1-8-2025

 Good Morning All,

        Matthew 5:16; “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

    There is a story told about a gathering of some of the most outstanding biblical scholars and theologians.  They were going to decide once and for all which translation of the Bible was the best.  Each came with the translation which he thought was the best.  The debate was long and arduous.  It started out like many debates; at first, there were lighthearted moments and some friendly banter.  Then it began to get serious and personal as they argued over the finer points of the Bible, its text, and its central meaning.  They argued over coherence and adherence.  They argued over textuality and contextuality.  They argued until they were blue in the face.  It was evening so they quit until the next day.

    The next day the debate began again, just as fierce, and just as intense.  During the debate, a young man was seated in the audience.  He was keeping meticulous notes as each theologian and scholar made his arguments and points.  At the end of the second grueling day, most of the scholars were about to collapse.  As they were preparing to leave the auditorium, they called the young man up.  They gathered around him and asked him who he thought was winning.  What is the best translation of the Bible?  They wanted to know his answer.  At first, he tried to beg off and not answer but they persisted, so he answered them.

    “I have always thought the best translation was Miss Smith’s translation.”  At first, the scholars were dumbfounded and then they began to laugh, thinking it was a joke by this young man.  Yet the young man kept an earnest look on his face, so they asked him to explain.  He told them this story. “Miss Smith was a neighbor lady who taught Sunday School for over 50 years.  She never said a mean thing to anyone.  As we grew up, she kept being in our lives.  She gave a quilt to each girl when she got married and her door was always open to anyone who needed to talk.  She was always the first over to help at any time of trouble and as her students grew up, she could always be counted on to babysit or to watch a child after school when no one else would.  No one was ever turned away from her door.  No one ever loved like she did.  In her life, I saw everything that the Bible taught me to be.  She lived what you read, and it never has come any clearer than that.”

    Let your light so shine.  Most of us are not “Miss Smith” but God calls us to be.  We can be a “Miss Smith” to those around us by engaging them with God’s love.  It might take the form of a kind word, a shoulder to cry on or hands to clap in happiness and celebration.  Faith is not just head knowledge; it is life changing.  God empowers us to live out his mercy and grace and to impact the lives of those around us.  By his grace and mercy, we are the lights through which God’s light shines.  We are his agents, his hands and arms, his feet and voice.  Let your light so shine.

Dear Father, too often we try to hide our light and turn our back on those among us who are hurting or lost or damaged.  Forgive us Lord and cause us to reach out to those in need of your care.  Bring us to see as you see and to have compassion as you have compassion.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret