1 John 1:6-7 “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

What does it mean to “walk in the darkness”? John isn’t talking about an occasional dark spot in our moral lives that God’s light will soon clear up. Passing under a shade tree or the shadow of a building isn’t the same thing as walking in the darkness.  A shadow of sin continues to make its presence known and felt in our lives. Martin Luther once compared it to the birds: “You can’t keep the birds from flying over your heads, but you don’t have to let them make a nest in your hair.

If we choose to seal the light out of some part of our lives; if we turn off the switch and let the darkness rule unopposed and uncontested; if we are actively embracing the darkness, then what fellowship can we claim with God? What do we share or have in common? God’s light isn’t compatible with the world’s standards of greed and materialism, sexual license, abusive-vulgar speech, casual disrespect and defiance of authority, unrestrained anger and outrage, or smug self-righteousness, to give just a sample list. Either the light is exposing these things, or it is being extinguished by them. Living in that kind of darkness as a way of life while claiming fellowship with God is living a lie, John says. Careful what you claim.

There is a solution, an alternative, to the false claim. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” Walking in the light doesn’t mean we have reached some sort of perfection. That becomes more clear the more John explains this to us. Walking in the light means that we are letting God’s light do its work. It holds everything we say, think, or do up to the brilliant standard of God’s law. It exposes our sin so that we can repent of it. We stop hiding from the truth and start confessing it about ourselves, our lives, and our Lord.

Then we find God’s grace: “…and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” God’s purpose isn’t to hold our time in the darkness against us. He doesn’t intend to catch us in our lies and prosecute us for them. He wants to lead us to light, and truth, and wash the rest away in Jesus’ blood. He wants the thing we share in fellowship with him to be his love and forgiveness most of all: he giving it, and we receiving it.

Then we can claim fellowship with God, and look forward to even more things he will share with us.

1 John 1:5-6 “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 darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.”

I try to eat healthy. And I take a few vitamins and supplements. My bottle of fish oil tablets has a little heart symbol on it with the words, “Promotes a healthy heart.” But there is an asterisk after the word heart. It leads you to a little box on the back of the label that reads, “This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”

Disclaimers are everywhere. Practically every invitation to invest your money comes with the reminder, “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.” The gas mileage ratings of your car are “based on EPA estimates. Actual mileage will vary.” An online sweepstakes: “Many will enter, few will win.” A call in radio show hosted by a lawyer: “Contents for entertainment purposes only. Does not constitute legal advice.”

Spiritually, people are tempted to claim more about their faith and morals than reality warrants. This is often due to the sinful assumption we must justify ourselves. If we are going to be accepted by God and others, then we will have to make a case for our own goodness and worth. We fudge our spiritual resumés as we try to promote our case. This is walking in darkness. This is living a lie.

God, we learn, is light. Light makes it possible to see. It makes reality clear. It reveals the truth and exposes what is false. Darkness hides and covers. It deceives the eye. It makes things look different than they really are, if you can see them at all. Look at the way people advertise used cars. Sometimes a seller takes the pictures at night. Even under lights, pictures taken at night tend to make the car look better than it really is. Bad paint and body damage are hard to see between the glare and the shadows. Daylight gives you a much better picture of what is going on.

God doesn’t just live in the light, John says. He IS light. With him nothing is hidden. Nothing can look different than it actually is. He reveals only fact and truth. No field of science can make such a claim. Over time one theory gives way to another. No man-made religion provides such clarity. People tend to refashion God the way they want him to be, not as he actually is, and they do the same things with right and wrong. No political or social movement provides such a beacon of truth. Dark human selfishness infects them all.

This light of God isn’t limited to what he lights up and exposes outside of us. He is more than the spiritual equivalent of headlights on your car making it possible to see the road ahead. When he leads us to know and believe in Jesus as our Savior, his light shines inside of us. This is part of what it means to have fellowship with God. We share this light. It shows our hearts what God is really like, convincing them of both his severe justice and his unconditional, undeserved love. The light may not reach every nook and cranny of our souls at once, but it is constantly driving back the darkness of sin, chasing out the shadows of doubt and skepticism, shining through the shade of biblical and spiritual ignorance.

No spiritual disclaimers are necessary when the light of God’s truth is shining on us, and in us. Our life and words will begin to match up with the light of Jesus’ life and words. John’s words urge us to come out of the darkness and walk in the light of God’s truth.

Acts 18:9-11 “One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.’ So Paul stayed for a year and half, teaching them the word of God.”

            It was helpful for the apostle to have people like Aquila and Priscilla, new friends he met when he moved to Corinth: Titius Justus and Crispus, new coverts when he began preaching in Corinth; and his old missionary colleagues Silas and Timothy once they arrived. But nothing was more encouraging than Jesus’ own promises to him: A promise of his presence and protection (I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you), and a promise of success for his work (I have many people in this city). With assurances like that, what was there left to fear?

            These promises were for that time and place. Later Paul told the elders of the church in Ephesus, “I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardship are facing me” (Acts 20:23). He soldiered on and kept on speaking about God’s grace either way.

            We don’t have special revelations for our work where we live, half-way round the world, two thousand years later. But Jesus hasn’t left us without promises. Remember the how the Great Commission ends? After, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” he promises: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” That has never been limited or retracted, and it applies to us no less than eleven men who first heard Jesus say it.

            We still have the promise that goes along with the “Ministry of the Keys.” After giving his disciples the power to offer or withhold forgiveness, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven,” Jesus promised: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:18, 20).

            In other words, Jesus hangs out with the people who are talking about his grace. He goes with those who take the message of sins forgiven and peace with God to others. He is present with those who have gathered to hear about sin and grace among themselves. We have every confidence to keep on speaking, because our Lord is with us and stands behind us whether we are worshiping him or evangelizing our neighbors.

Acts 18:7-8 “Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.”

Paul didn’t have to search all over the city for a new place to preach and worship. The door God opened up was literally right next door. Titius Justus was one of the new converts to Christian faith. His house could accommodate the little congregation. Now they could worship and learn and grow in peace, without everything Paul said about Jesus having to be a debate. It was better for the fledgling church not to have everything they had come to believe constantly questioned and attacked by people who didn’t want to believe what their own Scriptures were trying to tell them.

Doors were also opened with some of the other new converts who joined Paul’s congregation. As the synagogue ruler, Crispus was something like a combination of senior pastor and church president. He would have known the Bible well. He would have been a man with gifts for leadership and administration. He would have been a man with a mature faith. Now Paul had a place and he had the kind of people around whom he could build a stable ministry. God was opening doors for his work in this city, where Paul would stay and preach longer than any city except for Ephesus.

In my little church’s short history, we have been moved around for different reasons. When things didn’t work out so well at the hotel where we first met, God opened a new door at an event center belonging to a caterer. When that location didn’t suite our needs, he opened a new door for us in a strip mall. God willing, this is just a step to something bigger and more permanent, a place to worship we can call our own.

Several pastors have served my congregation in just over a decade. The first pastor served another congregation and preached only long enough to get things started. He was followed by another man who could serve only part time. Now I am the man God has called to preach and teach in this place, but the day will come when someone else is filling these shoes.

Few things are more certain than change. But when it comes, our Lord invites us not to fear it, not to try to hold on to the past at all cost, but to trust him to open new doors. He wants us to keep spreading his word even more than we do.

Acts 18:5-6 “When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.’”

What a shock! Once again Paul got himself kicked out of a place for telling people that Jesus was the Savior God promised. At least this time no one tried to kill him. In spite of this repeated pattern of rejection and opposition, Paul kept on speaking, because that is the only way people were going to believe and be saved.

I don’t have to tell you that there are still certain Christian truths people don’t want to hear. Talk about them, and you will be opposed. Some of them may even surprise you. When I did Dan and Betty’s wedding years ago, one of their relatives was quite upset that I suggested the couple might be sinners who need a Savior in the wedding sermon. I didn’t call them out for any specific sins. I just mentioned that marriage can be hard because we are all sinners, and aren’t we thankful that we have Jesus to forgive us and help us along the way. But I was a horrible person for saying it in the wedding.

When my friend Pastor Dave conducted a funeral for a man who died of AIDS, several people in attendance got up and walked out when he mentioned that the dead man had repented of the sexual sins which had led to the disease in the first place. The message wasn’t a diatribe against same sex relationships or promiscuity, though it made reference to these sins. It was mostly about the gospel of God’s grace. But Dave and his congregation almost lost the church building they had been renting over the issue as well.

Going door to door in the town where I now live, I have been opposed and rejected for believing that the Bible is a reliable source of information, for believing in the traditional definition of marriage, for believing that people can’t save themselves by living a good life. This is neither unique nor new. It isn’t an excuse to stop speaking, either. People need to hear the gospel, whether they like it or not. Just like I do. Aren’t we glad we have Jesus to forgive us and help us along the way?

Acts 18:1-4 “After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There (in Corinth) he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.”

We could forgive the Apostle Paul if he didn’t feel like talking about Jesus anymore. A Christian pastor once observed: “Where the Apostle Paul went, they started a riot. Where I go, they serve tea.” Paul was on tour in Macedonia and Greece–the first Christian mission work in Europe. He came to Philippi, where they beat him severely and threw him in jail. He went on to Thessalonika. After three weeks, the people who didn’t like his message started a riot, and he had to sneak out of the city in the middle of the night. He went to Berea, and the same thing happened there. He went on to Athens, where they mocked him as a babbler and sneered at the idea that God raises the dead.

“After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth,” Luke tells us. You could forgive Paul if he was getting discouraged. You know how negative reinforcement works. Scientists manipulate a lab animal’s behavior by giving it a shock every time it does something they don’t want it to do. In short order it learns to stop that behavior. Every time Paul opened his mouth about Jesus, he got his little “shock” from the local citizens. If he just kept quiet about Jesus, maybe they would let him stay a little while.

What made coming to Corinth harder was that Paul came alone. He had to leave his traveling companions behind in Berea, a couple of stops back. He had no support network around him as he entered this new city–all the more reason to keep his mouth shut and not risk more rejection.

At various points along the way we have had the sense that we are on our own. We are going it alone. We don’t have our comfortable support network around us. That throws a wet blanket on our desire to speak about our faith. Maybe we feel it in the transition between schools: from grade school to high school, from high school to college. Maybe it has come when we relocated for a job. Maybe someone we love and lean on passes away, or maybe some family relationship or friendship comes unglued and falls apart. Alone, or at least feeling that way, we don’t want to stick out and look different. We don’t want people to think we are weird, or worse, bad. We are tempted to keep Jesus to ourselves. We shut our mouths. We become Christian cowards.

But we are never really alone. “There (in Corinth) he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome.” What a coincidence! Paul was a Jew. So were Aquila and his wife. Paul was new to Corinth. So were they. Paul was a tentmaker just like they were. God had prepared this new support group for Paul to encourage him to keep on speaking in the synagogue, trying to persuade the people there to believe in Jesus.

I can’t say that God has specifically promised to support us in exactly the same way. But he wants us to keep on speaking. If we look carefully, we will probably find that we aren’t all alone wherever he has placed us.

 During my seminary years I did cross-cultural mission work in the inner city of Milwaukee. The atmosphere and culture of these neighborhoods was new to me. I’m Anglo. They were mostly African-American. I grew up in relatively safe suburbs. These were high crime areas of the inner city. I had a very middle-class existence. The people I was trying to reach mostly belonged to the underclass: poverty and hunger were the norm for their lives.

Yet at the corner of North Avenue and 26^th St. stood a little grocery owned by a man who shared my faith and supported my work. He could introduce me to people. He provided an office above his store as a base for my work. He understood the culture better than I did. I wasn’t alone. God had others there. He wanted me to keep on speaking. He wants to support you on your mission of Christian witness where he has placed, you, too.

Mark 16:7-8 “But go and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”

Jesus had trained the Twelve disciples to be his messengers. At least two times during his ministry he sent them on training runs to preach and teach in villages around Galilee.

The women who followed Jesus mostly spent their time learning from him and providing material and financial support, we learn from the gospels. One of these women, Salome, was the mother of James and John and may have been involved in some way in the family fishing business. But none of these ladies had been trained for mission work like the Twelve.

That was not an excuse to keep their mouths shut about the good news they had just learned. “Go and tell…” the angel commands. That was their new calling on this day, their new “vocation.” God didn’t ask them to pastor congregations or evangelize a pagan tribe in some far off land. He did ask them to tell people they knew that Jesus was alive. Mark’s comment, “They said nothing to anyone,” isn’t evidence of disobedience. It was an indication that they took their mission seriously, and went straight to the disciples without stopping to tell anyone else.

When I preach on Sundays, I stand in front of retirees, security guards, students, dishwashers, managers, IT professionals, homemakers, medical aids. They have come to church to learn about Jesus for many years. They have provided material and financial support for the ministry of the gospel. They aren’t trained theologians or called pastors or missionaries.

But you and they know that one spring day about 2000 years ago a crucified corpse woke up in its tomb and walked out alive. You and they know that he died to set everything right between God and humanity, to make amends for all the great crimes and small slips committed by every person who ever lived. You know that he can and will wake the dead from their graves, just as he woke up himself, and give them a life of never-ending pleasures in God’s presence. You know that he is your Lord, your brother, your Savior, and your God.

Does it have to be stated that this is not information to keep to ourselves? Does some church have to vote to send us a call before we know that we have a calling, a “vocation,” to share this with the people we know? I believe that it is self-evident for those who may or may not have been looking for Jesus, but he found them when he captured their hearts with his gracious words of love.

Mark 16:5-7 “As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

As these women arrive at Jesus’ tomb, this question suggests itself: Are they looking for Jesus in the right location?

I suppose the answer to the question of location is “Yes and no.” They had the right tomb. The angel makes that clear. “Jesus” was a popular name in his day. No doubt there were many men named Jesus buried around Jerusalem. But this was the tomb of the Jesus from Nazareth, the one who had been crucified. These ladies were not mistaken in thinking this was the last place they had seen his body laid.

But that place was empty now. “He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.” A tomb may be a place to visit when there is a body in it. It is no place to stay or live for those who are alive. And Jesus was alive. Death had to let go of him on the third day. By his death he had removed the original reason for death: our human sin. When Jesus erased our sins, death lost its right to keep us anymore. Jesus himself was the first person released from its grip. But he is not the only one. One day every one of us will follow.

So did these women find Jesus in this location or not? In the sense that they found his literal, physical body, the answer is no. That body once dead now lived and left the tomb. They would find him just a few minutes later along the road back into the city, as Matthew’s gospel tells us. Maybe some of them saw him in Galilee when he met with the disciples there. But the tomb was and is empty. You can travel to Jerusalem yourself today, if you like, and see the same spot to which the angel pointed and told the women, “See the place where they laid him.” The only ones there now are pilgrims and tourists.

On the other hand, these women did find Jesus in the words of the angel. He preached the greatest Easter sermon ever, with the greatest visual aids, in that empty tomb. They may have been looking for a Jesus they could touch and feel. He would show up a little later. They found a Jesus they could trust and worship, one they could hold in their hearts and take with them wherever they went. In the angel’s words, they found not just a friend and teacher. They found their God and Savior from sin.

The cross and empty tomb are still the right place to look when you are looking for Jesus. These real places in Christian history, these actual events from the life of Christ, are still the places where Jesus meets us with the love that floods our hearts with the forgiveness of our sins; the place where the promise of life after death sparks a new life of faith right now and makes our hearts his homes on earth. When you are looking for Jesus, don’t look for him in tips about how to live a successful life. Don’t look for him in rules to live by. These may all be helpful, and interesting, and true, but Jesus doesn’t live there. Look for him in the good news that he died and rose to save you. That’s the location where he promises to be found.