John #20: Our Guiding Light (John 8:12-30) - a podcast by Rob Woodrum & Others

A few weeks ago, I had a friend tell me a story about his elderly cousin that he helps to care for. His cousin lives about an hour away and usually has a list of things for him to work on when he stops by. Recently, she had a light bulb in her kitchen go out. Since she was unable to fix it on her own she had to wait for one of his visits to come and replace the light bulb. My friend went into his cousin’s kitchen and in the dark he could see silhouettes of pots and pans that had been piled up. It had been too dark to care for the space or do dishes since there were no windows. He went in with his ladder, unscrewed the old light bulb, and put in the new light bulb. Can you guess what happened after that?

As the the new lightbulb was put in, he saw rodents scatter everywhere. The room was filled with them and they scrambled quickly to hide back in the safety of the darkness. I gasped in terror when I heard this story while he merely chuckled. I guess he has come to expect this sort of thing.

I think if it were me I would want to unscrew the new lightbulb and back out of the room slowly. In a situation like this, I’d rather not know what is lurking in the shadows. Sometimes, when light exposes things we don’t want to see, there can be a tendency to flip the switch off and say, “I’d rather not know. I’m good with the way things were.” 

This Sunday we will be reading John chapter 8:12-30. The first verse will start with the revolutionary declaration that Jesus makes about himself. Jesus says that He is the light of the world and that anyone who follows him will no longer have to walk in darkness.

This confronts everyone who hears this statement with a choice. Do we choose to follow Jesus and follow his light, or are we good with the way things are? Do we want to live in darkness with dirty dishes? I mean yes, there may be rodents, but at least we can’t see them! 

Or do we want to follow Jesus and live in the light? Do we want the honest truth, no matter how uncomfortable it may be? The gospel is regularly confronting us with this choice and it’s one that we cannot answer for other people. Each one of us must look at our own lives, examine our own feet, and decide which direction to take our next steps.

I’m looking forward to digging into this passage. As always, there is so much beneath the surface that will be fun to unpack and discover together at church this Sunday. Hope to see you there!

Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.

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