Finding the Light in Unexpected Places

This is written by a seminary friend and colleague in Iowa, Rev. Dr. Denny Coon.   I copied this from an e-publication called:  Thursday Memo for Preachers put out by the Iowa Annual Conference.  Awesome witness to thinking we are bringing light to the world and we find the light already there.

"It’s still Epiphany. We’re looking for light references. There’s a plethora in the texts for this week: Psalm 112: 4, Isaiah 58: 8 & 10, and Matthew 5: 14-16. The Isaiah 58 passages offer cause and effect. If you loose the bonds of injustice, undo the yoke, let the oppressed go free, share your bread with the hungry, bring the homeless poor into your house, cover the naked, and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light breaks forth like the dawn and your light shall rise in the darkness.

Knowing one of the areas of focus for the United Methodist Church is to engage in ministries with the poor and wanting to put these Isaiah expectations into practice, the St. Mark’s UMC in Iowa City decided to engage in a Christmas Carol Conspiracy. A member had read about a suburban church in Philadelphia bringing gifts to inner city families. The suburban church sang carols and gave gifts of currency buried under the cookies.

St. Mark’s duplicated the conspiracy at the Regency Mobile Home Court written about in the local and state newspapers frequently during 2010. The renters were living under deplorable conditions in run down mobile homes with impure water. After receiving the names of families in need of assistance from a social worker the church went with cookies, currency, and carols.

At one home, with a picture of the Last Supper hanging on a wall, a Hispanic mother unexpectedly invited all the caroling strangers into her mobile home. When she realized the carolers would not all fit, she swept up a box of apples from her table and walked among the surprised middle class congregation offering gifts. Her hospitality was a light to the congregation and helped melt away any prejudices that may have existed.

The congregation thought they went bearing the light. What they received was a surprising beacon from a poor immigrant renter who knows the love of Christ. The church realizes the charity they offered begins the journey of relationship building leading to a better understanding of the systemic issues of poverty.

Let your light so shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father in heaven

Rev. Dr. Denny Coon, Director of the Bidwell-Riverside Center"