Stained Glass
In the Collect for the Second Sunday after Epiphany, we pray, “Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and forever. Amen.”
That’s a pretty tall order. We want Jesus to be known, worshipped and obeyed. I think the struggle for most people comes down to one of the three.
Some of us are good with the idea of Jesus being known and worshipped, but obeyed to? We are Americans; Our forebearers fought for independence in the Revolutionary War not to obey anyone!
Some do not mind knowing Jesus and obeying His teachings but hit a wall when called to worship Him. This is the stance of “Jesus was a great moral teacher, " which C. S. Lewis wrote so scathingly. (Jesus doesn’t leave us with the option to only see Him as a great teacher. If He wasn’t who He said He was, He would be either a fraud or a nut. See “Mere Christianity” for more.)
For some of us, it is easy to think of Jesus being worshipped and obeyed, but we struggle to really know Him as He is shown to us in Scripture. It is easy to worship and obey someone whom you can imagine in any way that feels right. Unfortunately, you’re not following Jesus in that case. You’re following yourself in a Jesus costume.
Against these errors, the call of the Christian is to do all three: know, worship and obey. That is what the life of a disciple looks like. If this feels overwhelming, you are in good company. None of us can do this on our own.
Have you ever gone up close to a piece of stained glass and thought to yourself, “This is a bit underwhelming? It’s just colored glass!” Yet, when you step back, light shines into the window and you see the beauty of the entire representation. That is what the Christian life is. The beauty with which we shine isn’t our own but that of Christ shining through us. He is the light of the world. We refract just a bit of that light into our own lives to share His love with the world.
St. Peter writes in his first epistle, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
Christ’s marvelous light shines through us to a world in need. Follow Him today. Pray that He would be known, worshipped and obeyed in all corners of the world starting in your own heart.
