Done in Darkness

“Y e were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light... And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. ”

Evil and good , God and the Devil, sin and righteousness: this eternal battle between the forces of light and of darkness, the Spirit and the flesh, define human experience: our common predicament and conflict within and without. What is man without this struggle? Can we even exist without such an amphibious dual existence? Is man basically good tinged with evil, or is man entirely evil eyeing with hope or despair the good which he cannot ever possess?

The Epistle to the Ephesians tells us that what is done in the darkness is unspeakably shameful . And we were at one time just such darkness, but as members of Christ, we may now walk in the light . We have a sense of this dynamic at work, but we yet live in the shadowlands where the light and dark play tag and every object must be both light and dark or else remain unseen. What is our true realm: living in light or hiding in darkness? Or is it both?

This philosophical construct has appealed to the human debate for millennia, but it contains an essential flaw in thinking and our limited perception. The Star Wars type of theology of a force used both by the light side and dark side is classical Gnosticism and its most wise practitioners, the Jedi , are pitched equally against dark powers essentially using the same spirituality. This is a false dichotomy and depicts, not a Christian world, but Buddhist. Its Jedi masters are no more or less than gurus of godless spheres.

Light or dark: which is it? When God first created our universe, He had been alone for an eternity in the dark, and while His Spirit flooded the vast expanse of deep space, empty of everything and completely without physical energy, He was in darkness. Or so it would look to our eyes. “ Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Genesis 1:2 But to God there was no darkness that could hide anything from Him, and He sees all. Says the Psalmist: “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,' even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” Psalm 139:11-12 He who was and is light created the first element of the cosmos: “And God said, Let there be light,' and there was light.” Gn 1:3 God's eternal Word was spoken, and that Word would later become man in Jesus Christ. “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it…That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:4-5, 9

So to God nothing is dark, in that nothing can be hidden. “His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step. There is no dark place, no deep shadow, where evildoers can hide. God has no need to examine men further, that they should come before him for judgment. Without inquiry he shatters the mighty and sets up others in their place. Because he takes note of their deeds, he overthrows them in the night and they are crushed. He punishes them for their wickedness where everyone can see them, because they turned from following him and had no regard for any of his ways.” Job 34:21-27 “He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.” Daniel 2:22 If so, then what is this darkness that we see swirling within the eyes of sinful people? What is the darkness we retreat to when we want to be bad?

Adam and Eve had been bad in their perfect garden world, and at once they began to hide themselves, covered in leaves, hiding in the shadows. This was silly, because God sees everything and knows all. Dark is as light to Him. But our perception is that darkness can hide our evil deeds from God, as it sometimes is able to hide our vices from one another. The China Star Buffet just closed because, while answering an alarm call, the police saw what its kitchen looked like after hours. The lights came on and there was nothing hidden. My police friends tell me I don't want to know what any restaurant kitchen looks like. It spoils the effect of the soft light and savory aromas of dining out. The officer who wrote up the report on the restaurant and its filth, Melody Davidson, was once driving me from the police station toward the downtown at midnight, and she said to me: “I figure that at this hour, everyone out here is doing something wrong.” But whether we see the evil, whether we know it or not: God sees it and it exists. There is no darkness dark enough to hide in. Darkness has no power, no reality of its own. Darkness is nothing but the absence of light.

Our darkness, therefore, is only in the eye of the creature: it's what we comfort ourselves with and hide in when we wanted to be bad and hide it from God, from each other, and from ourselves. But nothing is hidden. The sins of a man are written on his face, and no one is really able to hide. It's no good: the dark has no ability to shield you. You must come into the light and be seen for what you are, known for what you have done. That is the meaning of Lent. That is the meaning of Christ's Presence in our world. “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.” “Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.” Proverbs 4:19; 2:12-15 God has pierced our darkness with His light, which is the essence of Himself: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2

Jesus told is clearly what His presence was to this world : “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” John 3:17-21; 8:12; 12:46

Christians are called to live in the light, and to be able to open their lives to the world as a testimony. “I was once as lost as anyone, sinful and ashamed of every deed, every evil thought of my heart. But Christ has set me free of shame and sorrow, guilt and the pain of separation, for I can now live in the light and my life no longer is a burden to me.” St. Paul wrote: “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” Romans 13:12-14 “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” Col. 1:13 “You, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.” 1 Thes. 5:4-5 St. John wrote: “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.” 1 John 1:5-6

Ephesians chapter 5 has become for me the essential scripture for my pro-life group, ChicoLife. We were all at one time darkness, participating in such things as unmarried sex, drunkenness, lewd and ugly speech, stealing, lying, and sitting in the dark watching evil dance on dim blue screens. Such darkness is not dark to God, for He sees it all, and He has created us not out of dark things, but out of light itself. The first thing created was light, and it went out from some distinct point in deep space, I believe, speeding outward vastly beyond what we know now as light speed. Time folded upon itself and only gradually the light slowed down. Some of it stopped moving so fast that it could be perceptible as light, and some began to coalesce into atoms of matter: energy and matter being akin in God's first Word and on the first day.

The darkness we perceive as darkness is only slow light. We live in light today because of Christ, who was first spoken into the darkness: “Let there be Light.” “N ow are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. It is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in the darkness. Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”

My friends, you are made of light. Walk in the light and no longer be ashamed.

PFH+