This is a passage that I think is helpful to read in Eugene Peterson’s Message paraphrase of the bible. Here is how he reimagines the first few verses of this reading: “Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, ‘Light up the darkness!’ and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful. If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us.” I love the sentence, “We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives.”
It seems sometimes we believe we need to put on a good show in terms of our faith. We want to impress God or ourselves or others with the number of bible verses we can quote or with our theological prowess or with our well-crafted, dramatic salvation story. Instead, the author of this letter tells us the light of Christ we carry is best shown in ordinary interactions with the world. What part does your faith in Christ play in your day-to-day life? Do you ever consider whether you have shed light into someone’s day or whether you have contributed to their darkness? How might knowing you hold the light of Christ within help you to withstand the sorrows and fears that inevitably come?
Offer a prayer of commitment to reflect the light of God’s love back into the world no matter what you may be going through today.
