Lighting the Way!
ILL.- It was at the end of the school year, and a kindergarten teacher was receiving gifts from her pupils.
The florist’s son handed her a gift. She shook it, held it overhead, and said, "I bet I know what it is. Some flowers."
"That’s right!" the boy said, "but how did you know?" "Oh, just a wild guess," she said.
The next pupil was the candy shop owner’s daughter.
The teacher held her gift overhead, shook it, and said, "I bet I can guess what it is. A box of sweets."
"That’s right, but how did you know?" asked the girl. "Oh, just a wild guess," said the teacher.
The next gift was from the son of the liquor store owner. The teacher held the package overhead, but it was leaking. She touched a drop of the leakage with her finger and touched it to her tongue.
"Is it wine?" she asked. "No," the boy replied, with some excitement.
The teacher repeated the process, taking a larger drop of the leakage to her tongue.
"Is it champagne?" she asked.
"No," the boy replied, with more excitement. The teacher took one more taste before declaring, "I give up, what is it?" With great glee, the boy replied, "It’s a puppy!"
I love little kids. Can you picture this little boy’s light shining, his beaming face, him lighting up the world as he is so proud to give his teacher his present. So, I want you to think for a moment. How are we adding light to the world? How are we ‘lighting the way’ for others?
Lighting the Way With Attitude
‘Lighting the way’ is about making a mark, making a difference, ignoring the negative attitudes and opinions of others and being a positive influencer. “Your light” is that special, unique, one-of-a-kind thing that God has deposited in you to make you who you are. As you notice people around you, you can see the people who are lighting up the world, but more so, we tend to notice the persons whose light is nearly snuffed out? You know the ones… foul attitudes and seem to always be in a bad mood? The ones who are hard to be around… the ones we aim to steer clear of. If we are truly choosing to light the way with our attitude it is important to remember, just because we disagree with people does not mean we should hate people, be cruel to people, or shame people— it seems much of society needs to relearn that.
Remember, light is a good reflector, darkness is not. Think about that midnight ride out on your bicycle. Some of you may have to think back a long way… and, let’s pretend there is no moon out that night. In the pitch dark of the night, without any light, are those reflectors on your bicycle any good? No! Not unless there these new-age reflectors with flashers in them. Right? Light is needed for reflection. So, today I challenge you to create that reflection, to ‘light the way’ by choosing a positive attitude, a positive perspective. Your light can be one of the most wonderful parts of your life that reflects your special character, your value, your worth and the way you are going to influence the world by sharing the love of Christ among others.
Lighting the Way with Service and Good Deeds
Illus: In the nineteenth century, lighthouses on the U.S. coasts were tended by lighthouse keepers and their families. If a man who tended the light took ill or became disabled, often the work was then picked up by his wife or children. This was the case of Hosea Lewis. In 1853, Lewis became the keeper of the light on Lime Rock Island in Rhode Island. Just four years later he suffered a stroke and his teenage daughter Ida assumed responsibility for the light. Each day included cleaning the reflectors, trimming the wick, and filling the oil reservoir at sunset and midnight, along with providing for her father’s care.
Because of the long and demanding tasks, Ida was unable to continue her schooling, but daily delivered her siblings to class, whatever the weather, by rowing the 500 yards to the mainland.
In the mid-1800s, it was unusual to see a woman maneuvering a boat, but Ida became well-known for her ability to handle the heavy boat. The teenager gained a measure of fame at age sixteen when she rescued four young men after their boat capsized. She rowed to their aid, hearing their screams as they clung to their overturned craft. On March 29, 1869, Ida saved two drowning servicemen from nearby Fort Adams.
Public knowledge of Ida’s courage spread as far as Washington, inspiring President Ulysses S. Grant to visit Ida at Newport later that year. Ida rescued two more soldiers in early February of 1881. The two soldiers were crossing from Newport to Lime Rock Island on foot when the ice gave way. Ida, the lighthouse keeper, came running with a rope, ignoring peril to herself from the weakened ice, pulling the soldiers to safety. For such an act of bravery and sacrifice, Ida was awarded the U.S. Lifesaving Service’s highest medal.
All told, Ida Lewis personally rescued some 25 people in fifty-plus years as keeper of the light.
Her last reported rescue came at age 63 when she saved a friend who had fallen into the water on her way to visit Ida on the island.
Asked where she found strength and courage for such a feat, Ida answered: “I don’t know, I ain’t particularly strong. The Lord Almighty gives it to me when I need it, that’s all.”
Ida Lewis was a faithful steward. She was literally ‘lighting the way’ for those who needed it, not only through that lighthouse but through her years of service.
Matthew 5:14-16 New International Version (NIV)
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither 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. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Over the Christmas holiday, we worked to ‘light the way’ with service and good deeds by working to spread hope, joy, love and peace each week during advent. I shared a story the week of hope about a lady who had heart complications, had a pacemaker put in, and had been life-flighted several times since due to complications—she was having an extremely difficult 2019—to say the least. She was headed to a meeting one night and got pulled over. There was a mix-up on her vehicle insurance so it showed that her car was not insured. She was upset because the 250.00 she had saved for her Grandchildren’s Christmas present was now going to be used to get her car out of impound. In the advent week of ‘Hope’ I shared we had enclosed so money in an envelope and had an anonymous messenger deliver it to her house. The reason I wanted to follow up with the story is later she came to me not knowing who gave her the money and said, ‘Some little girl came to my doorstep during the holidays one night and handed me an envelope, my dogs were barking and I was trying to keep them in the house, I felt so bad, I couldn’t even follow her out to see what she was driving, she handed me the envelop and said this is from people who love you. I went back into the house and opened the card and I instantly start bawling, the Thomas Kincaid painting on the front of the card was the same Thomas Kincaid picture on a puzzle I did with my mother the Christmas right before she died.” She went on to explain she opened the card and saw the single word ‘Hope’ written inside, with enough money to get her grandkids their presents. “I bawled for two days straight.” She said. I repeat, the same picture on that card of the puzzle she did with her mother right before she passed away. And… that is our awesome God, and that is the light of Christ shown through service and good deeds.
Lighting the way with Love
When I have questions about life, I like to look at nature--God’s creation. Have you ever thought about the idea ‘nature just is.’ In the same way, the animal kingdom ‘just is.’ So, today, in talking about ‘lighting the way,’ I thought about none other than the ‘light geniuses’—the firefly. The family name, Lampyridae comes from the Greek "lampein," meaning to shine … just like a lamp. Now the firefly is a lot like Jesus, Right? Both bringing light into a darkened world. And another interesting fact about the firefly, but a firefly is technically much greater than a ‘lowly fly’—they are actually part of the much bolder beetle family—but none-the-less they are willing to take on the lowlier title. They are not only willing to associate themselves with the ‘less-thans,’ they became a part of the ‘less-thans.’ And this is what Jesus does, right? Not only brings light to the world, but sits with the lowliest, loves with the lowliest, and becomes one with the lowliest. Like the firefly, He gives them luminescence and light. And did you ever wonder how powerful that light is which is given to some of the lowliest? Well, the light produced by the firefly is the most efficient light ever made. Almost 100 percent of the energy in the chemical reaction is emitted as light; in comparison, an incandescent light bulb only emits 10 percent of its energy as light, the other 90 percent is lost as heat. So, I am not even going to say ‘I would argue…’ There is no argument, there is a sameness in the efficiency of the light of the firefly with the light of Christ. Would you agree? 100% efficient? Think about it, when we are sharing and spreading the love of Christ, how efficient are our lives in those moments?
Now the lowly little fly does not stop there. Poetically speaking these little fireflies are alchemists. They don’t turn base metals into gold, but they do create light as if by magic. And here is the real kicker, when a chemical called luciferin (note the same Latin root as Lucifer) inside their abdomen and tail combines with oxygen (the product of light and life), a chemical reaction occurs, light is created and takes over, but more than that, that spectacular light is emitted!
Now another worthy note is that, although you can’t see it, humans actually glow with our own form of bioluminescence. Although in humans the light is not so spectacular. I am not exactly sure why that is and I will leave that for you to research. But, my thought is maybe we lackluster and we can’t see our bioluminescence has something to do with luciferin (Lucifer in) us (maybe that was a stretch). 😊 A few more interesting notes about those little flies that remind me of today’s Christians: they come in a rainbow of colors, they light up the underworld, some are aquatic (especially at baptism), their numbers are declining, and they taste disgusting to predators due to a defensive steroid. That last one seems to work two ways, some Christians ward off predators by lighting the way, and others just have, I imagine, really gross taste. So, the moral of my rambling, please don’t be a Christian who leaves a gross taste in the mouth of others, unless it is to that of a predator.
Illus: A trained nurse was asked if she did not grow weary of her work. She replied: "Yes, when I have to attend rich patients who might hire someone else to wait on them; then my headaches and my hands are heavy. But give me my basket of foods and medicines and let me go among the poor who can pay me only with their eyes, and I can imagine no greater happiness. Heaven! There I ask the Lord of Paradise to give me at least August vacation that I may spend dog days in the slums. I am sure He will, for did not the Christ find it His meat to do the will of His Father in just such places?"
Spreading love, especially to the lowly, is certainly ‘lighting the way’ with love. As you go out into the world, my prayer is that we continue to find ways to ‘light the way’ for all who journey through this difficult world. May we remember the words of Christ: ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” -John 8:12
In the name of Jesus Christ, the light we follow, Amen.
