Lights in the World
Scripture: “14 “You
are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor
do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives
light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before
others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who
is in heaven.” The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway
Bibles, 2016), Mt 5:14–16.
Devotion
In today’s post we continue in Matthew
chapter 5. Jesus here in these verses is again giving instruction to his
disciples and to us in the Sermon on the Mount. Yesterday we talked about believers
being salt in the world as a preservative to keep culture from rotting from the
inside. Today we take up a passage in which Jesus tells us we are to be the
light of the world. Light that pierces the darkness thus preserving the world
for Jesus. Craig Blomberg gets it right in his commentary “Both metaphors of
salt and light raise important questions about Christian involvement in society
regarding all forms of separatism or withdrawal. We are not called to control
secular power structures; neither are we promised that we can Christianize the
legislation and values of the world. But we must remain active preservative
agents, indeed irritants, in calling the world to heed God’s standards. We dare
not form isolated Christian enclaves to which the world pays no attention.”[1]
Indeed, the Christian is called to be light
in the world because our savior was the light of the world as we read here from
John’s gospel “12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of
the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the
light of life.” (John 8:12 ESV) So, we are to reflect the light we receive as
followers of Jesus. The church should be like a city set on a hill giving light
to the surrounding darkness. Individual believers should likewise be light in their
own sphere of influence. Introducing our friends and neighbors to the light
through our actions and speech.
It may be our natural inclination to
try and keep our light hidden. We refuse to speak up when we should testify
about the light and love we know through Jesus. As another commentator puts it “A
secret disciple is no more use in the world than one who has lost his
distinctiveness.”[2]
A disciple who shines the light of God into the dark corners of this world will
almost certainly suffer for it. Being light, however, is a mandate from Jesus
himself, so we cannot avoid being, as was said above, an irritant to the world
of darkness. Keeping our light hidden from the world is to allow the world to
stumble on in the darkness injuring itself and occasionally falling into a trap
of the world, the flesh, or the Devil. So let us be faithful to Jesus as he
calls us to be light in the world and not hide our light under a basket. Let us
pray:
[1]
Craig Blomberg, Matthew,
vol. 22, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman
Publishers, 1992), 103.
[2] R.
T. France, Matthew: An
Introduction and Commentary, vol. 1, Tyndale New Testament
Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 118.
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