A REPEAT  I CAME ACROSS TODAY

The Lord is My Light

December 7, 2005

"The LORD is my light and my salvation.

He is my God.

The LORD, He will reign forever and ever.

Amen.

And I will prepare Him my heart.

And I will prepare Him my heart.

The LORD is my light and my salvation.

He is my God.

The LORD!!"

The words and music of this praise song were the first thing I was conscious of as I woke up this morning.  I must have been dreaming about being at an Ultreya -- a monthly gathering for worship and fellowship of the Emmaus and Cursillo communities.  They are always joy-filled occasions.  Usually many musicians with guitars, keyboards and other instruments lead worship, and there is a lot of enthusiasm and beautiful harmonies.

The praise song triggered a memory of some slippers I saw at a department store the other day.  If you can believe it, they had little lights in the toes, and there were photos on the box that contained them.  The photos showed someone's slippered feet walking in the dark to the refrigerator.  The little lights on the toes of the slippers lit the way.  It gave the impression that there were little headlights coming out of tree trunk-like legs.  Immediately the Bible verse, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path," popped into my head."  

I think you can understand why.

There's this sermon written early in my time as a pastor that I have preached many times in different churches.  The theme is that we are to be lights in the world as Jesus instructed us.  In the sermon I talk about how many verses of the Bible involve light and darkness.  

And I relate the story of an elderly woman we encountered in Pushkin, Russia when I was there with mostly United Methodist folks from the U.S. Northeast to be volunteers in mission.  We were helping to remodel a nursing home in the summer of 2004.  Pushkin is the name the Soviets used for the Tsar's Village (Tsaskoye Celo), where the summer palaces of the tsars exist in resplendance, less than a day's journey by carriage from St. Petersburg.  

The elderly woman saw us walking back from the nursing home to the apartment building where we were staying so that we could wash up before returning to the nursing room dining hall to have supper. She asked us who we were in Russian.  Since I was the only one who spoke Russian and our Russian interpreters weren't with us, I told her we were from churches in America.  

Very excitedly she pulled out a piece of thick white string from beneath her sweater.  On the end of the string was a small Russian Orthodox cross she had around her neck.   started kissing it, praising God and saying that she knew we were Christians because we had light all around us.  It was just like when Jesus told those listening to him that when we are lights people will give glory to God for us.

And I was a fill-in spiritual director on an Emmaus weekend in Tidewater, VA, a few years ago.  The theme song was about taking your candle and lighting up your world.

"Carry your candle.

Run to the darkness.

Seek out the hopeless,

Confused and torn.

Hold out your candle

For all to see it.

Take your candle,

Go light your world."

And the darkness does not overcome the light that has come into the world, even Christ Jesus.

So how important is light?  It's essential. 

There's no life without light.  Even in the darkest places of the ocean depths, creatures often have their own kinds of light.  

Although there are creatures that exist in darkness, there chain of life includes food from sources that depend on light.
 

Jesus is the light of the world.  How much light do you need?  He will supply whatever amount you need.

Sometimes in Florida I got tired of the nearly perpetual sunshine and really appreciated a rainy or overcast day.  But our time in Alaska taught me the value of light in a way I couldn't appreciate at all during our life in Florida.

Most cultures have some kind of timeless traditions about the importance of the return of the light from the darkness of mid-winter.  I have a friend who grew up near the equator in Africa, though.  Hours of possible daylight don't fluctuate there.  And he said the strangest thing about being in the northern hemisphere was the variation of the length of daylight and darkness.

Some men who were prisoners of war in southeast Asia told of their time imprisoned, tortured, starved and isolated.  But one said that even in that deep darkness each found an inner light.  They were not alone.  God was with them, and even those who came there with no faith found that to be true.

In one psalm it is written, "the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?"

And in another psalm it says of God, "even the darkness is not dark to you."

As children we are sometimes afraid of the dark, and our parents leave lights on in the closet -- or a nightlight in the room.  Whenever I am a guest in someone's house my friends are sure to leave a light on for me so that I can find my way to the bathroom if I need to head that way in the night.

We continue through this time of Advent meditating on the light that overcomes the darkness.  On the night Jesus was born the host of heaven appeared in the deep darkest part of the darkest night to announce to the shepherds that the true and only Light from which all other light comes had broken through.  

They proclaimed that the glory of God had come among us.  The angel proclaimed to them the best news of all.  God is with us and there is no darkness in Him.

Is there any darkness in your life today?  The Lord is your light.  

If you invite Him into your life and the dark places will be lit up.  He will be your light and your salvation -- your wholeness, your perfect peace in Him.  And then you, too, can be a light to the people in your world.  

Just as the beauty of candlelight being passed from one person to another in a Christmas Eve Candlelight service brightens the darkened sanctuary, your light passed on to others WILL light your world.  

Alleluia!

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

May you and yours receive the fullness of His light and life and love this Christmas season and always.

Blessings in His incomparable love -- Kathy



Kathleen Ware Harris  © 2013
kwharris777@gmail.com