This Little Light of Ours:
Let it Shine!

January 9, 2022 • 1st Sunday after Epiphany
Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:1-10, 14-16 (The Inclusive Bible)
Pastor Jeff Wells

[You can view the worship video recording, including this message, at: Facebook.com/churchofthevillage/videos.]

“Don’t hide your light – let it shine!” Jesus told the crowd, “Let it shine so your goodness will inspire others and bring honor to God.” This teaching is from Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount” and, as you heard, it appears right after the Beatitudes. What are “Beatitudes”? Blessings. And what is Jesus’ purpose in these “blessings”? He is describing the characteristics of those who practice the values of the divine commonwealth – sometimes translated as “kindom of God.” One meaning of the word “blessed” is “having a sacred nature” and “being connected with God.” [1] So, I think Jesus was saying, “live these values and you will have a sacred nature” – you will be holy. Now, remember Jesus was not saying this to a handful of close followers. He was preaching to a large crowd. Jesus’ message was not just for a few or for some religious elite, but for everyone – everyone who desired to listen to and respond to God’s love and lure. He was proclaiming to every person in that crowd: “You can begin to experience the divine commonwealth right now. You can be holy.”

Well, that’s wonderful! I want to be consecrated and holy, don’t you? But there’s a catch. Jesus says, “If you have this sacred nature, if you’re living this life I’m teaching about, then you are the light of the world.” Wait, what!? I’m the light of the world? We’re the light of the world? You can imagine people in the crowd looking around at each other and saying to themselves, “But I’m not anybody famous or great or powerful. How am I ‘the light of the world’? How is this crowd of ordinary people ‘the light of the world’?”

But, you see, Jesus believed – and I believe – we each have that metaphorical “light” in us – a light expressed in our gifts, passions, creativity, and love. And God constantly invites us, lures us, to let it all shine brightly so we can contribute to goodness, beauty, truth, love, and justice in the world.

Working against that is that we humans tend to go along and get along, even when our existence is not what we dream of – even when our circumstances demand that we shine our light. We fail to act out of fear or complacency or apathy or lack of belief in our own worthiness or abilities. We hide our light or we don’t let it shine as brightly as it could. In doing so, we allow so much harm, injustice, and unnecessary suffering, to ourselves and other, to go on largely unchallenged. But the universe is grounded in novelty and creativity. The world is always changing. God is constantly offering us creative possibilities and inspiring us to dream of a better world. The future is not determined or predictable. The light we shine can help change the world. 

The sort of “light” that generates reform, transformation, or liberation always begins with a small number of people. While he was alive, Jesus had a tiny band of dedicated disciples. The Gospels say there were 12 who traveled with him, but I say double that number, at least, to include all of the dedicated women disciples who don’t get credit. Other stories say Jesus sent out 70 or 120 to teach and heal. So, at most, he had a few hundred close followers. I doubt he preached to more than a few thousand people in his short life. Perhaps a somewhat larger number ever heard of him at the time. Yet, his light, working through his followers, ended up having a larger impact on history than perhaps any other person who ever lived.

The abolitionist movement in the U.S. was quite small before the Civil War, yet it played an outsized role in ending slavery. History shows us the same pattern in the movement for women’s rights and women’s liberation, LGBTQ liberation, the Civil Rights Movement, the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, and Ghandi’s struggle to free India from British imperialist rule. In each case, those who had the fortitude to let their light shine were few at first, but came to exercise great influence and drew in multitudes over time. 

Sometime in the early 20th century, Jesus’ teaching about letting our light shine was captured in a song titled, “This Little Light of Mine.” The origins of the song are unclear, but by the 1930s there are records of it being sung in black churches in southern California and Montana, and penitentiaries in Texas. So, it likely came out of an earlier black song tradition. By the 1950s, it had been adapted and became a widespread and popular song of the Civil Rights Movement. Since then, it has been taught to children for decades and is so popular practically everyone knows it. 

Having been a folk singer and guitar player since I was 8 years old, this song has been in my repertoire and the soundtrack of my entire life. I’ve sung it and heard it sung more times than I can remember. 

In BP times – that’s “before pandemic” – we used to sing it every Tuesday at the Hope for Our Neighbors in Need food pantry in our church sanctuary, where 200-300 guests would sit waiting for their ticket numbers to be called. “This Little Light of Mine” became the theme song for HNN. More people joined in singing it than any other song we did. Frequently, a guest would volunteer to get up and help lead the song. “This Little Light of Mine” has had a huge impact and is sung across the world in many struggles and contexts. It’s a song of resistance and of hope. The song has helped inspire change, growth, relational community, and connection with God. 

Now, don’t be misled by the word “little.” “Little” is not the same as “inconsequential.” The power of the light we shine is not in its size, but in its faithfulness and brightness. When we sang the song at the food pantry, we always changed the pronouns in the final verse to “ours”: 

“This little light of ours, we’re gonna let it shine.” 

Our light can attract the light of others. Those who are deemed powerless in this world become powerful and their light becomes supercharged when they are joined together. The light doesn’t just inspire others, it generates strength and courage. It holds us up. It keeps us moving forward, against all odds. When we strive together, sing together, shine together, we can learn to stand strong, even in the face of brutality and repression. 

“Shining our light” is not just about striving for big social change. Shining your light can be caring for a neighbor in need. Feeding someone who doesn’t have enough to eat. Helping someone who is not strong enough to help themselves. What ways are you feeling called lately to “shine your light” or to join with others to shine more brightly – perhaps with this community of Jesus followers? If you are willing, I encourage you to share your thoughts in the Zoom chat space or Facebook comments. 

As for me, if you have listened to me preach or followed my weekly emails over the past several months, you may have noticed I am going through a very intense period of experiencing God’s luring. I believe the Church of the Village, too, is being lured to “let our light shine” in order to inspire others in new, creative, and potentially life-saving and even planet-saving directions. 

The pandemic took a lot of our time and energy for a while, but haven’t let it stop us from moving forward. Over the past year, we’ve been focusing our communal light energy on five big areas: 

1. Creating a hybrid church with a global reach. 

2. Strengthening our leadership by providing more support and training for current leaders and creating a better system for discerning and mentoring new leaders.

3. We are moving the Church of the Village toward incorporating anti-racism in everything we do. We started with training the Vision & Ministry Council members in the fall and will extend the training to the whole congregation this year. 

4. Bringing process thought and process theology into our worship and ministry in ways that are life-giving and don’t subsume our theological diversity.

5. Promoting the vision of ecological civilization as the way forward for humanity in the face of the ecological crisis. 

I want to talk a bit about the last one, which I am pretty heavily involved in now. I think it is a great illustration of growing our light. As I scan the political and activists landscape, I see a lot of effort being put toward specific short-term solutions to the crisis that is already upon us. Many good organizations are addressing particular environmental concerns and proposing solutions like reducing carbon emissions, creating more sustainable energy sources, vacuuming plastic from the oceans, transforming agriculture, saving bees and butterflies, getting us to change our patterns of consumption. But very few people seem to be talking or writing about systematic solutions or presenting big visions for human society in relation to the ecosphere. Sure, there’s the Green New Deal. It’s full of ideas that could help reduce the worst near-term effects of climate change, but it doesn’t mention the underlying economy of production and consumption committed to ever-increasing growth. We can’t save the planet without completely transforming the world economy. We need a plan that is much bigger, broader, and bolder. 

If you do a Google search for “ecological civilization,” you will find that almost everything written about it either comes from the People’s Republic of China or is written about China. That’s because China is the only nation that has proclaimed building ecological civilization as a goal and they are actually working to implement it. The rest of the world is barely talking about it.

Outside of China, those promoting ecological civilization are small in numbers. Two months ago, John Cobb invited me to participate in a group working to get the U.S. and China to reduce political and military tensions and focus on collaborating to address the ecological crisis. Our end goal is to build ecological civilization, but we see this immediate goal as a crucial way to buy time, since scientists now believe we have ten years to make a difference before irreversible damage and severe consequences will make the situation so much worse. We are certainly working against the odds. Our group has just 12 members. Just what Jesus started out with. These are really smart and well-connected people. There are no politicians or diplomats. But we have a big vision, a big ambition, and we are starting to feel the power and intensity of our light.  

I think about John Cobb, who has spent more than five decades trying to spread the good news of process thought and process theology. He told me recently that only in the last 5 years has he begun to see all of that effort bear much fruit. When it comes to the ecosphere, we don’t have that much time! On Tuesday, when we were planning this worship, Jorge told me he looks at John Cobb and at me and sees the image of Don Quixote. Of course, he means that as a compliment – not that we are crazy old fools with an implausible mission, but that we are willing to swim against the current and risk failing to work for what we believe in. Ignacio Castuera, who is also a member of this group of 12, reminded me a few weeks ago, of Margaret Mead’s famous dictim: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world.” I am putting my hope in that thought.

Friends, our light illuminates what is wrong, but it also shines on a vision of what could be. Let’s join our lights together. Friends, our numbers are small, but I encounter or hear about new persons every week who are dreaming of a new civilization as the best hope for the world. I invite you to dream with me. Imagine what the world could be like if we could get not just the governments of the U.S. and China together, but bring together the people of China and the U.S. in cooperation and collaboration? We have a long road to travel, but I can feel momentum. We are moving forward. I see our light getting brighter. 

This little light of ours, we’re gonna let it shine
This little light of ours, we’re gonna let it shine
This little light of ours, we’re gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. 

[1] Merriam-Webster Dictionary

(c) 2022 Jeff Wells
All rights reserved.