Well, good morning, church. Would you turn with me to Matthew chapter 5?
That's page 760, 760 in the Pew Bible. This fall, we are continuing our journey through
the Sermon on the Mount to learn what it means to follow Jesus and to be distinctively Christian.
What does it mean to really follow Christ, to be His church, to be His disciples?
Well, Jesus teaches us that right here in Matthew 5 through 7. We're returning to verses 13 through 16
of Matthew chapter 5. Last week, Pastor Matt unpacked what it means to be the salt of the earth.
Today, we're looking at the second half of that paragraph where Jesus says,
you are the light of the world. So let me pray, and then I'll read again verses 13 through 16.
Father, we ask for you to be making yourself and your word clear and understandable, not just to
our minds this morning, but to our hearts and to our wills. Lord, we want to be whole people,
holy following you. We know that we need your help, your grace to do just that. So help us now as we
come to your word. Would you give us clarity and would you give us conviction as we consider what
you're saying to us again this morning? Help us to see Christ most of all, our Savior, the light of the
world. In His name we pray. Amen. All right, Matthew 5, 13 through 16.
You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?
It's no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
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. I think it's worth remembering that the early Christian movement was small.
Yes, the crowds were growing at this point in Jesus' ministry, but the disciples, the followers
of Jesus at this point, were not many in number, and they were not wealthy or powerful or
all that influential. Doubts must have persisted among the earliest disciples whether their little
band of men and women could make any difference. What difference could a handful of fishermen,
a reformed tax collector, an ex-zealot, and a couple dozen other rural Galilean peasants make
in the cold, hard world? The Roman Empire, now there was power. Its military had conquered the world.
The religious establishment in Jerusalem, now there was influence. When they spoke, people listened.
What difference could this small band of Jesus' followers make in a world like that?
Now, from where we sit today, we know a bit of how the story turned out, don't we? The disciples
turned the world upside down with the message of the risen Jesus, and history shows us how Christianity
shaped the very warp and woof of our culture, of Western civilization, for example. For those of us
in the West, we can't really think about things like justice or education or government or law without
inevitably depending on the Christian tradition, even if we don't even realize it. By the way,
if you're interested in learning more about that, there's a book by a guy named Tom Holland called
Dominion, which is a really interesting account of that. But even if we sit in a different place after
2,000 years of history, I think we can still often feel very similar to those first disciples, can't we?
We can still feel doubts about whether or not we can make a real difference in the world.
What influence or impact can we really have?
Some of this doubt comes when we look at the world. The problem seems so great. The darkness seems
so dark. Some of this doubt comes when we look at ourselves. We see our own flaws, our own limitations,
the older we get. The older we get, we see our own inconsistencies, our own shortcomings,
the gnawing cynicism that grows the older you get. What difference can we possibly make?
But in our text today, Jesus looks at his disciples. Yes, small in number. Yes, neither wealthy nor
powerful nor significant by the world's standards. He looks at his disciples, a bit doubtful. They're a bit
afraid. He looks at them, looks at us, and he says, you, you are the light of the world.
Let that sink in. You, Christian, you are the light of the world.
Is that how you think of yourself? Or do you squeeze yourself into the world's mold?
Do you think of yourself only as what you can produce, only what you achieve, only how you
compare to what you see in marketing and in social media? Or do you see yourself the way Jesus sees you?
You are the light of the world.
Now, think with me for a minute. What does light do? What does light do?
Now, immediately we think, wow, light dispels darkness. And yes, that's true. But what does it do after it dispels darkness?
You wake up early in the morning, you see the sunrise, and yes, the darkness is dispelled. But then what?
What does the light do?
The light brings out the color in everything.
You see the green of the trees. You see the white of the clouds. The world comes to life with color.
This is something I learned from Beth, my wife, who was trained as a painter.
Light can play and shift in a thousand different ways and bring out the richness of what's right before your eyes.
And Jesus says, Christian, you are the light of the world.
You bring out what's possible, what's latent, what's hidden.
You make brilliant the world around you.
You are not your job or your grades or your bank account or your marital status.
You are light.
But your very existence in Christ is a thing of beauty that brings out the beauty in the world around you.
You're a redeemed child of God.
Notice in this paragraph, Jesus calls God our Father.
Now, that's the first time in Matthew's gospel when Jesus does that, and it won't be the last.
But that idea takes us right to the heart of the gospel.
How is it that we are the light of the world?
I mean, come on, that's a little much, isn't it?
The light of the world?
I mean, at best, like, maybe I'm a candle in my living room, right?
But the light of the world?
Yes.
The light of the world.
How?
How can that be?
Because of what God has done in the gospel for you and me.
See, the truth of the matter is, at one time, you and I dwelled not in light but in darkness.
A little earlier in chapter 4, Matthew quotes the prophet Isaiah.
When Jesus begins his ministry, when he began his ministry in Galilee,
that was the fulfillment of what Isaiah had said hundreds of years earlier,
that people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light.
You see, what Isaiah is describing there is what's…
That's what's true of all of us in our sinful condition in Adam.
We dwell in darkness.
We're in a region of shadow and death where we didn't know God.
And the gods we thought we knew were idols of our own making.
But this is the good news.
Into our dark and sinful state, light has dawned.
Jesus came into our darkness.
In love, he pursued us into the region of shadow and death.
In the incarnation, the light entered the darkness, and as John 1 says,
the darkness did not overcome it.
But here's the really shocking thing about what Christ has done about the gospel.
The true light came into the world,
and though the darkness could not overcome it,
the true light was willing to be plunged into darkness for us.
At the cross, the Son of God died.
And what happened?
Do you remember?
Remember, the sky turned dark at midday.
The light willingly went into darkness so that those living in darkness could come into the light.
And not just come into the light, but become light.
You see, when Christ rose on the third day,
he accomplished the complete and utter forgiveness of sins
and the spiritual regeneration, the rebirth of all who believe in him.
Through faith, we're united to the one who said,
I am the light of the world.
And united to Jesus, the light of the world,
we now become light.
Through the Holy Spirit, God dwells in us.
We're partakers of the divine nature.
We've come out of darkness and into his marvelous light,
as Peter says, or as Paul says in Ephesians 5,
you've become light.
So, friend, are you in Christ this morning?
Have you given your life to him?
Have you confessed that he is Lord and God?
Do you know his grace,
his free forgiveness,
willingly purchased for you at the cross?
Do you know his unbreakable life,
demonstrated in the resurrection?
Have you surrendered to his love?
If so,
then you are what Jesus says you are.
Because Christ is in you,
and you are in him,
you are the light of the world.
That's what's most true about you.
What's most true about you is not your past,
not your flaws and failures,
not your family history.
Because of Jesus,
you are the light of the world.
Yes, you and I are imperfect.
Yes, we are flawed.
But the light of Christ shines through you
because he's willed it to be so.
What he promised through the prophets,
what he began in his incarnation,
what he accomplished in his death and resurrection,
what he announced at Pentecost
by the pouring out of his spirit through the apostles,
he's now chosen to continue to advance through you.
You're the light of the world.
Christ is in you,
the radiant hope of glory.
You are the brilliance
that will dispel the darkness
and bring out the beauty around you.
I know that sounds hard to believe.
I know we doubt it.
But it's what Jesus says.
And if the risen Lord has said it,
then it must be true.
Okay, let's go back to where we began.
Our doubts, our anxieties
about whether Christians can make any difference
in the world.
Can we, our little band of Christians,
make any difference in the world?
It's almost the wrong question.
Jesus says,
you're the light of the world.
You may feel small or insignificant,
but by your very existence,
you're bringing light into the darkness.
You are the sun rising on a world in darkness.
The church is the advance rays
of the coming day.
The first beams of sunlight
breaking over the horizon,
announcing that the sun will soon rise.
And the earth will be bathed in light.
It's not a question of whether Christians
can make any difference in the world.
The very existence of the church
is evidence that God's gospel
is making a difference in the world.
That the world is swept up
in His plan of redemption.
And it is coming to fulfillment
in His time.
So Christian, you are the light of the world.
Embrace this truth with all the dignity
and all the hope that it's meant to give.
And let your light shine.
That's the responsibility that we have,
by the way.
Jesus says it right here in verse 16.
You are the light of the world.
Now, let your light shine.
But how do we do that?
How do we live into this identity
that we have as the light of the world?
What does letting our light shine look like?
How do we apply this great truth?
Well, I think there are three things
that this text points us to.
How do we let our light shine?
And I think we see here
that we do it corporately,
and we do it practically,
and we do it doxologically.
So, that's the outline of the sermon.
If you're wondering,
where is this sermon going?
You're the light of the world,
so let your light shine corporately,
practically, and doxologically.
Okay, first, shine corporately.
You know, up to this point,
as we've been thinking about this,
it would be easy
to take everything we've said
about being the light of the world
in a strictly individualistic sense.
But we must not do that.
The dignity of the gospel
does reach to each of us personally,
but it's not individualistic.
It doesn't stop at the individual.
Jesus doesn't say,
you are the lights of the world,
as if we're just sort of
a collection of individuals.
He says, you, plural,
are the light of the world.
You're part of a body, a movement.
You are part of the church.
We need to think not just individually,
but corporately.
We let our light shine
first and foremost
in our life together.
I think Jesus again makes this point
in his first illustration.
He says, a city on a hill
cannot be hidden.
A city is a corporate identity.
We shine together as God's church,
and then it becomes unmistakable.
Unmistakable.
The greatest thing that the church
can do to influence the world
is to be the church.
If in our life together
we embodied joyful obedience
to God's commands,
if in our life together
we demonstrated the love,
the forgiveness,
the generosity,
the courage,
the truthfulness
that Jesus calls us to demonstrate,
then we would be as unmistakable
as a city on a hill.
And as weary travelers around us
dwelling in darkness
work their way through the valleys,
they just might see
that city shining forth
as a place of refuge and rest
in a place of safety
and warmth and welcome,
and they'll want to come inside.
You see, a healthy church
is the best hope
for a hurting world.
So as we let our light shine,
we must shine it corporately.
But second,
we have to let it shine
practically.
What is it that people see
when they see our light shining?
Well, in verse 16,
Jesus says,
let your light shine before others
so that they may see
your good works.
The church should be known
for its practical love
and not just for those
inside the church,
love for those outside
the church as well.
Who lights a lamp
and puts it under a basket,
Jesus asked in verse 15.
Of course, the answer is
nobody.
Nobody does that, right?
Nobody lights a lamp
and then immediately covers it up.
That's pointless.
It should be the same
with the church.
Of course, it can feel
safer and simpler
to just keep the light
to ourselves, can't it?
The world's dark.
The world's complicated.
It's messy.
So we can start to think,
let's just remove ourselves
from the world
and stick to ourselves.
But I like what one writer said.
He said,
putting a lamp under a basket
might keep it
from getting blown out.
But the price
for such protection
is darkness.
The church must
radiate beyond its walls.
You're the light
of the world.
And into the world
you must go.
Not to look just like the world,
not to imitate the world,
not to become darkness,
but to shine practically
the light of what Jesus calls
good works.
When the western half
of the Roman Empire
dissolved and collapsed
in the fourth and fifth centuries,
what did the church do
in response?
Interestingly,
in this time
of what seemed like
utter collapse
of civilization,
the church came forth
with some of its
most creative power.
in that time
when it seemed like
everything was crumbling
around them
and the world
as they knew it
was being totally
thrown apart,
it was the church
that began to develop
schools
and hospitals.
They began to create
institutions,
we might say,
that produced lasting good
for the lives of those
inside and outside
the church.
could we be living
in such a historical moment?
Rather than simply
denouncing the darkness
around us,
do we shine light
into it?
Do we think and act
creatively to serve
the common good?
Don't get me wrong,
evil should be named
as evil.
If the church has lost
its saltiness,
what good is it?
Have you ever just
eaten salt?
It hurts, right?
Like, who does that?
You know?
But after the sting
of the salt,
there has to be
the light of hope,
a light that lights
a different path,
a path of beauty
and life.
We can't just rail
against the moral evils
that we see around us
without then repenting
that we haven't
taken our light
into those places,
without then going forth
to try to think
creatively to construct
some kind of thing
that will create
some good there.
So we must let
our light shine
practically for the good
of our neighbors.
But lastly,
we must let our light
shine not just
corporately and practically,
but doxologically.
Now, what do I mean
by that?
A doxology is sort
of a praise, right?
I mean, the purpose
in letting our light
shine isn't so that
we are seen as great,
but so that God
is seen as great.
Let your light shine
before others
so that they may see
your good works
and give glory
to whom?
To your Father
who is in heaven.
At the end of the day,
it doesn't really matter
what people think of us.
At the end of the day,
most people aren't thinking
about anyone but themselves,
right?
At the end of the day,
it doesn't matter
what people think about me
or you
or Trinity Baptist Church.
It doesn't matter
what they think about us,
but it does matter
what they think about God.
Of course,
we want to be liked, right?
We want people
to love the church.
But what matters most
is what they think
about God.
And if our good works
can direct people's attention
to God
and to His beauty
and His glory,
then it will have been worth it.
But you know,
this sort of raises
an interesting question
at this point in the verse.
How will people know
when they see our good works
to give glory
to our Father in heaven?
Will they just sort of
naturally connect
those dots on their own?
Will they see Christians
doing good deeds
and say,
oh wow,
glory to God the Father?
I mean,
that's not what
my neighbors would do,
right?
They probably won't
connect those dots.
The only way
they'll know
to direct their praise
to God
is because
at some point
they've actually heard
the where
and the why
and the how
we do these good deeds
in the first place.
because we've actually
told them something
about the gospel.
We've actually
shined,
we've actually shown,
what's the right
conjugation of that verb?
We've shoned.
We've shined our light
in not just our life
but with our words.
We love God
because He first loved us.
We give generously
because God the Father
gave His own Son for us.
We forgive
because we've been forgiven.
We advocate
for the helpless
and the vulnerable
because when we were helpless
an advocate stood up for us,
Jesus Christ the righteous.
We're children
of a heavenly Father
who makes us reign
to fall on the just
and the unjust
and so we shine
our light into the world
not expecting praise
or accolades
but because we want people
to see how good God is
and we tell them so.
You know,
most of the time,
what can we expect
when we go forth
doing good works?
I mean,
the end of the Beatitudes
sort of says,
well, most of the time
or some of the time
or a lot of the time,
you can expect
misunderstanding
or even ridicule
but there will be times
Jesus promises
when they'll see
our good works
and give glory
to our Father in heaven
and we shine our light
into the world
not because we want praise
but because we want people
to see how wonderful God is.
So, you know,
in that sense,
our goal
in letting our light shine
is not at the end of the day
to change the world per se
but to change the worship
of the world.
we want the whole world
to know how great
our Heavenly Father is
and how great is His Son,
Jesus Christ,
our Lord.
And if going forth
doing good deeds
can help create conditions
where people are loved
and protected
and safe
and there are just things happening,
if that can give praise
to God the Father,
then we'll do it
for His sake,
for His sake.
And seeing that spread
of the worship
of God the Father,
that's our greatest motivation.
That's our greatest motivation
for what we might call
the mission of the church.
That's what takes us
out of the church walls
shining our light
to the end of the street
and to the ends of the earth.
The glory of God.
God.
And you know,
make no mistake about it,
the scope of our calling
as a church
is global.
It's worldwide.
You're the light of the world,
Jesus is.
And at the end of Matthew's gospel,
Jesus will commission the church
to go to the ends of the earth
with the gospel
to make disciples
and to bring glory
to God the Father.
So there's a bit of a call
at the end of this passage.
What will you do
to advance
this light-bearing mission?
All of us should begin
where we are.
But all of us should pray
if God wants to keep us
where we are.
Pray if there's a place
where God's light
needs to shine
to which He's calling you.
to be a place
in the future.
Perhaps it's a professional field
in desperate need of light.
Many of you are here
in New Haven
to study,
to prepare for your vocational life,
whatever that might be.
Are you praying for God
to give you a vision
and wisdom
for how you might be used
to bring glory to God
in your field
among the people
that make up your field,
among the institutions
that make up your field?
Perhaps God's calling you
to a neighborhood
in our city
where light needs to shine.
How will you go
and let your light shine
so that people
will see your good works
and give glory
to your Father in heaven?
Perhaps it's not just
a profession
or a neighborhood
here in New Haven,
but perhaps it's
a people group
in the world
that's not even yet
heard the gospel.
Maybe God's calling you
into that great work
of global gospel mission.
Or perhaps closer to home,
God's calling you
to a family down the street
that's not yet heard
the gospel.
You are the light
of the world.
Let your light shine.
Let the brilliance
of Christ in you
bring out the beauty
of the world
God is calling you to.
And may God get all the worship
He so rightly deserves.
Let's pray together.
Father, we pray
that you would encourage
our hearts.
Lord, often the task
feels so daunting before us.
We can see how broken
and difficult things
are around us.
And yet thank you
for the bracing confidence
that we hear
in this passage
that you've promised us.
That as we let our light shine,
others will see our good works
and give glory
to you, Father in heaven.
Help us not to lose confidence
in your promise
that this is so.
And would you be directing us
how we might use
the gifts,
the talents,
the abilities,
the desires
that you've given us
to see more and more
of your light shine.
God, the last thing
we want to do
is take this great light
that you've given us,
that you've made us into
and hide it
because we're afraid
or because we're distracted.
Lift up our gaze, God,
to the beauty,
to the adventure
that you're calling us to
as your church.
And would we follow you
and let our light shine.
In Jesus' name, amen.