Light in the Darkness

Matthew 5:13-16

 

        Five years ago Deb and I became the proud owners of our wonderful townhouse on Lakeside Close.  The previous owners had done a great job of maintaining their property and now it has fallen on Deb and me to continue this tradition. In other words, Deb and I have moved into that phase of home owning called “preventative maintenance”.  You know what I am talking about. Over the past five years I have power washed, scraped and painted everything I could reach. Now I need a professional. Inside we have replaced various appliances, but now we need the expertise of a plumber. I don’t have to tell you how hard it is to get a painter or a plumber to come to Nellysford for a few hours work. I started searching the internet. Much to my delight I discovered folks who advertise themselves as Christian painters, Christian plumbers, and Christian electricians. My gracious, I figured all I had to do was call and identify myself as a Christian minister. I was sure being in the same ecclesiastical union would get me a tremendous financial break. Boy was I disappointed. It turns out Christian plumbers not only charge the same as regular plumbers, they don’t like coming to Nellysford either. Once I realized my comrade in Jesus wasn’t interested in hooking up my new water heater, I dared ask why he advertised himself as a Christian plumber. He answered, “You of all people should know that we Christians have to stick together.”    Obviously it’s been a while since this plumber read his bible.

        I am not sure if Jesus was a very good electrician but I guarantee you Jesus knew a whole lot about darkness and light. In the gospel of John, Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world.” On a bright sunny day it is difficult to distinguish one light from another. But Jesus entered this world half past midnight. It is hard to hide your light in the midst of darkness. Deb and I have lifelong friends who live up the hill. If we are walking home after 9:00, no artificial light is needed. The moon and stars provide all we require to find our way home. It reminds me of a quote by Annie Dillard. “If you want to see stars, darkness is necessary.” Well the light of Jesus certainly shone through the darkness of his night. Everywhere Jesus walked he left a footprint on how this life can be lived. I have read the gospels so many times the pages are wearing thin. It seems the only folks Jesus rejected where those who believed themselves to be holier than God.  Remember the chief gripe among religious leaders about Jesus? He spent too much time with sinners. Where else should the light of the world be?

        More and more I have been depressed by the apostasy that our brand of faith gives us privilege. We speak of Christian values as if we are the only folks who live an ethical life. Then we lament Christians are constantly mocked, persecuted, overlooked, insulted and eventually deprived of their God given rights. Would someone please explain to me what those God given rights are because I seemed to have missed that class in my theological training? Unless I got it wrong I believe Jesus spoke about our responsibility to others rather than society’s responsibility to us. Jesus said, “Guess what, not only am I the light of the world, so are you. But no one is going to know this unless you are willing to enter the darkness of another’s life. Don’t be afraid. I’ll go with you.” Think about it. YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. Is there anything on your schedule more important than this?

        On the news the other night there was a story of a soldier coming back from Iraq. He landed at LaGuardia in the midst of all the difficulties of folks trying to get back into the States. The person he sat beside on the plane, a perfect stranger, was an Iraqi interpreter who had worked with US troops. Three years ago the man had relocated his family to New York. Sensing there might be difficulties entering customs the soldier reached into his bag, pulled out his Purple Heart, pinned it on the lapel of the stranger and said, “I wasn’t just wounded for my family. I was wounded for your family as well. Let’s walk together.”

I don’t know if that young soldier was Christian but I guarantee you this, he was doing what Jesus would have done. Jesus wasn’t just wounded for my family, or your family. He was wounded for every single family that walks in darkness.  Is it any wonder Jesus joyfully proclaims to us, “Let your light so shine that no one will ever have any doubts that you are a child of God.”

How will someone know we are Christians if we have no joy? Why would anyone want to be a Christian if the Christians they meet never exhibit excitement? When we let our light shine it is to be done with exuberance, hope, and the knowledge that we are the hands and the heart of Jesus. When we let our light shine we are not doing it for ourselves but for our neighbor, for our friends and especially for those with which we might be just a little bit sideways. Jesus has already pinned his purple heart on us. It’s called grace. Now Jesus is saying to us, “Let’s walk together, joyfully.”

When I was a kid my father took seriously the Jesus passage of turning the other cheek. He was just out of seminary and probably was embarrassed by all his fights he had growing up in a cotton mill village. Dad was determined I was going to be different. It seemed every other day I was told fighting was not only the last resort but the wrong resort. That sounded great in theory. But then one day playing sandlot baseball there was misunderstanding over a close play at second base. I had clearly put the tag on the runner. He jumped to his feet and declared he had beaten the throw. I responded, “You are as crazy as you look.”  He punched me in the nose. As I got up from the ground, sort of forgetting the life lessons of my father I looked him in the eye and repeated, “You are still as crazy as you look.” He hit me again. Getting up the second time I figured I needed to change of strategy. I looked him right in the eye and told him, “You can hit me as often as you want but it will not change two things. I won’t fight you and you are still out.”

The next day the kid came up to me after school and asked if I was a chicken. Not knowing what else to say I blurted out, “I’m not chicken, I’m a Christian.  Jesus didn’t believe in fighting and neither do I.”

My soon to be friend responded, “Well I bet Jesus got beat up a lot.”

Never have truer words been uttered. If you are going to be the light of the world you are going have to take a few lumps. But the last time I checked Jesus was still getting off the ground and still turning darkness into light.

So what about us? What about us? How willing are you to be the light of the world to someone lost in darkness?

 

Will you pray with me? God your way is so hard. We would rather be righteously indignant and live with our anger, than be reconciled with a foe. Turn us inward to you that we might eventually turn outward toward each other. Restore our relationships through the light of your grace. Make both of us instruments of your peace. Amen.