everyday discipleship

You are the light of the world - Matthew 5:14

Doing an Act of Joy takes courage. We don’t know how someone will react, so it’s normal to have nerves. It can be worth addressing where some of these nerves come from.

The idea of ‘light’ can carry a particular meaning in the minds of Christians which will make Joyfest more daunting.

In John 3:19-20 it uses light as a different metaphor – about exposing evil: “God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.”

This confrontational idea can make us feel nervous about people’s reaction. We get worried that people have a problem with Christians and will react negatively. We can be anxious that as soon as we do the Act of Joy and tell them we’re part of a church they’re going to ask us about suffering or religious wars.

The reality is, people very rarely act like this, but it often takes a few positive experiences to undo some of the ghetto mindset we sometimes cultivate in church.

Biblically, the passage in John 3:19-20 is about Jesus, his light is the one that exposes. He is the perfect example that allows him to be judge. We also sometimes neglect verse 21 “those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants”.

Joyfest is about publicly doing what God wants - being a blessing. We can also be reassured that the light on a stand we are called to be in Matthew 5 is the light that illuminates and displays.

The Message translation puts it rather nicely, “You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this!”

You are the light of the world - Matthew 5:14

If you were God how would you tell the world? Fifty-meter high flaming letters in the sky? The face of Jesus in every burnt piece of toast? Well, God’s plan is perhaps a bit more surprising – he’s using his people.

We can sometimes think this applies only to special people – the religious specialists who look the part and know all the answers. But Jesus tells his followers they are the light of the world.

We need to understand this applies to us. All too often we think we don’t quite qualify, especially when we compare ourselves to others.

But look at who Jesus was talking to in Matthew 5. Firstly, there are his disciples. Rather that the amazing Bible heroes we may think of, at this point they had only been with Jesus little while. They were young and ordinary.

And there’s also the growing crowd. Not made up of religious experts or influential people – they were likely just normal people. In fact, since they could traipse off in the middle of the day to listen to this itinerant preacher they probably weren’t people with significant jobs or important responsibilities.

The point is: these were people just like us. And this is important to grasp – God has set us to be light to the world. 

This isn’t something we learn in a course, earn through striving or become through practice. It’s a spiritual reality given to us by God through his grace. The important thing is to believe it and act accordingly.

“A lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.” - Matthew 5:15

It’s this verse that gives us the English idiom, ‘Don’t hide your light under a bushel’. Meaning we shouldn’t be afraid to show of our talents. However the point Jesus was making wasn’t about false humility, it was a mind-blowing insight into how God uses us.

No one walks into a room and says, “Wow! Who built this house? The architect is a genius! I can’t believe you have your light on the ceiling so it illuminates the whole room! What a fantastic idea! In my house the light is installed behind the sofa so we’re always stumbling around in the dark!”

We don’t say that because it’s obvious. In this verse Jesus is saying that the God works the same way. It is obvious good design that he would arrange his people where it makes strategic sense.

So, wherever you are, God wants you to shine. This means everywhere we find ourselves is significant, he has ‘placed’ us there to shine his light to the people and situations around us.

This can be hard to believe because life can feel so mundane, ordinary and random. We live in our house because the one we wanted fell through and this one would do. We have our job because so-and-so left and we were offered a promotion. It’s hardly as impressive as a missionary or minister who are ‘called’ to their locations.

But Jesus is saying God is bigger than the random normality, mundaneness and even mistakes of our lives. He has strategically placed us where he wants us to shine.

Can we start to look at our street, workplace, hobbies and shops as somewhere God has put us?

Corrie Ten Boom’s analogy of an embroidery frame is helpful - on one side it is a random mess of threads, but on the other is a beautiful picture. Our lives may feel random but in reality God is creating something beautiful!

It can be helpful to think about our lives – about the people and situations where God has strategically placed us. Where will we be at 10:30am on Monday, or 7pm on Thursday? Friends, family, neighbours, colleagues… this is where we’re called to be God’s light and it’s all part of God’s plan and our identity. How can we be light? What Acts of Joy might we be able to do?