Let There Be Light
The Rev. Gina M. Stewart
Pastor, Christ Missionary Baptist Church
Memphis, Tennessee

(This sermon is also available in audio)

It is good for us to be here. Not only did you invite the only woman, but you invited a woman who is a Baptist who likes to make noise. By now, I'm certain that my reputation precedes me, so let me go hurriedly to the Word of God.

Calling your attention to John, chapter 1, and also John, chapter 10. I will be reading portions of these two chapters. I'm reading from the New International Version.

In the beginning was the word, and the word was God, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him, all things were made. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. There came a man who was sent from God; His name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him, all men might believe. He, himself, was not the light; He came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

And reading from John, chapter 10, verse 40 and following:

Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Here, he stayed, and many people came to him. They said, "Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true." And in that place, many believed in Jesus.

The Grass will wither. The flower will fade, but the Word of the Lord will stand forever.

Let Us Pray

Spirit of the living God, you are welcome in this place. Touch us afresh with all your quickening power.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight.
Oh Lord, our strength and our Redeemer.
This we pray for the sake of your kingdom. Amen.

If we were to examine a theme today, I'd like for us to consider "Let There Be Light." If you would, journey with me back in time with me and enter into an insane asylum with the appearance of a dungeon--a place where the people were locked up in cages with very little light. Among those forgotten people worked an elderly, insignificant, anonymous woman who was nearing her retirement. Little was known of this woman. In the pages of history her life would appear to be insignificant in comparison to others from her generation. Her hopes for being remembered by her own generation were slim, and she could not fairly judge her own life. She may have been thought of even as inconsequential and incomplete because she never gained fame in her day, nor was she viewed by those who worked with her as being very important or significant.

Eventually, the shadow of death came and fell upon this woman's frail body, and she was buried without much of a eulogy and without a great deal of fanfare. But little did those who knew this woman best realize that she had impacted a little girl's life whose name was little Annie.

Like many in an asylum, little Annie and her brother, Jimmy, were considered beyond hope. Abandoned by their father when their mother died, little Annie and Jimmy were placed in a room in the asylum where only dead bodies were stored until someone came to dig the graves. The only toys were the rats that ran freely on the floor. And in that miserable, God-forsaken place, Annie and her brother were left virtually unnoticed. Her brother eventually died virtually unnoticed and in obscurity. Annie would have spent her days, the rest of her life, in that horrible place, had it not been for this elderly, insignificant, anonymous woman who believed that Annie was not beyond hope. Rather than treat Annie like an animal, the woman spent all of her remaining days caring for Annie, giving her love and acceptance. Such kindness allowed this young girl to flourish, and eventually she was judged to be fit for release. At the age of 14, she left the asylum, never to return again. But that's not the end of the story.

For this same young girl who had been placed in the asylum, some years later encountered another young girl who would need her help. This girl's name was Helen. In infancy Helen had become completely blind and deaf, and was therefore rendered mute. Though she was raised by loving parents, she, too, would have remained cut off from the world had it not been for little Annie who the anonymous woman found in the asylum. Ann Sullivan--little Annie-- became Helen's teacher and pulled Helen out of her isolated world.

Eventually the lives of millions of people, with all of their unique problems and sense of isolation, would be helped by Helen Keller. Helen was able to help somebody else because she had been helped by Anne. Anne could only help Helen because she had been helped by an insignificant, anonymous, elderly woman. But what if that elderly woman had never been born? The ripple effect of comfort and inspiration certainly would have never reached the world.

What would happen if our lives were torn from the pages of history? Suppose, like George Bailey in the movie, It's a Wonderful Life, you had never been born? No one would know you. Would the gap you would leave in history's book present any great loss to humankind? Do you feel that the human race would still greet the sunrise in the morning and watch the sunset at night? Do you assume that people would continue to eat, drink, and be merry? For some of us, it may be difficult to imagine that one less life, particularly an ordinary life, could really make that much difference.

And yet, the comments that we hear about John the Baptist in our text today remind us that each of us have been given the power to impact somebody's life in a way that has eternal significance. We have an opportunity to invest our lives in such a way that it will impact the world with such force to arrest the attention of a future generation in a day where righteous living, integrity and honor seem to only qualify for special interest stories rather than the headlines. The comments about John the Baptist remind us that whether we're engaged in profit or non-profit enterprise, we can offer our lives to influence others in lasting ways.

Note what the text says about John the Baptist. It says that John the Baptist never performed a miracle, but everything that they said about this man was true. And then Jesus went on to say that among those born of women, there is no one greater than John the Baptist. And yet, even the least in the kingdom is greater than he. John lived a mission-driven life. He's described as "a voice crying in the wilderness." He spent his last days on death row, and he died penniless, but his influence continued after his life ended. John touched lives because he understood his mission. His mission was to be a witness to the light.

In the book of Genesis, we are told that when God created the heavens and the earth, the darkness was upon the face of the deep, and God said, "Let there be light." And in the midst of the chaos and confusion, God spoke, and darkness was dispelled. God called forth light to influence and transform the climate that it surrounded; to push back the darkness and make light possible. In Scripture, light is used in many different ways to denote many different things. Light symbolizes God. Light is a symbol of goodness and blessing. Light is a symbol of truth. Light is a symbol of life. Light is the symbol for salvation. But of all that light is and all that light represents, two of light's most enduring qualities are that it illuminates and communicates. To be light means that our commitment to Biblical faith challenges us to find ways that we can shine--ways that we can be visible and attractive--not for ourselves, but for the glory of God. The Word of God reminds us that to be light means that those of us who have a commitment to Biblical faith have a responsibility to bring people to God, just like John, who never performed a miraculous sign. But Jesus said, "Among those born of women, no one is greater than John. And yet, the least in the kingdom is greater than he." It sounds like Jesus was talking about us.

But knowing Christ not only affects one's private life, but one's public life as well. As God's people, we attempt each day to live out our faith in visible, public ways in order to powerfully impact our culture. The Gospel not only transforms persons, but it transforms persons who go on to transform institutions and the value structures that undergird society. Redeemed people can create a redeemed society, and transformed persons have the power to create or transform society.

The rubble from the Twin Towers in New York and the babies who were born without a father because their fathers were Killed on September 11th, are a painful reminder that evil and sin pervade the world. The fallout from the terrorist attack is a reminder that "we wrestle not just against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities; against the rulers of darkness of this world; against spiritual wickedness in high places." But in response, we who have been called out of darkness and into the marvelous light, we who have beheld his glory, we who have seen and experienced Jesus who is the light of the world have been called to be light, sent into the world to influence for Jesus' sake.

What shape then does mature, authentic humanity take in everyday life? Do we have to eat locust and honey? Do we have to be clothed with camel's hair and a leather belt around our waist? Does it mean that we're destined to die on death row? No, it will happen in the routine, unspectacular corners of our lives. Each day we're given an opportunity to influence and transform our surroundings. Each day we have the opportunity to do what Ray Barkey says: "Live in relationship with God and in partnership with others for the recreation and redemption of God's world."

Each day we have an opportunity to order a new creation, committed to inclusivity, and to warm the world with our lives. So, let there be light.

The setting may be undramatic, but let there be light. You may be in a cubicle all by yourself, but let there be light. Jesus said, "You are the light of the world." So let there be light. You may never pastor a church. You may never start a non-profit. You may never preach before thousands. You may never make millions. But let there be light. Light the world with hope. Light the world with peace. Light the world with understanding. Light the world with compassion. Let there be light. Light the world with integrity. Light the world with compassion. Light the world with love. Let there be light.

Activate light. Articulate, authenticate, accentuate light. Cultivate light. Disseminate, demonstrate, elucidate light. Elevate, enunciate, facilitate light. Illuminate, inculcate, negotiate, participate, promulgate light. Participate, regenerate, replicate, stimulate, situate. Let there be light.

Let there be light until, at last, Jesus--who is the light of the world, who never wrote a book, never held office, never had a family, never got married; never owned a house, never visited a big city, was never associated with credentials or with greatness, but was nailed to a cross, buried in a borrowed tomb--Until he comes again, let there be light. Until Jesus, who is the light of the world, says to those of us who have attempted to light up the corner where we are, "Servant, well done." Let there be light.

Copyright 2002 The Rev. Gina M. Stewart

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