4 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Do you believe you have a ministry? No, like me, you may not be Paul or Peter and you may not be a missionary living in Asia, but you do have a ministry -- you know that, right? Your ministry may be living as the light in your dark workplace, or it may be living as the light within your areas of service within the church, or it may be living as the light in your home as you change diapers, fold laundry, and make meals while little ones run around your feet. Whatever or wherever you are, you have a ministry! You are shining the light of Christ to whomever you are around (even when you're just relaxing with your best friend)! And so with this ministry, we do not lose heart because God, in His mercy, supplies the strength necessary to persevere, even in the face of hardship and persecution and exhaustion.
Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. We must always remember that in whatever we're doing, God is there. At work, God is right there. At home, God is right there. In the car on the way home from work, God is there. At the grocery store, God is there. And He sees what we do and hears what we say. And so in the presence of God and of anyone else I may be with, I so desire to speak the Truth about Christ and His love for us at appropriate times. I don't want to trick anyone into coming to church with me or even into reading this blog! No, deception is never the way to love others. Always, always tell the truth...simply and plainly.
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Yes, the truth of Christ is hidden from people, and the ones who don't know Him are dying! The god of this age is satan, and he is the one who has blinded the minds of unbelievers, leading them to only have eyes for the things of this world. The Word is numb to them, and they do not "get" Jesus. And we absolutely need to remember that people around us are perishing, so what Jesus is about to say is crucial, but it also doesn't need to over-whelm us.
For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For
God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine
in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory
displayed in the face of Christ. And that is our mission: to be the light that shines in the darkness. If we are doing that, we have succeeded, whether people choose to accept Christ as their personal Savior or not. We are not the cure-giver, only the care-giver to the people in our lives...Jesus is the one with the cure. I like how The Message puts these last two verses:
Remember,
our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the
Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It
started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up
with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all
bright and beautiful.
Do you see the command? Jesus, said, "Okay (your name), I have filled you up and continue to light you up as you grow in Me, now run on out there and light up this dark world as my Spirit oozes out of you wherever you go!"
...And one other thing that I'm just noticing -- Jesus says, "Let light shine OUT of darkness." Physics might tell us that light cannot shine out of darkness, since darkness is the absence of light. But that's where we remember that our God MADE physics and science, and He is commanding it to happen -- but how? This is one of the most powerful and wonderful parts of knowing Christ for me: that He does take our darkness -- our grief, our loss, our despair, our hurts -- and He can make light come from those experiences. A lot of light has come out of the deep darkness of losing my mom and our first baby (see entries from August). I have grown so much and in so many ways, and I can take those experiences and help draw others closer to Christ when they are in pain, and more than anything, I've learned to trust God like never before! Now THAT is some light coming from darkness.
God takes our darkness and draws light from it. God takes us into a dark world and allows us to shine light into it. It is a great calling to get the be the light in the dark, and just the tiniest light can invade an entire dark room! (For more on that, read "Candle" from last February...I learned a lot that day.)
And so, my dear friends, you are that light today. You're not curing anyone, but you are just letting your light shine in whatever darkness you may encounter today. A little Light goes a long way, and our Lord will supply you with what you need.
"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine..." Now those are some powerful words coming out of the mouth of 3-year-olds...and may we choose to sing that song today as well...
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