Week 34: Day 1
Join Esther Swaffield-Bray (from IJM UK) for the first Orbit reflection of this new week!
He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”
“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”
Intro: Hi there, it’s Esther here from IJM. Thanks so much for tuning in!
Bible: Today we’re going to be reading from Mark chaper 4, starting at verse 21.
Jesus said to them, ‘Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl, or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on a stand? For whatever is meant to hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be bought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear”
Thought: Have you ever been in pitch darkness? That sort of thick darkness where you can hardly see your hand in front of your face? That sort of thick, velvety darkness that you can almost touch?
Can you imagine it?
I remember a few years ago, climbing mountain Kilimanjaro with a tea. Kilimanjaro is the world’s highest free-standing mountain, just under 6000m high, and it sits in Tanzania on the border of Kenya in Africa. It’s hard work climbing it, but the biggest challenge for me was the final stretch, up to the summit. In order to make it to the summit and back down again in day light, you start to climb at night… you set alarms, get woken up to start at midnight, you put a headtorch on your head, and you begin climbing. One foot after the other.
You can see next to nothing, perhaps a few meters ahead of you. Below you, you know, is thousands of meters of mountain. Above you, you have to trust that you are heading towards the top, towards the dawn. Ahead of you, you can just see tiny glimpses of lights. This snake of white lights - other head torches on other climbers - winding up ahead of you. All you can do is follow the light in order to reach the dawn. All I had to do was follow the light.
A light can do many things.
A light guides us and helps us to navigate the next step, it keeps us on the right path, keeps us safe. A light brings us comfort - shows us that we are not alone
It shows what is hidden- it reveals and shows us what is really there and really true.
In Matthew 5, Jesus talks to his followers, to you and me- and says, “you are the light of the world”. The idea that if you know him, you can shine light into darkness.
If you ever what wondered whether your life matters, if you ever wondered if you really are significant, I would love you to just recognise how SERIOUSLY he takes your existence, because you are the light of the world!
In the passage we just read, Jesus takes that idea- that idea that if you know Him, and have Jesus on the inside then you can be light in the darkness. He takes it and he encourages us to let our light shine! The invitation is not to hide away from showing the world his goodness. Just like you wouldn’t buy a new desk lamp, and then keep it in your wardrobe; just like you wouldn’t put a candle on a birthday cake, and then leave it in the fridge. That lamp, that candle is created to shine. And in the same way, Jesus invites us not to hide the light, that we - as followers of Him- carry.
In January 2021, the poet Amanda Gorman wrote and read a poem at the inauguration of President Joe Biden. She ended with these words: “For there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.”
If a light guides; a light comforts; a light shows what is true… I wonder, who do you know, who feels like they are walking in darkness? Who do you know, who needs to know God’s goodness today? Who can you shine the light of Jesus to?
“For there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.”
Today, will you let your light shine?
Prayer: Father God, I want to thank you for the truth of my identity. That you call me the light of the world. And I want to thank you for others who have shone the light of Jesus into my life. Will you help me to recognise today where the people around me need to see the light of God? And will you help me shine my light today? Amen
Challenge: In a world that sometimes feels dark with bad news, who can you think of that needs to hear good news this week? Can you encourage them with some good news this week - a word that comforts, a word that guides, or a word of truth?