A friend named
Tom tells about a night when he was a teenager. He and his friends were walking
around the neighborhood. It was a warm night and very dark. Suddenly one of
them saw a police car and shouted. They hadn’t done anything wrong, but they
didn’t want to be seen, either. So they began to run. The police car saw them
and watched them turn down an alley. Tom tripped and knocked over some trashcans.
The police officers got out the car and began to go after them. One of the officers
turned on a searchlight. Tom looked around for his friends, but didn’t see them.
All he saw was that burning, searing searchlight, looking for him.

Tom jumped behind
those trashcans, only to find his friends huddled there. With frantic energy
they tried to hide, pulling trash over their heads and hoping to blend in. The
spotlight fell on Tom. “Come out where we can see you,” said the voice
behind the light. Tom stood up where he was, covered in garbage.

“What are
you doing?” said the voice.

Tom stammered,
“Nothing.”

The voice said,
“I can’t hear you. What are you doing?”

Tom said, “Officer,
I wasn’t doing anything wrong; I saw the light, I ran, I knocked over these
garbage cans. I’m sorry about the disturbance.” The searchlight was beaming
into his eyes, blinding him. He stood there in the light with nowhere to hide.

Then the voice
said, “I think I recognize you. Don’t you live around the corner?”

“Yes,”
he stammered. His heart was racing, and he thought to himself, “My life
is ruined. If I don’t get arrested for disturbing the peace, something worse
will happen: this officer is going to tell my parents.”

But then the voice
behind the light said something unexpected. “Son, I’m not here to punish
you; I’m here to protect you.” As he stood before that searchlight, Tom
says he caught a glimpse of what it means to stand before Jesus, who is the
Light of the World. There he was, fully exposed yet completely protected. He
was fully revealed, yet free from unnecessary punishment. He stood hip-deep
in garbage, yet cleaner than he had ever felt, somehow cleansed by a light that
cast no shadow. In that moment, he saw something of what it means to stand in
the presence of Jesus Christ, who is full of truth and full of grace.

 – from
Praying for a Whole New World by William G. Carter


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In a tenement district in New York City, a boy in ragged clothes was seen with a small piece of broken mirror in his hand. Holding it high in the air he moved it slowly back and forth, watching the narrow slit of a window above him as he did so. “What are you doing?” a man suddenly demanded as he shook the youngster roughly by the shoulder. “Like most boys in this neighborhood, you’re probably up to some mischief, aren’t you?” The boy looked up into the stern face of his accuser and said, “See that window up there? Well, I have a little brother who has a room on that floor. He’s a cripple. The only sunlight he ever sees is what I shine up to him with my mirror!”

Do we reflect the light of the Son so that someone in darkness may see?

 


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Old and new are always relative terms, especially when an American visits
Europe. For example, in Delft in the Netherlands there is a New church built in
1420! The new church was built on the site of the old church. The site for the
old church was chosen for an odd reason. The land is swampy and swamp gas could
sometimes be seen burning there. Those tiny lights were not scientifically
understood at that time. They were taken to be divine. So they built the
church, “Where the light from Heaven was seen.”

The light from Heaven shines wherever people acknowledge the Christ who said,
“I am the Light of the World.” It is seen wherever people are
enlightened by the Divine Word which reveals that Divine Christ.


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Thomas Edison changed the world with his invention of the light bulb. The last
words he ever spoke were: “It is very beautiful over there.” When he
died the President of the United States suggested that lights all over America
be dimmed in his honor. But in honor of Christ we turn on the lights, the
lights of truth and justice and mercy and love.


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One of the Seven Wonders of the World was the Pharos Lighthouse at Alexandria.
The world’s first skyscraper, it was said that the light could be seen 30 miles
out to sea. It shone for 1700 years — but shines no longer.

Jesus’ light shines to the ends of the earth. He is the Light of the World. His
light shines longer. It will shine to the end of time and beyond the end of
time. That lighthouse was a warning, Jesus warns us of the dangers that lie
ahead for us. That light was a directional beacon, and Jesus tells us in which
direction safe harbor lies. That light is gone. His light still shines. He is
the greatest Wonder of the World!


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When the great Church of Holy Wisdom (the Hagia Sophia) was completed in
Constantinople they hung thousands of lamps in it. The lights shone through a
corona of windows in the dome, so that a sailor on the Bosporus could find his
direction not only by the stars but by the light from the church. One writer of
the time said, “It not only guides the merchant at night, it also shows
the way to the living God.” The concept of church as a lighthouse is not
limited to location or architecture. Spiritually, every church must send out
such true light that those who have wandered far from God can find their way
home.


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