We are the light of the world
Would you say that Jesus was outspoken? Would you say that whenever He saw a need He could fill, He did something about it? When He saw an opportunity to give love to someone, did He do it? When there was work to be done, did He do it? When He entered into a dark situation, did He shed His light onto it?
Uh-huh (I hear you nodding your head). And has He changed in the last 2000 years? Of course not.
Okay. Next question: Is Jesus living in you?
Yes? (If you're not sure and you've been baptized, be sure; the answer IS yes. If you have made a conscious commitment to be in a personal relationship with Him, the answer is a BIG yes.)
Okay, then why would Jesus stop being outspoken, now that He's in you? Why would He stop meeting the needs of others, now that He could fill them through you? Why would He stop giving love to someone you don't like, now that He's in you? Why would He say no to doing the Father's work, now that He's in you? Why would He withhold His light from the darkened world, now that He can shine through you?
Jesus says in Matthew 5:13-16 that we must not hide our light under a bushel basket. Since He is within us, WE are the light of today's modern world. In our baptisms, we received His light. In our personal decisions to love Him, we fanned the flames of this light. Why hide it?
People ask, "If God is real, why does He allow evil to exist?" The answer is: because WE allow evil to exist. Thanks to what happened on Pentecost, all of us who are Christians are His Body here on earth. We are full of the light that destroys evil, but frankly, we're not doing much about it.
We keep Jesus bottled up inside us. He wants to speak out, but we don't want to feel embarrassed or criticized, so we zip His lips. He wants to meet the needs of the people around us through the resources we have, but we don't want to get involved, so we sit on His hands. He wants to love the unlovable jerks in our lives, but we prefer to stay angry at them, so we block His healing love. He wants to conquer evil by spreading His light of truth everywhere, but we hide under a basket.
In other words, we hold Jesus captive in the bottles of our selfishness.
That's quite an empty feeling. As full as we are with Jesus, if this fullness is not going anywhere, we feel empty. It's like a faucet. Wrap your hand around your kitchen faucet. When the tap is closed, the pipes are full of water, but you can't feel it. Let the water flow; now you feel its power. In the same way, we can only feel the fullness of God's love and power within us when we let it flow out to others.
In 2 Corinthians 1:18-22, we are shown the importance of yes meaning yes. Are we really committed to Jesus? If the answer is yes, it means we never say no to letting Him change the world through us.
Lord Jesus, make me a strong leg when You want to go where You're needed. Make me a moveable arm when You want to reach out to a hurting person. Make me an open mouth when You want to speak. Make me a softened heart when You want to love others through me. Amen (which means: YES, so be it)!
