“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16 ESV)
When Jesus says, "You are the light of the world...let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven," He is not talking only to His 12 closest disciples. These words are spoken to thousands of followers in the Sermon on the Mount. They are not meant only for special leaders in the church. They do not apply only to pastors and missionaries. They are for every believer in Jesus Christ. They apply to you, and they apply to me.
The Light of the world is Jesus. I am not the source of the light, I am a reflector of it. I bear the light of Jesus as He lives in my heart and as His holy love becomes the motivation of my heart to live a life that honors Him. His light shines in the darkness through your life and mine, every time we do good deeds that point to the Father.
In Scripture, darkness symbolizes evil and sin. Light symbolizes holiness and righteousness. Darkness is the absence of light. Light is the real thing. The darkness and brokenness and sinfulness of this fallen world are reflections of the absence of the Light of Christ as human beings live apart from our Creator as little lords of our own lives. When light shines in darkness - even a single candle - it lights up the room. The darkness is dispelled. That's what Jesus does when we trust Him for redemption and invite Him into our lives. The Light of His presence dispels the darkness of our soul.
One of the main problems with doing good deeds is that we have the motivation wrong, and so the good deeds too often point to the wrong person. Too often we do good deeds for others to get them to like us. We do good deeds sometimes to maintain a good image. We do good deeds most often because we believe the general thinking (which is Biblically wrong) that we go to heaven by being good people. We hope the good deeds outweigh the bad things we do, and we thereby deserve to get into heaven. (Scripture indicates we deserve to enter heaven only by the great, good deed Jesus did for us by laying down His life for us on the cross.) All this points the good deeds we do in life toward us, instead of glorifying the Father.
When we come to the place of humility and surrender to the awesome, undeserved, amazing grace of Jesus and His love begins to motivate all that we do, then our good kindnesses and acts of service point to the right Person. They point to Him. And God is glorified.
Today at Grace Church, where I gladly serve as pastor, we will hold a back-to-school service to bless the backpacks of our students (and the children and teens who wear them). But the service will be more than that. The children and teens will lead everything. And they have a message for the entire church: Be a light! Shine for Jesus! Let His love become the reason behind everything you do in all your relationships. Radiate the love of Christ to others. You are the light of the world!
Today I pray our children will lead us to a deeper consecration where we will be Holy-Spirit-empowered Light to a dark world. Be a light! The world surely needs it.
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