Sermon -- 5th Sunday after Epiphany (February 5, 2023)

1 PETER 2:9-12

YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.

In the name + of Jesus.

     In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told his disciples, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).  St. Peter spoke a little more extensively about your blessed status.  “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession” (1 Peter 2:9).  There is a lot to unpack in Peter’s words.  You are a royal priesthood.  “Royal” means you are sons and daughters of the King of heaven and earth.  “Priesthood” means you bear the name of the Lord in whatever you do.  Whether you think your tasks are menial or amazing, you do it in the name of the Most High God.  He delights in your service because he delights in you, his royal priests. 

     In the Old Testament, Israel was a holy nation—an entire people chosen by God for the purpose of bringing the Savior into the world through them.  Israel was chosen, not because they were bigger or better than anyone else (they weren’t), but by God’s grace.  Now, God gathers to himself people from all over the world.  His chosen ones are not determined by ethnicity, language, or even by time.  The holy nation is God’s Church.  You have been chosen, not because you are important or richer or smarter, but by God’s grace.  If you are holy, then you are set apart.  You have been set apart from sin, death, and the devil.  But you have also been set apart for God’s glory and for good works.  For, you are the light of the world.

     You have been enlightened to see that God is merciful.  God’s love has been revealed to you through Jesus.  Although Jesus was blameless, he accepted the blame for all our sins.  God demonstrated his judgment against Jesus when he hung on the cross.  Jesus was nailed to the cross at the nine o’clock hour.  At the noon hour, when the sun was at its peak, the sun stopped shining.  God is light, but God turned everything to darkness.  He was showing that Jesus was rejected, forsaken, and cursed for sins.  In this way, Jesus paid for your sins, all of them.  There is no more curse.  God’s anger has been appeased.  Through Jesus, you have been delivered from the darkness of sin and death.  You have been brought into the light of God’s love and truth.  “Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:10). 

     You are the light of the world.  St. Peter tells you that God has set you apart “that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).  The Lord has made himself known to you as a merciful God and a faithful Savior.  So now, you cannot help but make him known to others.  You and I want to enlighten others to see the light of God’s mercy.  We do this by our praises as we gather for church, but also as we go about our daily lives.  For, to be the light of the world, you must be in the world.  As Jesus instructed you: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory—not to you, but—to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).  We give God the glory because we know God does the work—both in saving us and in working in us the desire to love and serve the kind and the cruel, the grateful and the ungrateful.  The light of Christ shines, regardless of on whom it shines.

     You are the light of the world, but you are not of the world.  St. Peter wrote, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11).  Sojourners are those who are just passing through a place for a time.  That is you.  Your citizenship is in heaven.  But for now, you serve the Lord as you pass through this world on your way to your glorious home.  St. Peter also used the word “exiles,” which is even stronger.  For, exiles are usually unwelcome where they are living. 

     Perhaps you feel like you are out of place in this world.  People in this world are crazy.  Some are downright wicked.  The world revels in its sins and expects that you will, too.  Because you don’t join in, you might feel like an outcast.  You are a holy nation living in a wicked world—like Lot living in Sodom, like Daniel living in Babylon, like the early Christians living among all the pagan temples and shrines of Athens and Corinth.  People there lived according to the spirit of the world.  They were tolerant of all kinds of ideas—except the idea that God’s word is true and that everything opposed to God’s word is wicked.  The world has never had tolerance for that.

     You are the light of the world.  You are sojourners and exiles in this world.  God’s holy nation chooses to live differently from the world.  We confess no god but the Triune God.  We avoid promiscuity and obscenity.  We refrain from drunkenness and debauchery.  We are not vengeful nor vicious.  We live this way because God has set us apart for what is good and pure and beneficial to others.  Your very life confesses this; for you are the light of the world.

     That’s not to say that you and I are not tempted to follow along with the world.  That’s why St. Peter directs you: “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11).  The passions of the flesh still cling to us.  They wage war against our soul, which means that they reside in us.  We must constantly battle the deeds of darkness.  The sinful heart is a dark place, and it wants to cast out the light of Christ.  

     The battle never ceases, either.  The Bible shows us what happens when we get lazy or do not take seriously the passions of our sinful flesh.  When Cain was filled with anger and jealousy over Abel, the Lord warned him, “Why do you have that angry look on your face?  If you do good, will you not be lifted up?  If you do not do good, sin is crouching at the door.  It has a strong desire for you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:6-7).  Cain did not fight against his sin and murdered his brother.  Because of that, he was banished by God.  Or consider King Saul.  His lust for power drove him relentlessly to destroy David, even though David fought Saul’s battles for him and strengthened Saul’s kingdom.  Eventually, Saul grew angry with his generals because they did not report David’s whereabouts to him.  Saul killed the Lord’s priests because they gave David supplies.  He even threatened to kill his own son for befriending David.  If we become lazy in the fight and do not abstain from sinful passions, the darkness will drive out the light of Christ.

     “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11).  Daily, we do battle.  We do not always win.  Sometimes we are seduced by sinful practices because they are commonly practiced.  Sometimes we are pressured to follow the loudest voices.  Sometimes we just give in to our baser motives.  For example, if someone sins against you, you know what the Lord directs you to do: Be merciful.  Turn the other cheek.  Forgive.  But there is a part of you that wants to slander them, to humiliate them, or even to beat them.  If you don’t act on it, you fantasize about it.  The passions of the flesh always stir in us and drive us to fits of anger, revenge, jealousy, bitterness, and so on.

     This is why we need Jesus.  We need the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from our sins.  We need the words of Jesus to assure us that we have God’s forgiveness.  We need God the Father to remind us what it means that we are a holy nation.  We need the Holy Spirit to strengthen us for the daily battle against darkness and to guide us in paths of righteousness.  But know this: Jesus Christ has overcome the darkness.  If we remain in his word and sacraments, the darkness cannot cast him out.

     You are the light of the world.  The light of Jesus Christ dwells in you; therefore, you reflect the light of Christ in what you do.  If you abstain from the deeds of darkness, the world will notice it.  That is why St. Peter wrote, “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12).  If you are slandered because you are lights in the world, let it be because your life and your words reflect Jesus.  There is no remorse in doing good.  There is no shame in acting in accord with God’s word—no matter how much the world tries to shame you for it. 

     You are the light of the world; and many will despise you for it.  Jesus warned, “The light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (John 3:19-20).  Many believe that their evil works are loving and that their wicked ideas are good.  Such people will brand you as evildoers and promoters of hatred.

     Fear not.  This is what happens when light and darkness collide.  They cannot exist in harmony with each other.  This is why Jesus was vilified, betrayed, arrested, and crucified.  But just because the darkness hates the light, that does not mean the light stops shining.  You are the light of the world.  You reflect the light of Jesus.  The only way to be spared the hatred is to stop being the light of Christ, which none of us would consider an option.  So, “keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12).  If the world is determined to engage in evil and to enforce it, let us still do good anyway.  You may not prevent anyone from speaking evil against you, but you can make sure that their charges are lies.

     Even if the whole world condemns you, know that the Lord does not forget his own.  His kingdom endures forever.  His promises withstand every lie.  And his people will be delivered.  The day of Jesus’ visitation will come.  When Jesus comes to judge the living and the dead, he will vindicate you.  Everyone who spoke evil against you will have to acknowledge that you are, indeed, God’s chosen race, his holy nation, his royal priests.  Just as they will have to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father, so they will have to confess that you are God’s people to the glory of God the Father.  For Jesus himself will prove it.  For now, you are the lights of the world.  Even if it is not as radiant as you might want, you reflect the light of Jesus.  Soon, you will shine like stars forever, and dwell in the Lord’s eternal light.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.