“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ” Matthew 5:14-15
On April 8, 1983, the Statue of Liberty vanished. David Copperfield, the renowned illusionist, put people on a stage facing the famous statue. The lights went out, a curtain was closed, and after a pause of a couple of minutes, the curtain was opened, the lights turned on, and the 20 shocked people on stage could no longer see the Statue of Liberty. Then, David Copperfield had the curtain closed once again and after another couple minutes, he made opened the curtains once again and made the Statue of Liberty reappear to the delight of all present.
There are different theories that run around about how David Copperfield pulled it off, with a very slowly moving stage being the best one that I’ve found, but one thing I think we can all agree on is the fact that the Statue of Liberty didn’t move one muscle throughout the whole ordeal. She was always there. In other words, even the great David Copperfield cannot hide a huge object.
As we saw last week, Jesus declared to the disciples that they were the light of the world. And every disciple of Christ who believes the Gospel, at the moment of regeneration, begins reflecting the light of Christ onto the world around them. Just as it was with salt, so it is with light. And just as in the role of salt, there is a risk. As you shine the light of Christ onto the circle God has sovereignly placed you in, you will be tempted to run and hide.
Jesus just told his disciples that they could lose their saltiness. That by being in the world they might become so worldly that instead of influencing the world around them the opposite happens. They become the influences. So, you’d have to know what the disciples would be thinking in that moment, “I’ll just avoid the world, then!” But Jesus, knowing this would be a thought, instructs them that they are the light of the world and you cannot hide a city on top of a hill. The whole purpose of building a city on a hill is so that all may be able to see it.
In other words, God regenerated us for the purpose of displaying us to the world. He wants us to be His ambassadors and represent Him to the world around us. Of course, there are different levels God has entrusted each of us with, but we all have been set apart by God to be His ambassadors to a dying world around us. It is simply impossible to claim to be a citizen of Heaven, without realizing that it means revoking our citizenship of earth. It is wrong to think that you can claim that you are going to spend the rest of eternity with the Lord without understanding that you must represent Him here now.
Running and hiding is simply not an option. And it is foolish to try!
Imagine going to a Ferrari dealership and purchasing one of those magnificent machines. Getting it shipped to your house, parked in your garage, and without even looking at it, you place a big cover over it. You never look at it, talk about it, or think about it again for the rest of your life. What a waste of money!
That’s just as silly a picture that Jesus paints. You take a lamp with oil (which is very expensive to burn), you turn it on, place it in the center of the room in order to light up the whole room, and, instead of allowing it to do its job, you put a basket over it. A foolish waste of money.
That’s what Christians look like when they hide their faith. Think about it! The glorious Creator of the universe has regenerated them, He has caused them to be made alive after they were dead, men and women walking for His glory and their good, and has called them to be His ambassadors to shine the light of Christ everywhere they go, and yet we tend to shy away and hide this incredible miracle God has done to us. We are literally walking miracles, having experienced the greatest miracle we could ever imagine, and sometimes we are tempted to keep that reality to ourselves.
People come up with so many excuses why it’s okay to remain quiet and not evangelize, but none of them have any merit–it is simply disobedience. God has set you apart to be His mouthpiece and we do not have the choice to say no to Him.
Next week we will be seeing the reason why this is all worth it, but for now, let me ask you a simple question. Are you tempted to run and hide? Are you tempted to take this incredible gift God has given you, a gift that will give you never-ending joy, and keep it to yourself, or worse, hide it under a basket?
God is worthy to be talked about no matter the cost, whether it is the loss of your job, the loss of a friendship, or even the loss of your life! God is worthy of your tongue praising Him and declaring Him until your very last breath. Don’t believe the lie that you can hide this truth or be able to get away without talking about Him.
May God equip us to declare His truth to the circle He has sovereignly placed us in!