We Will Leave the Light On for You

We Will Leave the Light On for You  

Isaiah 58:1-12    

Matthew 5:13-16 

The gospel sets the stage for our reflection this morning. Because we were reading the passage from the Sermon on the Mount that call us Salt, I chose to keep the Praise Song for one more week. 

While reading in preparation for this sermon I found a perspective on this passage that had escaped me before. If indeed we are salt, what does that mean? 

When used effectively, salt brings out the best natural flavor in the food. If salt tries to take the center stage, demand too much attention, the flavor of the food is ruined, and it usually gets thrown out. Salt is best, when it quietly does what it can do best, and then steps aside. 

In the same way, what light you have, ought to enable folks to see there way through the darkness, and be effective as they make their own way. Staring at the light only burns your eyes and makes you blind. The light, properly deployed, allows the reality to be exposed so that the good and faithful are able to make an appropriate response. 

Too many times Christians, in their desire to avoid offense, or even as a response to abuses they have witnessed in others, fail to be salt or light in their own place and time. This might have been acceptable in a time when “everyone” went to church, and “everyone” was concerned with the greater good. Today, is a new day. The situation of the world and the country has changed. It is no longer appropriate for the saltiness and light of the gospel to be quiet and reserved. 

The challenge we face, is to be our best selves as we encounter policies and positions that we believe are not in keeping with the principles we bring into our day living inspired by the gospel. To be our best selves, we need to constantly remind ourselves that we are all children of a good and loving God. We cannot resort to violence or demonizing our opponents. 

It is tricky but not impossible to stand on principle. We can be passionate for the values we affirm, but try to be careful to avoid the “Us and Them,” that de-humanizes those with a different point of view. 

I met a woman during my trip to the Holy Land, who spoke of her experience with the Israeli army. During the time of the first Intifada in 1987, when the Palestinians struck back in protests that became violent against the oppression of Israel, the army entered her home, in search of specific individuals. When the officer who barged into her house paused to wipe his feet at the door, it became clear to her, that this was the son of a mother - just as she is mother to her sons. She said, “I realized at that moment I could talk to this man. He would do what he had to do, but there does not need to be violence in my house.” That realization has informed her work of resistance, now approaching forty years.  

In times of sharp differences of opinion it is necessary to expect more of yourself, and be more aware of your own behavior. I know, it seems unfair to allow others freedom to “shoot from the hip,” and say whatever comes to their mind - while trying to increase our own self-discipline. I want to suggest that this activity can be a clear entry way to spiritual growth and maturity in the faith. 

Our God is the God of all creation. I believe God is actively pursuing each creature to bring them into a wholesome and loving relationship with God and all of God’s creation. 

If that is true, then it would only be appropriate to do our best to see others as children of God. When we disagree, it is a disagreement about ideas or actions ‘outside’ of ourselves. Anytime we are tempted to label, or call someone a name, we need to train our spiritual selves to reframe our thinking, and restrain our tongues. 

We are not giving up the right to speak out against ideas that we find offensive to the call of the gospel. Indeed Isaiah encourages us to; “Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet!” If we would be a lamp on a light stand, we would declare the truth as we know it. 

Isaiah clarifies how actions can be a part of our spiritual life. “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?” 

You see, we are creatures made for this world. Our bodies, our brains, and even our sense of righteousness cannot be separated from our physical life. Our prayers cannot be on the other side of the wall from our actions, our thoughts cannot be distant from our voices. 

The challenge is for us to grow in maturity. To consider every other living being as a sibling, and want what is best for them, even when what they want does not fit the criteria for what is good - from the perspective of a loving God. We try to see the world first and last with the eyes of God. When we try to understand what motivates the other, we can treat even the opposition with compassion, as we articulate what is behind our own position. 

Trying to be our best selves, trying to be FOR what is good, and dial down simplistic, emotional, reactivity against the children of God who support different ideas, is a call to personal, spiritual growth. 

There are few models in the culture that can name and accept these principles as goals. This makes our time together as a faith community more important than it has ever been in many of our lifetimes. Some of you tried to live through World War II, knowing that shallow name calling may have supported the war effort, but failed the test of the gospel. Those experiences can be useful to us now. 

I toured the Holy Land and discovered the land where so many of the Old and New Testament stories were played out, is divided by walls, guarded by young soldiers, separated by language - the Israelis speak Hebrew, while the Palestinians speak Arabic. The Israeli Press continually and consistently labels all Arabs as terrorists, and the young soldiers are encouraged to see things that way.  

In so many parts of the world, we hope for a better future because the younger generation has wider acceptance of diversity. In Israel today, I am afraid that this is not the case. I am anxious for any country who teaches fear and division to their children, which enhance the barriers to peace and respect for others. 

So let us be at work in this place, building up the case for respect for all of God’s children. We can grow in maturity, and disagree from time to time, without falling in the trap of being disagreeable. We can and should, pray for our nation and the people of the world, rooted in the gospel call. 

Matthew encourages us that we should not keep our faith to ourselves. Our faith convictions must not be reserved for private devotion alone, but must be made plain in the way we live and love. “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.” Invite people you know to turn to the God of Jesus. Feel free to tell them, we’ll leave a light on for you. Amen. 

Franciscan Benediction

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.