Y’all…….  The United States is frequently characterized as a “light to the world” or a “shining beacon,” symbolizing a global model for liberty, democracy, and economic opportunity. Founded on ideals of equality and individual rights, the U.S. has served as a beacon for freedom, offering an, at times, unique, and evolving society.   The concept of being a “light to the nations” stems from biblical traditions regarding an example of righteousness, which some interpret as applying to the nation’s historical mission of promoting freedom and, to a lesser extent, religious, liberty.

Religious Liberty.  I’m sure that you have noticed that here in recent months, there has been a great cry among a certain segment of our population to restore Christianity into the United States, and that is has been said that there is a war on Christianity.  The president of the United States said, at a Rose Garden event on the National Day of Prayer in May, “We’re bringing back religion in our country. His faith adviser, pastor Paula White-Cain, proclaimed that in his administration, faith “has been brought back to where it always belongs, and that is center.”  He has even gone so far as to establish a Task Force Against Anti-Christian Bias. 

Well…..yay?  I think not.  While all of this sounds good and wholesome and right, when, in reality, it is far, far, far from anything good;  as far as east is from west.  It would seem that many today actively espouse things that are far and away from anything Jesus taught.  He kinda summed it up when he said, in Matthew 23:27-28: 

27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

If the powers that be were truly interested in furthering Christ’s message, well, the Scripture’s appointed for today would be a great place to start.  From Isaiah:

Thus says the LORD:

Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own.  Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed;  your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.  Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!  If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech;  if you bestow our bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.

I really haven’t seen much of that on the national news lately, have you?  But then again, that’s the “Old Testament” and we are supposed to be New Testament people, no?  So, let’s check out the Gospel Reading for today:

Jesus said to his disciples:  “You are the salt of the earth.  But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?  It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.  You are the light of the world.  A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;  it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.  Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”    Matthew 5:13-16

Well now.  It seems to me that we, this country, each of us, needs to work on letting our lights shine.  Really and truly shine.  We need to light up the darkness in this world.  And reckon wonder how do we do that?  Wonder of wonders, Jesus tells us!  Again from Matthew:

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  Mt 34-40

The “least of these.”  Who are the “least of these”? 

So…are the people and policies in place now actively shining this kind of light?  What’s more important though, is the question, are YOU shining on the folks around you?  Jesus wasn’t playing when he said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’   All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Mt 22:36-40

When we were wee, we were taught the song, “This Little Light of Mine, I’m Gonna Let it Shine,” and we sang it with gusto!  Now, as adults, we have come to the point in our lives that we have to decide if we are, indeed, gonna let our lights shine, or are we gonna support, vote for, and continue to hide in the darkness?   Amen.