Peculiar Lights

"And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness." (Gen 1:4 ESV)  

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

(1 Peter 2:9 ESV)

The world is all about being different and setting yourself apart from other people in as many ways as you can: getting a tattoo, wearing a certain style of clothing, having a rare(r) brand of car, knowing certain facts, having a certain kind of degree. It is all about having something or being in some way "unique". The problem is that outer trappings will never truly set you apart from the crowd. 

As Christians we are anointed by God to be His peculiar people. The ESV translates this phrase in other places as His "treasured possession"; however, ever since I first heard this phrase when I was a little girl, it stuck with me as an appropriate way to talk about God's way of setting us apart for Himself. The LORD has chosen us for Himself.  The phrase "peculiar people" has  (at least to me) a deeper/wider meaning than "just" being treasured. To me it implies not only being chosen, but also set apart as radically different.

It is difficult to see ourselves as those around us in the world do. According to the common stereotypes, people tend to think of Christians as "those weirdos", as people who live their lives in a strange way, according to strange principles. We know that we are regular people who follow the example that Christ, the incarnate Son of God, has set for us.

We don't realize how different we are until we really and truly encounter the ugliness that is sin in the world. As Christians we often tend to live in our Christian "bubbles", associating with our Christian friends and not always having a real "clue" as to the depth of the bleak depravity so many people live in.

When we do encounter the world, we can be tempted to hide what we are. It makes us feel vulnerable to confess to others that we are peculiar. (And no, I don't mean quirky. :) )  We would rather pretend that we are just another person like them, trying to get along.

"It takes courage to switch on the light of the Holy Spirit and the gospel in our lives because it means revealing ourselves [to the world]. . . . Our light exposes the darkness around us." (Rev. Henry vanEssen, from sermon notes on Ps 23:5b, taken March 17, 2013)

If you have ever turned on a light in the pitch dark, felt the pupils of your eyes contracting in an almost painful way, and rushed to hide from the light under the blankets, you have experienced the way every sinner feels when their sin (our sin!) is exposed to the light of the true gospel of Christ. Our natural impulse is to hide from this light which exposes our sin. Just think of Adam and Eve in the garden after the Fall.

As Christians we are called to be lights in the world. We are called to expose sin in the way we live our lives. It is when we do not conform to the world around us, when we do not do what the world does, that we show what is hiding in the darkness.

What is shocking though is how we can pretend that we are not lights. When we don't show ourselves as Christians, we hide the hope of the gospel. Being in the light as Christians is not just about exposing the sin in the lives of the unsaved around us, but also about showing "the hope that is in us" (1 Pet 3:15).

We should remember that we were once like these. Even if we have been born and raised in Christian homes, in faithful families, we too were once separated by sin from God. Only the hope that is found in Jesus sets us apart from the rest of the world:  He chose us to be His peculiar people and washed us in His blood so that we do not need to hide from the light any longer. We can stand in the light in the confidence of His payment for our sin.

"[R]emember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. [13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. [14] For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility."

(Ephesians 2:12-14 ESV)

Don't let your fear of being thought peculiar stop you from switching on your light! Take pride in it--God chose you to be different!

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. [15] Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. [16] In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

(Matthew 5:14-16 ESV)