Let Your Light Shine

Let Your Light Shine

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God who is Creator, Christ and Comforter.  Amen

Poor Hezekiah!  The King of Assyria is breathing down his neck, and the sentinels are crying out their news of gloom and doom.  It’s no idle threat, either!  Hezekiah was the witness of the destruction of the kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians…and now…and now powerful Assyria is coming for the Kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem is within their grasp. What to do?  Where to you go for help, O King?!?  Do you turn to your sister kingdom, Israel?  No, you can’t!  They have been destroyed by Assyria already!  Do you turn to Egypt?  No, they are fighting their own battles with other kingdoms and will not come.  Where will the King turn?

Hezekiah knew where his power truly came from…it came from God!  He had already rebuilt the temple and re-established the priesthood.  Jerusalem was once again the stronghold and the city of God.  He had torn down the high places and made sure the people had remembered the God of their ancestors – the God of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Rachel and Leah. 

So, dressed in sackcloth and ashes, after tearing his kingly garments, he entered the temple along with all the powerful men of the country (also clothed in sackcloth and ashes) and they prayed, and they prayed. 

God heard their prayer and Isaiah’s words were words of true hope and relief.  Sennacherib will not destroy Jerusalem at this time. 

I find it so interesting that our lectionary puts Isaiah chapter 2 after this story.  After all, it was penned 30 plus chapters earlier!  There’s a method to this madness, though.  It’s to remind us this morning of what Hezekiah and company knew…that God was the source of power and God has an ultimate plan! 

Jesus reminds us of this ultimate plan in the lesson from Matthew.  We bear the light of Christ…you do…I do…and we must let it shine!  I find this so powerful, and so threatening for Jesus to say.  He was living under occupation and not freely as we do here in the United States.  Can you imagine how subversive this idea of letting you light shine would be to those Roman soldiers and officials who were milling about as Jesus spoke? 

We who live so freely in the United States cannot imagine the absolute fearlessness and the stand against the powers that be Jesus took that day.  I often wonder as we think about Hezekiah and Jesus and their reliance on God for strength and courage…

What would Governor Brown do, or better question, what would incoming Governor Newsome do…should California be besieged by China or Russia or some other country?  Where would he turn for help and support? 

What about our President?  Where would he turn for support? 

Would we be relying on our allies?  Or would we turn to the God of our ancestors?

Do you remember the Polish and Czech velvet revolutions in the 1980’s?  Do you remember how it happened?  It began by people placing lit candles in their windows to protest against the government. 

Do you remember how the Berlin Wall fell?  The Berlin wall came down by people coming together for a prayer service every Monday night which continued to grow until 10,000 East Germans joined together and with candles in hand over threw their government…not shots fired! 

In Nelson Mandela’s book, Long Walk to Freedom, he says, “And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” 

My goodness!  Do we ever need this today more than ever!  We need to let our lights shine and to liberate others to do the same.  We have such an opportunity this week as we sit with friends and family around our thanksgiving tables to not only  be grateful for the gathering and the food but to invite each of us to think…

To think about how we will let our light shine. 

I invite you to join me as we put candles in our windows this holiday season.  Let’s let our lights shine as followers of Jesus to convey to our neighbors that we are Christians and we, the people of Christ Lutheran Church in Long Beach are ready to do something to let the light of Christ move us from darkness and fear into the light of hope and love. 

As the Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb says in his book, Faith in the Face of Empire, “Hope is the power to keep focusing on the larger vision while taking the small, often undramatic, steps toward that future.” 

I have a hope…a hope that goes back generations upon generations…a hope that comes from God’s vision for our world that Isaiah put so powerfully and poignantly into words so long ago…

He shall judge between the nations,

and shall arbitrate for many peoples;

they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war any more. 

I’m hoping we can close with a YouTube of The Candle Song by Graham Kendrick.  I invite you to listen to these words in light of Jesus’ words to us…let your light so shine…