You are the light of the World

I got to the next section on the Sermon on the Mount today about being the "light of the world." The passage reads "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."

As I was contemplating the meaning of this passage in the morning I addressed the passage as if Jesus was talking directly to me. Instead of "You are the light of the world" I read "Chris is the light of the world." This seemed to me to be to self-inflating, although definitely still challenging. If I was the light of the world, the implications and responsibilities were overwhelming.

However, I then received an email about the importance of community. Suddenly, I realized that Jesus was not addressing solely me, but an entire group of disciples. A city is not made up of one person, but a group. Much in the same way a light is made up of many sparks. I started to rethink about the passage and it became much more alive. Jesus said a "city on a hill cannot be hidden," but a single person on a hill might be hidden. What makes the church such a force in the world for the Kingdom is a group of disciples who are like-minded in their service to the King of Kings. Truly the early church was a "city on a hill" which shined bright despite the cultures attempts to shut it up or ignore it.

As I am getting ready for the philosophy class which I will teach I a reading about the history of the spread of Christianity. It is very interesting to read about this from a secular perspective. The cannot explain it. It does not make any sense why a small band of followers of possible messiah could have spread their message so quickly and effectively. They did not do so by the sword or forced conversions (until much later in church history) and by the middle ages Christianity was the dominant thought in most all the western world. This is only explainable because the church was truly the light of the world. They refused to be hidden and shined brightly for the kingdom. What a challenge today. Does our church shine like a beacon on a hill or a we just another institution competing for people's time?