¡Buenas tardes, Amigos! Estoy tan contento de estar con ustedes en nuestras sesiones de la Junta Anual del Noroeste. Me llamo Colin Saxton y yo sirvo como Superintendente general. Así que aquí esta mi ayudante Ken Comfort, pastor en la iglesia Amigos de Reedwood, que servirá como nuestro traductor.

Now, that is as much Spanish as I will attempt this evening. Unfortunately, I am like most people born & raised in the US & only know one language. Sort of sad, isn’t it? I’m pretty positive we won’t be speaking English in heaven…& if I have as much trouble learning that language as I have others…I am going to miss out on a whole bunch of announcements at least early on. I can see it now…I’ll be the only “lost” guy wandering around heaven…

Actually, I do know a little bit of Spanish. In fact, about 10 years ago I traveled to Bolivia & Peru as part of a Yearly Meeting ministry. Within the first week, I was actually doing a pretty good job following along many of the conversations that were going on around me. Several of the Friends there were pretty impressed & said I was fitting in like a local. At least I think that’s what they meant when they said: Hombre is muy loco…” Now that I think about it, I think I’ve heard several of our pastors say that about me, too…

Normally I really look forward to Yearly Meeting sessions. But this year, what I am most looking forward to is being done with it. You see for the last two+ years, we have given a great deal of time & attention to re-organizing & refocusing our sense of mission & vision. Over the past year, we’ve worked together to recreate our board structure & at discerning ministry plans that will guide us into the future. And this week, we’ll consider those plans & talk together about how we will fund & staff them so that these ministries get carried out effectively.

All of these plans and ongoing conversations have been good and important. But to date—they have mostly been just that—good ideas and a lot of talk. I’m ready to get on with it…to get moving…to act—to do as our theme for this week encourages us: “To go light our world” with the good news of Jesus.

Now, I am wondering tonight—how many of have ever been afraid of the dark?

That’s what I thought… (1/2 have been…1/2 not…1/2 with a lying problem)

I was sure afraid of the dark when I was a child. We lived in an old farm house with a creepy basement that terrified me whenever it was past sundown. Though I never actually saw the monsters that hid in the shadows of that place…I just know they were there…

When I got older, we moved to a home in the woods. Every night, but especially on warm summer evenings, the sound of crickets filled the air. If you were raised in the country you know that you are safe in the dark—as long as those crickets keep chirping. Every country boy & girl knows that. But if they stop… who knows what manner of evil may strike you like a bolt of lightening!

Well, I knew that anyway. I had been reared on that myth. And so every time I would return home late at night from work or some other adventure—I knew I had to somehow get from the place I parked my car, along the 50 yards or so to the front door and inside…as quickly as possible… just in case those crickets stopped making their noise.

Wouldn’t you know it…about every dozen nights or so…it would happen. They would stop & there I would be overwhelmed by my fear of the darkness & the silence & what lay hidden in it. Now to add to the effect here…I need you to help me out by making cricket sounds. Can you do that? O.k…let’s try. That’s horrible…I said crickets…not ____. Try again…stop.

It was that deadly silence that sent chills up my spine & shot adrenaline through my body…

Now you may not have noticed, but I’m not built like a sprinter. I tell you, however, Carl Lewis could not beat me in the 50yd dash to my front door. Amazingly, each time it happened, I’d somehow manage to escape inside just beyond the reach of death… Thankfully, my parents were usually in bed by the time I got home…although I can recall a few times when my dad would see me burst through the door sweating bullets & panting. He just stared at me & mumbled something that sounded like—Hombre is muy loco…

I’m not quite sure when or even how I got over that fear. I suspect it happened about the time I began to face some of the other fears in my life—fears that were much more real & dangerous—if not quite as frightening on certain nights.

Guess what is one of most frequent & urgent commands found in all of Scripture? More common than be holy…more common than sin not…more common, even, than love thy neighbor. Do you know what it is? Don’t be afraid! Fear not! Don’t…don’t be afraid!

It is a command spoken again and again…by God Himself, by angels, by Jesus, by the prophets & apostles. Don’t be afraid… In all of Scripture there is only one reality that we properly fear—& that is YHWH. This is a fear, of course, not of punishment but of utter wonder & awe. It is the recognition that GOD IS GOD & we are not.

I may have permission to approach the throne of grace with boldness…but I tell you when I do & I even get a peek at God—woe is me! I do fear God. But with everything else—we’re told over & over again—our response ought to be & can be…fearlessness, because we trust in the God who is with us & for us.

This week in worship & in business & I hope in some of the sharing that goes on among Friends in the dining hall & on the lawn…you are going to hear a repeated theme: That God is calling us to move out into the darkness to share the Good News of Christ with others. As the Friends of Jesus in NWYM, we are being asked—I absolutely believe this—to go light our world in word & deed in some new, challenging & important ways in our day.

And if anything is going to stop us—it is not going to be our finances or our small numbers. It is not going to be something about our Quaker polity or testimonies. It’s not even going to be the fact that we live in some of least “religious” states in the union or that we live in an increasingly post-Christian society. In fact, I would argue that some of these actually work to our advantage. No, to me, the only barrier that may stop us relates to this command we’ve been given. This one command I think many of us long to obey—but may trouble us more than any other. What is it? Fear not!…

You know, I have said several times that it is time we Friends stop relying on our past history & start writing our own. I love what George Fox, Margaret Fell, Elizabeth Fry, Francis Howgill, John Woolman and others said and did. I love that the early Friends sent out a Valiant 60 & other teams of evangelists to preach the message of Christ to a spiritually hungry world. I love that they were on the leading edge of many social reforms; that they stood for and suffered for peace and justice. I love that they sought to create Christ-centered community that didn’t retreat from the world…but struggled to learn how to live distinctly in it.

One of the things I love especially about early Friends is that they had the chutzpah to call themselves the Children of Light. Don’t you love that? What guts! What risk! What spiritual insight! I mean, I like being superintendent of NWYM and all…but it would really be cool to be superintendent of the Children of Light! Wouldn’t that look good on a resume! Those early Friends, of course, knew they were not the Light—that can only be Jesus our Master. And they knew that we don’t generate our own holiness or love or spiritual power. No…all of those come through the Life that is being lived in us & through us by the Presence of the Holy Spirit.

For as ones whose lives had been illuminated by God, these Children of the Light understood it was their calling to make visible the transforming power of God that had already overcome the world. And so they moved out into the world & set up small colonies of heaven–in order to let their light shine through their both very ordinary—but remarkably extra-ordinary lives.

I love that about those Friends! But what I love even more is that same message and same work is ours—waiting to be fleshed out by us…in this day and in this place by Christ in us.

In Ephesians 5:8-10, Paul reminds us that we, too, are the Children of Light: For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness & truth) & find out what pleases the Lord.

The image of Children of Light is both an affirmation of who God has made us to be & a mission we are to pursue. Once in we lived in darkness but now our lives & our whole life together is rooted in Christ. It is radically aligned with Him & empowered by Him. And so it becomes our task to learn the ways of Jesus—all of his ways—& to live them out in each/every context, in good times or bad, in a supportive environment or in the face of great opposition.

Now, I don’t know how many Christians really believe this is possible or not. Scripture certainly affirms it is. Romans 8:15 says: “For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” You see it is the in knowledge that we are beloved daughters and beloved sons of God that we find freedom to be who & do what we are created for. II Timothy 1:7 reminds us that “God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, & of love, & of a sound mind.” Fearless living is not something we muster up…it is a gift that is already given to us to be used in face of dark times & threats.

But more than the textual evidence, Scripture is full of examples of fearless men & women. Oh, there were things around them—both real & imagined—that scared them. There is a reason the Bible is so full of this command! God’s people often find themselves in hairy situations & God’s Presence alone—I think when we are truly in it & aware of it—often has us quaking in our boots. But what these biblical examples chose not to do was act in fear. Instead…they acted in fearless trust…in the faithful God who had been with them & was with them & would be with them each & every step of their journey.

Think about Mary—the mother of Jesus. We picture her as this lovely, nearly-angelic person with a holy glow emanating from her head. But really she was a desperately poor teenager struggling to survive. Yet, her “yes” to God’s call on her life was an act of fearless trust—allowing the Light to shine in the darkness.

Or what about Stephen—a remarkable man to be sure—but not any more remarkable than any other person here who knows Christ. Yet in the face of violent opposition, he lives & speaks with integrity, courage, & humility—& because he does lives are changed & a church is strengthened a critical time in its history.

I think, however, that my favorite example of a person who was burning light has to be Lazarus. You know, back from the grave Lazarus. He wasn’t like other people Jesus ran across who were more the lost and found variety. Lazarus was a dead and buried guy…

I am assuming most of us know the story. Jesus is summoned by Lazarus’ sisters because their brother is sick. But Jesus takes his time getting there & by the time he arrives it is too late…or at least it seems. And though it has been a few days since he had passed away, Jesus calls to Lazarus’ tomb & before a crowd of people…a man’s life is returned to him.

Now, most often we leave the story of Lazarus at that point—a reunited family ready to live happily ever after.

But if you read on, in particular to John 12, you find Jesus with friends in Bethany just before the Passover. In fact, they are meeting at Lazarus’ home, gathered around the table to enjoy a meal together, when in verse 9, we find this:

Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

I am going to take a few liberties with the text at this point…but I think it is a fair reading of the situation. Here folks are eager to see Lazarus…just as much as they are eager to see Jesus. No doubt some wanted to trust Jesus…just as Lazarus trusted Jesus. But then we get this other bit of news—turns out many folks want to kill Lazarus…just as much as they want to kill Jesus.

What is all that about? Is this a story gone horribly wrong…one where happily ever after fails for Lazarus & his family? Or maybe…is there something wonderfully right about it, as he has finally become what we all are designed to be in Christ—a burning light—remade in Christ.

Lazarus, of course, had been a friend & follower of Jesus for some time. But now, having faced death, his life takes on a new quality & character. Do you think he feared death any longer? Or do you think…just maybe…he came through that experience with a new set of priorities! A new spirit of freedom! An absolute confidence in the God who promises to be with him even in the darkest hour!

Yes, of course! Lazarus had just come through death & lived to tell about it. Not “lived to tell about it” as though he barely escaped with his life. But “LIVED TO TELL ABOUT IT—in the sense that this now becomes the sole focus of his future. And so that’s what he does—telling everyone about it through his words & through the content & character of his life. No wonder, then, that so many were simultaneously drawn to him & threatened by him. He had become a burning light—just like his Master.

Nietzsche once said something like this: If Christians wanted him to believe in Jesus, they’d have to start looking more resurrected. I think it is fair to say that Lazarus here is looking more resurrected—& people are noticing. You see his life is no longer his. He is dead to himself & now it is Christ who lives in him—fearless & free. I suspect Lazarus embodied the quality of life that Doug Steere, a Quaker writer, once described this way—I am paraphrasing a bit:

“Christians should be absurdly joyful, entirely fearless, and always in trouble!” (repeat)

Don’t you think that sounds like a Lazarus? Someone who has overcome death! Someone who has settled it in his heart and mind that this life is to be lived in and for Christ! Who knows that this life is not his own! That there truly is nothing to fear in this life—save God!

Not death
Not what others think of us
Not whether we are noticed
Not whether I get my way
Not whether someone disagrees with me or will approve of me
Not whether it fills the pews on Sunday morning
Not whether I will be inconvenienced
Not whether or how God will provide
Not fear of change, the unknown, the dark, or any other enemy…real or perceived

No fear…no fear…we will not be afraid…we will not be afraid

Instead…we will act in fearless trust—binding ourselves to Christ direction wherever we are led.

As I have been traveling around NWYM the last few months, I have decided to pray for you whenever I come into your community—that God will make you to be an absurdly joyful people, who are entirely fearless and always in trouble. How do you like that? (some thinking…”that Hombre is loco…good thing we haven’t extended his call yet…”)

Now hear me, please, in what I mean by this. I am not praying that any of you—not one—will be an obnoxious, dominating, no-it-all. There are too many Christians in our culture who act that way…we don’t need anymore. Neither am I praying for self-centered people who are only concerned with their happiness & getting their way. That has nothing to do the kind of absurd joy Doug Steere or I am talking about.

True joy comes from having been overwhelmed by God’s mercy…from knowing you are absolutely & completely loved & already at home & free in Christ right now. And, finally, neither do I mean the kind of troublemaker who goes looking for a fight or battle—just for the sake of doing something. That sort of frantic activity betrays a sense of genuine trust in the God who promises to lead us into the darkness as we genuinely discern His call upon us.

No, as I am praying for you, I am praying God will refashion us into people where absurd joy, fearless trust & prophetic integrity find a healthy balance. So I am praying that God will raise up men like Lazarus, women like Mary, boys like John Woolman, girls like Margaret Fell—burning lights in this time and place. I am talking about fearless, Children of Light, in places like Melba, ID and Entiat, WA and Sprague River, OR. Goodness, can you imagine what a community of such people could be to a place like Boise, or Post Falls, Tigard, Metolius, Kent and Port Angeles? I can’t wait to see it & I believe it is possible.

This is, of course, a dangerous prayer. If you don’t believe that then you don’t really believe in either the power of prayer or what is being asked of us. Friends, we do live in a dark world and we know it. War, poverty, environmental crisis, moral decay, people without Christ—we have it all. Personally, I think it is going to get worse for those of us in the West…long before it gets better. And you young people here tonight need to know this. We spend enough time entertaining you & teaching you how fun it is to follow Jesus. You need to know, too, that these are serious times that are going to ask a great deal of you as you get older & as you mature in your faith. To be in Christ…to be Children of Light…you need to be prepared to go into the darkness where there are lots & lots of painful & frightening realities. What I want you to hear, however, is that in Christ you can do so…& do so in joy and courage for you are not alone…

And beyond that Presence, you have received power. The same power, Paul writes, that raised Jesus from the dead is in you & at work through you. And it is a power like dynamite. Did you hear that? Like dynamite…not like the safe & sane fireworks we buy at our corner stands. Friends, we are not called to be safe & sane people who generate more heat than light. No, we are to be like the church in Acts that turned the world on its head—by joy, fearless trust & a prophetic presence that dared to shine a burning light on all the darkness of their day.

One day in a vision, George Fox saw an ocean of darkness & death—a frightful & discouraging picture of the world he lived in. But over that ocean of darkness, God enabled Fox to see something more real, more powerful—an infinite ocean of light & love. And it was overwhelming the darkness. That vision gave him & other Friends the courage to go into their world with absurd joy & fearless trust. Some of you know this story through the song about Fox. There is verse that goes this way:

There’s an ocean of darkness and I drowned in the night
Till I came through the darkness to the ocean of Light
You can lock me in prison but the Light will be free.
And I’ll walk in the glory of the Light, said he.

What about us, Friends? Are we going to walk in the glory of the Light? Or will we give in to fear?

Can we be the Children of Light in our day who speak & act in fearless trust in the face of sin, temptation, religious apathy, materialism & darkness? Maybe the question is not can we…but will we? Will we be the Children of Light or slaves to fear? Let’s pray…