A Word from Pastor Lisa: Let Your Light Shine
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.
–Matthew 5:14-16 (NRSV)
In the dark and freezing cold temperatures last week, we made an ice globe. We took a balloon, filled it with water, and then let it freeze outdoors for a few days. When we cut off the balloon, we dumped excess water out of the hollow ice globe. Then we lit a tealight candle, placed it inside the globe, and admired the beauty on our porch. “Let your light shine before others,” Jesus told his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount, “so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
Light radiates from the opening scene in Genesis. There are over 200 more references to light in Scripture. We need light for plants, warmth, and vision. On the one hand, too much light can be dangerous and blind us. On the other, light is a precious commodity that can also be snuffed out. Just ask the people in the southern states who were struggling without power in the wake of the winter storms.
In Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples, “You are the light of the world.” But in John’s Gospel, he says, “I am the light of the world” … as long as he is in the world. In The Sermon on the Mount: A Beginner’s Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven, Scholar Amy-Jill Levine says it’s the responsibility of Jesus’ disciples to take up that role of being light once he leaves them. Our role as disciples is to shine that light so others can find their way, to be “a city on a hill” that cannot be hid. Our homes are to be refuges, where we can set the light on the lampstand for all in the house to see.
In American history, we have applied the “city on a hill” imagery to the American democratic experiment. Yet that’s not what Jesus intends with this particular metaphor. Levine reminds us how the first followers of Jesus gathered in homes. Peter’s home became the site for healing. Mary and Martha offered refuge for Jesus in their home. Mary the mother of John Mark hosted early Christians after the resurrection. Paul created house churches for new believers. When Jesus urges us to let our light shine, he recognizes how light is first nurtured in our homes, where we gather with friends and family. This is where we are patiently teaching children or caring for senior adults whose minds may be childlike. This is the place where we model serving, praying, worshiping, and loving our enemies. This is how we learn that as disciples of Jesus, we don’t exist only for ourselves, but to do good works for others.
Of course, our light is not restricted to the home, the house church, or our First Methodist church building. The light of the world is to shine in difficult places like prisons, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and COVID-19 ICU wards. We are to shine the light of Christ wherever there is loneliness, sickness, despair, or suffering. Yet that light is first cultivated where we do our daily living. In this Lenten pandemic season, where we still have ample time at home, may we use that space to pray, worship, study Scripture, and prepare for loving service. May we stay connected with our church community, in person and virtually, as we keep shining the light of Christ.
I love singing “This Little Light of Mine” with young children, especially the verse that says, “Hide it under a bushel?” We place one hand over our index finger candle, then remove it, and shout, “No! I’m gonna let it shine!” May it be so for you and your household, too.