You Are the Light of the World
Matthew 5: 13-20
Epiphany 5
Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the fifth Sunday after Epiphany is the Gospel reading Matthew 5. During the Epiphany season we speak about Jesus being the light. He is the light that came into this dark world to save us all. Yet, in our Gospel reading our Lord calls upon you to be a light. Remember what He said about you. “You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Jesus is calling you to be a light.
In order fully understand what Jesus is saying we need to look at something that is said in our epistle reading. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians said this. “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” What Paul is saying is that everything in our life is centered in Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection. At the cross our Lord suffered and died in order to remove our sins. This is important because it is sin that separates us from God. We are sinful people and God is holy. That means we can never be right with God or come into His presence on our own. That is our biggest problem. Sin separated us from God. That is why we need Jesus. That is why you need Jesus. It is the Lord Jesus who wiped away your sin thus removing the sin barrier between you and God. Through Christ Jesus you have now been reconciled to God. You are now right with God.
All of this is centered in knowing Jesus and Him crucified. It is what we sang a few minutes ago in the Hymn, Thy Strong Word. You may remember what we sang in stanza four. “From the cross Thy wisdom shining breaketh forth in conquering might; From the cross forever beameth all Thy bright redeeming light” (LSB 578)
To be right with God through Christ crucified is what is most important. It means that you have peace with God. It means that you are part of the family of God. As an adopted child of God you have been given an eternal inheritance. You have forgiveness, life and salvation. You receive all of these things through faith in Jesus Christ. Now that you are right with God you receive every good blessing from Him both temporal and eternal. The Lord guards you and guides you and moves all things for your good. And we know what I am saying is true because the Lord Jesus rose from the dead.
Now that we understand that we are saved and redeemed people of God let us go back to the words of Jesus. “You are the light of the world.” “Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” We often complain about how dark and sinful our world has become. We sometimes wonder where the light is to be found. According to Jesus we are the light that is to shine in the world. To say it another way, it is the grace and light of Christ that is reflected in our lives. The light is seen when we confess Christ. We also sang about that in stanza five in the hymn. “Give us lips to sing Thy glory, tongues Thy mercy to proclaim, throats that shout the hope that fill us, mouths to speak Thy holy name” (LSB 578). The light is also seen when we do good works. We do good works, not because we want to be saved but we do good works because we are already saved by Christ. We do good works to honor God and serve our neighbor.
In our Old Testament reading from Isaiah we see that the people of Isreal had a complaint against God. They were fasting all day long, but it did not seem that God noticed them. They thought that if they fasted God should bless them. Fasting can be a good thing, but the people were misusing it. Isaiah had to remind them that God wanted true repentance and faith in Him. The people were reminded that true repentance also produces the fruit of good works. Issiah then gave examples of helping the poor and giving aid to those in need. And then he said these words, “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn.”
There it is again. We are to be a light. Yet our sinful nature gets in the way. We forget that we are to be a light. We forget about God’s goodness, and we fail to look at the needs of the people around us. We are often molded by the world that tells us to only focus on ourselves. We can be quite selfish. We like to look at things based upon our own personal benefit. We complain when we don’t get our way. We find fault with the people around us. We can be dim in our reflecting the light of Jesus. Let us repent of our sins. Let us turn to the Lord and see His light.
Let us look to the light of Christ and follow Him. For those who are in Christ, there is more joy, more hope, and more purpose for living. The Word that brought the light of faith to us is also the Word that enables us to bring that light to the world. The electricity that causes lights to shine is invisible until it stirs up and excites electrons and particles that are otherwise invisible. Faith is invisible to people until it brings light by stirring up Christians to love God and our neighbor. Faith that saves also energizes.
And how does our light shine? Not through heroic acts or feats of superhuman strength. Not through brilliant insights or miraculous powers. But by following Jesus who shows concreate love for people. And though we do it imperfectly, loving God and our neighbor makes our faith visible.
Most would consider a mission trip to Haiti to build a school a good work. So is clearing your neighbor’s driveway, or taking your children to church, or having devotions with them, or holding your temper, or not lying, or forgiving, or confessing your sins and asking for forgiveness instead of blaming or excusing. This shares the light given to you. The light of Christ shines in the ordinary life of a Christian, but we are not called to live in an ordinary way. Because the Spirit of God is moving us, and Christ is dwelling in us, Christians can be faithful husbands and wives, and parents. Christians can be good workers, citizens and friends.
We are sometimes dim in reflecting the love of Jesus. Thank God He is patient and does not quickly discard us when we fail. He leads us to repent, to renounce the ways of sin and darkness, to be forgiven for the sake of Jesus’ cross, and to strive anew to follow Him. When we love God and love our neighbor, people will take notice. That may well lead others to see a light of hope at the end of a tunnel of darkness. That light is Jesus, and we should be happy to give Him the credit. Because of Jesus you are the light of the world. May someone this week, or this day, see the light of Jesus reflected in you. I conclude with the words of our Lord. “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.” Amen.