A Little Light
“Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a 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 who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:15-16)
Have you ever listened to the conversation behind the conversation? Our conversations today are of the most dreary sort – the rising cost of war, crime, and gasoline. Behind these seemingly insurmountable problems, you will hear a fundamental question: how can I make a difference? In a wicked and perverse generation, in a land of deep darkness, how can a godly man make a difference? Before the darkness snuffs out our light, let me tell a story.
James Davison Hunter recalls a sweet lady who bagged groceries at a place similar to our own Sunflower Corner Market. For every person who came through the line, she asked two simple questions: “How can I be praying for you?” and a follow-up question about last visit’s prayer request. Doesn’t seem like much, does it? Yet over time, her line snaked its way back to the Deli as everyone waited patiently to bask in her light. When this kind lady retired, twenty years passed before her funeral. Time did not snuff out her light, for her funeral was standing room only – filled with the very same people she faithfully prayed for over many years. Her light did not shine much further than that grocery store check-out, but her little light repelled a vast amount of darkness.
Reader – how are you going to make a difference? In the words of our childhood hymn, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine!” If you want to bring down the forces of darkness today, be a faithful, little light when you gather your family to pray, when you hold the door at the post office, when you post on social media, and when you step into the darkness. When we reflect Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, the darkness will flee. Now, let your light shine that a dark and dying world “may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
