Light Show

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

June 26, 2016

Light Show

Selected Texts

Jesus said,

“I am the way,

and the truth,

and the life…”

(John 14:6)

Jesus did not say that any particular ethic,

any particular doctrine,

any particular creed,

or for that matter,

any particular religion or church

was the way,

the truth,

the life.

(Buechner)

Jesus said he was the way,

he was the life;

and he calls us to follow him

to live as he lived,

our lives reflecting as best we can

Jesus’ life.

That’s what it is to be a follower of Christ.

That’s what it is to be a disciple of Christ.

It is to live as Jesus lived,

as he calls us to live.

To be a disciple is to be a learner –

that’s what the word “disciple” means:

one who learns.

So that means we are to spend our lives learning,

learning how to be faithful followers,

learning about Christ,

learning the way, his way,

learning life.

We will have questions

about how to live faithfully,

how to follow,

how to learn.

We will never get it 100 percent right;

in fact, we will often get it wrong.

We’ll even ignore Jesus

when we want to do what we want to do.

Still, it’s there before us:

the life we are called to live,

Jesus’ life –

that’s the life we are called to live

as we learn,

as we follow,

as we build our own lives.

The apostle Paul always had someone at his side

to write down what was on his mind,

what he had to say,

someone to capture his words for others.

As a result, we have

quite a few of Paul’s letters,

faithfully written down by his scribes,

Paul telling us what to do, what to think.

The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah

had Baruch at his side

to write down his words.

When King Jehoiakim took the scroll

 that Baruch had labored over

with all Jeremiah’s words

and proceeded to shred it with a knife,

and throw the pieces onto a fire,

Baruch started all over again,

writing down all of Jeremiah’s words.

(Jeremiah 36:20ff)

Jesus had no scribe,

no secretary.

He never asked any of his disciples

to write down what he had to say,

never said to Peter, James, John,

Andrew, any of them,

“I am about to give what history will call

my Sermon on the Mount.
I want you to write down every word I say,

capture it all so not a word is lost.”

Yes, Jesus taught by and through words –

his teachings, his parables;

but more important,

Jesus taught by example,

by how he lived,

by his life.

“Follow me.

Live as I live.

I will show you.

Do as I do.

For I do God’s will.”

Those are our Lord’s words to you and me.

Look at Jesus’ life

and we’ll see he lived with grace,

lived by grace,

his big carpenter hands

opened wide in welcome

to all who came to him,

who approached him,

from the tax collectors and prostitutes,

to Roman soldiers,

even to Samaritans –

and if you were here last week

you’ll recall that we learned

that Samaritans and Jews

lived in mutual contempt and disdain

of one another.

But that didn’t matter to Jesus.                                                      

It is in the summer

that I always return to the works

of Frederick Buechner,

his wonderful books, stories, and sermons.

Buechner lives in Rutland Vermont,

a town a few minutes up the road

from where I stay each year

when I vacation in Vermont.

In one sermon he talks of our being called

to “let Jesus show”.

Let Jesus show.

Let Jesus show through your life,

through your actions

and yes, your words.  

We let Jesus show,

by letting our light show,

by remembering our Lord’s words:

“You are the light of the world…

let your light shine before others.”

(Matthew 5:14)

We are to be light shows,

each of us, in all we do.

Not glaring spotlights,

calling attention to ourselves,

trying to blind others

with the brilliance of our holiness.

No, ours is to be warm, even light,

a light that soothes,

that comforts,

that chases away fearful shadows

as it welcomes,

drawing friend and stranger alike.

All of our VBS teachers and helpers

will let their lights shine this coming week

as we welcome dozens and dozens of children

to our Vacation Bible School.

Our teachers and helpers will welcome all,

to come and spend the week

in joyful community

all,

every child welcomed

as Jesus would welcome them.

Here in God’s house,

all are welcome.

That’s what our Lord teaches us by his life,

and by his words,

all are welcome,

and especially children.

                                   

You remember our Lord’s words, don’t you:

“Let the little children come to me

and do not stop them;

for it is to such as these

that the kingdom of God belongs.”

(Mark 10:14)

But do you remember what Jesus did

after saying those words?

“He took them up in his arms,

laid his hands on them

and blessed them.”

Words and actions together make light.

Jesus shows us how to live and

how to be light in the story

I go back to repeatedly,

a story I’ve used in many a sermon,

the story of the adulterous woman,

the story we find in the gospel of John.

(John 8:1)

A woman had sinned –

she didn’t deny it.

Jesus and her accusers knew

what punishment Scripture called for: death.

But Jesus showed us that

God’s grace must always prevail

even at the expense of the written word,

Jesus’ light of mercy,

of forgiveness,

of compassion

shining brightly,

an example to you and me.

In the wake of the Orlando killings,

there have been more than a few preachers

who’ve stood behind pulpits

and preached a message

that the killings were God’s work,

the killings a good thing,

the world a better place with fewer sinners.

Really?

Is that what our Jesus would have said?

Where is the grace?

Where is the light?

Frederick Buechner has written:

“Holy: 

That is what you are going to be

if God gets his way with you.”

If God gets God’s way with you;

If you surrender yourself to God,

letting God shape your life

letting the Spirit show you

how to follow Jesus

how to model his life,

that your light might glow.

That’s a big “if”.

We struggle with God -

we often resist God’s best efforts

to lead us to holiness.

Buechner recalled looking at an

advertisement for cigarettes some years ago.

It was typical of the time and type:

a handsome man, a beautiful woman,

young, vibrant,

the grass green, the sky blue,

a shimmering pool in the background,

life at its best waiting for you

when you smoke this brand of cigarette!

But there, in the lower corner of the ad

were the words that reflected the reality

that smoking kills.

We are our own worst enemies

Buechner wrote,

as he pondered the ad.

We are so quick to act in ignorance;

so quick to act against our own

better judgment.

So quick to act in defiance of how

we are called to live.

Our Lord reminds us that

it isn’t just coming to church

or even professing one’s faith in Christ

that matters;

It is “doing God’s will”,

and our Lord shows us how to do God’s will

by living as Jesus lived.

In the words of Reverend Buechner,

“we were created to love one another

despite all the differences between us,

that way God loves us

despite all the differences between us….

If only we could see

that the very faults we find so unbearable

in those we are one way or another at war with

are versions of the same faults

we are blind to in our ourselves.”

God made us out of light

to dwell in light, and

then be light…

light for the all the world

that always seems to be on the edge of darkness.

We are called to be

the light of grace,

the light hope,

the light of peace,

the light of love,

the light of Christ.

We are called to be light shows

that we might let Jesus show.

AMEN