YOU Are the Light of the World
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
July 23, 2023
Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections. This week at the Meetinghouse we are celebrating our Stellar VBS! As you just saw from the video, we had a wonderful time. This morning, I am giving more of a homily or shorter message because of all the extra fun we are sharing from VBS. The scripture I chose for today is Matthew 5:5-16 from the New Revised Standard Version.
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he began to speak and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
“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. People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it 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.
As you could see from the video, this has been a wonderful week of learning how to “Shine Jesus Light.” Each night during VBS we ended with having the children share their “God Sightings” for the night. Their leaders would write down where the children saw God during VBS on star-shaped Post-it Notes and then they stuck them to the windows in Fellowship Hall (they are still there – you may want to stop by and see them).
I loved that often on the stars were written names of leaders, other participants, and even family members. What our children were learning was that they could see that of God in those around them – because those people were “Shining Jesus Light.”
This reminded me of something I read in Friends Journal a couple years ago from Tim Gee. The article was called “You are the Light of the World.” Here is a little of what he said,
Picture the scene. There are people all around, voices low. The famed social critic and prophetic speaker John the Baptist has been taken away to a place where he will be assassinated in a graphically gruesome manner. Word has spread. People are shaken and unsettled.
Is it safe to go out to a public meeting?
But still they come—you come—taking the risk in order to hear from the person John had spoken about, whose very name, Yeshua (Jesus to Greek speakers), is steeped in the country’s story. He was brought up by a father who was an ancestor of the legendary king David, and he is so important that the great John the Baptist said he was not worthy to carry even this man’s sandals.
And then he speaks. But he doesn’t talk much about himself at all. Instead he welcomes and affirms those…
· with no or low pay (the poor),
· people who are sad (those who mourn),
· people committed to nonviolence (the meek),
· activists (those who hunger and thirst for righteousness),
· pacifists (the peacemakers),
· powerful people who try to act kindly (the merciful),
· and people who try to live lives uncontaminated by the military occupation of their lands (the pure in heart).
Then, after some words of encouragement to sustain perseverance, he declares “You are the light of the world.” And so, begins the great Sermon on the Mount, passed down to us through the Gospel of Matthew, a multi-chapter vision of how the world would be very different if people who call themselves Christians actually did what Jesus said…
Jesus said, “YOU are the light of the world.”
But, who is the “you” he is talking to here?
From the gospel stories taken together, we know that Jesus’s followers consisted principally of the marginalized and oppressed, in particular colonized peoples; a good many disabled people; many people from what we’d now call working-class backgrounds; and many more women in leadership roles than would have been typical in the deeply patriarchal structures of that society. There were more privileged sympathizers, even some Roman soldiers after a while, but principally, it was a movement of the dispossessed.
And here is Jesus addressing them, saying that you (plural)—the oppressed—are the light of the world. Then and now, this is a starkly radical message.
Quakers, of course, have been persecuted and in some places still are, but in other places are not. Can we square this with the belief that there is that of God in everyone?
In short, yes. At Pentecost (Acts 2), God pours His Spirit on all people, even, as is discussed in the letters, on some who might surprise us. In Jesus’s physical life, though, he spoke first and foremost for and with those on the fringes of society.
But then there’s another word. He says you are the light of the “world”—not the “earth.” When the Bible talks about the earth, it usually refers to the ground, the land, the soil, or what we’d call the planet.
In Genesis, God creates the heavens and the earth. In Matthew, Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. In the preceding passage, he calls his listeners the “salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13).
The word “world” more often refers to the age, the times, the system, the ways things are ordered, which is typically out of sync with God’s love. At his trial Jesus says, “my Kingdom is not of this world,” which I take to mean that the Kingdom of Heaven is not compatible with the system of empire.
Yet in this great opening speech, Jesus says, “you are the salt of the earth” but then says “the light of the world.” This world, the world system of his time, was dominated by violence and inequality, and there are so many echoes of that time in our own.
I take this phrase to mean—to borrow again from John—that then as now, there is a light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5).
Folks, both then and now, there is still hope in love and in following Christ: “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
Then let’s remember how these verses finish: “A city on a hill cannot be hidden, nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket” (Mt. 5:14-15).
No, this little light of mine – I am going to let it shine! Put it under a bushel – NO!
Every one of us has something to share with a visitor from elsewhere or to bring to others we spend time with, even if it is as simple as a ministry of presence.
Our connections strengthen us and can lead us to new ways of letting our light shine, so that others might see the good work going on and be inspired to do likewise.
So, this morning, I hope you too will recognize, like our children this week, those around us who are shining their Lights. That we will notice that of God in our neighbors, our leaders, or relatives. And that we too would remember that Jesus called ALL of us, no matter our disabilities, whether we are marginalized or oppressed, no matter our gender, or socio-economic situation, he called every one of us to be the Light of the World!
So, let’s go shine Jesus’ Light this week.
Now, as we enter waiting worship, ask yourselves,
How can I shine Jesus’ Light in my world?
Who do I need to thank for shining their Light in my life?
How might I encourage someone around me to shine their Light?