Turn on the Light!
Matthew 5:14
Bishop Larry Goodpaster ... Western NC of UMC


Jesus said: “You are the light of the world.” In the year 1893, the great World’s Fair captured the imagination of the people of Chicago. The World’s Columbian Exposition, as it was called, was built at Jackson Park near the shores of Lake Michigan, and attracted people from all over the world, in spite of a severe and deepening economic depression. The Chicago fair introduced many new products, and the latest inventions for what promised to be a marvelous 20th century just around the corner. Some things we now take for granted were first seen at that 1893 Fair: Cracker Jacks, long-distance telephone service, moving pictures, zippers, all-electric kitchens, Juicy Fruit gum and Shredded Wheat cereal.

Perhaps the most amazing display at the fair was the electric street lights that paved the way through the immense fairgrounds. In his recent best selling book, The Devil in the White City, author Erik Larson describes that display this way: “The lamps that laced every building and walkway produced the most elaborate demonstration of electric illumination ever attempted and the first large-scale test of alternating current. The fair alone consumed three times as much electricity as the entire city of Chicago … what visitors adored was the sheer beauty of seeing so many lights ignited in one place at one time.”

Is it possible that such “sheer beauty” might describe the light shining forth from churches all over this conference; from members letting their light shine? Imagine – thousands of lights in one conference, ignited for one purpose! What sheer beauty that would be!

Jesus said: “You are the light of the world!”

Years ago I heard a wonderful story about a period of time probably not too many years after that Chicago World’s Fair. TVA and other electric power associations had not yet strung the wires to all sections of the country. In a very rural part of a southern state, a young couple lived without electricity back in the woods, the only entrance to their little cabin a rutted dirt road. The time came for the young wife to give birth to their first child. With great excitement, the young man rode his horse into the closest town to get the country doctor to come out and assist in the delivery. It was nightfall before they arrived back at the cabin. After examining the soon-to-be mother, the doctor acted with some haste. He told the young man he would have to help by holding the only old kerosene lamp so the doctor could see what he was doing. The man positioned himself just over the doctor’s shoulder, lifted the lamp high, and waited with trembling hands. Within a few moments, a son was born and the man beamed with excitement – only to hear the doctor say, “hold on a minute” – a second son was born: twins! The excitement cooled just a bit. “Oh my,” said the doctor, as a third child was born: triplets! Now the young man was very quiet, scared, and was shaking so much the light swung from side to side. “Well, well” were the next words from the doctor’s mouth – a fourth child: quadruplets. At this point the young man finally spoke: “Doc, do you reckon it’s this light that’s attracting all these young-uns? – cause if it is, I can turn it out right now!”

Jesus said: “You are the light of the world!” Is your light attracting people? Or has it been turned off, or was it burned out long ago?

As I have traveled across the connection for the last several years, I have heard a disturbing clicking sound - not the sound of a mouse clicking for a computer connecting to the information superhighway! It is the sound of light switches being turned off at our churches. You may have heard it as well. A church says, “I think we are just about the right size now.” Click – the light switch is turned off. Another church says, “We may attract the wrong kind of people.” Click – the light switch is turned off. Another church says: “Well, the neighborhood is changing, we better move.” Click – the light switch is turned off. Before the end of this conference session, we will officially (tragically) close some churches because years ago, for a variety of reasons, the light was turned off.

Jesus said: “You are the light of the world!” This is not a parable with multiple layers of meaning that we have to figure out. This is not even some cryptic, apocalyptic, message that needs elaborate code breaking. This is a straightforward, declarative sentence: you are the light of the world.

Notice that Jesus did not say, “you have to try harder to be a better light.” As if we could somehow get flood-lamp illuminating brilliance out of 60-watt members! Jesus did not say, “you ought to be a light” – as if we had any choice in the matter. Jesus did not say that any one of us has the authority to turn off the light! “You are the light of the world.” The “you” as Jesus applies it here is corporate. Each and every believer is a light, yes. But more than that, the community as a whole is identified as light to the nations – and what sheer beauty might shine forth in this world from so many lights.

How then shall we shine? I invite you to think about 3 other declarative statements made by Jesus through the Gospel of Matthew – statements that may illumine our understanding of this announcement from Jesus, this statement of our identity.

The first one is recorded in the 18th chapter of Matthew. Jesus says: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Most of you have probably waxed eloquently on some childlike quality as a standard interpretation of this text: humility, openness, trust, innocence, energy, excitement, discovery, and wonder, to name a few. But before we start analyzing childhood and any insights we might gain from that amazing period of our lives, I want to call your attention to the first word from the mouth of Jesus. “Unless you change….” Can you believe that? Can it really be that Jesus actually wants us to change? We cannot keep living our lives and doing things the way we always have. In order to participate in God’s kingdom, in order to shine brightly, we are going to have to turn around, to change, and to follow Jesus and not our own ideas.

I’m sure you have, like me, collected many of those amusing, sometimes insightful, one-liners about changing light bulbs. I especially like the ones about Methodists – you know: how many Methodists does it take to change a light bulb? One answer: “Are you kidding me, my grandmother gave that light bulb!” Another: “We’re not sure, but we will appoint a 12-person study committee to determine the feasibility of instructing the trustees to investigate the cost and benefits of changing that light bulb.”

There is a well-known encounter between Jesus and a seeker that I think illustrates what Jesus is announcing here. You remember the story of Nicodemus who comes to Jesus by night looking for some light for his soul. Like countless others since, Nicodemus is puzzled over what he hears: this notion of being born anew, from above – it’s like turning or changing or starting over again. “You mean, I have to become an infant again?” he asks. That’s just it, Jesus declares – you have to learn to depend on and trust God and the movement of God’s Spirit in your life. Many of us have forgotten that! As we grow up (at least chronologically) we begin to think that we do not need anyone’s assistance, that we can make it on our own, that we can have it our way, that we have it all figured out and can accomplish anything – nothing is out of our reach. In a world left to its own devices inhabited by people who do their own thing, darkness prevails.

To change and become as a child is to learn to depend on God. If I could paraphrase the Apostle Paul, I think this is all about giving up not childish ways, but “adult-like” ways. It is to recognize that no light fulfills its intended purpose if it is not connected to a power source. And, Jesus is saying to us that if we are going to be light, if we are going to let our light shine, then we must abandon the standards and values this world honors, and get connected to God.

The second statement I want to lift up is found in the 10th chapter of Matthew. Jesus says: “What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.” In the 24th of his 52 standard sermons (the 4th one on the Sermon on Mount), John Wesley wrote: “Whatever religion can be concealed is not Christianity…it is absolutely contrary to the design of the great author of it.” Like the sunrise announcing the dawn of a new day, so believers are to announce the dawning of God’s reign in the world. We are called upon to be witnesses to the love, grace, and mercy of God, without which none of us would be here! In this world where a pall of darkness seems to have covered us, the call for bold witnesses for Jesus the Christ has never been more vital and necessary.

I know the classic line from Francis of Assisi about preaching sermons wherever we walk, and occasionally using words. But I also know that most Methodists have taken that far too literally and say nothing at all. The witnesses that move across the pages of the book of Acts certainly modeled Christian community and service – sharing their resources, singing, worshiping and studying, feeding the hungry, healing the sick – but they were also bold witnesses, speaking the truth of the Gospel wherever they went.

To be light in this world requires words – spoken with grace, spoken in love, but always spoken with sense of urgency as we invite people to experience God’s redeeming work in Jesus Christ. It is my unscientific hunch that we have turned off the light switches in too many churches because all of us (lay and clergy) stopped telling this story in compelling, relevant ways. Later in our session we will learn that for the 22nd consecutive year our conference will once again show a net gain of members – a smaller one this year than in the past. But those same figures will also tell us that more than half of our churches received no one on profession of faith. That is unacceptable! Have you stopped witnessing and telling the story? Did you turn off the light?

Sadly, we have taken to arguing among ourselves instead of lighting the way for a hurting world searching for meaning and purpose – a world where people may be more spiritually sensitive yet void of any notion of God’s redemptive action for their lives and for the life of the world. Instead of seeing that light can come from fluorescent bulbs and not just incandescent ones, we have gone to battle over worship styles, music tastes, dress codes, or whether the youth director should have visible tattoos! When what is desperately needed are not more debates over how one worships, or how one looks, but proclamations of where one finds light to live in this world and the next! Too many of those guarding the light switches of our churches say: “Well, if you are not going to do it the way we have always done it, we’ll just pull the plug and turn off all the lights!” And the world will continue to stumble along in darkness.

According to a story told by John Wigger in his wonderful book Taking Heaven by Storm on the Tombigbee Alabama Circuit in 1812 or 1813, a Methodist circuit rider named Richmond Nolley followed fresh wagon tracks to the camp of a family newly arrived in the area. “What!” exclaimed the father when he discovered Nolley’s identity, “have you found me already? Another Methodist preacher!” The man, it seems, had already moved from Virginia and Georgia in hopes of breaking the church’s hold on his wife and daughter, and was dismayed to encounter a circuit rider on the Tombigbee River already – “even before my wagon is unloaded.” (Story recorded on pages 56-57) You might be interested in knowing that in my 3 years as a bishop I have yet to receive a letter or phone call from any family complaining that the Methodists (clergy or lay) got to them before they unpacked. I have, unfortunately, received many from families who have moved, visited churches, and heard nothing (not even a pre-printed post card) from pastor or a member of the church.

The message of the Gospel may have first been uttered in secret, in parables, in rooms with small candles – but that does not mean we are to keep it a secret! It may have been whispered or clandestinely scribbled on walls, but now is the time for us to take it to the streets again.

The final declarative statement for tonight comes from the 14th chapter of Matthew. Again Jesus says: “you give them something to eat!” The statement comes in the midst of a big meeting, where people had been hanging around hours and hanging on every word Jesus spoke, where healings had become common place, and the crowd had grown in number. Now, the people are hungry, and the disciples come to Jesus saying it’s time to shut it down; pronounce the benediction and let them go into town and grab a salad and some fruit! No, Jesus says, you take care of it! You give them something to eat.

Now I think those disciples would have been good church members in the 21st century. You see they were able to volunteer plenty of information and give advice, they were able to quickly analyze the situation, and they surely felt some measure of sympathy for them, but they were not going to do anything about it. No, they suggest, let them fend for themselves! Or better yet, let someone else take care of it. After all, we have inadequate resources, we do not like special offerings, and besides we all left our jobs and are now on fixed incomes.

If we are going to be the light of the world that Jesus tells us that we are, we are going to have to rediscover the call to be in mission – to make sacrifices, to take risks, and to move out of our comfort zones and into the mission field, that starts at the front door of our church buildings. Earlier, our young people sang a wonderful arrangement of a Chris Rice song: “Go Light Your World.” They sang: “Carry your candle, run to the darkness, seek out the hopeless, confused and torn; seek out the lonely, the tired and worn.” Give them something to eat! My sisters and brothers, carry your candle for all to see; light up the world with deeds of compassion and concern. Be in mission. Be the light Jesus says you are.

Whether it is building day care centers in Ecuador, churches in Jamaica or Habitat houses in neglected, abandoned places of our own area; whether it is gleaning food from fields or restaurants, or serving as a mentor to a lonely child or staying up all night with a confused teenager; whether its baking casseroles or stocking a food pantry - being in mission in the world is not an option that we may choose to crowd into our already busy church calendars, filled with picnics, trips, play days, and retreats. Living as light in the world is the way of mission. When we do that we will be involved in the Jesus Strategy for illuminating the world with the light of the Good News! When we do that we will be shining so brightly that everyone will be able to see the glory of God through our acts of mission and ministry. And what sheer beauty that will be!

Jesus said: You are the light of the world! Turn it on! Go light your world!