Saturday 8 February 2014

LECTIONARY FOURTH SUNDAY BEFORE LENT: Just To Confirm (Matthew 5:13-20)


Hi, yes, hello.
Can I just ask one question.
I heard something and I want to confirm.
To make absolutely positive that I heard correctly.
Because I would hate to have misheard and for this to go down in history,
As one of those moments where things turn out unexpectedly,
Because someone misheard something,
Something someone else said.
So just to confirm.
Did you or did you not just say,
“you are the light of the world.”
“YOU are the light of the world.”
Because if you had said, “I am the light of the world” I would have understood,
A little better at least.
Because I am not the light of the world.
But you said I am.
In fact, you said, “you are the light of the world”
By which you meant me.
Me and the other people gathered on this hill to hear you speak.
I really think you’ve made a mistake.
Maybe there’s been some kind of grammatical, first person, next person,
Third person miss-match and mess-up because I can guarantee,
I am not the light of the world.
“I”, in my fickle sensibilities, my up and down emotions,
“I” and my lack of devotion and anger and prejudice,
And “I” with my hopeless handling of simple situations and emotional expectations,
“I” am not the light of the world.
I’m not even the light of my town,
My street,
My house,
My family,
So Jesus,
I am so sorry to break it to you,
But I think you must be wrong,
But saying that itself feels so wrong,
Because you are never wrong,
You are the light of the world,
And the light shines into darkness,
And the darkness cannot overcome it,
And if all that’s true,
(Maybe someone will write about it in 40 years or so),
But if all that is true,
Then the idea that you might be wrong,
Itself feels wrong,
So how can I be the light of the world?
Or maybe when you said, “you”, you meant “you” in a collective way,
Like, “you are all the light of the world”,
Maybe the point you’re making is that together your people and I,
Can be the light of the world,
That the goodness and completeness of everyone else’s lives,
Will somehow cover over the cracks and breakdowns of my own existence,
Maybe the fact that he and her, she and him, they’re all so good and pure,
That that will make up for the fact that I’m more a faded grey than a bright light,
Or then again,
Maybe by your words,
“You are the light of the world”, you’re setting me and my sisters and brothers a standard,
For all of us on this hill to reach,
Maybe the standard goes beyond this geographic location and this specific time,
Maybe your words cross eternity and back,
Maybe we, you’re people are the “you”, you have been addressing,
Maybe we can as one and as individuals be your light in this world,
And that sounds beautiful like,
Lived poetry,
Enacted cosmic drama,
But I’m failed and I think there may be other failure’s too,
So this master plan,
For I to act like you,
For your audience, when you said, “you”,
Meaning “I”, meaning me,
This plan seems to have flaws to me,
But I do not see what you see,
I don’t read history before it is written on the world’s clocks,
And I didn’t put the world’s clocks in place, like you did,
(Though just to be sure we better wait for some councils to set a date and make that clear),
Either way,
I don’t know what you know,
I don’t see what you see,
But if you say it’s like that then it must be,
I will try to be your light in this world.
I’ll try, but if I’m honest,
I could probably user a helper to help me do this,
I’m not sure I can be your light in my own strength,
Maybe I need a helper,
A helper or,

Maybe I need an advocate.

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