1/4/23
Happy New Year!
How are the resolutions coming? I used to start each new year with a pile of resolutions, only to end the year with a pile of rubble . . . unfulfilled promises to myself, dashed hopes for change and more than a smidgen of guilt. But now, there’s really only one resolution I’m thinking about, and I’d like to offer it to you. It’s not anything you can really measure. There are no guilt-inducing bathroom scales or calorie counters. But you’ll know if you’re keeping it or not (and so will everyone around you).
On Friday night, we begin the season of Epiphany, and that’s all about light. Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of Jesus to the world. John 1 tells us that “in Him was life and that life was the light of the world,” and in John 8, Jesus himself says, “I am the light of the world.” But in Matthew 5 (our daily Bible reading for Tuesday), Jesus tells us that WE are the light of the world. In Isaiah 42, God tells His Servant, “I have given you as a light to the nations,” and in Matthew, Jesus tells us, “Go and make disciples of all nations.”
Jesus is the Light of the world. We are the light of the world.
One of the major ways we’re the light of the world is by living the same Creed that Jesus lived by: Loving God . . . Loving Others. I often pray, “Help us to love like You love and help us to live like Jesus lived.” That’s how we’re the light of the world.
Living like Jesus lived and being the light of the world sounds daunting, doesn’t it? At the end of Matthew 5, Jesus says something that sounds even more daunting (if not impossible): “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” That might make you want to shut the book, give up and go be Buddhist or something. But, if you back up a few verses, you’ll see what Jesus is talking about:
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect.
Love. It’s all about love. Loving your enemies. Jesus says that’s the way we “may be children of your Father in heaven.” And isn’t that our ultimate goal anyway? To be the children of God and to be LIKE God? Jesus says we learn love by watching how God loves: God sends his blessings on people whether they deserve them or not. The most virulent atheist enjoys the same sunshine we do. His garden benefits from the same rain ours does. He may not even believe in God, but God believes in him and loves him.
If we love only those who love us, we’re not being the light of the world. We’re just like everybody else, and that’s not being like God.
In this last half of Matthew 5, Jesus is telling us that the Christian life is like no other life. While others may be content to say, “You shall not murder,” Jesus says, “No, don’t let it go that far – we must not even hate.” Others may be content to say, “You shall not commit adultery,” but Jesus says, “No, don’t let it go that far – don’t entertain lust in your heart.” Others might be content to say, “Don’t swear falsely,” but Jesus says, “Don’t swear at all. Let your yes be yes and your no be no” (in other words, practice simple honesty). Others might say, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” but Jesus says, “No, do not retaliate. Forgive. Turn the other cheek.” Others may say, “Love your neighbor but hate your enemy,” but Jesus says, “No. Do not hate at all. Love everyone – even your enemy.”
The world knows all it needs to know about murder, hatred, adultery, dishonesty, revenge – just turn on Fox News or CNN (or go to Cracker Barrel and listen to the conversations around you like I do). What the world needs to see is what . . . well, I started to make a list of the opposite of murder, hatred, etc., but it all boils down to one word: Love. Love looks like the opposite of all those things. And God has called us to love, and when we love, we are the light of the world.
And we’re not talking about warm fuzzy emotional love. There are some people in this world I will never feel warm and fuzzy about at all. The sort of love we’re called to show others is agape in the New Testament and hesed in the Old. It’s a loyal love that seeks the best for the other person no matter how they respond to us. Furthermore, it’s a love that results in concrete actions, as I John 4 tells us, “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”
Really, the only resolution we need for 2023 is to love. I mean, honestly, the first time someone offers me a slice of pecan pie, at least a couple of my usual resolutions are going out the door! And that sort of resolution only affects me, anyway. But to love is to look beyond myself and to be like God, because God is love (I John 4:7-8).
Praying God’s blessings for you and your families in 2023 as we love God and love others!
Pastor Terry