Light The Fire
Matt. 5:13-16
PSCOC
4/20/07
Introduction: Snuffed Out!
(Use of visual aid…candle lit and then snuffed out). Light is powerful not only because of its practical purpose, but because of it universal symbolism of the truth, purity, and knowledge (light candle). It is said about the Olympic flame that it represents “the light of spirit, knowledge, and life.” God’s first words in creation were, “Let there be light!” Of course, darkness has come to represent all the opposite meanings of light. It is devoid of truth, hope, and life. It inspires fear and doubt. It is the realm of the evil one and he seeks to cloud our minds in his darkness, so that we might not know the light.
This very week, we have seen unspeakable darkness when a man full of darkness unloaded 9mm bullets into his schoolmates at Virginia Tech. We recoil at that darkness and we seek light. We are moved by the images of thousands of students gathered, holding up lit candles into the darkness, and declaring, “Let’s go…Hokies!” I don’t know even know what a “Hokie” is, but for that moment I was a “Hokie” with them.
But eventually the candles were snuffed out (snuff out candle), and darkness enveloped the campus, the town, the state, and the entire nation once again. The sadness would return, the questions increase, and fear and doubt reign. Darkness. Where will they find that light that lasts? You think you know the answer. “Jesus!” He is the Light of the World. “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
But how do we communicate that light to those that desperately need it? You see that process is sometimes “lost in translation.” Do we have any way to relevantly communicate that truth is such a desperate and dark situation? If not, then we have lost our relevance. Right after the beatitudes Jesus has some very remarkable statements to share with his disciples, the blessed. Hopefully, in those words, we can rediscover our light and our relevance (read text).
Move 1: Salt of the earth.
Salt is an interesting mineral. It flavors and preserves. Pure salt cannot lose its saltiness, but it can become diluted with other substances and therefore become completely useless. It is important to note that Jesus doesn’t say, “You are like salt” or “You have the salt.” He says that “You are the salt of the earth!”
When Jesus described the “blessed”, the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, those that hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted; he didn’t want his disciples to get the idea that they had to withdraw from the earth just because they were not in its kingdoms. It is exactly the fact that the disciples are radically different, but involved in the earth that allows them to be salt. The Qumran community called themselves “sons of light” and they withdrew to the hills, forsaking the rest of mankind. Many have thought this was the ideal in Christianity, to withdraw to some secluded place and live isolated for the rest of one’s life. That’s not Jesus’ vision of his disciples. They are the “salt of the earth.”
Jesus is warning the disciples that they could become useless salt. IOW, they could loose their relevance. How does a community of God’s people loose their relevance? They stop caring for the earth. They isolate themselves in a church building and detach themselves from any real ministry in the community. They stop striving to make a difference. They never put themselves in position to be persecuted. They do not care about peace, as long as conflict doesn’t affect them. They cease to show mercy. They cease to mourn for this world. And it can all be done from the friendly confines of a church building just as easy a monastery.
If salt cannot regain its saltiness, is this teaching that once we’ve lost our relevance that it’s over? I believe that is pushing the metaphor too far. Jesus isn’t saying that we can’t change and repent and start acting like the “salt of the earth” we are called to be. He’s just saying that we are useless when we are not. We have some outstanding individuals in this congregation that engage our community with regularity. But as a church we might be more like a monastery than the “salt of the earth.” Such efforts as sending money to Beaumont after the fires and community outreach through “Thanks for Giving” bags, and FriendSpeak or positive steps. But I think we all need to figure out how we can better be the “salt of the earth.”
Move 2: Light of the World
Jesus breaks this down into two illustrations. The first is the city on a hill. The second is a lamp, which was the popular way to light a house in those times. (Maybe show PP picture of a city lit up at night). Of course in the time of Jesus cities were not lit up like today, but the point is visibility. Many cities were built on hills in those days, most notable was Jerusalem. The point is that just as a city on a hill can’t be hidden neither can the community of disciples, because they are the light of the world.
Now’s this is shocking. I thought Jesus is Light of the World. He is. OTOH, he doesn’t tell these disciples that they have the light. He says, “You are the light of the world.” Obviously, apart from Jesus, who is the ultimate light, we are nothing but darkness. But it is stronger than just saying we reflect his light. We actually become his light! He lights the fire, but we are light! Jesus isn’t really giving a choice to his disciples. He is just stating the obvious that if they are his disciples…then they ARE the Light of the World!
Jesus certainly implies that we can hide our light, though it is nonsense to do so. Jesus says you don’t go through the trouble of lighting a lamp and then cover it up! You put on a stand so that it can illuminate the house as much as possible. That light is personal. It gives light to everyone in the house. So, it is with the light of the world. Let your light shine before all men! I’m all for anonymous donations, but when we are doing a good deed for someone I want that person to know that it was done as a representative of Jesus Christ!
The concern here is visibility. Later when Jesus says not to let your left hand know what your right hand is doing the concern is motivation. But when we as a church do something good in our larger community, I want people to see it, and we want them to glorify the Father in heaven. For that is the purpose of all Christian mission.
Move 3: The Ways of Snuffing out the light.
I watched a program recently that focused on people’s response to someone in crisis. The film producers would stage a situation where someone was in trouble are being abusive to another person. The most vivid one was a caretaker verbally and physically abusing and elderly man in a wheel chair. This was done at a public park and person after person would walk by and do nothing. Sometimes they would stop and watch what was happening, but no one confronted the abusive caretaker, until one woman, who had her small child, decided to be salt and light and put a stop to it.
We snuff out our light when we ignore the problems of the world around us. I sometimes marvel at Christians who say we shouldn’t have anything to do with AIDS victims because they put themselves in that position. Does such an attitude perpetuate light or darkness? I’ve heard the same attitude about the homeless, illegal immigrants, drug addicts, and alcoholics. These are the only people we are called to be light to, but to refuse to get our hands dirty helping people with real problems is indeed to lose our saltiness and to put a bushel over our light.
Jesus didn’t say it would be easy to be salt and light. In fact, he had just said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” We make ourselves vulnerable to personal attack and disdain when we are truly disciples of Christ. You may try to do something for someone in the name of Christ and they may very well sneer at you. That may not be pleasant, but Jesus says you’re blessed because you possess the kingdom of heaven.
Pleasant or not, we must understand that we are the only true and lasting light that they will ever see. I’ve heard it said that a person’s encounter with you may be their only encounter they will have with Jesus. We better make it a good one.
Move 4: Let it Shine, Let it Shine, Let it Shine!
I hope you see the movie “Amazing Grace” about William Wilberforce. If you don’t know Wilberforce, he brought about the end of the slave trade in the early part of the 19th century in the United Kingdom. It was his faith in Christ and the influence John Isaac Newton of “Amazing Grace” fame that drove him through an unpopular campaign to rid the empire of its deplorable practice. The turning point in his story is when he wanted to give up his political influence to preach, which is not a bad thing, but his friends helped him to realize that his faith could change the world if he didn’t withdraw from it. Indeed it did.
We are not the source of our own light. Jesus is the one who makes us light. We simply have to be what he has made us to be. We need to let our light shine! We will illuminate the world, then other will praise our Father in heaven, and they too will become light.
But we have to get our hands dirty. It is not just talking about Christianity, but doing it! Or we can just keep this light under this building. But I’m not simply advocating that each individual go out and find a way to shine your light. Oh, that’s good, and many of you do that already. I’m suggesting we shine much brighter together. I’m suggesting that we start seeking how to be disciples in this community together as the church. I don’t have all the answers, and no we can’t do everything. But we can do something. Together we can figure it out with God’s guidance.
But maybe the place we have to start is with desire. We’ve become so accustomed to hiding our light that we are afraid or just too inwardly turned to let it shine. So, let’s start here (light the candle again). Let’s ask God to light our fire that we might shine brightly to the world around us in the Valley or Fiji or wherever. Let’s ask God to light a fire that burns to hot to keep inside. Let’s ask him to put a fire in our bones that will not allow us to keep silent, just like that old prophet, Jeremiah.
Invitation: Get lit today!
If you are not a Christian, then experience the light of the world, and not only receive the light but become light. Jesus in his grace offers us his light. It is the light of eternal life. God, please light the fire!
