by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Absorbing Light to Reflect Light

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

I’m fascinated with backlight, those moments when the sun is in front of you and objects both absorb and reflect that light. The light can be so intense that it appears the objects themselves are the source of light.

“Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.”
Philippians 2:15 New Living Translation

We shine as lights. We are not the light, but the light of God’s love for us in Jesus has been absorbed into our lives. It has penetrated us who were at one time “crooked and perverse” because of our separation from God.

The power of light transforms us. Jesus transforms us.

It’s funny isn’t it, that we are at one time the light of God’s love in the world and still becoming the light of God’s love? The light shines through us while at the same time it continues to transform us. That’s the beauty of how God’s light works.

Because of our struggles with sin, we often don’t think of ourselves as lights. We see the darkness and miss God’s declaration that we are lights. We don’t claim the reality of our baptism into Christ. The light of the world took up residence in us when the word was spoken and water dripped from our heads. It is our reality. We hear the words of our Father, “You are my beloved child.”

At the same time that we are lights, we are becoming lights. I’m not suggesting that we are becoming more perfect, as we grow older. When Paul wrote his first letter to Timothy he recognized that he was the foremost of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). However, God is daily at work in us, transforming us into the image of his Son who is the light of the world.

In his book, Life of the Beloved, Henri Nouwen wrote, “When we keep claiming the light, we will find ourselves becoming more and more radiant.” (p. 61) The next time that you see objects reflecting the light of the sun, may they be a reminder that you too are light that reflects the light of the Son.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado