Jesus said, “Neither
do people light a lamp and put it under the measuring bowl; instead, they put
it on a lampstand, where it provides light for everyone in the house. So too,
your light must shine in front of people, in such a way that they may see your
good deeds and give the glory to your heavenly Father.”
—
Matthew 5:15-16
(USC)
Good works, for the glory of
God, are purposed toward both challenge and encouragement. Being salty
Christians (verse 13) means we challenge the status quo and improve it where we
can, whilst being lit Christians means we encourage the Kingdom and sustain it
– by the Holy Spirit’s enabling Presence.
Being salty, for a
great many of us, is very difficult work; we’d much prefer being lights and
preferring grace over truth. Yet, for others, being light is hard, because they
find speaking the truth is their necessity.
Being light is
further complicated in many cultures by the avoidance of highlighting the mode
of being light, because it looks like bragging or pride.
Being light,
however, is not about showing off. If being light is part of our character, our
hearts will shine forth because we are comfortable with who we are.
***
A Christian’s job is
to stand out and make something of a difference.
That’s not me saying
it; Jesus says it. We are to run counter to the darkness and shine our Jesus
light into the said darkness that is full of omission, half-truth, white lies,
envy, greed, laziness, etc.
Our counter is the
fruit of the Spirit. We return humility for pride, generosity for greed,
patient smiles for angry grimaces, and graceful forgiveness for rumbling
resentment.
We obey the Lord by
going against what we would like to do. That’s why obedience is hard. We have
to go against what we would otherwise wish to do.
The beauty of grace,
being lights of the world, is sacrificial obedience, out of love; and it’s our
privilege when glory goes to God.
***
QUESTIONS in REVIEW:
1. Think of times you’ve been the
light of your world and glory went to God. Describe what you thought and how
you felt. How compelling is this example – to be blessed by God, when glory
goes to the Lord – to follow?
2. How do we shine our lights
without appearing like braggarts?
© 2015 S. J. Wickham.
Note: USC version is Under the Southern Cross, The New Testament in Australian English
(2014). This translation was painstakingly developed by Dr. Richard Moore, a NT
Greek scholar, over nearly thirty years.
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