Let Your Light Shine

Let Your Light Shine is the title of the sermon I wrote in January of 2013.  It was the very first one I ever wrote.  I wrote it on a day when I knew my husband was struggling to write one himself and it was already Saturday morning.  I had a strong sense that morning that God had something for me to share and after a few short hours later I had written the following...

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Well, according to many…it’s all over…Christmas 2012 is complete…check…done…time to move on to the cold, dreary, and in our area of the country lasting a little too long…winter.  The only trace of Christmas left in our house is the new childrens’ toys strewn across  the family room, an outfit received as a gift worn here and there by one member of the family or another and of course…those holiday décor items that get found every couple of days that cause rising frustration levels as it belongs in the box that is now buried in the back of the storage closet.   All of this leaves many people feeling down…the after-Christmas blues.  We have had so much to look forward to over the past couple of months as we prepared to celebrate the coming of Christ.  But now the music is gone and the lights are coming down.

          Yet as Christians we know that the Christmas story is really the beginning and not the end.  We know that we are now on a journey of celebration of Christ’s life…beginning, middle, end…the journey of the Christmas story that had to happen in order for the Easter story…the story that leads to our redemption and salvation…to take place.  So as the world around us has made Christmas disappear within the time frame of a week or even less…we are left with many wonderings.  Wondering what to do with all of the buildup of excitement that led to the big celebration of Christmas day that is now suddenly over.  Wondering if we really celebrated the momentous occasion of God incarnate being born into our scary, messy, dark world the way it is worthy of.  Or did we just plug away with the day in and day out of each necessity that the holidays calls us to year after year?  And what now?  What now?  Now that the hustle and bustle is done, the special gatherings are over, the music has disappeared, and the lights are coming down. 

          Over my Christmas break, I read a book by Eileen Button called “The Waiting Place.”  It is about all of the times in life that we are waiting for the next big thing.  Waiting to grow up, waiting for the one we’ll marry, waiting for our children to be born, and even waiting until all of our waiting is done and Christ calls us home.  These are the big moments…the Christmas and Easter moments, one could say. 

          The lights are coming down…the big moment is over.  We are once again in “the waiting place.”  Yet we must remember that all of our Christmas celebration culminates in the birth of Christ…as Jesus brought the light of God into our scary, messy, and dark world.  The light began when he came into our world … the light grew brighter in our world as he called men and women of faith to follow him … the light shined in the darkness as Jesus taught us new ways of loving God and serving one another … and the light continues to be given to all who come in faith today … so then why would we put the light out as the Christmas season comes to an end … when we are only at the beginning of the faith story that ultimately leads us to the cross of Jesus Christ … to the life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God … the story of salvation. 

          So what does this mean then?  How do we take the light that truly began shining on Christmas day and keep it shining while we are in the “waiting place.”  While we are returning to work…while we are keeping the house clean, while we are disciplining our children…while we are dating…while we are in school…while we are faced with the ins and outs and moments of everyday between what we have determined to be the big moments worth waiting for in life?

          On the last page of Eileen Button’s book, she includes a poem called “Breaking Free.”  She writes about a thief.  My interpretation of this thief is that he makes her doubt that she can break free from the cycle of living life in the waiting place…consumed by busy-ness, clutter, and the daily sense that life is just the waiting places where light does not shine and big moments where it does.  It goes like this:

The thief slipped in without my knowing

And skulked downstairs where my busy-ness waited,

I could feel him pacing, pacing, pacing,

And heard him speak the words I should not believe:

“You are not good enough.”

Buried in my cluttered, dust-filled room

And trembling beneath the suffocating covers,

I peeked out and around only once in a while to listen and repeat in my unconvincing voice,

“You are wrong, you are wrong, you are wrong.”

His confident doubt held me hostage

And mocking laughter blocked the naked stair,

I shivered and pulled my soft shell tighter

Knowing my sedentary stance confirmed my worst fear:

I am a coward.

At last, I bolted from my waiting place

And chanced believing the risk might render reward,

I sacrificed my terror to the light and begged it to save me

As the thief’s final curse filled the space of my shadow:

“You.  Will.  Fail.”

But he was wrong.

          The hustle and bustle is done, the special gatherings are over, the music has disappeared, and the lights are coming down.  We are in the waiting place…but we don’t have to hide our light under a bushel.  How do we let our light shine … even while we are “waiting?”   

           The light of Jesus came into our world and changed it forever.  The world has hope that it didn’t have before.  If we let Jesus fully into our hearts and shine his light there, he will change us forever.  It starts with a choice.  As the world around us chooses to put Christmas away…to turn off the music and take down the lights…to move on into the next waiting place without thoughts of what we celebrated Christmas for…the celebration of the beginning of the journey to Christ’s ultimate sacrifice for us…we must choose to break free and allow our light to continue to shine anyway…even though we are in the waiting place moments of everyday life.  We must let the light of Jesus into our hearts everyday through prayer and openness to how he will change our lives in the in between of the big moments we’re always waiting for.

In Eileen’s book she concludes that she thought writing her book would help her discover and share ways to flee the waiting place.  But instead she comes to the conclusion that “To live is to wait.  It’s how we wait that makes all the difference.”    

So I wonder this…will you choose to hide your light under a bushel and simply wait for the big moments to take it back out again.  Or will you choose to take the light that started shining on Christmas and carry it with you every day… shining Christ’s light as bright as we can … in every moment … even the in-between moments of life … by choosing the one who chose us first. 

Choosing to be in relationship with God…choosing to let Him into our hearts everyday…not just in the big moments … choosing to allow God to fill our heart, mind, soul, and strength … until the light of Jesus Christ overflows and shines before others … so that they may see our good works … and give glory to our Father in heaven.

The world can be a cold, dreary and dark place for far too many people … and each one of us … may be the carrier of the light that they so desperately need. 

Jesus is clear … we are … the light of the world.  No one turns on a light and then hides it under a basket … but allows it to shine brightly … giving light to all in the house. 

In the same way … let us go out and shine our light before others … that they may see the light shining in us … and be drawn to faith in our God.  Amen.

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Tomorrow I will be sharing my second sermon with our congregation...it is titled Living a Life of Rejoicing Always.  I pray that it may speak to the hearts of those listening and be a help to them, wherever they are in their journey.