13“You
are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be
made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out
and trampled underfoot
by men. 14You
are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15nor
does anyone light a
lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all
who are in the house. 16Let
your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and
glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
This passage caught my
attention yesterday. I have read it many times and heard sermons throughout my
life upon it. This time, though, a part of it struck a new chord with me. Perhaps
that new chord came because of the studies I have done on the book of
Deuteronomy.
In Deuteronomy, Moses told
the Israelites several times the LORD chose them as His people because He loved
them (Deut 7:6-8, 10:15). He said other nations would call the Israelites wise and
understanding (Deut 4:5-7). They were called wise and understanding if they
kept the LORD’s statutes. With the LORD’s actions for the Israelites, other
nations feared the Israelites and began to consider Yahweh God more powerful
than their man-made gods (Deut 28:9-10). The Queen of Sheba visited King
Solomon and after staying with him, she declared, “Blessed be the LORD your
God.” (1 Kings 10:9 [NASB])
In the Matthew passage of
today’s study, Jesus said the people of Israel were a light to the world and a
city set on a hill. Geographically, the temple of God resided upon the highest
hill in Judah’s territory within Jerusalem, also called Zion. Yet the problem
became that the Jews did not lead people to want to know and follow God. Their
light did not burn bright like a beacon. The Jews had the geographical advantage
of being a beacon. They, too, had the spiritual advantage in that God chose them
to receive His love and to share about Him to the neighboring people. Instead,
they absorbed beliefs and lifestyles of their neighbors, which meant the light
of God did not shine as brightly and did not draw as many people to Him.
Jesus applied this to his
followers in this Sermon on the Mount, too. He told His disciples and other
believers to be the salt and light to the world. Keep growing and applying the
Word and love of God to the world as they lived. Keep shining brightly the love
God put in them when they became believers. Geography is not the factor because
no matter where a believer lives God’s light, the Gospel, can shine from a
person in their words, actions, and attitudes.
The most important part of
this verse, though, the part that captured my attention is at the end of verse
sixteen. Jesus said in this verse, “Let your light shine
before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father who is in heaven.”
Jesus did not mean we are to do good works to gain praise for ourselves. Rather,
we do good works out of the promptings of the Holy Spirit who lives in each
believer, because of God. Our works should reflect God’s love and the glory for
the good works, words, and attitudes should reflect back onto God and give Him
the glory.
What is “giving glory” or “glorifying
the Father?” The word “glorify” comes from the Greek word doxazo and means to cause glory – to cause recognition, honor,
acclaim, and reverence to go to God[1]. When a
believer in Jesus Christ says or does a loving and good thing, the glory should
reflect back to God, to His honor. When we do this, we and other people
recognize God’s majesty and righteousness and give Him the glory.
When believers let the
light that is in them shine to the world around them, they show God’s love for
the world. Christians can shine through kind, gentle, compassionate, and loving
words and actions. The purpose for is to show God’s love as modeled by Jesus
Christ. When people respond with gratitude and praise, believers have two
options, to reflect the glory to God or to keep it to one’s self. The first is
what Jesus taught His followers. To do the latter makes a person’s pride build
and shows self-reliance instead of reliance upon God. It builds up a person’s
ego and leads the person to forget the Lord and walk in his or her own way – to
walk away from God.
We must understand the
love and good deeds or words that came from that love came from God, what He
imparted into us through the Holy Spirit of Jesus. No good deed comes from our
selves, but from the Spirit as a gift. When we begin to accept and keep the
glory we should reflect to God, we begin to consider ourselves as the ones who
gave the gift of loving actions or words. We negate the effect of the Holy
Spirit in our lives.
Jesus did not teach this.
He taught His followers their good deeds, words, and attitudes came from the
Father and glory was due back to Him for His grace and love. Jesus meant this above
in verse sixteen. We do good deeds, speak kind words, and live with good
attitudes – each coming from purity, which humans are not – out of love for the
Lord. We obey the promptings of His Holy Spirit out of obedience and with the
resources He supplies into our hearts and hands.
Rightness and love do not come
from human nature because people are sinful. Paul said everyone is sinful and
fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). God is the one who forgives the sin
of humankind upon each person’s faith in Jesus Christ because of His love and
mercy (Romans 6:23). Only by God’s grace do we have love and the other gifts of
the Spirit within each believer. So, any praise and honor we receive for good
and kind works and words should reflect back to God. He empowers us to do these
things through His Holy Spirit. Only God is due the glory!
Today we must decide, as
we must every day, if we will give all glory back to God. We can be the living
witness for God just as He wanted the Israelites to be and as Jesus called His
followers to be in Matthew 28:18-20. Each of us makes this decision for
ourselves.
Each
day, when you awake, make the decision and pray for the strength to reflect the
glory back to God.
Give
Him the recognition, praise, honor, and reverence He is due.
[1] Walter
Elwell. “Evangelical Dictionary of Theology,” Baker Academic Publisher: Grand
Rapids, 2001.
