Let Your Light Shine

 Do you know what God's first words are in the Bible?  I don't mean "in the beginning...".  Those are the author's first words.  Church tradition teaches that Moses wrote that.  But what is God's first quote in the Bible?  "Let there be light".  It's not wonder, then, that light has such a prominent role in theology and in life.  It is literally the first thing that God did here on Earth.  From that moment on, there was a distinct difference between light and darkness.  The light was deemed good and the darkness bad.  That symbolic battle has played itself out in the world and in popular culture (right, Star Wars fans?) since the beginning of creation.  Even as children, many of us knew that there was a difference between the light and the dark.  Maybe you were afraid of the dark.  Maybe you still are.  
         
The good news is that God provided a solution to the problem...the church!  The church as the body of Christ is called to be a light in the world.  Jesus called himself the light of the world.  It was a light in the sky that announced his birth to the world, and the blocking of the sun's light by storm clouds that announced his death to the world.    
         
Jesus once referred to himself as the light of the world.  But in Matthew, he also told the regular people listening to him that they are the light of the world.  That's because they had grabbed on to his light and started shining it themselves.  Jesus instructed them to let their light shine as brightly as they could.  The light of Christ should not be hidden.  Others will see Christ through our light.    
         
If we are to be the followers of Christ in 2021, we too have to let our light shine brightly so that everyone around us will experience God's loving grace.  Do you know what my favorite moment of the whole year is?  Christmas Eve, 11pm Candlelight Service.  As the service is ending, the clock is getting closer and closer to midnight and Christmas Day, and we are worship holding our candles high and singing Silent Night.  But how did we get to that point?  I light my candle from the Christ candle.  And from my candle, the ushers light theirs.  And from the ushers, the first person in every row lights theirs.  And that first person shares their light with the next person, and then they share theirs and that continues until the last candle is lit, but all of that light really came from one source; the Christ candle...from Christ himself.  
         
 Let your light shine brightly every day like it's Christmas Eve!   Share that light with everyone around you like it is Christmas Eve.  Let the world hear you and see you bringing glory to God!  Make your light so bright and so warm and so welcoming that others will want it for themselves, and then they will want to share it with others.  Let's make the world a bright enough place to drive out all the darkness.  Amen!  
           
 Blessings,  
 Reverend Dave  


This little light of mine
I’m going to let it shine
Oh, this little light of mine
I’m going to let it shine
This little light of mine
I’m going to let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine

Hide it under a bushel? No!
I’m going to let it shine
Hide it under a bushel? No!
I’m going to let it shine
Hide it under a bushel? No!
I’m going to let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.