I Am and the Light IX: Will You Know It When You See It?

Don: Last week, Michael asked: How can we be sure the light we think we see is the true light? In the story of the blind man, the Pharisees had the spiritual arrogance to believe that they knew the light—they knew God—because of their belief system. The blind man had the humility to admit that he had no clue why he could see—he was sure of one thing and one thing only: That he could see:

He [the blind man] then answered, “Whether He [Jesus] is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” (John 9:25).

Acceptance of the light seems to be associated with the display of it, the revelation of it, the reflection of it, the shining of it.

We think of Jesus as “the Light of the World”—and for good reason: He himself said so:

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” (John 8:12)

But in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said we are the light of the world:

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

How can it be that both Jesus and we ourselves are the light of the world?

There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, …. (John 1:9-12)

The light that is given to us must be reflected, shown, demonstrated in a way that validates that it was given to us:

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

The default position is to…

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

What are the good works that result from the shining of the light?

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.  (1 John 1:5-7)

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. (1 John 2:3-9)

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

It seems from the above that personal piety must take a back seat to the spirit of true community. The light that is given must be reflected out. The grace that is given must not be hoarded. Jesus amplified this in the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. Good works that glorify God have to do with caring for one’s brother. Personal piety expressed through prayer, the giving of alms, and fasting should be just that, said Jesus—i.e., personal, not public. Those activities, although they are not discouraged other than in public, do not reflect the light:

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

“So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:1-6)

“Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:16-18)

“For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20)

What sort of righteousness is this? Jesus was specific and provocative:

Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. (Matthew 5:23-24)

Letting one’s light shine is evidenced by reconciliation with one’s brother more than by worshipping God. In contrast, the supposed righteousness of the Pharisees is bound up in the keeping of the law, in keeping the Sabbath, and so on. In the story of the blind man, so wrapped up were they in the law that even when speaking with the lawgiver himself they failed to recognize him.

I cannot find a single passage in scripture that links praying, almsgiving, or fasting with walking in the light. Isaiah spoke directly to this topic:

‘Why have we fasted and You do not see?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’
Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire,
And drive hard all your workers.

“Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.

“Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed
And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed?
Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?

“Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?

“Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

“Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

“Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,

And if you give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.

(Isaiah 58:3-10)

This is a personal transfiguration. But God knows that personal piety puts ourselves at the center of worship. So easily we make idols of our prayer and fasting and alms-giving. Jesus delivered parables on these very issues. When we look outwards rather than inwards, we allow the light out. When instead we cover up the light—the fiery spirit within us, we cut off its supply of grace, which is the supernatural equivalent of oxygen: Free, unlimited, everywhere, and vital to sustain a flame.

So back to Michael’s question: How do we recognize the true light?

David: Today’s technologies are all about personalization and individualism. Jesus seems on the one hand to encourage us to be individualistic. The inner light is personal to each of us to accept or reject, to foster or ignore. It seems to me to be fundamentally individualistic. On the other hand, he wants us to look outward to the community. It’s not really a contradiction but for a moment it seemed to me like one, and contradiction (real or apparent) is (to me) a problem with scripture. In the story of the blind man, the blind man was blind and the Pharisees were blind. What’s not explained as well as I (arrogantly!) think it might be is that the story is about two different forms of blindness but it uses one word (“blind”) to mean both.

Jay: The order of the development of a relationship with God is interesting: First, fix problems with your brother, and only then worship God. This seems contrary to traditional religious thought, which is that we can best help our brother by first being on good terms with God. Jesus said that we worship God when we reconcile with our brother. Church says we worship God when we visit the altar.

Don: I think that is exactly what Jesus was saying. There is no doubt that worshiping god—developing a relationship with him—is the way to kindle the inner light. But the way to develop that relationship is through reconciliation with one’s brother. He makes the point very clear in John 13, and in the parable of the sheep and goats judgment is clearly based on how one treats one’s brother, not on personal piety, of which there is no mention:

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46)

Jay: In light of what Jesus said, the human outward expression of a relationship with God (i.e., the expression of personal piety) seems so inconsequential as to have virtually nothing to do with inner light, grace, and salvation. But this is so antithetical to dogma that it is painful even to suggest it.

Alice: How could one let one’s light shine if God is not the source? In my experience, establishing a relationship with God came first through my reading of scripture and my devotions. It helped develop my inner light. How can someone acquire that relationship any other way?

Jay: I agree that God is the source of the inner light, but that it is innate—it is part of all of us. The question is how to keep it going—what is the fuel that will keep it burning strong and shining brightly? The fuel is generated from one’s relationship with one’s brother rather than one’s relationship with God. The scripture we have been reading seems clear that we are not to worry about our relationship with God—we are to focus instead on our relationship with our brother.

Chris: Fire needs four components: A combustible material, fuel, oxygen, and a source of ignition. Reduce or remove any one of those, and the fire will diminish until extinguished. Reconciliation with one’s brother constitutes one of those components.

Jay: The element under our control is fuel. Jesus seems to be saying that the best way to fuel the inner light is to reconcile with one’s brother.

Alice: The fuel is love. God is love. If we love God, it’s easy to love our brother. And that will further improve our relationship with God. There are good atheists, who do good works of love for their fellow man. How is that possible?

David: We are talking about how to sustain the inner light once we have it. Michael’s question was “How do we know we have it?” The message in the blind man story is that the light is always there—it’s a matter of seeing it. The blind man had no illusions that he could see light—until Jesus opened his eyes, but the Pharisees had the illusion that they could see the light. And their illusion of light came from what Christians call the Old Testament. Jesus was saying that’s not where it comes from. Jesus was saying “Don’t even look for the light—if you do, you are likely to be deluded. Just be ready to accept it when it comes. It will find you, and you will know it when you see it as long as you retain an open mind.”

Michael: Did God establish a merit-based system for establishing a relationship with him, with points earned for loving one’s brother?

Don: The source is undeniably God. The question is how to nurture it, how to maintain it? It’s easy to turn personal piety into self-idolatry. I think this is what Jesus was trying to say. He was not dismissing the idea of seeking a relationship with God—he was only saying to do it in private, without fanfare.

David: A church is often known as a “house of prayer.” Isn’t that precisely what Jesus wants his church not to be?

Don: He only wants it not to be the focus. It doesn’t mean that pious worship does not have a role, only that it ought not to be carried to extremes, as the Pharisees did. They were so extreme, they failed to see the miracle and the Light in front of them.

Jay: The issue revolves around the flip in focus from worshiping God to loving one’s brother. The provocative issue is that Jesus flipped the order of priorities from what is traditionally assumed. It’s not that worshiping God is not important; it’s that loving one’s brother is more urgent and important.

Chris: The first four of the Ten Commandments are about our relationship with God; the other six are about our relationship with one another. They are all part of a whole set. You can’t have the four and not the six, or vice versa.

1. “You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. “You shall not make for yourself an idol,…
3. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,…
4. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy….
5. “Honor your father and your mother,…
6. “You shall not murder.
7. “You shall not commit adultery.
8. “You shall not steal.
9. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. “You shall not covet … anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:3-17)

Jay: Everyone’s relationship with God is already there. It exists courtesy of God’s grace. There’s nothing we can do to change that.

Alice: So why does he ask us to keep the Commandments? If we work on the last six Commandments, obeying the first four comes naturally.

Jay: Keeping the last six tends to promote the keeping of the first four.

Jeff: I see the Sermon on the Mount as shifting the focus from ourselves to our neighbors, but I can’t see making the jump from there to saying that everything is topsy-turvy.

Alice: Without God, Satan and his temptations makes keeping the last six Commandments much harder. But I used to spend a lot of time reading scripture on a daily basis, but my relationship with people was not very good. Later in life, circumstances made it difficult for me to spend so much time in scripture, yet my relationship with people, my ability to love others, improved greatly. I don’t mean that there is an inverse relationship between reading scripture and loving one’s neighbor. I mean that a qualitative increase in my relationship with God made me a better person.

Michael: What is a “quality” relationship though? It may be that it comes through loving others, but how do we know that a kind act toward our neighbor is driven by the inner Light and not some baser motive?

Alice: Your heart will tell you.

Don: We seem to agree that the source of the inner Light is God and that we are supposed to let it shine out or be reflected from us. But what kindles the light, and what might dim it? In Alice’s case, it is kindled by developing a relationship with God through scripture; in Jay’s, it is by developing a relationship with God through love for others.

David: The consensus seems to be that first we must see to our relationship with others and then see to our relationship with God. Yet I don’t see that as what Jesus was saying. I hear him saying: “Don’t worry about your relationship with God. Let God worry about that. He will take care of that. You only need to work on your relationship with others because by virtue of so doing you cannot help but strengthen your relationship with God.

Alice: I used to worry about whether I was getting closer to God. Now I don’t.

Jeff: But Jesus did not say “Don’t seek a relationship with God.” He’s only giving guidance on how to develop a relationship. It’s one thing to say “Don’t worry about” doing something but it’s something else to say “Don’t do” something.

Jay: I still think it’s a matter of priorities, not prohibitions.

Jeff: The problem is that the priorities become about us and what we can do, as opposed to what we can avail ourselves of—things that are there, that are inherent, intrinsic. It may well be that we cannot just erect our own ladder and climb up to God. But we can avail ourselves of the fact that he is a part of our life.

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