Matthew 5: 14-16

¹⁴"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  ¹⁵Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning! I was amazed! The title of today’s sermon is “The Lighthouse of Christ.” I worked on it while I was at the Annual Conference in Atlantic City , and I just happened to notice the bulletin cover that Jill picked out for this morning. I cannot believe it – this is amazing.

It feels like I’ve been away for three weeks. This week was the meeting of the Annual Conference. For those of you who are new to Methodism, the Annual Conference is the gathering of all the ministers and all the church representatives and other representatives. We all come together once a year for several days in Atlantic City to meet and pray and praise and legislate and do all kinds of things like that. It’s kind of like a great big church that meets once a year. All the Methodist ministers in New Jersey are expected to do something, to contribute in some way to the life of that big church.

One of the wonderful things about the Methodist church is that they tend not to ask us to do what we’re not gifted in, and they try to emphasize our gifts. So they don’t put me on the Bureau of Statistics. They don’t ask me to deal with the things I am not gifted in. however, I am so honored to be asked to be the director of the Conference Festival Choir. Now, there’s something I love to do.

We had a sixty-voice choir that was fun to work with. My job was to take them for two hours and prepare a lot of music. I love doing that. You probably don’t know that, but I really do love working with voices and with the choir. We had an event on Thursday night where we had 200 voices in the choir. We had visiting choirs come in, and we put that together real fast and sang, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” and “Table of Grace”, which is one we do here. At the very end, I invited everyone to sing “Lord Bless You and Keep You.” Many people knew it, so we had a choir of a thousand voices singing together. It was a blessing to be there. I am grateful. It kept me real busy, friends. I’ve never conducted so much in my life.

Yesterday, I was stated organist for the Conference, and a Korean choir was scheduled to sing because it was the hundredth anniversary of Korean Methodism. So they had four Korean choirs singing, and they had one of the conductors from the Riverside Church conducting, and they had no accompanist. So they asked me to take these pieces and learn them over lunch and accompany them. I was glad to do it. It was Mozart.

Anyway, they announced that the choir was going to sing, and they said, “We have four Korean choirs gathered together, and we have Helen Cha-Pyo, from the Riverside Church , who is also Korean, conducting the choir. And we have at the piano Anthony Godlefski, who is not Korean.” But it was a joy.

But more than that happens at Annual Conference, friends, because we become aware of the big church. We become aware that we, as United Methodists, are not alone. We are connected to a bigger organization that does some fantastic things, and I want to talk to you about that a little bit today. Jesus said, “Let your light shine”, and that’s what I want to talk about today.

Let’s do this: Can you make an “L” with your fingers? That’s for “let”. Then point, for “your”. Next, strike the match, for “light”. Finally, with your left hand flat, hold your right hand, with all five fingers extended, upright in front of you. Let your right hand move upward as the bottom of your right hand grazes your left thumb. That’s “shine.” “Let your light shine.”

That’s what I want to invite you to do today, to let your light shine. Christ has put a light in your heart. He’s given you a gift. And He says, “You are the light of the world!” Wow! Not just your home, not just your neighborhood, not just Montgomery . You are the light of the world! Those aren’t my words – they’re Jesus Christ’s. And He said, “Therefore, let your light shine. You are like a city on a hill, that everyone can see lit up at night. Nobody takes a light and puts it under a basket. No, let it shine. Why? So people can see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Whenever you see the word “glory” in the Bible, I invite you to consider the word “light.” “The glory of the Lord surrounded them” – it’s a kind of heavenly light. So, let your light shine, so that you can let other people let their light shine. Those are our marching orders from Jesus Christ.

I will tell you this. I am grateful to the Annual Conference for allowing me the privilege of directing that choir. There is no joy that is quite – for me – like encouraging other people to sing. I don’t care for the solo spot. That’s not my thing. But if I can encourage you to sing, and if I can teach you something about it and say, “You can do it” and then you do it, that brings me enormous joy.

Jesus said, “Let your light shine so that others may get the idea, and so that their light may shine.” Those are our marching orders in Christ. And so I invite you to let your light shine.

Let’s look at this in a couple of ways. In Atlantic City , there is a beautiful, beautiful lighthouse. I was looking at it the other night. What does a lighthouse do? A lighthouse lets you know where the safe area is. It gives you hope that you won’t crash into the island. And a lighthouse doesn’t care who it saves. A lighthouse does not discriminate. A lighthouse doesn’t say, “I’ll shine for this one but not for that one.” A lighthouse doesn’t say “I’ll shine for this one because he’s lived a saintly life, but I won’t shine for that one because he’s made mistakes.” A lighthouse doesn’t say that. A lighthouse shines for everybody and says, “Come on. This is where home is. This is where a harbor is. There is hope for you.” A lighthouse says ‘hope’ for everyone.

A lighthouse says ‘help’. You know, if sailors are coming into an island, and they have to abandon ship, there will be people coming from the lighthouse in rowboats, coming out to help the people. A lighthouse says, “There’s help on the way.”

And a lighthouse also says ‘home’. A lighthouse says, “Navigate around this island and you can get into the harbor. You can tie up here during a storm and call this place home.” A lighthouse says ‘home’.  And it is my fond wish for all of you that the lighthouse that is this church will say ‘home’. A lighthouse says ‘hope’ for you. A lighthouse says ‘help’ for you. A lighthouse says ‘home’ for you.

And I want to invite you this morning to consider three kinds of lighthouses. A great big lighthouse is like the United Methodist church. The Conference -- that is New Jersey . The national United Methodist Church – that’s the great big lighthouse, and we’re connected to it. Over $25,000 of this church’s funds, of what comes through our offering, goes to help the big lighthouse. Friends, did you know that because you are United Methodists, you are supporting people in Angola , you are supporting people in Liberia ; you are giving them education through the African University Fund. You are blessing them. That is our connection to the big lighthouse.

And one of my goals for this year is to invite us all to consider how we participate in the big lighthouse. I cried at Annual Conference when I saw that we have a mission in Smolensk , Russia . A dance troupe from one of the boarding schools for children in Smolensk came to dance at Annual Conference. In their local costumes, dancing to folk music, dancing with beautiful smiles, were these Russian children who were the children of a generation of atheism. They had been estranged from God by the ravages of Communism. But you can’t stop the power of God! Communism has crumbled, and religion is growing up like flowers through the cracks in the sidewalk. And the United Methodist church is there helping these people, and helping the children who were dancing on the stage. It brought tears to my eyes. You are there, because you are United Methodists. That’s the big lighthouse. And I’m inviting our missions team to help us understand how we can be part of the big lighthouse effort.

The second kind of lighthouse, which is absolutely crucial, is the local lighthouse, this church. Never forget about the local lighthouse, because if it weren’t for the local lighthouse, there wouldn’t be any big lighthouse. We need to take care of the local church. I talk to the Board of Trustees and I congratulate them and I say, “You know what, when you make our grounds beautiful and plant flowers, all of you, it isn’t just making the church grounds pretty (although it is that), you’re doing evangelistic work, because you are saying to the community at large, ‘We care.  We care about our Lord, we care about our community, and we care about you. Come and worship.’” Everything you do to make the church more wonderful, more inspiring, more inviting, more attractive, more of a blessing, is taking care of the local lighthouse. And we’ve got to keep the light shining bright.

So, I bless you and I thank you for everything you do to bless this place and make sure that the local lighthouse is secure. We need to constantly ask God for blessings and guidance, saying “Lord, what do you want us to do in this local setting to make it more attractive to people, to make people feel more welcome, to make them feel helped and hopeful and at home?” and then we need to do it! Let’s take care of the local lighthouse.

Finally, Jesus Christ is calling you to be a lantern carrier. Each and every one of you can be a lantern carrier for Christ. You are the ones who get into the lifeboat and go out into the storm and hold out the light to help people. Will you do it? Have you heard the call of God? Do you know how loved and chosen you are? Have you accepted Him? Then go and proclaim and be a lantern carrier. The world needs you.

Let me ask you a question. Have you had someone carry the lantern for you? Do you know what it feels like to be in the middle of a storm in life, either in the water or on a lonely boat? And in the midst of that storm, in that darkness, has someone carried the lantern for you and said, “There’s hope for you, and there’s help for you, and there’s a home for you”? Have you had it happen for you?

I can tell you incident after incident in my life where people have held the lamp out for me. People in this congregation, when I felt at sea and tossed around, there have been those of you who have held the lantern out and offered the smile of encouragement and the good word, and the word of hope. You’ve said, “Come on board. You’re going to be all right.” Have people done it for you? I bet they have.

You are called by Jesus Christ to be the lantern carrier for others. I don’t know how. Maybe today, with one of our wonderful new visitors. Carry the lantern, and let your light shine.

Dear friends, if you have a gift for music, let your light shine. If you have a gift for being kind, let your light shine. If you have weathered a great storm and have come through it a triumphant survivor, let your light shine. If you have wisdom to share or a lesson to teach or words to speak, let your light shine. If you have a talent for bringing out talent, let your light shine. If you have a smile of encouragement, let your light shine. If you have been blessed with prosperity and have gifts to give, let your light shine. If you know how to pray, let your light shine. If you are a peacemaker, let your light shine. If you have a gift for helping people, let your light shine. And if you have faith, oh friend, if you have faith, let your light shine. And if you do, you will be a lighthouse of Christ.

God loves you. I do, too. Have a blessed week. Amen.