Light Reveals

It is only when shafts of light 
sent from the rising sun 
strike the long lean leaf of grass 
that you see how finely striped it is: 
perfectly paralleled veins tracing 
from stem to bowed leaf tips. 
Life stripes! 

You shine on us, Son, Light
that brings life to your waiting world.
You shine on us and suddenly
we are revealed for who we are:
lithe life-drinking light, soaking foliage
or dried-up worn-out fallen leaves.

Autumn colors are stunning and are made strikingly more glorious when the sunlight hits them. Color tours in Michigan this month have blown me away! But in every season, light “brings to light” what is otherwise hidden, exposing the veins in leaves or a mushroom hidden in fallen leaves. What is in the shadows is less likely to be noticed.

Writing to the Ephesian believers, Paul applied this to the way that God’s light shining in us results in character and actions that demonstrate to those around us that we are his children, “children of the light.”  He is light, and when he is living in us his light is also in us and produces the “fruit of the light”:

. . . for you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light– ⁹ for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth– ¹⁰ trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹ Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹² For the things they do in secret are shameful even to mention. ¹³ But all things being exposed by the light are made evident. ¹⁴ For everything made evident is light, and for this reason it says: “Awake, O sleeper! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!” ¹⁵ Therefore be very careful how you live– not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise by understanding what the Lord’s will is. (Eph. 5:8-17 NET)

Those who do not belong to God, however, do not want their wicked actions to be revealed. So they do all that they can to hide them. We see this when leaders resist letting files be released that could implicate them, or when a spouse does all they can to keep their partner from discovering what they have been up to in secret. None of this is new:

For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. (Jn. 3:20 NET)

When what we do is in line with God’s truth and goodness, it represents him to the world. This is a high calling! It requires learning what matters to him rather than what comes naturally to us, and results not only in a good testimony to others, but also empowers us to live in loving relationships with others walking in the light:

Now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  (1 Jn. 1:5-7 NET)

We still stumble and sin, but we have the assurance that we can be forgiven as we trust in Jesus. If we do not fight the temptations of darkness then we just remain in the dark shadows, “lying and not practicing the truth.” When the light shines on such a person all is revealed—the Lord knows what’s going on, and fake “fellowship with him” is not tolerated. But when he washes us clean, then what the light reveals is his own goodness shining through us as we do what he says and values.

Let’s make every effort to live in the light with him and in harmony with others walking in his light too!