“Reflecting the Light of Christ”
Matthew 5:14-16
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Just the other night, as I was driving home from work, I couldn’t help but notice the beauty of the Christmas lights that illuminate the landscape during this time of year. Everything from houses, trees, shrubs and columns are lit up with an array of colorful and brilliant lights. Those small lights transform the dark and drab night into a truly beautiful sight. As I drove down a familiar road I came upon a very familiar house. It is a home that I see nearly every day, as it is on my way to and from nearly every destination I travel to. During the day, it is easy to see that this home is in various stages of disrepair. To put it bluntly, this home is rather run-down, unkept and even ugly. But as I turned the corner and looked upon this home that night, what I saw was not the run-down home I thought I would see, but rather, what I saw was a beautiful display of lights that sparkled in the cold night air. The home had been transformed from something ugly and offensive to the eye into something that reflected beauty. As I slowed down as gazed upon the home as I drove past, this seemingly unremarkable transformation reminded me of a different, remarkable transformation that takes place in the lives of God’s children. Some of you may be offended that I am comparing us to a broke-down ugly home, but is that really that far from the truth? All of us, before being regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit, were in various stages of utter disrepair. Our sin made us as ugly as the even the most condemned of homes and our lives were offensive to the God of the universe and even to those who knew us. We were broke-down, unkempt and ugly in our sin. Yet through the blood of Christ we were made clean and declared righteous in the sight of God and have now been called to be a reflection of the light of Christ! A true transformation! And as children of God we are called to shine the beautiful, eternity changing light of Jesus Christ into this lost world that is in the dark. Like a home is adorned with Christmas lights, we are to adorn ourselves with truth, love, heavenly wisdom and most importantly, with the words of eternal life…the Gospel! When we do, we will be a light that is impossible to mistake. Even though all of us may still struggle with various degrees of fleshly temptations, even though we still may be in various degrees of disrepair, it is not our mortal bodies that are the light of Christ, it is the message we are called to proclaim that is. This Christmas season remember that the Light of the world has come, and that Light of truth, love and salvation lives inside of you. We must be bold in our proclamation of the truth of the Gospel so that all that come in contact with us hear and see the hope and light of salvation that is in Christ Jesus. Many of us will be spending time with unsaved family members and friends this Christmas season…will they see and hear about the Light of Jesus Christ in you? Or just an unkept home with the lights turned off? What good is light if we hide it? What good is a lighthouse if the light be off? Therefore, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Yours in Christ,
Pastor John