The double masted schooner floundered on the sea. The night was as black as ink, no moon was to emerge to assist this night. The tempest had materialized, it seemed, in mere minutes. Surfaced and risen from a calm sea that seemed incapable of conjuring such instant fury. Eduardo surveyed the situation, dire at best. The waves were now crashing over the forecastle deck and unless they could make land soon, they were certainly doomed. He ordered the men to sack the remaining sails and secure the main deck and booms, they were in for a rough ride. The wood of the main mast and fore mast creaked loudly as they stubbornly resisted the wind that tore at their very being. After his countless years at sea, it was hard for him to believe that this was how it was going to close. Death at the hands of the very thing that he had built his life upon. But the life of a merchant vessel captain was just that, sailing into the unknown with each new journey. Just as he was forming his next thought, his mind was interrupted with the snap of a synapse. A light. He turned quickly and focused on the white dot, his eyes mere slits. There! About 45 degrees south southwest. A small light twinkled in the blackness; a small white hole punched into the night. His heart surged; safety was wherever that light was located. His calculations using the latest charts of this area showed land, but without this lighthouse, he never could have saved his life and the life of his men. He silently thanked God for that light and then turned to instruct his men of their new course…and their new hope.
There is no bigger truth than the fact that this world today is a dark place. Don’t take my word for it, just look around and draw your own conclusion. Seething hate and anger all over the globe? Check. Murder, chaos and rebellion on every continent? Check. Greed, gluttony and materialism that riddle hearts? Check. Pride, selfishness and big egos? Check. Anarchy, rioting and looting in the streets? Check. Corruption, theft and scheming by those called to lead the people? Check. Gross sexual corruption, adultery, and homosexuality seen as normal? Check. Folks, I hate to paint such a gloomy picture but it’s not my paint. It’s simply the true colors of the world and the people that live within it. But as Solomon put it,
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Eccl. 1:9
Today we see some very dark days in the kingdom of God’s people. Evil kings are the norm for the day, and we see that the people follow their leaders right into sin and idolatry. And they did it in droves. Folks, what would you say if I told you that only 7,000 righteous men and women of God could be found out of an estimated 1.5 million living in Israel at this time?
“Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel--all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him." 1 Kings 19:18
That is an amazing statistic to behold. A sign of the times that almost all hearts sought their own way. A sign of the times that “people did what was right in their own eyes.” (Judges 17:6, 21:25)
As we march through evil king after evil king, it takes a toll on Israel. You see, human sin has a cumulative factor. It builds. Like a snowball rolling downhill, the sins of mankind build into a climax of chaos, destruction, death and judgement from God. It happened in the days of Noah; the entire world corrupted by self-indulgent sin. It happened in the days of Abraham, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah so wracked by prideful and blatant sexual sin that God wiped the cities from the face of the earth. And in this instance Abraham begged God to save the cities if he could find just 50 righteous men. He could not find 50. Abraham bartered with God got all the way down to 10. And Abraham could not even find 10 righteous among the estimated 20,000 inhabitants. A scary statistic that probably rings more true today than we care to admit.
But today we see a light upon the dark horizon. You see, in the midst of pure darkness; the light shines the brightest. The prophet Elijah is introduced to us in the very first lines of 1 Kings 17. And God has a clear mission for him. To be a Godly light in this Godless darkness. His first stop? The very top. The throne room of evil King Ahab and his wicked wife, Jezebel. Elijah boldly delivers the Word of God right to their faces. There will be no rain on the land until I utter the word given to me by God. Bold indeed. Especially since the entire kingdom had fallen into wordship to Baal, the Egyptian god of rain. Elijah, in the power of God, stood right there in the pitch blackness of that throne room and denounced the very power of their false God. He was bold in delivering the message God had given Him.
Folks, today this dark world is bold in proclaiming its message. We see it sold at every street corner, advertised on every commercial and carefully inserted within every TV show. We see the message of be whatever sex you prefer, riot and loot if you think your cause is great enough, twist the marriage of the Bible into whatever perverted definition you want, have sex with whomever you please, steal if you want, kill to your liking and do it all as you mask your sinful behavior behind an endless love of yourself. Satan sees to it that the world has a clear message, and he sees to it that this message is before our eyes every second of every day. You see, he knows, just like in the days of Jonah, Moses, and Paul, if you let the people pursue their own selfish desires, the darkness of sin will envelope like a funeral shroud.
But God has a message as well. God has Good News for this world. And He desperately knows how much a dark world needs His message of light. And He has carefully placed His chosen lights all over this world to proclaim His message of hope, joy, and goodness. Jesus Christ is Lord. He is alive. And He alone has the power to triumph over the death of sin. Repent of your sin. ask Him to save you, and follow Him. Live in His ways, follow His example, heed his laws, and live righteously before God.
Folks, today we are in dark times. Times that call for lights to emerge and pierce the shadows. Lights to stand for truth, honesty and goodness. Lights to stand against evil and immorality. Lights to illuminate the dark and reveal the sin that it covers. If the world is so effective at selling its message, how much more effective should we be at proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ?
Today, may you be empowered by Christ to share the message He has given you in a world that does not want to hear it.
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