I’m not really a history person...what I mean by that, is I can speak in generalities...but ask me if it was this president who said this, or that event took place on this date...it’s just not me. Now my husband, on the other hand, he’s a history guy. He loves all those details. But I digress. My point is, I’m not a history person, but today, I want to share a little history with you, so please bear with me.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott, spearheaded the strong push for equal voting rights in the mid-19th century. After the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, the rallying cry for women's right to vote became a yell too loud to ignore. In 1920 — 41 years after it had originally been drafted — Congress ratified an amendment that said, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
On February 1, 1960, four college students--Ezell A. Blair Jr., David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, and Franklin McCain-initiated the first sit-in demonstration at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. The store manager ignored the protesters, hoping they would leave. The next day, twenty-seven more students came to protest. By February 5, three hundred students had arrived, igniting a mass movement of sit-ins for desegregation throughout the South.
And on April 25, 1993, The March on Washington for LGBT equal rights and liberation brought together between 800,000 and a million people seeking civil rights bills against discrimination, an increase in AIDS research funding, and reproductive rights.
My point in this little history lesson is that these people who stood up for their rights, whether they would frame it this way or not, were being the light of the world in that particular time and place. They were calling attention to an injustice that needed to be addressed. They were asking for what we basically affirm in our own baptismal covenant--for people to respect the dignity of every human being...particularly those who have been oppressed or marginalized.
Now we’ll come back to this history lesson in a minute, but first let’s look at the readings for today.
In the reading from the Prophet Isaiah, the prophet is giving the people of Israel a bit of a tongue lashing. They have become quite pleased with themselves for their piety and worship practices. However, Isaiah has taken note of the fact that this piety is really empty rituals because the people are not in good relationship with one another…they are ignoring the needs in their community and turning a blind eye to the oppressed. Some are even participating in the oppression of their neighbors! But there is good news here in Isaiah. God speaks through Isaiah to help point the people back in the right direction…God instructs the people that compassionate action that loosens the bonds of injustice and oppression puts neighbors in right relationship. Through the prophet, God tells the people that they have a light that will break into the world and that they will become agents of healing. To share light means to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and clothe the naked. In verse 12, God tells the people they will be known as repairers and healers of their community and the world.
Hmmm….that sounds a little like the history lesson I just shared with you...
So I want to talk to you about what I think it means to be in community. No only do we live in our community (neighborhoods, towns, cities), but we are a community (a gathering of individuals who share similar ideas/ideals, and support one another in hope and love). In the passage from the prophet Isaiah, God is calling the people to remember their community and understand their relationships with one another. God is calling them to be a healing light in the world.
The gospel reading from Matthew is Discipleship 101...Jesus is telling his friends what following him is all about…you are salt, you are light. It’s not about power positions, it’s not about being popular, but it is about mercy, generosity and justice. Before becoming Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry would say being a disciple is a little bit crazy because it calls us out of our comfort zones, it calls us to loosen the bonds of oppression, and it calls us to be in relationship with one another.
If we were to look at this text from Matthew in its original language, we’d notice two things. First of all, Jesus doesn’t ask his disciples “do you want to be the salt and light of the world” he says “you are”. He’s giving them their identity and their mission. Secondly, the word “you” is plural…he’s talking to all of the disciples, not just one of them. He’s basically saying, “all y’all are salt and light.” Just like God in Isaiah, You—the community—have been given the mission to let your light break forth in the world, to be an agent of healing, and to be the repairer of the world. Just like the women of the suffragist movement, those students in Woolworths, and those who gathered for LGBT civil rights, they were bringing the light into the world to help heal their communities.
Now being the light of the world is no easy task! We’ve already seen from Isaiah what’s involved…care for the most vulnerable, the disenfranchised, and the marginal. But we don’t have to do it alone. We’re all in this together. Remember… “all y’all” are the light of the world. And as we’ve seen in history, and continue to experience in our present context, being the light of the world is not a “one and done”...it’s on-going until the Kingdom of God, is fully realized.
And because of that on-going sense of needing to be the light of the world, it gets tough. Sometimes it’s easier to hide under bushel baskets and in empty rituals. And we all have those moments. We get tired, burned out, overwhelmed by the light and all the needs that it illuminates. And in these present days...there is a lot that needs our light. But here’s where we as Christians define ourselves. This is where compassion comes in. Compassion is the ability to be present to someone else’s pain and struggles without them becoming yours. This is important to keep in mind when being declared the light of the world.
So here’s the trick of being the compassionate light of the world... Jesus reminds us, and history does too...we can’t get stuck under the bushel basket. While it is good compassionate with yourself, and catch your breath, you have to reignite your light. The fact is, we have a lot of work to do…our light is desperately needed in the world!
And so I invite you to think about how Jesus is calling you to be the light of the world in this community, how are you being called to be an agent of healing and reconciliation here? Where can your light shine brightly in someone else’s life?