What's the weather like in your neck of the woods? We've had some pretty intense storms the last few days where I live and another one is simmering outside my front widow. A storm that rampaged through on Tuesday night provided a spectacular light and sound show, which worked out well because it also took out the electricity for my whole city. While I truly love a good thunder storm, losing electricity for five hours was startling. The lights went out, and my first instinct was to reach for the light switch. The switch worked just fine, but its relationship with the power company was on temporary hold. So, I made my way to the kitchen, pulled out some jar candles and welcomed the soft glow of civilization back to my home. The next morning my neighbors and I compared notes on the prior night's events. When I mentioned the romance of candlelight, they paused, and asked, "Do you have a flashlight?"
Surprise! In that moment the light bulb went on.
It had never occurred to me to get my flashlight out of the hall closet. Despite being more convenient to use, and much easier to transport from room to room, I automatically searched out the candles as the emergency tool for the situation. The candle did tis job, helping me function until I went to bed that night. But I also came up against the usual safety concerns caused by using an open flame, and I had to be cautious about how I handled the candle as I walked around my house. Anything that could catch fire easily had to be avoided. Three cats, very comfortable and confident moving the dark, were another consideration. Tripping over a small furry beast because I couldn't see her in time was a huge consideration. My gratitude at sunrise was also a relief. The electricity had come back on during the night, and all was well with my world.
Looking back over the experience, I would do things differently. I would probably still use the candles, but only as beacons in each room, not as headlights for leading me through the hallways. Candles have their place and are useful, but they are not exclusive among the emergency lighting resources.
As I was sitting with my candles and rediscovered flashlight, I remembered Jesus' words to us about light. "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under a bushel basket, but on a lamp stand, 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)." What kind of light was Jesus talking about? Where does this light come from? How do we obtain this kind of light? How does it become a part of us?
There are some assumptions on Jesus' part as he addressed the people before him during his Sermon on the Mount, of which this passage is a part. Jesus is speaking to people who have some sense of God as a part of their lives, those who we might term the already converted. But as much as this mainly Jewish audience would have been aware of their historical faith, they had not heard anyone speak like Jesus did about how their faith impacted the world around them. Their faith was a source of hope for them, and could be for anyone they showed it to. Believing in God gave them this light, this hope, and once it was theirs it became their responsibility to let this faith lead the way, like a lamp in the darkness, not just for their own benefit, but for the whole community. As a result, God would be honored. It made no sense to claim a belief in God without letting people know that in their actions, just as there was no point in lighting a lamp if all they were going to do was hide it from view.
Considering Jesus' words today, neither is there any reason to claim a faith that is never made visible, or is revealed so rarely that people mistake it for an archaic candle, familiar only to them as something used for romantic ambiance, rather than a practical, everyday tool, always accessible and ready to use. How we obtain this light is be believing in its Source. How this light becomes a part of us is in the active living of that belief in our thoughts, words and deeds.