Below is the transcript of the parable/short story I wrote for a message on the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the contemporary Christian.
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Imagine with me a little town. Imagine with me a little town before the popular use of electric lights. Imagine a little town where after sundown the entire community was as dark and as quiet as a ghost town. Imagine with me that at the center of this little town stood a little church that was by far the most popular place in town; during the day.
From sunup to sundown, the doors to this little church rarely stood still. In and out, out and in the people of this little town would come and go. They would come to pray and to worship. They would come to socialize and discuss the daily headlines. They would come to tell stories of old. They would come to sip coffee in the morning and share their lunch in the afternoon. For all intents and purposes, this little church at the center of this little town was the social hub of its day. It was by far the favorite place of all to everyone who lived in this little town.
However, once the sun set below the horizon and day turned to night, the crowds which filled this little church vanished. It wasn’t because the little church had locked its doors or because no one was allowed in after dark. The little church grew quiet after sunset because it got so dark in the little town that no one could find their way to or from the church. There were no street lights. There were no lanterns. This little town had no way of bringing light into the darkness, so after dark no one ventured out.
That all changed when a new minister moved to the little town to serve in this little church. This new minister moved to the little town from the big city. When this new minister came to the little town he came with a brilliant idea. In the big city all of the important streets and buildings were illuminated at night by newly invented light bulbs and he thought, “If this little church in this little town were to put up just a few lights pointing the way to and from the little church, the excitement and activity that occurred during the daylight hours could continue past sundown.”
So, that was exactly what the new minister did. He installed lights on the building illuminating the doorway. He installed lights on the walkway leading to and from the doorway. He even installed lights out on the mainstreet illuminating the path connecting the entire community to the little church from their homes and places of work. After spending many hours and many days installing the lights and running the copper wiring to power them all, the night finally came when the new minister would finally be able to turn on the lights and see the reaction of the people living in this little town.
That day, just as the sun set beyond the horizon, the new minister flipped the switch and just as he had hoped the little church at the center of the little town lit up like a lighthouse on the horizon of a coastal sky. And just like a lighthouse, the new lights attracted the attention of every household in this little town. One by one the people of the little town came out of their homes to see what all the excitement was about, to see the new lights. Eventually the entire town was out of their homes and walking towards the lights, however they didn’t all react the way the new minister had hoped.
Once the lights were on and all the people of the little town had emerged from their homes to see what was going on, the people gathered into three distinct groups based on their reactions to the new lights. The first group of people became obsessed with the lights. They celebrated the lights. They even appeared to worship the new lights. To these people the lights were the most important thing and one by one they would gather around them, stare directly into their bright bulbs until they were literally blinded by the light and found themselves more lost than they were before the lights were ever even installed.
The second group of people hated the lights. They despised all the nighttime commotion they caused. They liked the way things used to be. They liked the fact that everybody went home at night and their little town was orderly, quiet, and calm after dark. When the lights came on and the people went out into the darkness they watched the first group of people acting crazy and wandering around blinded by the lights. They decided that the best thing they could do to maintain order was turn out the lights. One by one, they pushed their way through the crowds around the lights and turned them off in order to keep people safe in the darkness.
The third group of people appreciated the lights. They didn’t become obsessed by them like the first group. They didn’t hate them like the second group. This group noticed the lights when they were turned on, but even more so, they took notice of what the lights illuminated. One by one, the people of this group made their way out of their homes and, thanks to the lights, found their way back into the place they loved more than any other, within the walls of the little church at the center of their little town where they continued their daily activities of worship, prayer, telling stories, laughing, and enjoying life in the church well on into the night.
