A Parable
I have a pair of gloves that
have little flaps over the thumb and index finger.
They come in handy in the cold
and snow of winter, allowing me to expose those two digits. Why would anyone want to do this on a -20°
day? Because the touch screens on my
phone and tablet will not work through fabric.
The technology used in modern
touch screens does not respond to pressure.
Pressing harder won't make any
difference. The screens react to the
capacitance of an electrical charge... even one as subtle as the one created by
the charged atoms of human skin. You can
get gloves that have conductive threads or use a conductive stylus pens to
transfer the charge from your skin (through that medium) to the screen.
I've never tried it, but
apparently, you can use the tip of a AA or AAA battery as a stylus, even if you
are wearing gloves.
Either way, with-respect-to
modern technology, we need to offer some of our body's energy to allow the
interaction to take place.
We may be barely aware of this
relationship, but our smart phones won't work unless we are willing to risk
exposing our vulnerable selves.
//
(prayer)
//
Jesus - like the other
pilgrims - went into the river with John the Baptist and humbly immersed
himself with a fresh commitment to the sovereignty of God.
In that moment, Jesus had a
mystical experience of being enveloped by the Spirit of God. Jesus knew in that moment that he was a
beloved child of God whose life was pleasing to God.
When Jesus came out of the
water, he simply did not feel that it was his destiny to go back to his
carpentry shop. His life would go in a
different direction. But where?
//
Jesus chose to struggle
with this choice by escaping from the distractions of the world. For more than a month, he retreated into the
wilderness, where it is said, he was tempted to find easy paths to living out
this new calling. In the end, he
realized that the easy road would not really serve his God... nor the ministry
into which Jesus was being called.
//
//
From the Judean wilds,
Jesus went back to Galilee, but not to his hometown of Nazareth. Instead - Jesus relocated to the lakeside
village of Capernaum.
It was a significant change
for him. Nazareth was in the heart of
agricultural area. Now, Jesus was
surrounded by a fishing based economy.
People's daily routines were different.
Jesus, in a way, needed to be an inquisitive student of a new local
culture.
//
It was a fresh start for
Jesus.
People would encounter him
without assumptions based on his childhood, or his family, or anything that had
defined his life for thirty years. They
would come to know Jesus based on their real time experiences with him.
//
Jesus would no longer be
building tables and chairs. He was now
going to be in the business of building up the Kingdom of God.
We don't have any record of
Jesus using that metaphor: I used to
build houses, now I construct the household of God.
But, he did use a similar
turn of phrase when he invited people to journey and learn with him: You catch fish. Come help me catch people in the net of
God. Become people-fishers for me, for
God.
//
Jesus had a knack of
helping people see that, in one way or another, whatever their life had
involved before they met him, it prepared them for what they could do together
as they proclaimed in word and deed, the nearness of the Realm of God.
//
Jesus didn't invent this
rhetoric.
We heard a similar style in
what was read from Isaiah 49.
I
am a sharp sword, a straight arrow... but God will not use me as a warrior who
can end life. Instead, I am called to
slice through divisions and bring the world together around the Glory of God.
//
Chapter forty-nine comes
from a section of Isaiah written during the time when the Judean people lived
as exiles in Babylon. The Hebrew people
were forced to live as refugees - they did not govern themselves; they wielded no
political influence or power.
They had no army to protect
their way of life; their national and cultural identity was only maintained
through the will of spirit. Swords and
arrows were not relevant to who they were at that point in history. They had no capacity or expectation to fight their Babylonian captors.
And yet faith remained
under the control of the exiles. They
could serve God - even by the Rivers of Babylon.
The prophet reminds them
that serving God is well within their control.
It's easy (in fact) to restore the people, because faith and confidence
in God is not limited by location.
Exile was - in a manner of
speaking - an opportunity to shine the light of God's salvation to new corners
of the world.
//
Isaiah of the Exile was
encouraging the people to have hope in the longer view: even though they lived
as slaves to a foreign ruler, a time was coming, when kings and princes from
far away would not be able to ignore the Glory of God that shines through the
faith of God's people.
//
//
//
//
"Light" is a
powerful biblical metaphor for an active faith.
It is easily transferable to every era of history.
It is, as you likely know,
is the first metaphoric act of God in the bible.
Into the dark chaos, a word
is whispered over the wind and waves: light.
Let
there be light.
The creative Will of God
exposes the chaos and instantly some order and perspective and purpose enters
into existence. Mystery begins to give
way to understanding.
//
Isaiah tells the exiles
that they were made to lights (for God) in the world.
//
Jesus (too) preached that
his followers were to be lights in the world.
They had the power to expose God's compassion and justice to the world.
//
As we also read this
morning, the Apostle Paul commended the followers of Jesus in Corinth for their
influence in their community: You are enriched in Christ, in speech and
knowledge of every kind - the good news of Christ is stronger because of you
use the skills that the Spirit has given you.
Through you, Christ Jesus is revealed.
//
Throughout our scriptural
heritage God is saying: let there be
light!
//
//
As I noted last week, Jesus
basic message was the same as John the Baptist: Repent. The Kingdom of God has
come near. But Jesus chose a very
different means for spreading that message.
John was a passive, reactive,
settled preacher... for people to hear his message, they had to seek him
out. He was easy to find, but to
experience the light, people had to
seek it out.
Jesus (on the other hand)
was a active, pro-active, travelling preacher... he took the light on the road... shining it in to new places.
//
//
The reach and immediate
impact is different - to shine out in the desert and to shine in the crowed
streets - but both require us to allow that light within us to shine.
Jesus talked about how a
city on hill would have to put out every
fire pit and lamp to not be noticed at night from far away.
He also noted what a waste
it would be to hide a house lamp under a basket.
Light is meant to shine.
If we are called to shine,
the impact of the Light of God begins with our willingness to open up the
shutters of our hearts, minds and souls.
Back to my parable of the touch screens,
interaction can only begin when I am willing to expose my fingertips to the
winter air.
There is energy within
me. Will I risk vulnerability to let
that energy flow and change things around me.
//
We are called to shine.
It is not a question of
whether a spark of God is within us, but whether we will let this little light
shine.
//
//
What might it mean -
practically - to shine God into the world?
After all, Jesus was a
practical theologian. He did speak in metaphors and he broached
topics that transcend this life and world, but he never forgot the day to day
impact we have on others and the world in which we live.
We are lights in the
world... reflectors of the very presence of God.
How can we do this?
//
This is not a new topic.
When Jesus was asked to
prioritize the Torah, he summed every law up with two phrases:
Deuteronomy 6:5 - Love the Lord your God with all your heart,
all your soul and all your strength.
And Leviticus 19:18 - Love your neighbour as yourself.
//
//
I take these to heart... compassion/love is to be our default
position. But a commandment to love can
still seem pretty broad.
For me personally, for
practical holy compassion, I read Micah 6:8 - [In this life], what is good? What does the Lord require of you? But to do justice, and to love
kindness and to walk humbly with your God?
In Jesus' day, as in all eras, even
now, just because someone (or even a law) says you are supposed to do
something, doesn't mean it will always be done.
There are times, when we lose focus or
we forget and rules get ignored. But
there are other times, that we might chose to oppose what is expected of us.
This is occasionally good.
Not all "rules" deserve to be
rules. We evolve as a society when we
examine (with critical minds) those expectations that do not serve to advance
our better nature. John Lewis, a member
of the US House of Representatives was in the news on Friday for stating in an
interview why he was not going to attend the inaugeration this Friday. The president-elect took to twitter to
disparage Mr Lewis as an "all talk, no action" sort of guy.
All talk; no action?
John Lewis, was - literally - beat
within an inch of his life during civil rights marches of the 1960s.
Lewis and Martin Luther King Jr and
others broke the letter of certain laws, but they acted out of what was they
believed was just and fair.
We make choices about what will guide
our words and actions.
//
All choices (wise or ill-informed) have
consequences. What we chose to do in
this life will have an impact.
The noble goal is to impact things for
the better, for the good.
//
God has told you, O mortal, what is
good... do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.
//
Light is the exposer of what is true and real.
We shine well, when our words and
actions expose systemstic injustice.
We shine well, when our words and
actions expose willful hatefulness.
We shine well, when our words and
actions expose artificial superiority.
There are times in history when the
light is so bright that big, society shaping, changes happen.
But... before that ever happens, small
lights have lead the way. Ghandi said
that we are to "be the change [we] want to see in the world".
Too often we hear that our small
actions won't make a difference. The
problem is too big.
Everyday, I see some meme or comment
among my diverse group of facebook friends, that carbon taxes in Alberta and
Canada are a waste of time, energy and money because we are only responsible
for a relatively small fraction of total worldwide immissions.
It's as if there is no logic in trying
to be a change leader unless a following can be guaranteed ahead of time.
//
Jesus didn't say "love with your
whole being" if everyone is doing it too.
Micah didn't say, it's only good to be
just, kind and humble if everyone agrees to behave that way too.
Isaiah said that (in spite of their
exile status), the people were lights to the nations. They knew that this was a lofty goal that
needed to start with the faith they had while helpless in Babylon. In time, the light would spread. To get it going, they needed to be shining
now... even if the light's reach was limited to start.
//
It goes like this.
Do justice.
Love kindness.
Walk humble.
It starts small (always), but light
spreads. Make a difference. Be the change, you want to see in the world.
//
A
match will burn for long enough to light a single candle
A
candle only burns until the conversation’s done
One
bright conversation shines a light across a lifetime
Every
life has time enough to shine - like the sun.
"Single Candle" -
D Wilcox
Let us pray:
God, draw us toward your purpose as you
call us into the work of Jesus. Amen.
#679VU “Let There be Light”
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