Being Light

This last week a very bright, articulate and sensitive man killed himself.  Two days before he took this action he sat in the our little church sanctuary and was part of our fellowship.  And yet he walked out, and ultimately felt so empty, so sad, so hopeless, that he took his life.

We try to preach good news.  We try to give people hope.  We try to be the “light”.  But how does that work?  What would it have meant to be light for this hurting man?

In the church we talk a  lot  about  light.  Jesus is the light!  We are the light.  We as Christians are to be people who make a difference in the world - who share the love of God  - who make the sacred present in a very secular world.

But there is a problem.  The first problem is that for all its “talk” about being light, sharing the good news, being a presence in the world, the church does a lousy job of it.   About 10 years ago a sociologist did a survey where he asked people about their behaviors and attitudes.  In the demographic component he determined whether people classified themselves as Christian or non-Christian, and then compared the results.  His findings were interesting.  Let’s look for example at behaviors.  There were 25 behaviors explored.  For example, "Gave money to a homeless person or poor person, in past year"   Of the Christians, 24% had done so.  Among the non-Christians?  34%   "Attended a community meeting on local issue, in past year"  Christians - 37%; Non-Christians - 42%.  The behavior of Christians often cannot be differentiate for that of non- Christians.  Where’s the light?

The other problem is that even though Christians are supposedly working hard to “be light” they aren’t making a very good impression.  In another study done in 2007 young people ranked the attributes of Christians as they perceived them.   Nine of the 12 most common attributes they named were negative ones. According to the study, "Common negative perceptions include that present-day Christianity is judgmental (87%), hypocritical (85%), old-fashioned (78%), and too involved in politics (75%)."  And this wasn't just ignorance talking. The youth interviewed had significant contact with Christians.  They had attended churches, were connected with Christians.  So this is the “image” of the sacred we project?

How do we function as light in this world?  In part it is how we act.  We must be kind.  We must listen.  We must act in caring ways.  But the reality is that it is probably more about who we are as people.  Our acts come from deep inside.  In Luke, after telling us to put the “lamp” (Jesus) where people can see it, Jesus says these words (Luke 11:34-41).  “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you…  Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside [the dish] to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.   

We cannot put on a mask of piety, and think we are being the light of the world.

We cannot be pious and judgmental, and think we are being the light

We cannot hide behind words, behind engagement in the church, and think we are being the light

No,  being a lamp, being light is a matter of letting people see us… No pretense!  No hypocrisy…  It is letting people look into the center of who we are. 

And it is being clear, that this person (me) - who is good and bad, strong and weak, hopeful and hopeless – that this person is Christ’s person.  Loved by God.  Forgiven by God.  Empowered by God.  A flawed vessel bearing the beauty of the creator. 

Dallas Willard once wrote  “The positive characterization of the kingdom attitude is agape love… Jesus calls us to him to impart himself to us.  He does not call us to do what he did, but to be who he was, permeated with love.  Then the doing of what he said and did becomes the natural expression of who we are in him.”  We are to be people permeated by God’s love.  That is what our whole self is to be about.  It does not make us perfect, or without flaw.  But it makes us people who have an impact.

And when people can look at us, and see this authentic self, permeated with love…. Well there is an important message here isn’t there?  If Christ can love us – as we are ???  The real us? Well then there can be no doubt, God also loves them.

So lets get back to that original idea of being light

We now know for sure what it is it not….It is not mere words… sharing formulas, standard phrases

It putting forth a “holy exterior”

It is interfacing with others in a unique way.  It is seeing people with the eyes of grace

It is helping them to see themselves through the eyes of grace.

It is also allowing people to see us

It is ultimately connecting with them at the level of the soul

It is building a  bridge of love

A relational bridge

Across which the love, the grace, the forgiveness of God can cross. . .   To heal, to empower

It is letting the real Christ

Who exists, who lives, who is present,  in the real us…

Shine into the real world, the real darkness

Corey my friend.  Rest in peace