Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Some people have a hard time accepting a compliment, and with good reason. I am not talking about those who suffer from misguided modesty and honestly do not think they deserve the praise they are getting. I am talking about people who refuse a compliment not because they feel unworthy but because they feel that something will be expected of them.

If you say that someone is a good dancer, you put them on the spot to show how well they can dance. People who are told that have “a way with words” are burdened with having to say something clever – on cue. A compliment in the present is an observation about past performance with an expectation of future performance. That is why some people refuse a compliment: They do not want to be burdened with expectations.  After all, if you say that someone is generous, you may be implying that you want a loan.

When Jesus tells his listeners – and us, today - “You are the light of the world” – the Lord is giving us a compliment. He is saying, you have something good to give that will bring others a way of seeing the path before them – just as a light shines out in the dark and guides the traveler on his journey. Your light gives warmth to people in a world that can seem so often dark and cold. Your light is a source of energy like the sun that gives growth and power to the earth – wherever it shines. Your light is like a candle in the window, quietly witnessing that someone is home – that someone is waiting – that there is reason to hope for a welcome and a homecoming.

“You are the light of the world.” That is a beautiful compliment, but it will be refused by people who are afraid that something is being expected of them – and it is! The prophet Isaiah makes the expectation very clear in the words of the first reading: “Thus says the Lord: Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless, clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own. THEN your light shall break forth like the dawn.”

In other words, when we show love in practical ways, when we do what are called the works of mercy – it is like the break of dawn after a long, dark night. People have hope because they can see the way to go, they can feel the warmth of a love that is personally for them. This is all the more appreciated, because love and mercy cannot be taken for granted. How much more common it is to read about violence even against children in wars around the world; or, closer to home, how many people – even those who are employed but poorly paid – need adequate food and heat? How many already know that they have made a mistake and need to hear a word of encouragement that will tell them how they can get back on track?

When Jesus says, “You are the light of the world,” he is telling us that WE are the messengers of hope, because we have something to give that will help someone in some way. The compliment of Jesus speaks especially to this church of Christ Our Hope, because it validates your own stated mission, which is to be a “beacon of light” in downtown Seattle, “where all are welcome to grow in Faith, Hope, and Love” and it compliments you on having the faith that shows itself in love and, in that way, gives people hope.

But why accept the compliment and the expectations that come with it? Why let your light shine at all?

We get two answers to that question in the readings today: Jesus tells us that “Your light must shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” I take that to mean that when we let the light of our love shine in the world, it reminds people of God – even a little light shows that a person is moved to act for reasons beyond self-interest. Our light shines and people remember the God who first loved us and gave himself for us. The light of a good deed shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it – so, our shining light is a witness to good news – and that rouses people to hope and even to imitation.

The prophet Isaiah gives us another reason. When we share our bread with the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, and shelter the homeless, our light will break forth like the dawn – and, Isaiah adds, “Your wound shall quickly be healed; your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.” In other words, when you let your light shine, you show that you are more than your wounds – whether self-inflicted or caused by others; when your light shines, you are even vindicated – free to be a person who is bigger and more free and more magnificent than you have been before. When you let your light shine, the Lord is your rear guard, says Isaiah – God has your back – because you are generous.

When people bravely reach out to others in real and generous ways, they are stretching themselves in the very act of reaching out and so they become even bigger than they were before. This is true not only of individuals. As a country, we have given peoples from many lands reason to hope because – historically - we have welcomed immigrants, the tired, and the poor – the outcasts of teeming shores beyond our borders. So, it is entirely fitting that Lady Liberty carries a torch – she is letting her light shine – and this has – historically – given people hope. As Pope Francis said to the Congress of the United States when he visited in 2015: The refugee crisis today “presents us with great challenges and many hard decisions” – he acknowledges that there is much room for debate on this difficult issue, but, he adds, “We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays: To discard whatever proves troublesome. Let us remember the Golden Rule: `Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (cf. Matthew 7:12)” [From Pope Francis Speaks to the United States and Cuba, pp.83-84.] And when he said this, the entire Congress rose to its feet and applauded a long time.

It is not easy to accept a compliment, especially when we know how much is expected of us if we accept it. But Jesus is showing us the way to life by calling us “the light of the world,” and the prophet Isaiah makes the promise very clear: “If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted, the light shall rise for YOU in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.”

Father Stephen Rowan