Okay, good morning everyone. It's lovely to see you here today.
Lovely to meet some new faces as well. You are so welcome here today.
My name is Graham and I'm the pastor of the church here.
So what I'd love you to do is to open your Bible and come back to John chapter 8
and this is where we're going to be in these verses today. Wonderful
verses that have so much to teach us this morning and I've
just been so thrilled and challenged to get into this today.
But let's pray, will we, before we begin and then we'll get in.
Father, I think of the words of Romans chapter 12
and what Paul would write, the plea to his readers
to be transformed by the renewal of your mind.
Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world.
Father, we're so aware of the many things that we bring in here today.
the worries, the concerns, the doubts, the questions,
the grievances, the heartaches.
Father, we pray that you would help fix our eyes
on the one who's right at the centre of this passage,
who holds out the offer of eternal life to us this morning.
Father, we pray in your spirit's power
and in the wonderful name of your son.
Amen.
So, with John chapter 8 open in front of you,
whoever you are here today,
here is the central admission
that this passage, as Jesus speaks,
he invites us all to embrace today.
And it's an admission that,
according to research done by British car insurance company,
Sheila's Wheels,
remember them?
Bonds are car insurance deals.
According to them,
the male of the species is less likely to make than the female.
And it's an admission that our refusal to admit
means that the average driver in the UK
drives and get this,
it's 276 miles more than they need to every single year.
You with me?
What's the admission?
I don't know where I'm going.
Okay?
Asking for directions.
You click it on, guys.
I don't know where I'm going.
Now, here's the question.
When was the last time you put up your hands
and admitted that?
Yeah?
You're lost.
I don't know where I'm going.
It's not a phrase, is it,
that comes naturally to any of us.
Because I think we live in a world
where we're taught
that we should know where we're going.
Yeah?
We love to think that we know where we're going.
And the cultural air that we breathe in and out every day
trains us to think that today,
with all the opportunities that our generation enjoys,
that we've got this.
Okay?
It's the first song you hear when you go into Disneyland.
That lovely lullaby from Cinderella.
No matter how your heart is grieving,
if you keep on believing,
the dream that you wish will come true.
And that sounds very nice, doesn't it?
It's lovely.
But I don't think it's true for the vast majority of people
who live in this world.
Right?
We drove in there past Sainsbury's,
just at the Grange,
and there's the lady sitting begging for money.
I don't think that's coming true for her.
And yet I wonder if you're convinced this morning
if it's true for you.
Let me give you two figures that I learned of this week
that maybe will help us think
on whether the things that the world tells us
where life is to be found
are actually where life is to be found.
Here's the first one.
Here's the number.
400.
Any idea what that is?
You won't?
Let me tell you.
That's the number of hours worth of video content
that are uploaded to YouTube
every single minute of every single day.
Loving that?
400 hours worth of content.
Podcasts, music, opinions, debates.
We are a generation who is rich on information.
In fact, I read a statistic this week
that in the year 2018,
90% of the information we had as a species
was ours only in the last two years.
You got that?
So 2016 to 2018,
90% of the information that we have
as a species came in those two years.
We are a generation that is rich on information.
And yet here's the other figure for you.
It's 9.4.
So according to my friend
that works with young people up and down the country
as part of the Keswick Ministries team,
that's the percentage of children
aged between 3 and 17
in our nation
who were clinically diagnosed
with anxiety
between 2016 and 2019.
That's heartbreaking, isn't it?
If you think about it,
with three little girls.
That's heartbreaking.
And a bit of the numbers now,
since 2019,
will be well higher than that.
So overwhelmed
are an emerging generation
with reasons to be nervous
about the future
and burdened
by that crushing pressure
to make their life
mean something.
As M people sing away
in the background,
what have you done today
to make you feel proud?
Now we know
that it's not quite a straight line
between the first statistic
and the second statistic, okay?
It's way more complicated than that.
But we have to say
that those statistics
are hugely revealing.
And perhaps they suggest
that the answers
that we think we have
in the world today
from both within
and without ourselves
aren't quite as freeing
as we perhaps think they are.
Friends,
when was the last time
that you said to yourself,
I don't know where I'm going?
And here's why I want you to know
that according to the Bible,
to embrace that confession,
to embrace that admission
is not a sign of failure.
On the contrary,
that that is actually
the beginning of wisdom.
Why?
Well, because when we begin
that journey down the road
that says,
I don't know where I am going,
standing at the other end
of that road
is an open-armed Jesus Christ
whose words offer
such deep refreshment
and wonderful liberation
for our thirsty
and our weary human souls.
Now, this is the claim here
he makes today.
That isn't a complicated claim.
But boy, if we're up
for seeing it today,
it is a life-giving claim.
And here it is,
verse 12 of chapter 8,
Jesus says,
I am,
taking the divine name of God there,
we'll come back to that
in a few weeks' time,
I am the light of the world.
And what will turn that
from being a 2D black and white claim
into a 3D color one
is if we grasp the fact
that Jesus doesn't make that claim
at a random time
and in an unspecified location, right?
In other words,
put it in modern terms,
it's not like,
if I can say reverently,
that Jesus is sitting
in his living room on Facebook,
staring at that screen
that says,
what's on your mind today?
And thinking to himself,
do you know what?
I am the light of the world,
post-send.
When and where Jesus
makes this statement
is hugely significant
and it explains
why it was so explosive.
But before we get there,
you might be asking,
well, that's very good,
but what happened
to the first 11 verses
of chapter 8, right?
Some of you might have clocked that.
What's happening
to the first 11 verses
of chapter 8?
We kind of jumped over that here.
Now, it's worth saying
that your Bible might have
that section in italics
or with an asterisk
at the bottom.
Now, while there is
no reason to doubt
that that event
between Jesus
and the woman
caught in adultery
happened,
and evidence
from the early church fathers
would strongly suggest that,
it seems likely
that someone added
that event in
to some of the early
Greek manuscripts.
So because it's unlikely
to have been
in John's original,
we're going to skip
over it for now,
but let me just suggest
two reasons
why that should be comforting
and good news
for us today.
Here's the first one.
It should give us confidence
that the words we have
in our Bibles
are trustworthy.
Okay?
That this isn't fables,
we're not dealing
in myths here.
What we're dealing in
is carefully
and accurately
translated history.
And the fact
that a discrepancy
like that
can be flagged
only goes to show
just how many
original and
identical copies
of John's Gospel
that we have.
So it's good news
that the Bible
doesn't shy away
from that little
asterisk in your Bible.
It's good news for us.
Actually, it's astonishing
when you look at
the amount of
early manuscripts
of the New Testament
that we have.
Let me just say,
if you want to think
a little bit more
about that,
can I highly recommend
two things.
One is a book
by this lady
called Amy R. Ewing.
She's a wonderful
apologist
who's based down
south in Oxford,
I think.
And she's written
a wonderful book
called Why Trust
the Bible?
One of the best
things I've read
on this topic.
And the QR code
if you want to scan it
will take you
to a little conversation,
a little interview
between her
and Andy Bannister
who works for
the Solas Public
Centre of Christianity
up in Dundee.
It's just half an hour
you can listen to it
on your commute to work.
And they just
back that around
what it means
for people in our world
today
that the Bible
is trustworthy.
She's fantastic
on this kind of stuff,
Amy or Ewing.
That's the first reason.
But the second reason
why that's important
to see
is that it means
that verse,
and track with me here,
verse 12 of chapter 8
flows directly
from verse 52
of chapter 7.
Okay, just have a look
in the Bibles there.
Verse 12 of chapter 8
flows directly on
from verse 52
of chapter 7.
So, when Jesus says
I am the light
of the world,
he's still speaking
during this thing
that we thought about
last week,
this Feast of Tabernacles.
Okay, one of the
great Jewish festivals
that took place
every year
in Jerusalem.
And here's why
that is significant.
Every year
as part of this festival,
four enormous lights
are lit up.
And they're lit up
to commemorate
the 40 years
that Israel had spent
wandering in the wilderness.
Now, you can read about that
in the book of Exodus
if you want to
catch up with that.
And so, when the people
light these four
huge lights,
they were remembering
the fact that God
had led them
in the wilderness
to the land
that he had promised them.
He had led them
by light.
Okay, more specifically,
he'd led them
by a pillar of fire
at night.
And he'd led them
by a lighted cloud
during the day.
So, these four lights
are going
and this is the picture,
this is the scene,
this is the history
that's in the minds
of God's people
as they watch this
and celebrate.
So, these four lights
are lit all night.
Lighting up the sky.
Okay, picture the scene.
This is something like
Edinburgh Castle
at New Year.
Right?
You just,
wherever you are
in the cities,
you cannot miss
that light.
Some historians
describe the scene
with these four
huge lights
blazing away
that it was like
a spectacular diamond
that's glowing
in the night sky.
So, bright
was this spectacle.
This wasn't just
a festival
that looked back though.
This was a festival
that looked forward.
Isaiah had spoken
about how God
would one day
visit his people
and he would act
to save them
and he would lead
them by light.
This suffering servant
who would come
to make good
on God's promises
to bring them
to fulfillment,
he would not just
be a light
to Israel.
He would be a light
to the nations.
And his Messiah,
the one through whom
he would do that,
he would be a light
to the world.
Now this is clicking,
isn't it,
for where we've been
in John's Gospel
thus far.
And so it's in this moment,
in the most public place
in the temple,
in the Old Testament
charged and filled
night air,
that Jesus chooses
to declare to all
who would have ears
to hear him,
he says,
I am
the light of the world.
You don't know
where you're going
in life?
I am
the light
of the world.
You don't know
what tomorrow holds?
I am the light
of the world.
You don't have
the answers in life?
I am the light
of the world.
You're nervous
about the future?
I am the light
of the world.
Follow me.
That's his invitation
to all who would
listen to him.
I am
the light of the world.
And maybe just to help
us feel the pointy
contours
of Jesus' claim,
all I want to do
is just help us
as a community
this morning,
ask two questions
of ourselves
as we think
about his claim.
You up for this?
Okay, I'll take that.
Helen says yes.
Here's the first one.
Okay, ask ourselves,
are we in denial
about our darkness?
You see,
Jesus lovingly says,
would you see
that without me
you are lost
in darkness?
And he says
to the Pharisees
and you will die
in your sin.
And presumably
that is a reference
to those who wandered
in the wilderness
and who perished
for their lack of belief
in where God
was taking them.
You are in
the darkness.
And if you think about it,
it's kind of what makes
light, light,
isn't it?
Okay, I've never met
a fireworks company
whose business model
is to put on displays
during the day.
It wouldn't last
very long, would they?
You see, the Pharisees
in this context,
they know exactly
what Jesus is saying.
They are offended
by what he's implying,
not just because
of what he's saying
about him,
but because of what
he is implying
about them.
And I have to say
this is one of the things
that I love most
about Jesus.
And there's a lot of things.
But this is one of the things
I love most.
Do you spend enough time
with him
and you'll soon
come to see
that so unlike
our politicians
who pick their words
based on whether
they're going to attract
voters or not,
that one of the most
refreshing things
about Jesus of Nazareth
is that he's never
interested in winning
popularity contests.
There's something
deeply endearing
about his heart here
and that means
that we can trust
his words.
It means that
we should be deeply
sobered by what
picture he's painting
here of the human
condition.
Maybe three quick
pit stops here
if we're up for
taking notes.
Here's the first one.
His origin should
humble us.
You see, Jesus says
verse 23
to the Pharisees,
you are of this world.
You see,
I am not of this world.
He's contrasting
the two origins.
He is from above.
They, on the other hand,
are of the flesh.
You think in worldly terms
and judge things
by worldly standards.
Jesus says,
when you hear me speaking,
you're hearing the very voice
of your creator.
And that should deeply
humble us, I think,
when we recognize
his origin.
And maybe secondly,
his cross should convince
us.
Verse 28.
Jesus says to the Pharisees,
when you've lifted up
the Son of Man
to see it,
and by lifting up there
he's talking about
his death,
there's going to be
something verifying
about that event.
For it proves
that what he's saying
is true
about the darkness
of our hearts
and of our world
that he's come
to save us from.
And he's saying
that the cross
is a place
where we see
that our sin
is a much bigger
problem in our lives
than we think it is.
It's a much bigger
problem than we think
it is.
So often what happens
when you put your car
in for an MOT,
isn't it?
You get that dreaded
phone call from the garage.
It's never a good sign
when often happens
with me
that the voice
on the other end
starts with the word
right.
Which is code for,
isn't it?
There's a lot more
wrong under the bonnet
than I think you
thought there was.
And life teaches you
that, doesn't it,
as you go on in life?
Actually,
you realize
sin in my heart
is a much bigger deal.
There's tentacles
in much
further places
than I ever thought
was true.
And here's what I love.
I told you about that
section in the bit
before,
about how we're
skipping over it.
Well, let me just
skip into it
just for a few seconds.
Let me just show you
something I had never
seen before
until this week.
Come with me,
okay?
Verse
nine.
So when the Pharisees
throw this adulterous
woman into the middle
of the circle
and they say,
Jesus,
what are you going
to do?
Right?
She deserves to die.
She's got it wrong.
She's messed it up.
Jesus replies,
verse seven.
Do you see this reply?
Let he who is without
sin cast the first stone.
I thought it was
brilliant.
Again,
it's so,
the thing that so often
convinces me
that he is from
above,
that his wisdom
is unparalleled.
Again,
as we see politicians
floundering when doing
TV and radio interviews,
tongue-tied,
the PR teams in the
background doing all
sorts of charades
trying to get them
to stop talking.
When Jesus is up
against questions
that put him in
between a rock
and a hard place,
his answers are
stunningly good.
He is superbly
unpredictable.
And isn't it
interesting,
here's where we kick
in with verse nine,
isn't it interesting
that as one by one
they begin to drift
away having felt
the challenge of
Jesus' call,
who is it that
leads the way?
Look at it.
Who is it that
leads the way?
Verse nine there.
It's the older ones.
Here is the strange
thing about the
Christian life,
that as we grow
and follow Jesus
more, we become
not less aware
of our sin.
We become more
of the sin,
more aware of the
sin of the depth
of it that resides
in our human
hearts.
Is that not true?
You're not more
aware of the things,
the ways that you
get stuff wrong,
as you think about
who Jesus is,
and yet at the
same time running
like a speed train
on a parallel track
to the sin train,
is your awareness
of the depths
of the mercy
and the love
of Jesus Christ.
Some of us will
have grown up
with the words
of that old hymn,
O the deep,
deep love
of Jesus,
vast,
unmeasured,
boundless,
free,
rolling as
a mighty ocean
in its fullness
over me.
The gospel says
that the Christian
life is one
where you realize
you need Jesus
more as you
grow,
not less.
The gospel is not
the stabilizers
on the bike
of the Christian
life, right?
We had that
wonderful experience
three weeks ago
where a little girl,
Grace,
she cracked cycling,
she cracked it.
No need for stabilizers
anymore.
The world is yours.
But it doesn't
work like that
in the Christian life,
thinking that stabilizers
are something
we will eventually
go out of.
No friends,
the grace of Jesus,
we never graduate
from it.
We never graduate
from it.
And I always remember
going to a men's
Bible study
when I used to
live down in Bristol.
And there was a man
called Marcus there.
Marcus holding down
a full-time job.
Marcus,
three kids
at home.
Marcus trying to
do his best.
And there I was
as an impressionable
25-year-old
who thought he had
the world sussed.
And the conversation
comes around to
what is some of
the insights
that you're learning
about parenting
right now.
And I'm fully
expecting Marcus
to say something
like,
here's the three
top books.
Here's the routine
that we have
on the fridge
at home.
And do you know
what he said?
He just said,
I've come to see
what was a
throwaway line.
All I want
for my kids,
the best thing
I can give them
is not a college
education.
The best thing
that I can do
for them
is show them
that I need
Jesus
just as much
as they do.
And it's so true.
And I know
some of you here,
you're in that place
and you're struggling
with the fact
that you cannot
serve here
as much as you
can because
home life is
full on.
And I just want
you to know,
do not underestimate
the example that we
can set for our
children.
That's what we want
them to see,
isn't it?
Do not underestimate
your volunteering
time for Kids
Church upstairs
because we need
to model to them,
we need to example
to them the fact
that we need Jesus.
We've never graduated
from him.
We've never diminished
in our desire
to seek him.
It's the best thing
that we can give
our children.
Is it not true
in the Christian life
that we are meant
to be spiritual
Benjamin Buttons?
Now think about that
for a second.
Spiritual Benjamin Buttons.
I've not seen that film,
this will mean nothing
to you,
but go with me.
That the older we get,
the more like
dependent little children
we should look.
We are more sinful
than we dared imagine,
but equally,
the cross
is where we see
that we are more
loved
than we ever
dared
to think
was possible.
And in John 3,
in the context,
looking on Jesus,
being lifted up.
Oh yes,
loved it,
amen.
Being lifted up
is the place
where we look
and we will find
life.
His cross
should convince us,
dear friends,
about the darkness
in our hearts
and his motives
should expose us.
Do you see what he says,
verse 29?
They are those
who do things
that are pleasing
to them,
the Pharisees here.
But Jesus says,
in contrast,
I always do
the things
that are pleasing
to the Father.
And so as we gaze
upon the light
of the world,
we need to ask
ourselves,
honestly,
with the Spirit's help,
are we in denial
about the darkness?
forgiveness.
And secondly,
and this will be
a lot more quick,
flip it round.
Are we,
and as a community
today,
are we in pursuit
of his light?
And I take it
that as God's Word
has come at us today
and as the Spirit
has taken it
and done his
shining and exposing
work in our hearts,
that we are going
to be challenged.
And if you are here
today and you do
not know this Jesus,
that he is just
a voice in the world,
his invitation
is for you
to come to him today
and see that he is
the light of the world.
Just some of us here
need to come
to the light.
We'll think about this
next week,
that that is the place
for true freedom
is to be found.
The call is to turn
from the darkness
that you're in.
It's what the word
repentance means.
It's right at the heart
of that word.
It means to turn.
Turn from the darkness.
Turn to the light.
Turn from your sin.
Acknowledge Jesus'
righteousness.
Turn from the darkness
you're in
and run to his
gracious light.
And I guess
for others here today,
the question is,
are we walking
in the light?
As we bring ourselves
to his words.
I love it.
The psalmist talks about
Psalm 119,
God's word being
a light to our path.
Talking about his word
being a lamp
to our feet.
And the way
that we pursue Jesus
is to submit ourselves
to his lordship
as we
allow him
to lead us
through his words.
Now some of us
I know here today
as we think about
the application of this
are making some
really big decisions
about our futures.
Right?
Students,
you're coming to the end
of your degrees.
Others of us
are coming to the end
of our working life
thinking about retirement.
All sorts of other things,
big decisions
that we're making
in our lives.
Let me ask us,
are we making
these decisions,
bringing them
to the light
of the world?
There's a wonderful
lady in America
called Jen Wilkin
and I should have
put her quote up
but I forgot
to put it up.
Just finished
a wonderful book
of hers recently
and here's what she says
about decision making.
She says,
what if the primary
question we asked
ourselves
wasn't what should
I do?
But above that
was the question
as we gazed
at God's word
and gazed
at the Lord Jesus,
who should I be?
Who should I be?
And to be honest,
there's tons of decisions
that we make
in our lives.
There's tons
of different options
but in that decision
making process,
who should we be?
People of grace,
people of patience,
people of love,
the fruit of the spirit
pouring out of our lives,
decisions in life.
How often is it
the default
that we run
to our own ability
to navigate
our way through life?
Actually,
the call here
is to show yourself
just dependent
on your heavenly father.
That he is the light
of the world.
He is where
the place
I need to follow.
And friends,
our words and actions
as well,
the way that we treat
and we speak
of one another,
are they driven
by the light
of the world?
You know,
when was the last time
that because we looked
at the light,
we saw that we got
something deeply wrong?
I always love
that the word
is described,
God's word is described
as something
that pierces the soul,
it's a sharp
double-edged sword.
When was the question,
when was the last time
that word pierced
our intentions
and our motives?
You see how this works?
Are we deliberate
in our pursuit
of the light?
In the words
of Matthew Roberts,
who's a pastor
down in York,
in his wonderful
little book
called Pride
and Idolatry,
he says,
abandoning sin
is not part
of the cost
but of the blessing
of discipleship.
It's almost
Jesus rips us out
of the darkness
that we are in
and puts us
on the right track
and says,
follow me.
It's the reason
that you and I
were made,
to worship
and to glorify
and to know
our maker.
Jesus saves us
out of it
and puts us
on track.
Do you see
what he's saying?
Abandoning sin
is not part
of the cost
but of the blessing
of discipleship.
And so as we close
and maybe just
with the aim
of trying to bring
us back
to that central
admission,
let me tell you
about one of my
favorite all-time
comeback lines.
Ready for this?
My friend Carl
had this comeback line
and I loved it
and he used it
all the time.
We've got this
saying in our
culture that
so-and-so is a
self-made man.
You heard that
before?
So-and-so is a
self-made woman.
Normally appearing
in Dragon's Den
or something like
that.
People who we
look at and we
think that they've
done it all
themselves.
So my friend
Carl, when he
used to hear
somebody use this
line of themselves
and someone else,
he used to reply
and he used to
say,
huh,
that's interesting.
Tell me,
what part of
yourself did you
make?
Think about it.
What part of
yourself did you
make?
I love it.
Probably not a
conversation starter,
probably a conversation
ender, okay,
but it makes the
point,
is it not true
that 90% of the
stuff that happens
in our life,
to be honest,
was well beyond
our control?
What part of
yourself did you
make?
We love our
rags to riches
story in our
world, someone
who's lived the
American dream,
and yet Jesus,
the invitation he
makes here to us
today is to
embrace the
admission that we
don't know where
we're going.
Jesus says,
without me,
you are in the
darkness.
And his
gracious call,
the center of
it this morning
is a call to
renounce all
self-reliance
and follow him,
the one who
said that he
is the light
of the world.
Let's pray,
will we?
Lord Jesus,
we thank you so
much today that
you are the
one who came
to, as we
sang in that
song, lead us
out of darkness,
lead us out of
death.
Lord, I'll be
honest, I don't
have a clue where
this is landing in
people's lives
today, but I
thank you that
your spirit is at
work in our
hearts and in
our lives.
Lord, we long
that we would be
a community who
denounces all
self-reliance,
stakes it all in
pursuing you, the
light of the
world.
Father, help us
even in our
prayer life as a
church to
declare in
words, express
on our tongues
our utter reliance
on who you are.
And Lord, as your
spirit takes your
word, as he
pierces our
pride, as he
binds our
wounds,
love us.
Lord, thank you
that you're the
one who knows
exactly where
we're at.
Help us to
own that
confession.
Help us to
embrace that
admission that
where else will
we go?
For you have the
words of eternal
life.
Father, thank you
for your love for
us and we just
commit ourselves
and the rest of
our time together
today to you in
Jesus' wonderful name
we pray.
Amen.