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Monday Meditations |
August 30, 2010 Read: Luke 11:33-36 This teaching of Jesus is often used to tell Christians that they are all gifted in some way to shine the light of the gospel upon the world, and that it is wasteful and stupid to hide God-given “light.” Didn’t your parents yell at you for not turning off the lights when you left a room? How much more valuable is the inner light of God than mundane electricity! That lamp that we set out so all may see is our faith in God and the teachings of Christ. Does your faith reflect in how you live your life? Does your life reflect the wisdom and actions of Jesus? This is not for your sake, but for the sake of those around you who will be drawn to God because of your unhidden light. In a society that we acknowledge is filled with darkness, we who declare Christ as Lord must be light. Christians today are unfairly lumped together with those who are judgmental, sectarian, phobic, self-absorbed…in other words, lost in darkness. Such Christians are not brightly shining lamps to draw others to God, but, like the rest of the world, often grope blindly in the dark. What does the brightly lit lamp of a Christian look like? It comes out through our eyes (which, even before Christ, were seen as windows into the soul) where those we meet can read there whether we have compassion or judge, love or condemn, trust or distrust. The lamp of a Christian gives light but doesn’t burn those around; it’s a humble and soft light even in its brightness. Above all, it doesn’t seek to draw others to him/her, but to the God who lit the lamp at the first; it is not self-interested, but other-interested. Jesus says “be sure that your light isn’t darkness.” How do we know? I believe the light/darkness test always involves erring on the side of love and acceptance whenever we are unsure of how to act, speak or pray. Life often seems to stand in the twilight, a kind of gray atmosphere which confuses us. Let your lamp always choose to shine love. Better that than to mistake judgment for light, or hatred for light. If we mistake darkness for light, we ask God to forgive us in the last day. But, for now, let us err toward grace and mercy, as God has toward us. First Lutheran Church
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