Being Light in the Darkness 2-5-23
Being Light in Darkness
Is 58:1-9; Mt 5:13-20
Is 58:1-9a
Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
Mt 5:13-20
“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, 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 in heaven.“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Prayer – As we gather this day, O Lord, give us the courage to listen to what you have to say to us, even when what you have to say is not always what we want to hear. Stir up in us a willingness to be surprised by you, receiving you as the God you are rather than the one we have imagined. Remind us this day, that we are called to be salt of the earth, light to the world, to live a faithful way of life that doesn’t rest on a certain set of rules or beliefs. Remind us, that we are beacons of your grace, your work, your tenderness and love in and of the way we live, each and every day – amen.
This morning we have a continuation of Jesus’ first and possibly most well-known sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. As he climbs the mountain, he turned to look at the crowd that’s gathered around him and he recognized their suffering and their need for compassion. Even more, he knows the spiritual hunger and the physical suffering of the world and as he sat down to teach, he was teaching about the reign of God, in his own person, that was breaking into the world calling them and us to a way of life – a light in the darkness.
After lifting up the most unlikely people – the poor in spirit, the meek and the merciful, those who mourn and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and the persecuted – and pronouncing a blessing over them, Jesus then addresses the crowd as ‘you’ and offers them words of reassurance and challenge. He uses two common, everyday images, salt and light, to help them remember who they are and what they are called to be in the world. Like that second generation of Christians in Matthew’s community, we listen with the crowd to hear that we, too, are salt of the earth and light of the world. While Jesus is telling us who or what we are, these metaphors are about what we do, how we do it, and the effect of what we do in the world reflects his grace, his way of faithful living.
The words of salt and light are dynamic, not static, and they churn things up. These images of salt and light are packed with many meanings, and two thousand years later we still understand that ‘un-salty’ salt isn’t much good for anything, while just a little flavorful salt can have an impact far beyond its amount, spreading throughout the whole of something larger. A simple, even humble image, salt, had many different associations for Jesus’ audience as it not only strengthens flavor and preserves food, but in ancient times was rubbed on newborn babies, used to seal covenants, sprinkled on sacrifices and understood as a metaphor for wisdom. No wonder, then, that salt became associated with God’s gracious activity.
In the same way and in every age, we know that ‘light’ means many things, not the least of which is hope. Matthew eludes to the prophet Isaiah that, ‘the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.’ Those who feel lost, or in despair, or confused, those who have no idea which way to turn – on them the ‘light’ has dawned. This light filled hope is embedded in us as God’s beloved and blessed children and our task is to let it shine, to let it shine. Jesus tells us to ‘let our light shine before others,’ to let the good things that we do reflect God’s light shining upon the world.
Light. Most every living thing needs light, it seems. Even as we sit in our homes and look out on the bare winter trees, we see how the branches all reach skyward, towards the light. For although darkness has its necessary place, perpetual darkness would seem a place of dying, a place of death. Light helps us to distinguish between differences and to celebrate diversity. Light can deepen understanding. Light works on cellular structure to promote growth. Light heals. Light helps us find our way. And today, Jesus says, to us, all of us, ‘you are the light of the world.’ And not just one at a time, it would appear, although each one of us are called to be light of the world. Rather, all of us together, collectively, are called the light of the world.
Immediately following our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus begins to teach his disciples what it means that he was calling them to a righteousness that surpassed even that of the great examples of piety in their day. But whereas the Jewish religious leaders had sought to fulfill God’s demands by specifying the precise actions one could or could not do, Jesus called his disciples to obey the commands from the heart. That would mean not only not killing, it also meant avoiding the anger and hatred that leads us to devalue the life of another enough to justify killing. In other words, Jesus didn’t make it easier to obey God’s commands, he made it harder. He went back to the original intention of the commands--to produce a people who would practice God’s justice, compassion, and mercy toward one another. And they would do so not for fear of punishment or in order to gain some reward. They would practice this kind of life because God’s grace had changed their hearts, and they could do no less. Jesus was more interested in his followers living their faith as a way of life rather than as a rigid sets of rules or beliefs.
It seems to me, that’s what Jesus had in mind when he told his disciples that they were light for the world. They were to demonstrate the difference God’s grace makes in real human life on a daily basis. And if you’re wondering what that means in terms of specifics, our lesson from Isaiah 58:6-7 puts it this way: what God desires of us is “to loose the bonds of injustice, ... to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke ... to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them.” It sounds very reminiscent of Jesus’ teaching in Matt. 25, “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” When we live our lives in this way, as a way of life, demonstrating the difference God’s grace makes in real human life on a daily basis, we are living as light for the world.
I can’t help wonder as I read these words about salt and light, what it would mean for us in our gatherings large and small, if our first call was to be ‘light.’ What would it mean to pull out of the dark shadows of history and avoidance those things we have chosen to forget or which time has somehow faded – thing such as racism and any other ‘ism’ we can think of? What might it look light to shed a little light on that which divides us in our country today? And what if we were to understand that just as we cannot live without ‘light,’ neither can anyone else – no matter the color of their skin or the language they may speak? What if we were to awaken to the realization that we have been given ‘light’ to share, always to share, rather than to hoard it in a dark corner as if there just enough light to spread around? And what will it mean when we finally come to the truth that this ‘light’ is not limited, but when reflected, goes on and on and on – it shines to be spread and shared and lifted up.
And isn’t the promise sure that light drives away fear – for as we are called to go into dark places with this light – that which threatens us literally disappears. Far too much of our context here in America is driven by fear and darkness – fear of the immigrant, fear that every baby conceived will somehow be aborted, fear that without guns we are held captive by dark evil that seems to lurk at every corner. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke eloquently about the importance of light – “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” In other words, living in the light, letting your light shine in the darkness is a Christian way of life.
Today, even in the midst of so much darkness, Jesus speaks to us of light. Only this is not light that shines from the sky or from the LED lights that brighten our homes. It isn’t the light from the lamp by my recliner that lets me read late into the evening rather than watch reality TV that just isn’t real. Jesus is talking about a light that comes from within – the kind that shines through individual people and whole communities of people like this church. Indeed the light that comes from within is never, ever meant to for me and mine, for ourselves alone. While the light of God’s love can’t help but warm us, it is always meant for the ‘other.’ It is always meant for the world. Light is meant to me a way of life
And so as we gather this morning, I would like for you to think about the line that shines through you as a person and through us a congregation. I am grateful for the light of the Thai congregation who have joined us here at Trinity. I am grateful for the light shining upon those in this community who come here to our food pantry – of how we offer them nourishment. I am grateful for the pre-school program that has served this community for many years. I am grateful for the Boy Scout troop which had a home here for a long time, for the young men who were impacted with the values found in scouting. I am grateful for the AA program which meets here to help those with alcohol addiction. I am grateful for the knitting ministry that provides prayer shawls for people in our community. I am grateful that we now are home to the School of Lexia and a Little Book Library. Though small, this church is a beacon of light in this community and I am grateful that I share in your work today.
What other ways can we be a bright shining light in our community and in our world? How can we shine our light on others who are in need in our community? How can we be a warm shining light of hospitality to those who seek a church home? What do we need to do as a church community to share God’s light in a world that is filled with so much darkness? These are just some of the questions that are bubbling up in me this morning.
Jesus reminds us this morning that we are salt and light – ordinary elements called to be and do extraordinary things. We are called to shine – to let God’s light shine through us. And as the song says, “I am going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.” It is a way of life - may it be so – thanks be to God for planting that light within us, that it may shine on and for others – amen.