Recharge Your Light

Sermon given January 16, 2022

Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 36:5-10
John 2:1-11

I’m blessed to be sharing with you a message of God’s light on this second Sunday after Epiphany, in the liturgical season that celebrates God’s abundant love and light coming into the world in the person of Jesus.  The season in which we learn who Jesus is and what he’s about.

I can imagine that, at this point in the service, someone may already be feeling as though they just can’t relate to a celebration of light today.  “OK,” I imagine them thinking, “Preach on, brother, but I just can’t deal with a sermon about abundance and light today.  Don’t you know what’s going on out in the world?! These are tough times.  We’re fighting bigotry, greed, and injustice. And we’re mourning the loss of neighbors, friends, and family to disease and addiction.”

And to that I can honestly say, “I hear you loud and clear.”  I get it – if you’re in a dark place and you need to feel your feelings right now, please simply hear this reminder that you are not alone. Or if you are knee-deep in fighting the good fight, please remember that we need something stronger than determination, pain, and anger to keep us going…and to make sure that we’re going in the right direction. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, only light can drive out darkness. Whatever our situation, we need more light – to support us and guide us.

Today’s readings from the Bible assure us that God’s incredible light not only exists, but is limitless. The readings also help us recognize what God’s light is, what it’s all about. I digress a bit to say that I smile when I consider that today’s scripture was written by the prophet Isaiah and the psalmist, and, of course, the gospel reading was written about Jesus.  These are not people from the Bible whom I would describe as being “Suzie Sunshine.” They have dark times, are angry, afraid, or just deeply troubled about the state of the world…but in this morning’s readings, they are celebrating abundance, feasting, and light — which can help us reconnect with God and recharge, just like they did.

So abundance and feasting are concepts we easily understand, but what do we mean when we talk about God’s light?

I would say that God’s light is a description of how we sometimes experience God’s love, the freshness or clarity of shadows disappearing, and the renewal we call salvation.  But let’s recap the scripture readings to see what they say…

Isaiah challenges the hearer to embrace his vision of a God that shines like the sunrise and a brightly burning torch. For Isaiah, this light is about salvation, about being justified, validated in the eyes of his people’s adversaries. 

The psalmist, who so often seems to be struggling through the worst day ever, is celebrating the unwavering love of God, love in the abundance of a feast and in the volume of a flowing river.  The light of God, he tells us, is “meteoric, astronomical,” so bright and intense that we’re able to perceive and experience it.  It’s as though God’s love is carried in the light, is part of the light, and it won’t ever run out.

Finally, we hear from the Gospel of John about Jesus attending a wedding reception in Cana with his disciples and his mother. In the midst of the, apparently, very happy feasting, the wine begins to run low.  Next thing we know, Jesus’ mother is having a “proud mom-zilla moment.” She tells Jesus that he has an opportunity, here, to show what he’s got, to give the disciples and anyone else who’s around a sign of his power.  After replying to his mother with the ancient equivalent of, “Ease up on me, woman,” Jesus does something interesting.

Seeing these large jars that are dedicated to ritual washing, he tells some servants to fill the jars with water.  Notice that Jesus isn’t portrayed as saying a prayer, or laying his hands on the jars, or waving a wand – he doesn’t seem to be “performing” anything.  At some point, simply in the presence of Jesus, the water becomes about 150 gallons of very tasty wine.  We know from other parts of scripture that Jesus isn’t very impressed by people who need to see a miracle in order to believe, and he didn’t appreciate getting his mother’s advice at that particular time, so what is he signaling, here?  Well, there is quite of bit of meaning we can get from this story, but what I feel is important for us to hear today is that we find transformative abundance in God’s presence.  

To quickly summarize what’s happening in today’s readings:

• God’s light is salvation and justification, or, in other words, it’s about God saving our metaphorical and physical butts, right in front of those who’ve been attacking us or laughing at us for being God’s people.
• God’s light is also love, and there’s a never-ending supply of it. 
• And it’s in the presence of God that we find this transformative, rescuing, loving light.

For Isaiah and the psalmist, God’s light is very real. Of course, Old Testament folk were having visions and such all over the place, so they may have been a bit ahead of the game on experiencing God. Still, the abundance, the feast, the shining light isn’t “pie in the sky by and by,” it’s a certainty for them, despite being in the midst of challenging and painful lives.

Perhaps we modern folk don’t have as many visions, but we can certainly visualize.  And, anyway, visions can be a bit perilous.  I remember an old Episcopalian priest warn that visions are only worthwhile, are only a blessing, when they can be brought into the “real world” of daily life. So, how can we visualize and experience God’s presence, be filled and recharged by God’s abundant light in the here and now?

Well, I invite you to join me in a paper cup meditation. Yep, I said a paper cup, one of those little Dixie-Cup-type-things. Or, if you’re a fan of picnics and parties, I guess it could be a red plastic cup – I won’t judge. 🙂

You just gotta trust me on this.  And, anyway, it will only take a couple of minutes.

I don’t know what the origin of the paper cup meditation is, but it’s all about visualizing your heart, your whole life, being filled with the light of God.

Now, I invite you to take the next couple of minutes to give God’s light a chance to fill you up to overflowing. You might close your eyes, focus on the dancing flame of a candle, or look at one of the beautiful features of this sanctuary. However you focus your thoughts, know that the abundant light of God, the light of God’s love is for you, just as you are at this moment, in this place.

If you think you might have a tough time envisioning or experiencing this today, just imagine that your heart, your soul, your whole being is a paper cup. There is a constant, gentle flow of God’s light into your being, into your cup. You might picture the light as something soft and airy or as a bright metallic liquid. See the light, and all that it represents, all that it contains, begin to fill your cup.

If your cup has a hole in it, or even if it has no bottom and the light flows right on through, don’t worry. Know that the light of God is constantly shining, is constantly flowing into your cup. Before the foundation of time, God knew us, and knowing all that we are in advance, God extended the light of God’s love to us. God has continued to supply it, and it can never be exhausted. See the constant, limitless light of God begin to fill in the bottom of your cup.

As the bottom of your cup fills in, more and more of God’s light stays with you, and your cup begins to hold more and more. Imagine also the light of God that has come to you through others, even in the smallest of ways. Every kind smile and thoughtful remark, every good wish and act is coming home to rest in your cup, along with the constant, direct flow of light from God. All of this light keeps filling in the bottom of your cup until the amount of light in the cup rises toward the top. It continues to fill your cup, to rise slowly until it just spills over the edge. Your heart and soul, the very core of your being, are so full of light that light is not only around you, but has become an integral part of you.

Bringing this experience and knowledge of God’s light along with you, slowly return your attention to the sanctuary, to the present time and place.

Know that the light of God is truly endless, ever flowing into and through our lives. There is so much more than enough. If your experience or certainty of this ever fades and you feel like you’re running on empty, you can always meditate again on the cup, filling in and filling up to overflowing with the light of God.  Amen.