{Prayer}
I am a fan of storms. I love to watch storms approach, I love to listen to the rain, watch the lightening and feel the rumble of the thunder. Probably one of the eeriest things to me though is when it’s evening time, that storm outside is doing the things I enjoy, and then the power goes out. All of a sudden there is this stillness, this quietness which settles in. The flashing lightening is casting shadows within the house which we normally don’t see. When the power goes out, we quickly move to find a flash light, a candle, or an oil lamp.
As we light that candle or light that oil lamp, there is this sense of peace again. Even though the storm is raging outside, that little lamp produces enough light for us to see in the midst of the darkness.
I thought of this as I was reading the words of Jesus in our gospel lesson, in this little section from His great sermon on the mount. Jesus addressing those gathered says, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). Later, He pictures a person lighting an oil lamp and setting it on a lampstand within a house and it give light to everyone in the house. The contrast between the oil lamp, which gives light, and the world which needs light is amazing to me.
When I think of the light of the world, I don’t think of a person or an oil lamp … I think of something huge. Something like the sun shining up in the sky. According to a NASA astrophysicist, the sun’s nuclear fusion produces enough energy that if there were a bridge of ice which went from the earth to the sun, and that bridge of ice was two miles wide and a mile thick … the sun could melt that bridge in one second. That is what I think of when I consider the “light of the world.” A massive amount of energy putting off a massive amount of light to illumine a very dark world. I don’t think I fit that description.
But yet, Jesus takes something much, much smaller. Jesus takes a little, oil lamp and promises that this is enough light to illumine the world.
Jesus did the same thing a verse earlier. Instead of an oil lamp, Jesus mentions salt. Salt is something which we use in small quantities. We use to enhance the flavor of our food. We use salt as a preservative. You can use a small layer of salt to preserve a large quantity of meat. Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). Something small, like salt, is again used to preserve something large … like the earth.
At the center of these images is something wonderful. God’s grace. God has the power to take that which is small, that is which overlooked, that which is despised, and use it to create something absolutely wonderful.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul says, “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). Now you have to think about this with a first century mindset. The cross then is not like it is today. Today we have them up in our houses, we wear them as part of our jewelry, we have them tattooed on our bodies, and we have them displayed in our churches and hospitals. In the first century, when Paul was writing that the message of the cross is foolishness … the cross was not broadcast and glorified like it is today.
For the first century person, the cross was intentionally overlooked, it was despised. The people wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. In Paul’s day, the cross was an instrument of torture and death. The cross was used for the most heinous of criminals, the ones who needed to be tortured and who needed to suffer for their crimes. The cross was strewn with mutilated bodies of criminals. Crucifixion was regarded in the ancient world as being the cruelest and most agonizing form of punishment. It was so horrible, so revolting, so degrading that you didn’t dare speak of it in public. Language about what happened to the filth of the world was consider obscene.
And yet, Jesus humbled Himself under His Father’s judgment, Jesus took upon Himself the mutilation of human hands and the wrath of God. Jesus’ appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form was disfigured beyond human likeness. He was despised and rejected by men (Isaiah 53-53). Jesus was totally abandoned by His Father in heaven. Jesus was crucified as a most heinous criminal. … And He did all this so that He might reveal the mystery of salvation, so that He might reveal the powerful grace of God. Because of His obedient life, suffering and death, all sin, absolutely all sin has been brought to an end in Him. Because of Jesus’ resurrection, all life, absolutely all life now begins in Him.
You see, no one is ever too small, ever too insignificant, ever too heinous for Jesus’ saving. As Paul writes to the Corinthians in his first letter, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are” (1 Cor. 1:26-28).
In the Kingdom of God … even the smallest action is filled with His powerful grace. Just as a tiny seed, just as a mustard seed which is smaller than all the seeds, when it is planted, Jesus says it grows up and “is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches” (Matthew 13:31-32). Just as that small seed can grow up into something mighty and produce not only shelter for the birds but also produce millions more mustard seeds … a word, a glance, a touch … each can be used by God to change a person’s life and to change the world.
After Jesus was done with His sermon on the mount, He comes down from the mountain and a man with leprosy, an incurable disease, comes up to Jesus and says, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean” (Matt. 8:2). Willingly, Jesus reaches out and touches the man and he is immediately cured. Going into Capernaum, a centurion comes up to Jesus asking for His help to heal his servant who is paralyzed and suffering terribly. Jesus is willing to go to the man’s house, but the centurion says “No Lord, I don’t deserve that. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” Amazed by his faith, Jesus tells him to “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” The servant was healed that very hour.
Like a little light from an oil lamp, a touch, a word is spoken and things happen. But I hear ya, “yeah pastor, we get that, but this is Jesus you’re talking about, He can do anything.” When you go home, read 2 Kings 5. There you will find a man named Naaman. He is a powerful military commander in Syria. He finds himself fighting against leprosy, a disease which no military power could ever cure. As he is in his home, he overhears from his wife that she overheard from her servant girl that there is a God in Israel who does wonders through His prophet and could very well bring about healing. Like a little light from an oil lamp, this little word from a little girl living as a captive in a strange land lights up the world and brings to a military commander in Syria the wonderful work of God’s healing.
It is so easy for us as Christians to wonder about the value of our lives in the world. It is easy to wonder if the things we do or the things we say really matter. To live as a Christian today is becoming more and more difficult. Our conversations about God are looked down upon at school and work. Friends will give us these looks and become really quiet when we bring up Jesus and church. Our culture’s understanding of marriage, of sexuality, of honesty, of self-sacrifice, of community … they all seem so foreign to the world around us. We feel like we are on the edge of society, on the margins of what is really happening. Yet … like the small portion of salt which cover the meat, our lives are preserving the world. Like the little light from an oil lamp in the darkness, our lives are the light which God uses to illumine the world.
Jesus is not asking you to be a spotlight and blind people. The little light of Christ within you, it can cast away the darkness of trials and temptations, suffering and sadness, depression and doubt for the light of Christ’s victory over sin, death, and Satan gives hope and peace which surpasses all human understanding. Amen.
And may that peace which does surpass all human understanding, guard your hearts and your minds, in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Amen.
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