5 Epiphany Yr A February 5 2023

5 Epiphany Yr A February 5 2023

Isaiah 58:1-9a, [9b-12], 1 Corinthians 2:1-12, [13-16], Matthew 5:13-20, Psalm 112:1-9, (10)

 

Y’all know I went to seminary in Texas. I had to learn a whole new language and way of pronouncing words. Reading scripture story… laughing at the way I pronounced Lord – just after Fargo had come out….

 

So, in this passage, which is the continuation of the sermon on the mount that we began last week, you is y’all, or all y’all, it means all of you. The important difference this makes is that this is not just about you as an individual person, this is about all of you, all of us. This is a communal call; it is a communal claim to action. We do not do this alone. For the sake of community, for the sake of the world. 

 

So what is the this that we do not do alone? Concerning the beatitudes, or the blessings, it means that those blessings are not for any one individual, but for the community of disciples that follow Jesus. That’s all of us. It means that what we read today is for all of us. This is Jesus’ version of an “I have a dream speech.” Martin Luther King Jr. laid out an aspirational vision for society. That is what Jesus is doing; Jesus is laying out a vision for society, an alternate reality. Additionally, Jesus is identifying our role in this vision, this alternate reality. 

 

So let’s take a look at what Jesus continues to say to us. The first example is salt. Salt is salt, it’s job is to be salt, it can’t be pepper, for example. The second example is illumination. The purpose of a lamp is to shed light, that it’s job. It could be as simple as, you have a purpose, now get out there and do it. 

 

You are the light of the world. You are the light that shines in the darkness. This is an amazing declaration. Not only is God in our midst, God in the flesh, the light in the world, but that light, God in the flesh, God in our midst, is in us, shines through us, and as we bear that light into the world, darkness cannot overcome. That's not nothing, that's something. God's love, the love that wins, gets communicated to the world through you, through all y’all. Martin Luther King Jr. said "Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." And, something even more amazing, you are the light of the world, that is who you are, that is your job, you are a child of God. This is not about what you must do, it is about who you are, you can't help but be the light and drive out darkness.

 

Well, with that Good News, how does the love of God get communicated in the world through you? You are commissioned to be God's light in the world. As I use communicate in this context, I mean the fullness of that word, not just words. Some of the synonyms of communicate are connect, interface, make known, network, and relate. For me the ultimate meaning of communicate is in communion, "be known to us Lord Jesus, in the breaking of the bread." God's love gets communicated in the world through you, through y’all and the light that you bear. What does that look like?

 

These words lead me to picture God's communication through you as a light in the world like a web of relationship. You shine in your workplace, and God is present. You shine in your school, and God is present. You light up the darkness, and God's love is communicated and all of that is connected. 

 

The question is, what does it look like for you to be God's light in the world? What does it look like for your light to be the only light shining, what does it look like for your light to join with and be joined with others to create a brighter light? Again, it is not what we do, but who we are, God's beloved, that shines. But for others to see the light, sometimes it is what we do. So many of you are lights in the world. Your lights shine when you give a compassionate word at work, your lights shine when you give an encouraging word at the check out counter at the store, your lights shine when you shovel your neighbors walk. These light shining moments are so important and they are compounded in community. 

And your lights, your voices matter in a world that seems to have left compassion and justice behind. You are indeed, a light in the building of the kingdom. But what about when we join our lights in the web of relationship, when we join our lights in a community of light? 

 

When we do that, when lights shine in the darkness of injustice, when lights shine in the darkness of the disregard for human dignity, when lights shine in the darkness of the lack of access to education, we begin to see the building of God's kingdom. During this month that is designated Black History, we are reminded of the witness of this kind of light, in the persons and the web of community of the people who sat on buses and wouldn't give up their seats; the people who sat at lunch counters and endured the indignity of insults and attacks; the people who knocked on doors to register others to vote; the people who worked day in and day out at their jobs, so they might provide education for their children.

 

And why is being God's light in the world so important? It important because God's love is what brings us back together, puts the fragments of our lives back together. It is God's love, borne by your light, that can bring healing and wholeness to our broken world. Indeed, it is God's mission to heal our world, and it is our mission to co-conspire with God in that healing. 

 

Darkness has no power to extinguish even the faintest of lights, but we can fan a single flame into a roaring fire. We can spread this light by embracing it, by becoming lights ourselves: the lights of the world. It is our job, just like being salty is salt’s job, and just like being bright is the light’s job, it is our job as followers of Jesus to reflect and enhance God’s light in the world. It is our job to participate in what God is doing, to get on board with God’s creativity in the world. It is our job to string our lights together and show the way to the love that wins. Amen.