Shine

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

July 28, 2013

Shine

Matthew 5:14-16

Buying light bulbs used to be easy:

Decide whether you needed a 25, 40, 60,

75 or 100 watt bulb

and then buy it at the hardware store, drugstore,

or grocery store.

Done.

Now the selection of bulbs at Home Depot, Lowes

and other “big-box” stores

stretches the full length of an aisle,

hundreds of feet of shelving devoted to bulbs

of every size, shape, and output:

incandescent, halogen,

fluorescent, energy-efficient,

flood, spot,

soft light, cool white.

Yet, for all the choices,

all the differences,

all the diversity,

all bulbs have the same function:

they are all designed to give off light,

to cast aside darkness,

push away the shadows.

Sounds like us, doesn’t it?

We talked last week about our rich diversity,

all of us created in the image of God,

yet each of us different.

And today’s lesson teaches us

that we are called to shine,

to cast aside darkness

and chase away shadows.  

We are to let our line shine,

shine as brightly as we can;

each of us individually,

and just as important, all of us together.

When Jesus says, “You are the light of the world”

he is using the plural of “you” –

he is speaking to all the crowd who had followed him,

gathered together,

sitting so eagerly and attentively

as he spoke the words that we now call

his Sermon on the Mount.

All, everyone together in all their glorious diversity,

with all their different abilities and gifts,

listening to Jesus say to them as a group:

you – all – are the light of the world.

That’s us, as followers of Jesus Christ.

We are the light of the world!

All of us together,

called to shine brightly in the world,

called to chase away darkness and shadow

as we follow, and

as we reflect the one who is “the light of all people”,

the light which overcomes all darkness.

(John 1:4)

Together we follow the light;

together, we are enlightened by the light;

and together we share the light,

shining through the words we speak,

but even more important,

shining by how we live our lives,

our conduct,

our every act,

in every moment of every day.

As we talked about last week,

if we act in ways that reflect bigotry,

prejudice,

intolerance,

ignorance,

fear,

hatred

then we are dim bulbs indeed.

But if we live in openness,

in acceptance,

in tolerance,

treasuring the diversity that God has created,

seeing past skin color or ethnicity

to see the inner reflection of Christ in all,

then we shine brightly.  

“It isn’t mouthing theological platitudes,”

that helps us to shine.

It is when we are manifesting Christ’s life in our own lives

that we become light,

that we shine brightest.

(Douglas Hare)

Light bulbs are built for function,

created to work,

made to serve.

The same is true for us.

We have been given gifts by the Spirit

and we are called to use those gifts

to glorify God as we work, live,

serve, and shine.

We are all created for different purposes,

different needs.

In some places a 40-watt bulb is just what we need,

while in other places, a 100 watt bulb is necessary.

One isn’t better than the other,

they simply serve different purposes,

shining, even if in different ways.

We shine like a city on a hill.

This passage has been taken out of context so frequently.

Jesus is not saying that we are a city on a hill,

as though we were some exceptional group,

preferred,

special,

set apart.

No, listen again to what Jesus says:

“A city built on a hill cannot be hid.”

We are to shine like a city on a hill,

a city in full view of all the world,

a city not hidden by trees and forest,

or tucked away deep in a valley,

but a place that is visible to all.

John Winthrop’s famous sermon preached back in 1630

to the newest group of immigrants to this land

invoked that phrase.

He made clear that he understood,

even if we have misinterpreted.

Listen to his words:

“we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill,

the eyes of all people are upon us.”

Winthrop was reminding his listeners

in the same way our Lord did,

that they were called to shine,

to shine, as Winthrop said,

by living and working together

“in gentleness, patience, and liberality;…

delighting in each other,

…rejoicing together, mourning together,

laboring and suffering together…

all as members of the same body

keeping the unity of the spirit

in the bond of peace.”

(“A Model of Christian Charity”)

Most of us are familiar with the tagline from the motel chain,    

“We’ll leave the light on for you”,

Tom Bodett’s banjo-string voice telling us that

the light left on says,“Welcome;

Come on in;

We’ve been waiting for you;

We’re glad you’re here.”

I hear and read of churches expending great time and effort

developing mission statements for themselves,

things that say something like,

“We are a Christ-centered, Bible-believing community

committed to serving joyfully

in the name of Jesus Christ.”

Statements like this are fine,

but I think, “we’ll leave the light on for you”

captures our call, our mission, much better:

We’ll leave the light on for you,

the light of Christ that shines through each of us,

all of us,

the light that helps others find their way

calls them, guides them,

invites them to a place of welcome,

a safe place,

a place to find forgiveness,

renewal, refreshment,

a place to find grace and love.

                 

Our call to shine isn’t a call to be a probing flashlight,

poking our nose into other peoples’ lives,

what goes on in bedrooms,

or what decisions people make about their own lives.

We may disagree, but we leave judgment to God,

judgment to our Lord,

the head of our church,

the one true light.

“God is light and in him there is no darkness at all,”

Scripture teaches us,

going on to say,

“If we say that we have fellowship with him

while we are walking in darkness,

we lie and do not do what is true;

but if we walk in the light as he himself is the light,

we have fellowship with one another….

Whoever says, ‘I am in the light’,

while disliking a brother or sister,

is still in the darkness.

Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light.”

(1 John 1:5; 2:9)

We shine in countless ways.

We shine as we baptize and welcome new members

into the universal church of Jesus Christ.

We shine when we send enthusiastic young people

to Triennium.

Fifty-three young people went to Triennium

from all the churches in our National Capital Presbytery.

Eleven of the 53 came from this church:

That is shining brightly!

We shine as we send prayer shawls throughout

the community,

the country,

and throughout the world.

A prayer blanket,

along with a baby Bible from our Board of Deacons,

just arrived in Perth Australia,

after having traveled halfway round the world.

A baby blanket and a baby Bible from this community

conveying a message of light and love

to a little girl born 4 weeks ago,

my grand-niece.

And a similar package of light and love

will travel to Cleveland this week,

a shorter journey, but no less important,

to welcome my newest grand-niece,

born 10 days ago.

It is not an easy life we are called to live,

to shine all the time.

We often find it so much easier to dim our light,

to live in the shadows.

Paul himself lamented his own daily struggle

in his letter to the Romans,

“I do not understand my own actions,

…for I do not do the good I want…”

(Romans 7:15)

But we can find renewal in the assurance

that “we are not in darkness;

that we are all children of light …”

(1 Thessalonians 5:4)

Children of the light

from the moment God created light

and called it good, very good;

children of the light who follow the one true light.

“Arise, shine, your light has come

and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you,

…The sun shall no longer be your light by day,

nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you by night,

but the Lord will be your everlasting light.”

(Isaiah 65:1, 20)

Shine!

AMEN