our little city
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine.
We are the salt, the city, the lamp.
“In the same way, let your light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 (CEB)
This is a corporate call, not just an individual inspiration. My heart and mind need to be aligned with this scripture as I prepare to share at the State of Illinois African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission’s public hearing at the U of I this Saturday. I look back at my notes from my presentations on Reparations at the Church of the Living God and at the County Board. I begin by affirming our identity as neighbors. How do we love our neighbor as ourselves, the companion commandment to loving God with our whole selves?
“Don’t even begin to think that I have come to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I haven’t come to do away with them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17 (CEB)
Jesus teaches continuity and fulfillment- justice, mercy, love- so that what we do and say gives glory to our Father in heaven. In John 8:12, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” In Matthew, Jesus says,
“You are the light of the world. A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden.” Matthew 5:14 (CEB)
The first time the word “neighbor” appears in the Bible (Exodus 3) is when God instructs Moses to tell the former slaves to ask their neighbors for jewelry and clothing to take on their journey to freedom. The commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves comes from the Instruction of how to live as holy people in the land together. And then Jesus famously turned the word “neighbor” into an action verb in the story of the man on a journey who stopped to help a stranger in need, showing mercy at great risk and considerable personal cost. Then Jesus says,
“Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:37b (CEB)
Nor should we forget Zaccheus and his neighbors, who were appalled that Jesus chose to stay with him- a man who made his riches by collecting exorbitant taxes from his own people for the Roman Empire. When Zaccheus pledged to give half his possessions to the poor and repay four times what he stole, Jesus pronounced salvation as coming to his house.
Being a neighbor is a calling with a cost, and a great reward. Our foundation is the Law and the Prophets as Jesus fulfills them by expanding our definition of whom and how to love. From this we embrace the work of Repair- with words and deeds and resources.
This is our second year of the Generation to Generation Reparations Pilot Project, investing in education savings accounts for over thirty African-American grandchildren of our fellowship. This is a light of possibility, one version of how repair could look. Our little city on our little hill.
May our light shine- the light of love and justice- as a witness to God’s good work in the world. May we be the salt that preserves, adds flavor, and makes people thirsty for more of God’s truth and good news in Jesus. –Renée