'As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’
John 9:5
‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.'
Matthew 5:14-16
I think New Year's Resolutions are kind of dumb. There, I said it. That doesn't mean I don't make them, I just make them rolling my eyes because it's something I think I "should" do.
I mean, first of all, it's the worst possible time to be setting the type of goals we tend to set. "Okay, not only will I change my body type into Chris Hemsworth's body type, but I will do so at a time when millions of years of evolution is telling me to do nothing more than eat fatty foods and hibernate! Hurray!"
And secondly, the goals we tend to set so often are completely centered around ourselves. Self-improvement. Self-care. Self-empowerment. Self, self, self. So that even if I miraculously achieve my goal, I'll be the same self-centered person, but with better abs and maybe a couple more dollars in the bank. Not super inspiring.
So this year I'm going to try an Epiphany resolution. It might still go terribly wrong, of course, but I'm praying God will teach me something through it.
The idea is that Christians around the world have just spent twelve days celebrating the presence of Christ among us: God, taking on flesh. In fact, a lot of us spent twenty-five days before that meditating on what that might look like. And now it's Epiphany: a time of revealing. Time to figure out what that means for our lives today. And since the big symbol of Epiphany is light, my goal related to this is to "see light, be light, and shed light." Here's what that means to me.
See Light: Get to Know Jesus In My Context.
Jesus says, "as long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world." To me, this means that Jesus has pledged not just to hang around, but to give us eyes to see him. There's probably a hundred different spiritual practices you can do to try and be more aware of his presence--not just in people and things that you like, but in people and things that challenge you and make your uncomfortable. I'm thinking I'm going to go simple, and go with what works. I want to get to know God by reading scripture--every day--and by talking with people about it. I've tried it before, and as those in the recovery community say, "it works if you work it." There's no "graduation," and the only reward for reaching the "finish line"--whether that's reading the whole Bible, or just reading through for a year, or a month, or a week--is to start over again. But in my experience, God says new stuff each time, because I'm a different person in a different world each time. This is worth doing.
Be Light: Try to Be Like Jesus In My Context.
Jesus also says to his disciples--and, in fact, every one of his listeners to the Sermon on the mount--"YOU are the light of the world." It's not just Jesus. Through him, we too are light. So my goal here would be to become more aware of the inner light God gives me: wisdom to discern, and love to guide my choices in what to do, say, even think. I think the best way to do that is through prayer. Now, full disclosure, I have tried about a dozen different routines for daily prayer, and right now I'm kind of "in between" routines. A friend of mine, Pastor Patrick Gahagen, was talking to a group of young people over the weekend about public prayer, and what he said stuck with me. "To know how to pray in public, you have to have a prayer life." I was half expecting some formula, like, "First you say 'Dear God,' then you give thanks for stuff, then you ask for stuff, then you say 'in Jesus' name' and you're out." But his advice was so much more simple and challenging: You have to talk to God, in private, on a regular basis. And talking to God in public will get easier, when you're called upon to do that.
Shed Light: Share the Light of Christ In My Context.
Jesus also says, "Let your light so shine for others, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven." So, this is kind of weird, because light can't not shine. That's what light does! Wave or particle, it's in motion, getting ready to bounce off something, or it isn't light! Carrying on that metaphor, I believe if we actually are aware of Christ's light in our lives, shedding light and sharing it with others will be a natural result. We won't be able to stop ourselves. For me, this is going to mean--gulp--actually talking out loud about the difference God makes in my life. Now, I'm in a line of work where you'd think I do that a lot. And I do preach a lot. But that's a "safe zone" for me. A place where hundreds of people gather for that specific purpose and have called me to do just that. But even then, it's easy to make it more general than personal. I think if I'm continuing to read scripture and pray, if I'm becoming aware of Christ's light in my life, it's going to show in the way I speak, even when the mic's off. I hope so. I know Lutherans are really fond of that St. Francis quote, "Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." I get it. Be nice, be kind, set a good example and folks will catch on. Except...we use a LOT of words, all day, in all kinds of conversations, and if NONE of it involves the Good News of what Jesus is doing in our own lives, then.......?
So there it is. My Epiphany Resolution. See Light, Be Light, Shed Light. What's yours?
