You are the light of the world. A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on top of a lampstand, and it shines on all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16
Jesus pronounces an identity upon us through this metaphor of “light.” Let’s spend some time exploring this metaphor. We want to get a better sense for how each of us is a “light,” both in theory and in practice. First, we want to spend some time settling in, reflecting on how you are doing and on your relationship to light.
Questions:
-What is your “wattage” right now?
-What are some things about light you appreciate?
-What are some times you are thankful for light?
Jesus carries the metaphor of our light further by giving it two characteristics: it should be on its stand rather than under a bowl, and it should give light to everyone in the house. In doing this, Jesus highlights that there are appropriate and inappropriate, correct and incorrect, ways to shine our light. It’s not that sometimes we are light and other times we are not; it’s that sometimes we shine as intended and other times we do not. But how far do we extend this? Light on a stand is a very stationary thing, as is a city set on a hill. But we are to be active, mobile in some way, too.
Questions:
-What does it look like to be “on your stand” rather than “under a bowl?”
-In what ways is your light “stationary?” “Mobile?”
-What is your “house?” Your home, congregation, community, neighborhood, city, country?
Jesus’s pronouncement that we are light is one that gives us value. Light had an incredible value in Jesus’s culture, and it was not always accessible. Darkness played a much bigger role in their daily experience. Light does not carry the same value now. Today, we live in a saturation of light. There does not have to be one shred of darkness if you don’t want there to be, and, in fact, sometimes it can be difficult to find actual darkness. We can’t even really see the stars because our own lights are so bright. This saturation of light applies to our world metaphorically, too. There is a never-ending stream of faiths, philosophies, and ideologies telling you that they have the answers to better life. Often times the sheer amount of these “lights” can turn us off to the entire concept. Light that is not illuminating anything is mostly just annoying.
Questions:
-How do you, as a Christian, stand out amidst a saturation of light?
-How do you make sure your light is valuable?
-What are you doing, or what is something you could do, right now to be a light as an individual?
-How could you have someone else be a part of that?