Homily  - Second Sunday in Ordinary Time -  January 16, 2005

 

 

An old woman, living in Scotland, delighted in the sermons of a certain Scottish preacher.  She had lived in an inexpensive basement apartment until she heard this man preach several times.  Then she moved out of the dark basement apartment into a sunny upstairs apartment.  Because she had to sacrifice many things in order to live in the more expensive housing, a friend asked her why she had made the move.  She replied, “Oh! You can’t hear that holy man preach and go on living in a basement.”

 

The news – the shining message of the Gospel moved her in more than one way.

 

Paul in the introduction to the letter to the Corinthians – our quite short second reading – gives us a simple and vital message. His words remind us that we like the community at Corinth are set apart at baptism and empowered by daily grace and we are intended for holiness – we are to illumine the way for one another.

 

How can we be lights for the world?  Perhaps among other things it means that our attention is focused on the other – spending ourselves, in a sense for the other – being like the Christ that John the Baptist identifies in the Gospel today and like the servant that Isaiah announces in our reading from the Hebrew Scriptures. 

 

Eberhard Arnold, co-founder of a small Christian community in the early part of the last century illustrates what it means to be light like this:  A light on a candlestick consumes itself to give light to all in the house.  It serves the intimate unity of the household because its life consists in dying.

 

Its serious, intentional work bringing light to the darkness of our world. 

 

Edward Hays offers a prayer that would press us into the service of beings consumed so as to illumine the way to Christ for our world:

 

“My God, help me to come out from under my bed,

bringing the lamp out into the night.

In fear, I light my lamp

And then put It and myself under my bed,

Afraid that my deeds of light

will dangerously glow in the dark.

Help me, O God, for fearfully I walk

and work with m y light under a bushel basket,

afraid that those who hate the light, night’s secret police,

will spy my light and snuff it out,

casting me into the darkness as well.

Help me to come out from under my bed

boldly holding up my light.

Help me to cast aside my bushel basket

and let my light truly shine,

as I thumb my nose at the dark’s secret police.

You are a God who loves secret prayers

and hidden acts of kindness.

Show to me you holy secret

of how to expose my light to the world

in hidden acts of light and love.”

 

 

As we get used to this new year – 2005 – let us be more bold about bringing light in the various ways we can – by loving, by challenging those who would limit love, by illustrating God’s love – by living our baptisms.

We can bring more light to a darkened world.