On the Glass in My Lantern

Matthew 5:14-16 MSG “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

2 Corinthians 4:6-7 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

Observation

This passage appears very soon after the “Blessed are those…” list which begins the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus was preaching to a mixed crowd, people unqualified to be included in God’s favor because they were either poor or Gentile or uneducated or a myriad of other societal or Jewish religious reasons.  He was teaching the people how God was calling them to live in this messed up world – to be in it but not of it.  My goodness, how Jesus turned the current understanding of what God wanted from them upside down (or was it right side up?)!  

In this sermon, Jesus is putting the pathway to loving and serving God as a choice – one anyone can choose.  No picky mountain of rules about how to behave, but, rather, be generous, be kind, be loving to the unlovely, give up your rights to benefit others who cannot repay you, be meek (constant strength of faith under pressure) and humble (know exactly who you are in Christ).  He was teaching them that God wanted them – the formerly excluded – to be a carrier of His light, a light which would dispel the darkness wherever they would go, remembering always “we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”    

Impact on Me

The Sermon on the Mount is a place where I meet Jesus face-to-face every time I come, asking Him to judge my obedience, my willingness to be a living sacrifice, a good and faithful servant. Here is where I ask the Holy Spirit to inspect my heart, my motives, my thoughts toward others, especially those who make it so hard to love them! Here is where I am reminded that it is how I allow Christ in me to shine that matters because what I bring on my own is only an dark lantern or empty pot. So, I ask myself:

• How clean is the glass of my lantern?
• What trash have I accumulated in the clay pot of my life that reduces the treasure I can hold and share?
• How brightly does Jesus shine through my life?
• Have I allowed myself to dim or obscure His pure light by mucking up the glass (or filling my pot) with my human pride, my selfish desires, by offenses I have not forgiven, by my circumstances, by the cultural muck of the world, the decoration of religion?

These verses are where I ask for a good scrubbing of the glass in my lantern and a good clean out of my pot – a refreshing to my soul, my heart, my attitude, my perspective, my mercy and compassion for the unlovely. I want my glass to be sparkling clean and no hindrance to His light shining through to pierce the darkness for me and others. I want my pot to hold nothing but His treasure so it is all I have to give.

Prayer

Lord God, Father, Savior, Teacher, Helper, I praise You and am so grateful for Your love and care.  I invite You on an inspection tour of my life, the storehouses of my soul, the dark corners of my attitudes and perspectives, the hidden places of my heart.  I want to be filled with, motivated by, overflowing with only You, Your light and treasure, so others will come to know You because they meet You in me.  Make it so, in Jesus’ name.