SUNDAY’S SERMON

Why Not Us?

Matthew 5: 13-16

Pastor Robyn Hogue February 9, 2014 Skyline Presbyterian Church

There are all kinds of theories about how to motivate people. We can do it through guilt, fear, and shame. But these were not Jesus’ methods. Jesus motivated through hope and encouragement.

Consider this portion of the Sermon on the Mount: Jesus says to His followers, “You are the light of the world. . . .” Can you imagine that? Here was a motley crew of farmers and fishermen and tax collectors and housewives in a tiny and remote village in an obscure part of the world and Jesus was saying to them, “You are the light of the world.” Talk about a statement of faith! Let’s go farther than that. Talk about a crazy idea! Light of the world? That bunch? It must have sounded absurd at the time…even to them. Only Jesus could have seen that through this motley crew God would indeed change the world forever. At the time, however, it probably sounded like so much idle chatter. “You are the light of the world,” He said and so they were. Now do you want to hear something really absurd? So are we.

The Gospel is true for us today. We are the light of the world. Think about that for a moment. You and I are the light of the world. What does it mean?

Well, it means that we have a responsibility for others. This makes sense, doesn’t it? A light house steers ships away from the rocks. A lamp lights up a room. A campfire draws us to community. Light does not exist for its own glory but to brighten up the world. That is the first thing Jesus is saying to us: We have a responsibility for others.

I read this week about one of the most remarkable of men. He was a young man left blind in both eyes by a childhood accident. In nineteenth-century France, when this young man lived, blind children had little help and few hopes. But then a kind priest, Father Jacques Palluy, took an interest in the lad. He was amazed at the boy’s intelligence and eagerness to learn. With his parents’ permission, Father Palluy enrolled the boy in the Royal Institute of Blind Youth in Paris.

Thrust into a new and frightening environment, the boy was lonely and depressed. In time, however, he found friendship and encouragement. Unfortunately he was frustrated by the institute’s lack of books in raised print. He also found the symbols in raised print confusing. So he set out, at twelve years of age, to invent his own system. After three years he perfected the method, but he encountered indifference and hostility when he tried to convince the world that his system was better. Even with the support of the institute’s director, he was told again and again that he was too young to have created a workable alphabet for the blind. Years passed. This young man grew older, was made a teacher at the institute, and became a fine organist, always hoping that his method would find acceptance. But his health was frail. It was not until he lay in bed, dying of tuberculosis, that he heard that the first steps were being taken to popularize his system. Though he did not live to witness it, Louis Braille’s alphabet became the universal method of reading for the blind. His courage and hunger for knowledge enabled him to triumph over disability and disease and open new worlds to future generations.

Louis Braille became light for those whose physical eyes had failed them. It is wonderful when a person uses what they have to make the world a better place for others. The Gospel calls people to serve others with all they have and all they are for the good of humanity. We are the light of the world. We have a responsibility for the world.

We also have something the world desperately needs. This is another thing Jesus was saying when He said that we are the light of the world. We have something the world cannot find anywhere else.

Mother Teresa was speaking to persons who had come from all over the world to meet her. Among the groups to which she spoke was one of religious sisters from many North American orders. After her talk she asked if there were any questions. “Yes, I have one,” a woman sitting near the front said. “As you know, most of the orders represented here have been losing members. It seems that more and more women are leaving all the time. And yet your order is attracting thousands upon thousands. What do you do?”

Without hesitating Mother Teresa answered, “I give them Jesus.”

“Yes I know,” said the woman, “but take habits, for example. Do your women object to wearing habits? And the rules of the order, how do you do it?”

“I give them Jesus,” Mother Teresa replied.

“Yes, I know Mother,” said the woman, “but can you be more specific?”

“I give them Jesus,” Mother Teresa repeated again.

“Mother,” said the woman, “we are all of us aware of your fine work. I want to know about something else.”

Mother Teresa said quietly, “I give them Jesus. There is nothing else.”

What do we have that the world can’t find anywhere else? All we have is the person of Jesus Christ.

We are often reminded that we live in a pluralistic world. Today there are people of many religions calling our country “home.” We can learn many things from these neighbors. If someone should ask us, though, what is distinctive about Christianity, let me suggest we do as Mother Teresa did. Give them Jesus. The greatest misunderstanding current today is that all religions are the same. Certainly, all of the world’s great religions have many worthwhile values and spiritual practices to offer. We can find help in all of them. But what we can’t find is the story of the Prodigal Son, or the Good Samaritan or the Rich Fool. There is no higher order of life than that which Jesus taught. Christianity as an institution might not be too appealing at times, and I certainly would not want to be part of “organized” religion, but if we understand the life and teachings of Jesus, He has no peer. Literally. We have a responsibility for the world. AND We also have something the world cannot find anywhere else.

Let me also say that we are not the source of our light; we are guides to a much greater source. There is One who has touched our lives and given us the power and the authority to touch others. A city set on a hill shall not be hidden.

When I was a teenage girl my uncle asked if I would like to take ride in his Cesna airplane. I knew we were in for an adventure when we crawled into this tiny little plane and he handed me a laminated check list and said, “Read these instructions while I try to figure out the instruments on this thing.” With fear and trembling, we made it into the skies above Spokane. Coming back home that night, my uncle said to me, “See if you can recognize any landmarks of the city so I can get a bearing to find my way to that little airstrip where we’re supposed to land.” I can’t tell you how delighted I was to finally see the lights on the runway! At last we made it and we were safe. You and I are like lights on the runway. People need to find their way home.

Jesus saw possibilities in people they did not see in themselves. “You are the light of the world,” He said to them. And so they became. The love they received from Him they passed on to others. Today there is no place in this world that the light they received from Him doesn’t shine. Because of fierce persecution, it is sometimes only a faint flicker. Sometimes because of the weaknesses of His followers the fire is uncertain and tentative, but still it glows. And now it is in your possession and mine… Why not us? People need to find their way home.