The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - It’s Time to Glow in the Dark

Episode Date: June 4, 2021

Have you emulated the light of Christ today? Today, Jeff shares some ways we can spread light through the darkness of this world. Snippet from the Show “The world doesn’t need my light or your light, it needs something much greater: it needs the light of Christ.” Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

You're listening to the Jeff Kaven Show episode 2-2-2. It's time to glow in the dark. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavins. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven show.

I can remember it like it was yesterday. Going over to one of my friend's houses back in the early 70s and walking downstairs into his basement bedroom, the lights went out and the beads from the door were hanging and I pushed my way through them to see a room filled with all kinds of rock posters that glowed in the dark. Maybe you can remember that if you're of my generation. I don't see a lot of those around anymore. But that's the era that I grew up in. Hey, good to be with you today. I'm Jeff Kavens, and I'm going to be talking to you today about the fact that it is time to glow in the dark. And before I get to that, I want to remind you that the huge pilgrimage to the Holy Land in June of 2022 with Father Mike Schmitz and myself, along with a whole cast of other people, it's on. You can go to my website, Jeffcavins.com, and get a place in line there.

get signed up, we're ready to go. We've been canceled two years in a row because of COVID that we are going to be going. And that's going to be in June of 2002. So looking forward to it. Okay, so I did grow up in the 70s and maybe you did too. And I'm not saying that they don't have glow in the dark objects now. I'm sure they have them around. I just haven't seen them. But back then in the 60s and 70s, we had posters that glowed in the dark, and we had super balls that glowed in the dark. You'd bounce them around the room, turn off the lights, a lot of fun, creepy crawlers even. We made creepy crawlers made out of this goo that would glow in the dark. We had yo-yos and lava lamps and everything else. And I know that if you're from my era, you're probably chuckling

right now because you even had a glow-in-the-dark shirt. Well, as I have been looking at the news, little bit, and just listening to people around me talking about the darkness that we are living in at this time and the discouragement that so many people feel, I just got to thinking, you know what, we need to glow in the dark. As Christians, we need to glow in the dark. And I'm not talking about a cheap kind of glowing in the dark. I'm talking about letting our light shine in the darkness, starting with your family, your parish, your neighborhood, your business, your extended family. If you are on fire for Christ, if you are filled with the Holy Spirit, it is time to glow in the dark. You know, speaking about glowing in the dark in a cheap way, it reminds me of that 1965 song by Bob Dylan,

It's All right, Ma, I'm only bleeding. Maybe you remember the lyrics there, he says, darkness at the break, of noon. Remember that? Shadows even the silver spoon. The handmade blade, the child's balloon, eclipses both the sun and moon. To understand you know too soon, there is no sense in trying. And then the song goes on and Bob Dylan says, disillusioned words like bullets bark as human gods aim for their mark made everything from toy guns that spark to flesh-colored Christ that glow in the dark. It's easy to see without looking too far that not much is really sacred. Well, a song stuck with me because I was a fan of Bob Dylan in the 60s and 70s.

And I remember that phrase so clearly, flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark. Something about Bob Dylan knew that he could put the words Christ and glowing in the dark together. And that's what I want to talk to you about today. Just last night I had an opportunity to gather with about 15 people, I think it was about 15 people, and we gathered at one of our friends' house. She is a former graduate of Franciscan University, and we met with about five priests and a deacon and some laity. We just had an amazing night. We sat around and we worship the Lord and praise the Lord.

And on the way home, I said to my wife, now that was really refreshing. That was really refreshing to take a step back from the darkness of the world that we're in and just be in the presence of the Lord. And you know how you charge up a super ball that is a glow-in-the-dark super ball or a glow-in-the-dark poster or a glow-in-the-dark frisbee or whatever it is? You have to bring it to the light. And when you bring that object to light, whether it's a light bulb or the sun or whatever it might be, it will take in the light and it will retain it and then it lets that light shine for a period of time. But if you don't go back to the light, guess what? That Super Bowl, that frisbee, that statue that you have that glows in the dark,

if you don't bring it to the light, then the light goes out and you just have a piece of plastic or an object that's been painted with this glow in the dark substance. Well, I was thinking a lot about the condition of the world, and I shared last night in this praise group that we had, Habakkuk chapter 1, verses 3 through 5, which I really think sets the table here to discuss this idea of glowing in the dark. Habakkuk 1, he speaks at a difficult time, and he says, why dost thou make me see wrongs? and look upon trouble destruction and violence are before me strife and contention arise so the law is weakened and justice never goes forth for the wicked surround the righteous so justice goes forth perverted now that really caught my attention because as i look at what's happening in the world today and there's certainly a fight for social justice in the world today. But the problem is what kind of justice? What is the

truth in the midst of all of the chaos that's going on in the world politically and socially and medically in every situation? Well, if the righteous are simply surrounded by the wicked of the generation, then guess what? Then the word of God is going to be weakened and justice will go forth. Yeah, it'll go forth. You'll hear about it on the news, but it will go forth perverted. Now, the solution to this is for the people of God to rise up in love with courage and glow and speak the truth in love. Now, I'm going to give you some phenomenal scriptures. I always try to, as you know, involve scriptures in my podcast because I truly believe that there is power in the word of God. And when we confess that word of God and we live that word

of God, things happen because God's word is powerful. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. So Paul said to the Philippians concerning shining as light in the midst of all of this. He said, quote, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God, without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world. Now, we know that we are to be lights that shine in the world, right? But the question is, is it your light or is it the light of Christ? Is it our good works simply laid out there all by themselves? or is it our works in response to his will?

That's really the difference, because do you know what? The world doesn't need my light. They don't. They don't need your light. They need something greater than my light, and they need something greater than your light, and that is the light of Christ. It is truth, it is justice, it is mercy, it's kindness,

it's love, it's long-suffering. The world needs us to. to glow in the dark with the light of Christ. And John chapter 8 says that Jesus is the light. Again, Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

You see, the light that we have that's been given to us by Christ is his life. I talked earlier about this idea of taking that glow in the dark frisbee and putting it up to a light bulb so that it soaks up the light. I can't think of any better way to recharge your light battery so that you can glow in the dark than receiving the Eucharist, the life of Jesus Christ. And the Eucharist, the life of Jesus Christ, combined with His Word, will give you that charge

that will allow you to glow in the dark. Sometime today I want you to say to another Christian that you know, are you glowing in the dark today? Or is that light being covered up? One of the texts that really explains this so well was the very famous sermon on the Mount where Jesus went up on the hill just north of Copernum on the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee.

We'll be there next June. Father Mike and I will be right there with you on the amount of beatitudes, right where Jesus gave this speech, and he said, 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. Isn't that powerful? Notice that we're not the light, we're not, we don't just have light and believe that we have light, and somehow that illuminates everything in the world. No, it is putting Jesus' words into operation. It is doing what he said. That's what turns the light on. That's what allows us to glow in the dark. And then he goes on in chapter five there

and says, you are the light of the world. You are the light of the world. Do something with me right now and just repeat your name instead of saying, you are the light of the world. Put your name in there. I would say, Jeff, you are the light of the world. Go ahead and say it. If you're in the car right now, you're sitting and having breakfast, just say it out loud. Say, your name's Peggy, Peggy, I am the light of the world. That's right. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, 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. 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. Now, I mentioned earlier that Jesus is the light, and we know that God is the light.

And John wrote, he wrote about it several times, but the one I really appreciate so much is 1st John chapter 1. And again, I'll put all these in the show notes for you. If you want them, text my name, one name, Jeff Kavens, text it to 33777. That's 33377. seven, we'll get you on the list, and you get free scriptures every week. So first John chapter one, John says this about light. He says, this is the message we have heard from him and proclaimed to you that God is light. And in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we

walk in the light as he is in the light. We have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. And so we know that God is light and we're called to walk in the light. We're called to walk in the will of God. This is, this is not a private thing. You know, when my friends brought me down into the basement in 1973, 1974, 75, 76, and they brought me down there and they turned the light off and it's completely dark, I could have said to them, what's the point here? And they may have replied, well, I have a glow in the dark frisbee in the room. And I'd say, I don't see it. Well, they'd say, I have it. Well, good, but I don't see it. You see, I didn't see that glow in the light frisbee because that frisbee hasn't been around light

for a while. It lost its charge. Let me ask you this question, my dear frisbee. Have you been in the light? Have you been with Christ? Are you deep into Scripture? Are you deep into prayer? Are you going to Mass? Are you going to confession? Are you meditating on His Word?

Low in the dark for Jesus. Jesus has called all of us as believers. He's called us to go from darkness into the light. And Peter said it, well, 1. Peter 2, he said, you are a chosen race and you are a royal priesthood. You're a holy nation. You're a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. So I love what Peter does here because this is beautiful. He brings together the idea of darkness coming out of darkness into marvelous light. He connects that to

proclaiming the excellencies of God. And that's what we're called to do as glow in the dark Christians. We're called to proclaim his excellency because he's called you out of darkness. You don't belong in darkness. You know, just this last week in Minneapolis, there was a shooting that took place. And I think it was eight people were wounded, two died, and very tragic. And we've oftentimes, we've said to our daughters, you know, who became teenagers and then they got their license and they wanted to take the cars out at night. We had kind of a mantra that we gave them over and over and over, and that was that nothing good happened after midnight. You might say 10 p.m. to your children, some might say 11, whatever. But we said, nothing good happens after midnight because it's the darkness

and things happen in the darkness. I don't think what I'm saying today is I'm going to send my children into that darkness, that wouldn't be prudent, but you and I are called, in a sense, to go into the darkness after midnight, not literally, but figuratively, and let that light shine. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4, he said, let light shine out of darkness. It's shown in our hearts. The light of God has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So part of glowing in the dark as Christians means that we can bring change to the world. But it's not enough to have an agenda.

If you know what I mean, it's not enough to have an agenda and that says that, well, we're going to change the world. Because right now, do you know what that means? When we say we're going to change the world, and you see that on social media, you hear about it on the news, what people mean by changing the world is we're going to change politics. we're going to change policies. We're going to change legislation. We're going to change the television viewing habits of America. And all of that is good and well. But when we talk as Christians, when we talk about changing the world, we cannot detach that from bringing people to Christ. And this is a process that takes place. Proverbs 418, but the path of the righteous is

like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. You see, it's a process. And even in your own life, this is a process where the light is like the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn and it gets brighter and it gets brighter until full day. It is bright. And if we are going to change America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South America, the Far East, the Middle East, all of Europe, if we're going to, if we're going to change the world,

I want to say something, and I mean it with all my heart, this cannot take place without the power and the love of God and the proclamation of the gospel. Go to conferences as we may. Listen to music as we may. Listen to teachings as we may. but if we don't proclaim Jesus, and I've got a lot of shows in the catalog here about the churigma in proclaiming Jesus, if we don't proclaim Jesus, there will be no evangelization. There won't be. It doesn't work that way. I've got so much more I want to share with you about becoming glow-in-the-light Christians, and we'll do that right after this. You're listening to The Jeff Kaven Show. Confirmation prep is so important because it could be the moment where candidates connect deeply

to their Catholic faith, even at Jesus Christ himself. But the gap between how it is and how it could be is often wide, especially these days. And parishes and their catechists could use vision, training, and strategy. I'm Colin McIver, an author at Ascension, and also youth minister at a parish. We created the Catechist field guide to confirmation to help catechists' ace confirmation prep no matter their skill or experienced teaching teens. The field guide gives catechists the insights and guidance they need to feel confident as they take on the mission of sharing the faith with their confirmation candidates. The field guide contains a crash course in confirmation and understanding of the five stages

of effective confirmation prep, classroom management strategies and information about teaching the faith, a deep dive into the art of confirmation, and let's not forget a section on how to use technology to navigate these unprecedented times. Our hope here at ascension is that this field guide will be an important tool in making confirmation prep more of what it could be, a kickstart to lifelong discipleship for your candidates. To order your copy today, go to ascensionpress.com. You know, when I was growing up, I remember saying to my friends, because my friends said it to me that my dad can take your dad, as if we were, maybe that happened to you.

Did that happen to you? You know, where you got into kind of a squabble with someone and said, well, my dad can take your dad. And we reverted to the greatest strength in our family, which was our dad, right? That never actually happened. My dad never got into a fight with Mark's dad or Steve's dad. But that's the way we kind of operated. And when it comes to glow in the dark Christians, we've got to remember where the power is. it's with dad. It's with our father in heaven. And John says in the very beginning of his

gospel in chapter one, he says, the light shines in the darkness. And here's the thing about my dad can take your dad. Okay. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. And you know, this is a, this is a truth, even in physics. And this is a truth. and that is that darkness can not overcome light. It is impossible for darkness to overcome light. It's simply impossible. I remember I went to a elementary school last week and I was teaching some kids.

I went from one class to the next, kindergarten, first, second, third, fourth, and fifth. I spent the whole morning talking to these children. And basically what it was was they were asking me questions about the Bible. I was in Elk River, Minnesota, with Father Mark Inescenti, a good brother and priest. And one of the questions that the kids asked me was, I said, Mr. Kavens, how can everybody see Jesus when he returns at the same time? I thought, that is a good question. That is a really good, good question. And I said to them, you know what? the Bible says that God is light and in him there's no darkness at all. God is light. And in him

there's no darkness at all. And then I asked him, I said, do you know how fast light travels? And one of the students, I think it was the fifth grade class, knew. And he gave me the number. And I said, that is absolutely right, 180, whatever is 6,000 miles per second. And I said, you know that light travels around the world? I said, guess how many times you think light would travel around the world in one second? And he knew. He said seven times. I said, you are exactly right.

Light travels around the world seven times in one second. And that means that if Christ is ruling and reigning in all the hearts of the people on this planet, God would manifest in such a powerful way. So for him to come back on his return and for every eye to see him, that's easy for God because God is light. I love that. And darkness can't overcome the light at all. Psalm 119 105 says, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Now, this is important.

Your word, your word, I have in my hands, my well-worn Bible here, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. How many times have you been lost at night? Or you are camping and you went to go get some food at the mess hall or whatever it was and you are walking back to your campsite and you couldn't see anything. It was so dark out. If you had a flashlight, then you could illuminate your path. And the word is like that for us as glow in the dark Christians. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. In other words, the word of God shows us how to glow. How to glow. Now, I mentioned to you that God is light, and that makes us children of light. And Paul got this right spot on when he said in Ephesians 5'8, for at one time,

you were darkness. Maybe you remember those days. Maybe it was in high school, college. Maybe maybe you have come to the Lord just as an adult in the last few years or even in the last few months. And you would agree with Paul, as I would, that for at one time, I was in darkness. You were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. And then Paul says something really important there, and he says this, this is the biblical phraseology, walk as children alight. Now, the Jeff Kaven's paraphrase of Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 8 is, You used to be in darkness, but now you're a glow-in-the-dark Christian. That's my paraphrase.

Well, when we do walk as light in the midst of darkness, we're going to illuminate the path. We're going to show people the way to live. we're going to communicate what a family should be, how a man should live, how a woman should live, how a father should be an example, how a mother should be such a provider for her children, how a single person can let that light shine in the midst of whoever they are around. And when we do, there is a certain wisdom to our life. And Daniel knew this. You talk about a glow-in-the-dark believer.

In the Old Testament, it had to have been Daniel. Daniel in the lion's den, Daniel taken away into exile, into Babylon. Nothing is familiar anymore. The light is back in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is destroyed. And we find him in Babylon. And what does it say in Daniel 12? And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky.

above and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. Indeed, Daniel was a glow in the dark believer. He even ate differently. You know, they tried to give him the Babylonian food. He said, no way, I'm going to eat vegetables. And so they said, okay, well, give him his vegetables, but we're going to monitor his health and see how he's doing. And so he did. He was complete vegan. did you know that, that there was a vegan in the Bible? Daniel was a vegan, and he ate the vegetables, and then they made an observation about him compared to all the other young men,

and you know what the observation, the conclusion was? He's healthier. He's healthier, and you know why he was healthier? Because he was doing what God called him to do. He was glowing in the midst of darkness, just like you, and just like me. We're called to be glow in the dark Christians. And so I would say to you, awaken, wake up, and do not think that if we just believe the right things that the world is going to change and that they're going to see your light, they don't know what you're thinking.

They don't know what you're believing. But if you show them your faith by turning on that light, then it's going to make a difference. And Paul knew this in Ephesians 5. He said, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says, awake, oh, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. And you know what the final thing is for all of this? Oh, it's awaiting you. It's awaiting you.

I went to a graveyard the other day, and I noticed that there were gravestones. And I also noticed that there were one where there was only the birth date of the person. And then it gave a dash, but there was no final date. That person was still alive. But they were destined for eternity. And heaven is our home. And this is what we are going for. And you know how Revelation 21 describes heaven?

I love it. Listen to this. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it. That's the way heaven is described. It has no need for this sun up in this sky. sky and the moon at night to shine on it. It has no need. Why? For the glory of God gives it light and its lamp is the lamb. Can you imagine that? Do you long for that? Do you long for the day when you will be with God face to face in heaven? And you'll make an observation. In fact, if we both

end up in heaven, remind me, come up and just give me a nudge and remind me and say, do you remember when you talked on that podcast back on earth about the fact that in heaven there would be no need for a sun or moon? I do remember that. That was show 2020. That was episode 2-2-2, wasn't it? Yes, it was. There was no need for the sun or moon in heaven. Why? Because the glory of God gives it light. My friend, I hope that the glory of God can shine in your life until you get to heaven, that you'll be a glow in the dark Christian. It is time to glow in the dark. I'd like to pray with you. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, O God, we worship you. We magnify your name. We give you glory. You are the creator of the world and every law

built into the foundation of the world speaks of your faithfulness. I thank you for my friend that I'm with right now, my brother, my sister, and I ask you, Lord, to help them to spend time and adoration with you so that they will glow in the midst of darkness. I pray, Lord, that they will be filled with courage to let the light shine and to speak boldly about you, to not be afraid of any man, no one, but that they will be completely enamored by you. Lord, for those who feel that the light is going out in their life, they have not been with you. I pray that they would be recharged and that they would turn, repent, and radically reorient their life to you so that they can become that glow-in-the-dark Christian.