these verses as if it is a field guide to observing people. Have you ever used a field guide to observe birds or insects? You observe one trait (like the animal’s color) and then use the book to help you figure out what species the animal is.

Someone lies to me and I pull out these verses. “I see, it seems like that is a characteristic of someone who lives in darkness. Well, I’m glad I have that person correctly identified. Someone else runs a food pantry. That must be someone who lives in the light. Wow, this is easy!”

Of course, the person who lied to me is the same person who comforted me when I was going through a tough time. And that other person who runs the food pantry, well, she’s not even Christian! So, therefore she must be condemned. All of the sudden my field guide to observing humans isn’t so useful.

Light shows up in the strangest situations and in the strangest people. And darkness can show up in the people we trust the most.

The equation of: belief = light; and: unbelief = darkness; doesn’t really work in real life.

When we talk about things like darkness and light, belief and unbelief, we are talking about issues that are complicated and messy. Our challenge is to be weary of people who claim to know what is light and what is darkness. Only God is light. We cannot look for light in people or ideas, sports teams, politics, or careers; we can only find it in God.

It’s tempting to divide the world into darkness and light. It’s safer; it’s easier to make sense of the world. The only problem is that most of life is messy and complicated. Sure there are periods of darkness; but there are also those times when God shines his light on us in the most remarkable ways. Most of life takes place in the gray areas – that period which mixes the darkness and light.

Last week the TV news show “Primetime” aired a program called “What Would You Do?” They have done a series of these programs where they have actors act out controversial situations and they videotape how people respond. In this episode they filmed a man acting as a homeless man. He walks down a busy sidewalk and then collapses on the ground. The cameras record dozens of people, one after another, as they walk right on by; not even bothering to call an ambulance for this man who has just collapsed. A couple women walk by and make the sign of the cross; but they don’t offer any assistance.

As the actor is lying there, seemingly unconscious, a homeless woman notices the man. She does not have a phone, so she pleads with the people passing by, asking them to call 911. No one does. She continues to plead, and then she does something incredible – she gives the man, who she has never met before, a name. She even speaks directly to the homeless man, saying, “Come on Tommy, get up man; you alright?” She continues to plead with others, asking them to call an ambulance for Tommy. At this point we are told that the actor playing the part of the homeless man was so moved by the woman’s compassion that he was having trouble fighting back tears. Eventually the woman succeeded in getting a bystander to call for an ambulance.

It was an amazing sequence of events and it showed me the profound ways in which God acts in our world. People whom we would expect to act in truth and light will instead sneak into the dark shadows. And people whom we assume live in darkness can act in ways that would make God smile.

Our world is not black and white. It’s gray, and messy, and complicated – just like we are. So next time you see someone holding a sign that says “John 3:16,” try to remember the wider context of the message. God is here with us, living in this messy, complicated world; God is here, actively drawing us into the salvation God offers; and God is acting through people we would never expect.

Amen.