Matthew 5:14-16 says:

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

I was listening to a much anointed preacher, called Joseph Prince, speaking on the grace of God. He was in Israel, preaching. He was describing his location and it was clear from his description that it was the same place where the telling of this parable took place. The preacher Joseph Prince had a photo of where he was. He had his camera there where Jesus was when He preached. Up on the hill was a town. You could see the city lights of the town where Jesus had preached.

So when Jesus said, “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden,” He was talking about a literal town that was on a hill. The people knew that the city glowed at night. It could not be hidden.

Have you ever traveled in a car that went through bushland and came out of the valley, seeing a bright lights all on a hill? Have you been to a city where there is light all over the place? That is an example of a city on a hill that cannot be hidden.

What is Jesus saying in this parable? What is the practical application of this? One of my spiritual gifts is the gift of exhortation or encouragement. Basically, I am just a good encourager. I go about my life, walking down the street and getting to the suburb where the train station is. I pass by a real estate agent on the right-hand side first and I wave my hand to him. I come across a hairdresser and give her a smile. If she is outside having a smoke, I have a short conversation with her. I walk past a Lebanese chicken shop and I pop in and say hello to the people there. I get to a video store and actually go into the video store to have a two to three-minute conversation with a gay person there. Then I go to the station and I talk to the news agent there, as well as to the people who serve the tickets. I will have a conversation with the ones that I know there. Everywhere I go, I am saying hello to people, encouraging people and wishing them to have a good day. Nearly all of them, all of those people know I am a Christian.

About thirty years ago, when I was fourteen years of age, I heard a story about being the light. It was regarding a Pastor who was at the checkout counter of a shopping center. The woman shopping in front of him, did not have enough money for her goods that day and started getting the cashier to deduct certain items from her shopping because she did not have enough money. To pay for them all. She was really embarrassed. She was taking out washing powder and toilet rolls, essential items of her shopping. The woman had a whole basket full of things that she needed. Getting the toilet rolls out of the shopping cart meant that she would have to use newspapers or something else. The things that were bought were all essentials. There were no luxuries among them. The Pastor said to the cashier, “I will pay for her bill. Put all her things back in the basket and I will pay for them.”

The woman profusely said, “No, you do not need to do that.”

The pastor said, “Yes, I want to.” So he paid her whole bill and then he further told the woman, “Go and get a another shopping trolley and fill it up. I will pay for that too.”

The woman went off and she came back three times, embarrassed with a quarter of a trolley, half a trolley, three-quarters of a trolley, respectively. Three times, he sent her back to the aisles until she filled the whole trolley. Then he paid for that and he loaded all the things into her car.

This Pastor was a lovely guy with good communication skills. As he was sharing his story, the whole church was listening with anticipation. Then he said, “I know all of you are waiting to know how I told the lady that I was a Christian, or how she broke down in tears and became a Christian, too. But no, I did not say anything about that to her. I did not tell her I was a Christian…. Yet do you know on that day she met Jesus? All you need to do, guys, is go and be “Jesus” to the world. I believe one day, someone will be sharing the Gospel with this lady and then the person will explain salvation as being like a person buying those groceries for her when she was lacking money. I believe that the Holy Spirit will lead this sharer of the Gospel to share this and the lady that I bought the groceries for, will see that salivation is a gift that just needs to be accepted as a gift..

And she will break down in tears on that day, and say, “I had a man who did that for me.”

He impressed upon me that day that all we need to do is be Jesus. I have had one of these people in my daily walks to the station. He asked me to pray for him when he was in a bit of a crisis situation. Do you know that people, when they are really desperate and searching for answers and if you are known to be a beautiful person, they will come to you for answers?

Many people criticise the mega churches. These churches are growing exponentially; they have heaps of people. It is said they have loud music and all they are doing is “dumbing” down their sermons, and putting on loud music just to get popular. It is also said that there is no “meat of the Word” in these churches. But, you know what? Every time I go to one of those mega churches here in Sydney, people are getting saved. Every single service!

I have sat in a Baptist church for two and a half years. But no one was saved in those two and a half years. People say that they want the meat of the Word. But what about saving people? For example, this Pentecostal church called Hillsong in Sydney, produces a lot of Christian worship music and is known throughout the whole world. They are an example of a city set on a hill. Their light shines so brightly that people all around the world worship God with the music that they create. This is just one church. There is a good chance you have heard Hillsong praise and worship music and Hillsong United Band. There is a good chance many of you have heard of Brian Houston, the Senior Pastor. He is just one Pastor who had a vision and a dream to impact this generation and the whole world.

You can do great things. Part of doing great things in the world is not hiding your light. What have you got to shine? What can you shine into the world? Are you living a Christian life that is full of grief and depression and hardship? Are you living a life that you are ashamed of? Are you living a life of shame, condemnation, rejection, hurt and pain?

You need to find answers in Jesus. You need to do spiritual healing. Get healed up and be happy. You need to find your spiritual gifts and find some purpose in life.

Now, one way of being happy is by being friendly to everyone you meet. Smile! Do you know it is amazing how smiling can just cheer you up? You do not even have to be happy. Just know enough people; walk down the road smiling and saying hello to them. By doing so, you will have enough people smiling back and waving at you. Suddenly, you are feeling good. It is amazing how being friendly can really lighten your mood.

Jesus says, “Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify the Father in heaven.”

So Jesus is talking about the Christian doing good works. Nearly all of the people I chat with on the way to the station ask me what I am doing that day. So most of them know what I am doing. I will say either of these lines: Oh, I have just made some videos…. I am going for a walk now…. I am going into my community center; I am going to do some work for them.

They all know about what I do. I make videos. I write articles, do all sorts of Christian things. They are all happy with me. None of them ever say to me you need to go get a job. They know I am busy doing ministry and doing other worthwhile things. They are all happy. They are all my friends.

My Pastor, Narelle, came to see me one day and we bought a pizza for ten dollars that would normally have cost twenty three dollars. I got the discount because of my relationship with the owners of the gourmet pizza store. She reported back to everyone at church. “You should see Matthew. You should see how cheap he got the pizza. You know everyone employed there knows that fellow. You know he knows everyone in his suburb. Everyone says hello to him.” She was bragging. I was hearing it from everyone that they want to come to my place for pizza. That is being a light in the world.

I do not know if you have watched any of my parable videos, but you will notice that I smile a lot. That is because I am happy. I do not smile just to do a better presentation. My life is happy, fulfilled and Christ-centered. I feel the presense of God. I feel joy and peace radiating through my body each day. I live with purpose. I live with desire. I am walking in my destiny. I am fulfilled. I am full of joy. I have got no need for the lusts of the flesh or the lusts of the world. I know Jesus. Jesus is my friend.

We live in a dark world folks. Just being happy and content with life is an example to all around you. Many people cannot read the Bible; or if they do, they cannot understand it. But they can read you. To many people, you are the only Bible that they come across. Be aware of that. Stand out from the crowd. Go the extra mile with people and be kind to them. Through this, you will be a light to all men and a city on a hill in times of need.

Author Bio: If you have enjoyed my article you can read a soon to be published book called “The parables of Jesus made simple” for free here in its entirety or just selected parables in chapters at http://www.parables-of-jesus-christ.net/ The book will be available in early 2011 For prophetic counsel, Christian life coaching, Dream interpretation, Christian chat and great Kingdom Teaching come and see us at http://www.kingdomassignments.com.au

Category: Religion
Keywords: parable of Jesus Christ