“You are the light of the world….” Matthew 5:14

Since the earliest times in which the faithful have gathered to worship God in synagogues, homes and churches, the Bible reveals people who, through their study of the scriptures and their worship, long to know God and to understand His will for their lives. Sometimes, we are afraid of asking questions. However, in the Bible we often find that questions are used to bring people to a clearer understanding of God. Likewise, stories are used throughout the Bible to create opportunities for people to rethink their commitments.

The story is told of a rabbi who, looking into the sleepy eyes of the young men who sat in his classroom, asked: “Students, when does one know when the night is ended and the day has begun?” Several of his students cautiously raised their hands. “Rabbi”, one asked, “is it when you can tell the difference between a fig tree and an olive tree?” “No”

Another student raised his hand: “Rabbi, is it when you can tell the difference between a sheep and a goat?”After listening to a host of answers, the rabbi announced, “students, one knows the night has ended and the day has begun when you can look at a face never before seen and recognize the stranger as a brother or a sister. Until that moment, no matter how bright the day, it is still the night”.

As Christians, we are blessed with the Bible. And yet, however crucial these truths are, what good do they do to us if we are not kind to people, if we display prejudice against others, and if we allow the cultural and social biases of our environment to cause us to treat others as inferiors.

Everywhere we look, it seems as though our planet is turning in upon itself, exchanging light for darkness. Yet, we also encounter darkness much closer to home as we consider our own experience in this difficult and challenging world. For we too, understand the horrors that life brings us as we struggle with illness, as we deal with the loss of loved ones, as we watch families succumb to separation and divorce, as we struggle to make sense of many of the evil things in our society and culture.

Yet, amidst this landscape of moral bankruptcy and spiritual darkness, in the midst of all of this external and internal noise, we hear Jesus’ words to each of us: “You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14)