Be the Moon--August 17, 2020

 

Be the Moon--August 17, 2020

"But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light.  Therefore it says, 'Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.' Be care then how you live, not as unwise people, but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil." [Ephesians 5:13-16]

It matters, what we do with this day.  It matters, how you and I use the hours, the minutes, the breaths, of this day.  Use them like they count. They do.

I don't mean to say that if we don't get a certain number of good deeds done before the clock strikes midnight, we'll be kicked out of the Heaven Club. I'm not saying you have to "save" a certain number of souls before the end of the month or else lose stars in some future crown. We aren't spiritual salespeople who have to make a quota in order to keep our jobs like some kind of religious version of Glengarry Glen Ross (and there is no Alec Baldwin speech prompting us to "Always Be Converting," either).  But I do mean to say that each day, each moment, is a chance to reflect some light into the world, some goodness, some beauty and truth and compassion--in a word, to reflect Christ.  And in a time when it seems so easy just to stir up the rottenness around us, to add to it with more bitterness or crudeness, or to give up trying to change any of it, it is a precious and necessary thing for us to make the most of our time reflecting Christ.

We don't do it in order to "get" something--neither to avoid having something taken away.  It's not a transaction; it's not a deal or a scheme or a quid-pro-quo.  It's because the world is a better place where there is more of Christ's light reflected into it, the same way the world looks more beautiful in the blue glow of moonlight than when the moon is hidden behind clouds.  You and I are called to be reflectors of Christ's light, like the moon reflects the sun.  (And maybe as a helpful reminder of how grace works, consider that the moon itself is a mostly dingy gray ball of rock--its shine says more about the brilliance of the sun than it does about our own virtue.  Sometimes all it takes is our willingness to show up and let Christ's light just bounce off of us, rather than our own incandescence.)

And when there is more of Christ's light shone into the world, it's rather like something that is dead being called forth into life again.  When we take the time, when we make the effort, even in little ways to reflect the character of Jesus into the lives of people around us, it's like a little resurrection happens.  And the light that brings is worth it, no matter how small or short-lived it may seem.  I think that's what these words from Ephesians are getting at: that it is worth making the most of every opportunity to do good, to offer kindness rather than meanness, to offer blessing rather than curse, to support those who are weak, to practice generosity, to speak up against crookedness, hatred, and greed, and to love the people God sends across your path.  It is worth it, always, to let Christ's life-giving light reflect onto us and into the world, even if you and I don't immediately "get" a reward for it or receive applause.  It's not about us, really--it's about letting Christ's light bounce off of us.

There is so much that is discouraging these days--so much self-centeredness, so much vitriol, so much spite and simmering hatred, so much sheer heaviness to living in this time.  And it can be easy to let that get us down... to make us want to give up, to make us doubt whether it is worth trying again, to make us feel like our actions and choices will just be swallowed up in the cloud cover of a starless night.  I know. And at the start of a new week, it can feel especially daunting to have to brace ourselves to start all over again in the work of reflecting Christ when so many of the loud voices around us seem to drown out all the other sounds in the noise of their obnoxious un-Christ-likeness.  But the writer of Ephesians offers a new way of thinking of it, one that doesn't have to be exhausting or draining for us, but rather, freeing.  It's about letting Christ--who is risen, alive, and well--illuminate us, rather than about us generating our own light.  It really is like being the moon: we just commit to keep showing up, and Christ like the sun radiates goodness and mercy both on us and then beyond us to others.

That means today, we are simply called to face each moment of the day with one clarifying question: "How can I, right now, let Christ be seen more clearly in me?"  It doesn't mean I have to help so many elderly folk across the street to earn my Good Deed Merit Badge. It doesn't mean I have to get so many new people to join my church or pray the right prayer to come to Jesus.  It means that in every moment, I have the opportunity either to be more like the character of Christ or less, to show more light or less, to embody the way of Jesus or settle for something lesser.  It means I will keep showing up even when it is difficult, and in those places and situations where we are fighting against the current of crookedness or cruelty around us, rather than give up.  But we keep at it--exactly in the places that need the light--because the world is a more beautiful place when Christ's light is shining on it, rather than not.

That's why we keep going.  We are just glad to have more light in the world, and it is a gift of grace to get to be the moon.

Lord Jesus, shine on us and then reflect your goodness into the world you so love. Let us be a part of your work of bringing beauty and grace to all creation.