Greta Thunberg
Greta Thunberg is a contemporary leader in whom the Rev. Bill Cotton finds shining the light of Jesus's care for creation. (Getty Images Photo)
Feb. 16, 2020 Matthew 8:26; 8:23-34
The Epiphany Season according to Matthew finds the people caught in all of the conditions of life. There are the boat stories in which the storms at sea frighten everyone but Jesus, who is calm and takes a nap. I have wondered some, if the disciples are in the same boat with Jesus, why are they so afraid? He does calm the sea. And there is the matter of Jesus walking on the water in the midst of the great storms. And the fishing tales. Do you find it strange that the disciples seem unable to catch a fish without Jesus helping a bit?
We meet him walking along the seaside inviting fishermen to come and go with him, he will make them fishers of men. They drop those nets and follow him. Does this have something to do with vocation or the longing of the human heart for some better life, some new adventure? I think so.
Jan and I visited Nantucket Island to see her Swedish-American cousin, who has lived there for many years. I had not a clue what I was getting myself into. This tiny island seven miles long and four miles wide was once famous for its residents’ willingness to save the sailors from the shipwrecks along the shore. And to visit the old lighthouse is a real history lesson.
Artwork in the Shipwreck Museum depicts the courageous residents holding up lanterns and pulling people out of the stormy sea. Music in the background is the Navy hymn and other religious hymns of the sea. Those people had a purpose. Jan’s cousin Carl is part of that historical society and continues to join with the old timers who live to keep that proud story alive. A brilliant thinker and intellectual, Carl lives a modest life in a house with little pretension, and continues to volunteer with the Coast Guard.
These days, young people especially are concerned regarding the rising sea as the top of the world melts. There are also the toxic poisons in the ocean because of the trash, especially plastics destroying the basic stuff of life – our water. Years ago theologian Paul Tillich warned that we are making a plastic world that cannot cause anything but harm. When I visited Bethlehem a few years ago and was out for an early morning walk, the most notable image was the huge amount of plastic caught in bushes and everywhere, corrupting the beauty of that place.
We could continue this story but Epiphany, the season of light, pulls us back into the life of this man who treads the earth gathering up all who might wish to choose light over darkness.
We watch him issue the call to all who prefer light and we wonder if a wayward Church will come to its senses and follow the direction of the old hymn, “Work for the night is coming…” Do the words of another gospel hymn stop us a bit? “When the storms of life are raging, stand by me.” And I even believe that this man from heaven, the world’s true light, will show us something new — so I go on singing, “Shine, Jesus, Shine!” And somehow that gives me hope. There is good fishing in Matthew, follow this one who knows the best spots. And still today new followers are found.
Time Magazine recently featured a young Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, who addressed the United Nations and told the world that we should be ashamed for destroying this beautiful blue planet. She in her own way is becoming an expression of what Jesus meant when he said to all of us, “You are the light of the world.” Now don’t hide under those baskets, let your light so shine. Greta would also tell us that no one is too small to make a difference. I think she has discovered the meaning of those words, “Shine, Jesus, shine!” Do you suppose that we Methodists might also revive that old civil rights song, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!”
Together with clergy colleagues and friends, the Rev. Bill Cotton of Des Moines, a retired clergy member of the Iowa Annual Conference, produces MEMO for Those Who Preach.