Jesus, Light of the world

The sun was out yesterday; it was warm, enjoyable, and intoxicating (without the fizzy bite or bitter taste!). It also got me thinking about light, which I'm going to chalk up as yet another obvious thing I probably would have taken for granted, or otherwise overlooked, had God contracted me to build the universe (breathing; fingernails; sex;... yeah, it's a long list). I know I take it for granted now. With its abundance and convenience (and yes, the sun), light simply happens, and often I only need to respond to its consequences. Sure, I'll switch or clap on a lamp, and I'll notice when the bulb in the fridge goes out. But that's to avoid tripping and breaking my hand in the dark, and to find my cold one. Light is a mundane tool.

So? Does this matter? Maybe not... Although, the concept of light seeps into scripture frequently. Jesus claims to be the Light of the world; Christians are admonished to be light to the world ourselves, and to live "in the light." I wonder how often we take this spiritual light for granted too, using it to deflect hurt and find our cold ones without embracing its true significance. As a sermon reminded me this morning, the gospel isn't essentially about us fixing what we perceive to be wrong around us; Jesus is an end unto Himself. His "I Am" statement is especially important, no doubt, and we ought to inspect it if we are to take Christ seriously (and I don't mean that we should hyper-interpret His metaphors, but that we should explore who Jesus really is).