Being Light Series

Intro

Immediately following the Beatitudes, Jesus uses two metaphors to declare the task given to his followers in the world. Those two metaphors are salt and light. We have examined the first one. Now we want to learn from the second metaphor, light. Our text today is Matt 5:14-16:

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

The Beatitudes depict a glorious work of sanctification that transforms the followers of Jesus from self-centered creatures seeking to live independently of God to sons of God whose face is forever turned toward the Lord in love, whose character increasingly reflects the nature of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18). By the grace of God, they become something wonderful. They were once children of darkness. They are changed into children of light (Eph. 5:8). The divine light has shined in their hearts, and that light now illuminates the world around them (2 Cor. 4:6).

Early yesterday morning I was gazing out my window into my backyard. A bright red cardinal landed on a branch. As I admired the beauty of that little bird, the thought came into my mind: That cardinal probably has no idea how beautiful he is to me. He simply does not have the capacity to know that. At that moment, the Lord spoke into my heart: And neither do you know how beautiful you are to me. We look into the mirror and see our many faults and shortcomings. We know that we have a long way to go to be fully developed into the person described in the Beatitudes. But the Lord knows his own ability to get us there, and he encourages us along the way. So that Paul was able to say, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Tim. 1:12). The Holy Spirit is at work conforming you into the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). And he is able to do what he sets out to do. Like that tiny bird, our comprehension is limited. But the Lord knows his thoughts toward us, and he loves us with an everlasting love.

The emphasis in the Beatitudes is on the character of Christ’s disciples. In our text, that emphasis has turned to their assignment in the world. God has a purpose for you and me that must be central in our lives. It cannot be a token thing we do on Sunday morning. It must be something that defines us and motivates us in all that we do. Being a disciple of Jesus is not a part-time endeavor. Our hearts are to be fully set to glorify the Father and finish the work he gives each of us to do.

My bucket list is not to jump out of a hot air balloon and tour Paris. My bucket list is to do the will of the Father. When I come to the end of my days, I want to be able to say with Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course” (2 Tim. 4:7 KJV). When your heart is filled with God’s purpose for your life, nobody will have to motivate you. The motivation will come from within. The motivation will come from God himself. To stay on course, you will have to say no to many other things. And that will be to the dismay of others. You will have to push aside many potential distractions. You will have to say again and again, “This one thing I do” (Phil. 3:13 KJV). Are there any such distractions that you must deal with now? Are there any timewasters that are robbing you of God’s best? Today might be a good time to identify those and push them aside.

The last issue Jesus dealt with in the Beatitudes was persecution. Throughout history, God’s people have been persecuted. The brighter their light shined, the more intense the persecution tended to be. The temptation could easily be to retreat into a safety zone, avoid the confrontation with darkness, and simply focus on one’s own spiritual wellbeing. Our text screams a big “no” to that way of thinking. While there may be seasons of solitude with God, we are not to live in monasteries. We must not hunker down in the four walls of our churches. We are here to be salt and light to a world that is stumbling around in darkness. The primary point of our text is that we must let our light shine. First, consider with me the nature of this light.