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Jesus
said to the people, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you
won't be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that
leads to life."
(John 8:12 NLV). Mary has been to New York City twice.
Each time she brings home the pictures and experiences of this marvelous city.
I have promised to go with her the next time that she travels there. And,
I am looking forward to experiencing the sights, fragrances, and sounds of the
most famous city in the world. The enormity of the Empire State Building, the
magical effects of Times Square, the history of Broadway, and every type of food
known to man are some of the things that can be found there. But the thing I
most desire to see is the Statue of Liberty. It has come to be known as “Lady
Liberty.” Thinking about this on this Memorial Weekend reminds me of the
famous poem by Emma Lazarus, which is engraved on a tablet within the statue's
pedestal. The ending says: "Give me
your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the
wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to
me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
These
words and the mere sight of what Emma described as the New Colossus, has brought
tears to many eyes. While thinking of these words and the massive statute that
stands on the shores of what so many immigrants knew as the New World, I
couldn't help but think of Jesus. Can you hear Jesus saying those very same
words as He stands between this world and the next holding the torch high enough
for the lost to find their way safely? That’s
the declaration of our Lord in the reading today. He is the light that leads us
to freedom from death and hell. He is the one who holds the torch that signals
the path toward real freedom. God has provided all we need and the way to find
it. Charles Sell says it so well in the following verse: If
our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. Why
don’t you come to Him today with all of your troubles and care? He waits for
you with open arms and full grace. 1.
Unfinished Business, Charles Sell, Multnomah, 1989, pp. 121ff |
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