26 April 2017 - prison break

 [ Today's Readings ]

And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.

Because people prefer darkness they try to silence the good news. But another aspect, which we consider less, is that because we prefer the darkness we allow ourselves to be kept in prisons and prevented from spreading the message of Jesus.

What does it mean to prefer the darkness? We let the world silence us. We become content with the status quo. But the status quo really is dominated by darkness. We focus on the good parts and ignore the dark. We hide from it rather than bringing the light to bear. We don't want to take the risk of exposing it. After all, we are complicit in many ways. Uncovering darkness anywhere uncovers it in ourselves.

We need the light. We need to learn to prefer it. God gave his only Son so that we could have the light. He gave his only Son so that we could live the truth. In order to break free from the prisons that stop us from spreading the good news or slow our progress toward the kingdom we need Jesus to save us.

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
The Father is not giving us a one-time gift in his Son. He is giving us the only solution to the problem of darkness. We need to turn to him again and again each time we encounter darkness, whether within or without. We need to believe in him and trust that he is able to save us and give us freedom.
But during the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison,
led them out, and said,
"Go and take your place in the temple area,
and tell the people everything about this life."
Let's not waste our time staring at the prison walls. We aren't going to figure out freedom on our own, nor find a way through the locked doors that we missed the last time we looked. Instead, let us believe in the Son whom the Father gives to the world. His angel is ready to deliver those who believe.

The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.