About a month ago, I was up here talking about us being the Salt of the Earth, and what that actually means. Today, we are going to continue on from there to the next part of this message from Jesus in his sermon on the mount. Let’s open our bibles to:
Matthew 5:14-16
"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
In this message, Jesus is telling us that we are the lights of the world. It is also important to note that this is not just a suggestion. The translation of “Let your light shine” comes from the single Greek word, lampsato. This word is an imperative, meaning it is a command. Sounds good, but do we really understand the significance of that? First, let’s take a quick look at John 8:12. Here, Jesus is teaching people in a temple at the Mount of Olives. He tells them:
“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."
So in this passage Jesus is calling himself the light of the world and calls us the light of the world in Matthew 5:14. Might have a little bit of significance, right? You see, it is Jesus’ light within us that we are supposed to be sharing with others.
The importance of light
The first thing God created after the heavens and the Earth was light. Let’s look at Genesis 1:1-4:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
Here we see the necessity of light as God begins to prepare the Earth for our existence. When God speaks to people or when angels appear before people, there is usually a bright light involved. In Acts, when Saul is traveling to Damascus, he is blinded by the light as Jesus speaks to him. Throughout the bible, we continue to see the significance of light. So being called to be the light of the world should be taken seriously, right?
That being the case, why is it that the numbers of Christians in the world is dropping? Currently, 33% of the world’s population are Christian, while 21% are Muslim. While the percentage of Muslims are rising, the percentage of Christians in the world is slowly declining. In fact, it is expected that the world’s major religion will shift from Christianity to Islam sometime in the 21st century. Folks, we live in the 21st century. We need to answer God’s call and be the light of the world.
The functions of light
Light shows the way
Talk about driving in the dark and about walking in a cave without a flashlight.
A flashlight illuminates the night so that we can walk safely. A lighthouse warns ships that land is near, so they can avoid a perilous crash. A candle brightens the darkest of caves. And Jesus’ light shatters the darkness of evil.
In the book of John, Chapter 12 we read:
Verse 35 Jesus replied, “My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going.
Verse 46 I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.
Light helps things to grow
As we saw in Genesis, God created light before he started shaping the Earth and bringing in the plants and animals. Why? Have you ever seen a plant grow without sunlight? In fact, there are some parasitic plants that can go their whole lives without light; but there is a catch. They get their food from other host plants that do require sunlight. So no matter what, plants cannot survive without sunlight. They need the light to grow.
The same goes for us as Christians; as the light within us burns, we grow closer in our relationship to God. But that requires effort doesn’t it? Have you ever seen a wood fire last throughout the night without somebody adding fire to it? Have you ever seen a candle continue to burn when the wick is all gone? No, we have to make an effort to keep Jesus’ light burning within us. And as we make that effort, as we read our bible and study on it, as we spend time in prayer, and as we spend time being who Jesus has called us to be, our light continues to grow stronger and we continue to grow.
We need to live in the light
What does it mean to walk in the light? Let’s take a look at Ephesians 5:8-9
For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
So to walk in the light is to walk in the will of God. It means that we need to let go of the things that come between us and the Lord and walk in his light. We need to let go of anything that would cause us to stumble in our walk with Him.
One thing that you will notice around light is that things are easy to see, right? You can’t really hide anything as everything around a bright light is illuminated. After all, that is the whole purpose of having a light, right? As Christians, we need to fully understand that. As we profess our faith to others, they are watching us very closely. They are looking at us to see if the actions we take are the actions we speak of. They want to know if the faith you speak of is the same faith that you walk in life. So we need to be walking the walk and not just talking the talk.
We need to share the light
Again, when Jesus said the words “Let your light shine before men,” He was issuing a command. The world around us is in fact shrouded in darkness. We as Christians have been called to share with others the light of Jesus dwelling within us.
You see, Jesus had a mission while he was on Earth - to reconcile all who would claim him as their Lord and Savior to God through through his death and resurrection. While on Earth he was the light:
John 9:5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”
While He was here in the world... Once he was resurrected and eventually returned to heaven, he left us with instructions. Those of us familiar with the military would call it a tasking order. That tasking order was issued to us in Matthew 5:16.
In Acts, Saul is walking towards Damascus in his manhunt for Christians when Jesus speaks to him and tells him this in Chapter 26, verse 17&18:
...the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.
How many people do you know that have no hope / no joy / who believe that the existence in which they live is all there is? How many of you believe that? I hope none in here! We have been given the light of truth. Why would we not want to share that? Isn’t God’s command and the joy that it ultimately brings much more important than our fear of being embarrassed or rejected? What if you are the only person that will ever be able to share the message with the individual in the cubicle next to you?
Isaiah 58:10 tells us:
Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
People don’t always want the light
Sometimes you will share your light with someone that is instantly repelled and wants to jump back into the darkness. Don’t be discouraged! The bible tells us about this too.
John 3:19-21 says:
“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."
There are people out there that refuse to be saved. There are people out there that will not join Christ in eternity. We need to understand that.We need to understand that. While a sad fact, it is not one that we can change. We are called to share the message with all unbelievers; we are not called to force people to believe. It all comes back to the free will that our maker gives each of us.
So what do we do when we run into these situations? Matthew 10:14 talks about this:
Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.
You see, Satan has already won some souls; they are lost to Jesus. Does it mean that we should stop trying? Absolutely not; but what we need to do is allow ourselves to be guided by the spirit of God. If the Lord tells us to walk away, walk away. If the Lord tells us to be a gentle whisper in someone’s ear, be that whisper. But do not be discouraged when someone closes the door on you. Do not let the enemy capture your hope and joy because he has already blinded somebody.
Conclusion
So what does it mean to be the light of the world?
In short, it means that we are sharing Jesus’ message with those around us. We are sharing the hope, the joy, the freedom from sin that Jesus’ brings. We are here to help those in need so that they may see Jesus in us. Without Jesus, the world walks in darkness.
