Following the Light after Ian
Meditation by Rev. Mary Alice Mulligan, Ph.D.
Scripture: John 1:1-14
What a fitting day for us to celebrate World Communion Sunday. We get to worship like most people have worshipped through the ages: no electricity, but with candles, Communion, and warm Christian fellowship. And today, in parts of the world, some are still worshipping without electricity. So we worship in the darkness, with candles and our flashlights. Roger reminded me yesterday that even in the dark, we worship in the light of Christ, who is the light of the world.
For some of us, this may feel a bit like Christmas Eve. Here we are with our lights in the darkened sanctuary, feeling the warmth and joy of being together. My habit on Christmas Eve is to hear, not only the Mary and Joseph, no room in the Inn, part of the story from Luke, but to hear the opening verses of the Gospel of John. These familiar sentences do not tell us historic details about the birth of Jesus, but rather the theological claims about Jesus made by the early church. I invite you to pause now and read John 1:1-14.
We don’t think of light much, unless we turn the corner in our car and the setting sun shines right in our eyes, or we get up in the middle of the night and stub our toe before turning on a light. But as we sit in the semi-darkness today, what does it mean to call Jesus the “light of the world”? Those of us who were without electricity over the past days were reminded of the importance of light, of the value of having a candle to light or a flashlight to turn on. According to certain of the biblical writers, people are metaphorically in the dark about (that is, ignorant of) the reality of God. They look for God, try to be open to the divine, to find who God is. For humans, this isn’t fully possible. We grope around in what we rightly call ignorance or half-light or mostly shadow. We have a sense of God, but only in part. John says with the coming of Jesus, the light erupts among humanity. We can see what is divine. We see what is godly. Some would say we see God, or at least as much of God as our human brains can comprehend without exploding. In Jesus we are able to “see” creation the way God wants us to, because Jesus is the light by which we can see. We might say he enlightens us.
In fact, Matthew, Mark, and Luke indicate the community of faith, the followers of Jesus, are “children of light.” They spread divine light, because they walk in the light.” However, through the centuries, the church has at times gotten quite full of itself, as if God has blessed us with a light to see reality that others cannot see. Such an attitude actually indicates we don’t see very well, since the One who is light of the world gave everything to show us God’s love. If we are enlightened, then we need to cultivate divine, self-giving love.
Which brings us to Hurricane Ian. We celebrate today, thanking God for how most of us came through the hurricane relatively unscathed. But if we catch the light of Christ, we know survival doesn’t mean God loves us more. Rather, it means we need to take seriously our responsibility to assist the recovery as best we can. We emulate the self-giving love of God shown to us in Jesus. So, those of us who have little damage to repair can recognize the pain so many others are feeling. Rev. Leslie reports, the UCC church in Port Charlotte took a significant hit. And in Sanibel which is separated from the rest of the world because the bridge is out. Church buildings are damaged. People lost possessions; some homes are not inhabitable; and some people died. When Christ turns those lights on, we feel the pain our siblings feel. And not just folks in the United Church of Christ, but we believe every person suffering is a beloved child of God, so we pray for them and support them as we can, grateful for the work done through our denomination. And we thank God for people of good will throughout the world who reach out in love and service to care for those in need.