So, I had gone out that night and I saw this beautiful moon rising in the Eastern sky. I ran inside and said, "Honey, you need to come outside. The moon is shining so brightly tonight." Actually, to be more accurate, I should say, "Half the moon is shining brightly tonight." Because, see, there's one side of the moon that enjoys the sun's rays and reflects them back to earth, and there's another side that the sun doesn't touch. Of course, that's the dark side of the moon.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Dark Side."
Where the light doesn't shine, now that's the dark side. The sad thing is that many of us have a dark side; parts of our life, our personality, our lifestyle where we don't let the light shine...the light of the S-o-n of God. And those parts, like the moon, are cold and barren; possibly hidden from everyone's view. Except God.
It's an issue we might call selective Lordship, which by the way, is an oxymoron. If I get to decide which parts of my life I'm going to let Jesus have His way in, how can I call Him Lord? The Greek word for Lord, kurios, is all about who is the controller. If I'm deciding there are certain parts of me Jesus can't have, then who's in control? I'm hijacking my life from my Sovereign Lord and I'm effectively making me, His creation, the "lord" of my life.
Jesus asked this haunting question about all this in Luke 6:46. It's our word for today from the Word of God. He said, "Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" So, if you go to your room and you find Jesus there tonight, He might very well ask you that question. If He did, what areas of your life do you think He'd have in mind when He said, "You're not doing what I say"?
Could it be you're not letting His light shine on the bitterness that you've been harboring? Or maybe that anger of yours is just stubbornly defiant to Christ's control. Maybe the "dark side" of your "moon" is a sinful habit that you will not let Jesus get you out of, or the lust that's continuing to poison your heart with those images and those fantasies that thumb their nose at God's holiness. Pride; that's the sin that cost Lucifer heaven, but it's one that the Christian world will largely let you get by with un-condemned. But God hates it, the Bible says. Pride of position, pride of accomplishment, pride of appearance, pride of ability; they're all deep darkness that desperately need the light of Jesus to shine on them.
Maybe your impatience; maybe that's a part of you that you just won't let Jesus challenge, or your spiritual coldness, or your neglect of people who are depending on you. It could be that you're manipulative, you're a controller. Or maybe there's a relationship you will not let him touch - the dark side - dark because you will not let His light shine there. You will not let Jesus shine His light on it and show you how ugly it is, how dirty it is so that you'll repent of it and release it to Him so He can perform that life-transforming miracle within you that only He can do.
The parts of you where you've really let Jesus shine, well think about it for a minute. Aren't they the brightest parts of you? Aren't they the most beautiful things about you - the things that now light up other people's galaxy? And the dark side has been dark, and cold, and barren long enough. Today let the light in!