January 23, 2016 – Presbytery of Genesee Valley’s Leadership Training Day Worship
Last week, Companions on the Way was honored to be invited by the Presbytery of Genesee Valley to lead worship at this year’s Leadership Training Day.
Matthew 5:14-16 calls us to remember that we have each been given lights to shine. They are the gifts, passions, and talents we possess to make the world a more loving place. The world often has a way, though, of making us feel like we need to hide those gifts – that somehow they are not good enough, not “right” enough, not “holy” enough to shine. Through bullying, fear of judgement, self-criticism, or even simple weariness, we begin to place proverbial “bushel baskets” over our lights, for fear they’re not enough. But, for the One who put them there, all darkness is light. We can’t hide our lights from the One who created them! Our call, then, is to remember that our light is always enough for God. God loves us and our lights, and knows they belong on a lampstand, shining love for the world! And if my light is enough for God, do others (and ultimately I) have the right to put it under a basket? No. I’m gonna let it shine…
Practice
Place unlit candles (tealights work well) in a basket, with a single, lit Christ candle and sand tray on a table beside it. Each person think of and names one of their lights that they haven’t shone in a while. Then, each person thinks about and names the bushel basket around that light – that is, why haven’t they shone it? What’s kept them from feeling like it was enough? After each person has shared their light and bushel basket, each person takes a candle from the literal basket, relights it from the Christ candle, and places it in the sand. It is a reclaiming of a light hidden for too long, and a commitment to let it shine again, for God. The result is a table of light that was dark before. Nothing new has been created, only what was hidden is now seen. Spend some time with that, and the table’s light, and remember how beautiful all your light is to God!
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