We Are the Light of the World A by Reverend Lynn Strauss

In the Christian , in the book of Matthew, it is written:

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

In the same way let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

With all humility, I say to you this morning that you are the light of the world.

This passage from Matthew is part of the teachings of to the disciples. It follows the and it precedes the Lord’s Prayer.

Jesus had come down the mountain after 40 days of fasting in the desert, where his faith was tested. After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry and the Devil said to him, “If you are the , tell these stones to become bread.” And Jesus replied, “It is written; Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Some think the desert has come to organized religion. Studies show and empty pews confirm that faith is being tested in America. There is anxiety in our seminaries and in our congregations that “church” as we know it is in decline. Last year, the Pew Forum published its Religious Landscape Study that showed between 2007 and 2014, mainline Christian and Catholic percentages in the country fell from 78.4% to 70.6%, and the category in which most growth was reported was “unaffiliated.”

In the desert of today, perhaps the “new” temptation is the Internet. Perhaps it is the busyness of kid’s sports, long working hours, and heavy traffic. Could it be that our striving culture is tempting us away from traditional Sundays of rest and Sabbath?

Congregations and denominations are scrambling to adjust to these cultural changes. We try and try to turn the stones of stress and pressure and enticements of the secular world into bread. But I find only faint nourishment in these adjustments. I continue to believe that “church” is meant to be counter-cultural, not following the cultural trends.

I long for the spiritual nurture of quiet meditation, for the singing of hymns, for the warmth of community that is real, for a place to teach our children the values we hold dear, and for dedicated companions in the struggle for justice and equality. I cannot live on bread alone. I need the word of faith. I need the word of hope and the experience of shared grief. I need the experience of helping to build a better world.

I need more than nourishment for my body, I need soul food. This is what we break together here at UUCR, this is what Unitarian Universalism offers at its best…food for the hungry and food for the soul.

So Jesus began to teach the disciples how to live a righteous life. He began with the :

Blessed are the poor in spirit, Blessed are those who mourn, Blessed are the meek Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, Blessed are the peacemakers.

I tell you, we here at UUCR are among the Blessed. We are among those who are called “The Light of the World!”

Blessed are those who create a program for LGBTQ teens, so that when they are persecuted, they have a circle of love and acceptance to which they can return. Blessed are those who have the courage to hang a banner that affirms that Black Lives Matter. Blessed are those who regularly give food to the hungry. Blessed are those who put solar panels on their roof Blessed are those who teach worth and dignity and inclusive love to their children and teens. Blessed are those who give money to hospice, to the Children’s Inn, to A Wider Circle, to the refugee fund, to the medical clinic. Blessed are those who visit the sick and bring food to potlucks. Blessed are those who sing and create art and worship that offers healing and hope in a wounded world.

Yes, we are the Light of the World!

I want you be proud of our congregation. I want you to own all the good that we do. I want you to feel how important it is that we illuminate our corner of the world with the light of reason, with the openness to change, with the compassion for those who suffer, with love beyond belief.

Be proud. Don’t hide our light, your light under a bushel. Let your light shine.

This light that I speak of is not of our making. It is a light that shines through us, through our acts of love and justice. It is our vocation that shines. Our Fire of Commitment that holds bright hope and vision. It is not a single light, or a single source.

We draw our light not only from our Judeo-Christian tradition, but also from Buddhist wisdom, and Humanist values, and earth-centered knowing, and feminist thought, and western literature and philosophy and poetry. We experience the Light from many, many sources…and we are set free by this light. The expansive nature of our free faith gives us theological and spiritual room to grow. We are not confined to a narrow way.

Images of light are a common metaphor for the holy. One of my favorites is Indra’s Net - a story from the Buddhist and Hindu tradition. Indra’s Net is imagined as a magnificent net of jewels spread over the sky. The beautiful light from each jewel shines forth from every other jewel…thus, in any single gem, one can see thousands of jewels reflected. The beauty thus created shows the inter-penetration of each shining light, and also suggests that all light comes from a single source of divine energy.

When we think of the acts of love and service and generosity of UUCR programs, we can see that each person who shows up, each dollar that is contributed reflects the single source from which our communal light shines - the source we call Unitarian Universalism and UUCR.

This is why generous pledging matters - because each amount pledged, no matter how big or small, is a reflection of the source in which we all share and have a part.

My former colleague and, before his death, long-time minister at All Souls in New York City, the Reverend Forrest Church offers the metaphor of the Cathedral of the World for our Unitarian Universalist faith. In his book, Bringing God Home…, Forrest writes:

Imagine the world as a vast cathedral. This cathedral is as ancient as humankind. Its cornerstone is the first altar, marked by blood and blessed by tears.

If we search for a lifetime, we shall never know the limits of this world-size cathedral, we can never visit all its transepts, worship in all its shrines, nor span the entire celestial ceiling with our gaze.

The builders have labored in this cathedral from time immemorial. Daily work begun that shall not be finished in the lifetime of the architects or the patrons who paid for it, or the builders or the expectant worshippers.

Nonetheless, throughout human history, one generation after another has labored lovingly, sometimes fearfully, crafting memorials and consecrating shrines...

Above all, contemplate the windows. In the Cathedral of the World there are windows beyond number, some long forgotten, covered with patinas of dust, others revered by millions, the most sacred of shrines. Each in its own way is beautiful. Some are abstract, others representational, some dark and meditative, others bright and dazzling.

Each tells a story about the creation of the world, the meaning of history, the purpose of life, the nature of humankind, the mystery of death. The windows of the cathedral are where the Light shines through. The sacred Light that goes by many names. The Light of God or Truth or Being Itself, the Light of Universal Love shines not only upon us but out from within us as well…

Together with the windows, we are part of the cathedral, not apart from it. We constitute an interdependent web of being. Like Indra’s Web, the Cathedral of the World is constructed out of star stuff, and so are we.

We are that part of the creation that contemplates itself. Alone, we can explore only a few windows, a tiny part of the whole of creation. Yet, since the whole is contained in each of its parts, we learn more than we can see.

This 21st century theology based on the concept of one Light and many windows honors different religious approaches, many different perspectives on truth.

Reverend Church reminds us that the windows, created by human hands, are not the Light, they are where the light shines through. We are each of us the places where the light shines through.

As we see the creations of human hands within this congregation that we love, we can be proud of our righteous acts, of living our faith and our principles because we know we are not the Light, we are the windows…the Light of the holy and good shines through us.

And then we become a blessing to the world. Then, we truly are The Light of the World.

Amen/Blessed Be