Let It Shine!

March 1, 2015

I Love My Church, Pt 5:  Let It Shine      NOTES NOT EDITED

Matthew 5:14-16

SIS— There is no organization that has greater potential for doing good than the Church, united in vision and excited about service.

For the last month we have taken a journey through Scripture to visit a few sights upon the road we call, “I Love My Church.”  We have looked at this idea from several different vistas.  We’ve discovered that the Church is the beloved Bride of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He loved the Church so much that He died for Her (Eph. 5:22).  We learned that the Church was a place where the people shared everything with each other.  We learned that the Church was a place of service, to one another as well as those in need outside the Church.  Last week, we were challenged to show our love for the Church through sacrificial giving that honored God as the source of “every good and perfect gift” (Jam. 1:17).

As we now come to the end of this adventure I hope we have realized just how special the local Church is in the plan God has for establishing His Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt. 6:10).  I would like to summarize the reason we should all, “Love Our Church,” in a single sentence:  There is no organization that has greater potential for doing good than the Church, united in vision and excited about service.  Through the Church God loves us, and through us God loves the world.  And, the world could really use some love these days.

It is not enough that we “like” the Church.  Liking the Church will never bring fulfillment to our lives or transforming love to our world.  Only love—God’s love—can do that.  The Bible doesn’t say that God “liked” the world.  The Bible says, “God loved the world, and loved it so much that He gave His only Son to die on the cross in order that anyone who accepts that gift would not need to perish in hell, but can enjoy eternity with God in heaven” (John 3:16).  God’s love is a transforming love—and eternal love. 

This week a headline flashed across the news feed on my FaceBook page:  “California couple, married 67 years, die holding hands.”  It was a beautiful ending to a beautiful love story.  According to the news service, Reuters, Floyd Hartwig, 90, and wife Violet, 89, died hours apart on Feb. 11 in their home in Easton, California, outside Fresno, while holding hands.  The couple had known each other since they were children and married in 1947 while Floyd was on leave from the Navy, going on to settle in a ranch in Easton.  They had both begun to fail in the last few weeks, according to their daughter, Donna Scharton.  They had both been in hospice care at home and the family pushed their hospital beds together.  Floyd died first while holding the hand of his beloved.  Violet joined him only five hours later.  In life, they worked side by side on their ranch after Floyd finished his WWII service in the Navy.  Even death could not separate them.

There is something special, something enduring about true love.  There is something transforming about true love.  True love is a reflection of God’s very nature.  The Bible says, “God is love” (1Jn. 4:8).  In fact, “loving others” is the identifying feature of a true follower of Christ.  The Bible says (1John 4:8-9),

⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ God’s love was revealed among us in this way:  God sent His One and Only Son  into the world so that we might live  through Him.

When we say, “I Love My Church,” we must understand what that means.  It means more than, “I Like My Church.”  Our statement must be backed up with a sacrificial, God-honoring lifestyle.  If we truly love God, we must love His Church, and we must let His love flow through us into the world.  We must be like giant, well-polished mirrors that reflect the brilliance of God’s light into a dark world.  If we truly love God’s Church we will let God’s light shine through our lives.  Let’s read what the Word of God says about this:

READING:  MATTHEW 5:14-16

We can describe what it means to “Let It Shine” through the Church in three ways:  community, opportunity, and responsibility.

1.  I Love My Church because it is a community (v14)

One of the most important aspect of Christianity is the sense of community.  It has been long neglected in the institutional church. It is a hallmark of God’s plan for humanity.  In fact, the idea of community is a reflection of the very nature of God.  We see the first hint of this important aspect of God’s nature in the very first sentence of the Bible, the third word in the Hebrew text.  Genesis 1:1 reads:

בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים  “in the beginning, created elohim,” or
to smooth it out in English, “in the beginning elohim created.”

If you have been around church and Sunday School for any length of time I am sure you have heard mention of the fact that the word for “God” in this verse is a “plural” form.  An “im” at the end of a Hebrew word is equivalent to adding “s” to an English word.  It normally refers to more than one of something.  But, we know from the rest of the Bible that there is only “One True God.”  The most significant verse in the Old Testament is Deuteronomy 6:4:

⁴ “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.

So from the very first books of the Bible we have outlined for us a doctrine that would later become know as the Trinity—One God Existing Eternally as Three Persons.  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The third word of the Bible, elohim, expresses both God’s unity and diversity, which can also be called, “Divine Community.”  There has never been a time when there has not been a “community.”  God created within man the need for and longing to fulfill this sense of community.  This need is fulfilled through the church.  The earliest description of the Church comes in the Book of Acts 2:41-43:

⁴¹ So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them. ⁴² And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching,  to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. ⁴³ Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles.  ⁴⁴ Now all the believers were together and held all things in common.

The word, “common,” (koinos), forms the basis of our idea of community, through the Latin word, communitas.  A community shares common experiences, common goals, and even shares in the common resources of their labors.  To “hold in common” means to share with and care for one another.

I Love My Church because it is “my community.”  As I said earlier in reference to God, there has never been a time—even before time—when there was not a community.  We most reflect God’s nature when we are living and loving within a local community of believers.  In the Bible the focus is not on individual believers as much as on believers “holding everything in common.”  Believers are best at shining the Light of Christ in a community when they are faithfully being a “community.”    Look back at the Lord’s words in Matthew 5:14:

“You are the light of the world.

A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.

The second person pronoun, “you,” is a plural pronoun, not singular, and the comparison to the church is a “city” not an individual.  A single individual Christian can no more represent the “Body of Christ” than a finger represents a physical body.  In order for a believer to fully develop his or her gifts and have a full experience of what it means to be a follower of Christ, he or she must be a part of God’s family, God’s community, the Church. 

The Bible is a written document spoken directly to the hearts of men.  Every word is “inspired” (2Tim. 3:16).  Anyone can get the essential message reading any good translation in his or her native language.  There are many good English translations and grasping the depth and breadth of God’s Word is within anyone’s grasp.  This does not mean that there are even deeper levels available if one has a grasp of the original languages.  Good preachers and teachers should understand the basics of these languages and share them with their congregation.  Our text today gives us an example of how a little knowledge of Greek (and basic English grammar) can shed even more light on God’s Word.  In our text today, the verbs are all “plural,” meaning they refer to a group, not an individual.  Verse 14 refers to a “city,” which is a group of people.  Verse 15 says, “You are the light of the world,” and “you” is plural referring to a group not an individual.   In many translations, the text is translated, “a” lampstand (v.15, HCSB, NLT, KJV, ESV).  Greek does not have a word for the “indefinite article” (a).  It only has a word for the definite article, “the.”  If the definite article is not in the text, the indefinite article, “a,” can be supplied.  Verse 15, however, does have the definite article, so technically it should be translated, “the” lampstand, which refers to the Church.  Some translations recognize this, such as the NASB.  I think this is significant in light of the fact that the pronouns are plural as are the corresponding verbs.  I think the reference to the church as a “city” is also significant.  This points us back to one of the most significant aspects of the Church—it is a community.  The success of the gospel in penetrating the darkness will be directly related to the health, vision, and unity of the local church.  While each Christian has a responsibility to be “a light in the world, the real power of the gospel is when all of our lights become focused through the lens of  a Christian community.  God never intended for anyone Christian to carry the entire load of reaching a culture for Christ.  Indeed, one Christian cannot be, “the Body of Christ.”  Church is about “community.”

2.  Loving the Church is about OPPORTUNITY (Eph. 5:15-16)

Opportunity is a wonderful thing.  I’ve heard it said, “when opportunity knocks, open the door.” Another man said it, but is sounds like great wisdom to me:  “Opportunities are like sunrises, if you wait too long you miss them.” The great inventor, Thomas Edison, pointed out that “opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”  Perhaps we suffer no greater loss than to miss an opportunity God presents to us in life.  Someone wrote, “we do not get unlimited chances to have the things we want; nothing is worse than missing the opportunity that could have changed our life.”

Getting saved and becoming a part of God’s Church through a local body of believers is an opportunity of eternal value.  We live in uncertain and perilous times—but they are also times of great opportunity if we will tune our hearts to God’s frequency.  The Bible speaks of vigilance in many places.  In Ephesians 5 we read:

¹⁵ Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— ¹⁶ making the most of the time, because the days are evil.

It is perhaps more accurate to translate this verse like the NLT and several others:  Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

The Greek language has several words referring to time.  The two most frequent are “chronos” and “kairos.”  Chronos refers to the passing of time as on a clock (or sundial in the First Century).  Kairos refers to a fixed point in time.  The TDNT (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament) defines kairos as, “a decisive or crucial place or point.”  Our word, opportunity, would be an accurate translation.

There are many opportunities available through the local church.  The local church gives us an opportunity for learning.  The Church has long been the repository for learning.  There is some continuing debate about exactly when and how the idea of a “university” first came about, but most scholars understand that the Christian Church (particularly the Catholic Church) had a great influence on principle of education known as the “university.”  A myth became established during the rising skepticism of the Age of the Enlightenment in the **th century that Christianity was an impediment to learning, particularly in the area of science.  That is simply a myth at best and a damnable lie at worst.  Far from being an impediment to scientific progress, Christians were pioneers in science.  Many (it is not to far off to say, most) pioneers in science declared themselves to be Christians:  Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton and Boyle to name just a few of the giants.  Learning is an essential part of being a Christian.  The worst mistake the Church has ever made is to support public, government-run education.  The Church has always been the best place to learn the highest truths.  I Love My Church because in it I am constantly learning new and precious truths.  The Church gives me safe boundaries of doctrine which serve as a safety net as I walk the high wire of ideas.  The great church leaders, like St. Augustine, pushed for his students to learn everything they could about anything there was to learn.  For Augustine, like all great leaders in the Church, “all truth is God’s truth.” Indeed, without the Light of God’s truth in Scriptures even the most brilliant minds will not be able to see truth clearly.  Light is required for sight.

Not only does the Church provide an opportunity for learning, but it offers many opportunities for laughing.  Now, being a Baptist it is important that my points be sufficiently alliterated (beginning with the same letters).  By saying the Church gives a person opportunities for lauging, I mean that the Church is a place of great joy.  Whether it is pulling weeds together or pitching horseshoes, or whether it’s baptizing new believers or barbecuing hamburgers, there are many, many opportunities to laugh and enjoy life in and through the Church

The church not only provides opportunities for learning and laughing, but many opportunities for loving.  Listen, it is not secret that most churches have their fair share of scrooges and scoundrels.  Church have both back-stabbers and back slappers.  The Church is full of imperfect people.  In fact, the Church has only had One “perfect” representative—and the people crucified Him!  For sure, the Church is not full of perfect people and void of offenses and difficulties; but, I can say this with absolute honesty:  “I have never experienced deeper love in my life than I have as a part of God’s family.”  Talk to any person that has been associated with the Church for any length of time, and I feel they will tell you the same thing.  There is no better place to experience real loving than God’s Church. 

The church is a community.  The church offers great opportunities; and the church is about significant

3.  Responsibility (v16)

Look at our text in verse 16:  In the same way, let your light shine  before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

“Let Your Light Shine!”  I have shared with you before that one of the characteristics of the part of speech we call a “verb” is the aspect of “mood.”  Verbs can represent the indicative mood which refers to straightforward action like, the dog barked.  Verbs can have subjunctive mood expressing hypothetical action, or a wish, like, “I hope the dog stops barking.”  A verb can also be in the imperative mood such as when I yell at the dog and say, “Stop barking!”  The imperative mood is a command that carries an implied idea of responsibility.

The word, “shine,” in verse 16 is in the imperative mood.  This is a command from the Lord.  It implies a responsibility on each believer.  The pronoun, “your” as I said before is a plural pronoun referring to the collective body of believers we call the Church.  Interestingly, the verb is not only imperative, but singular.  It is singular because the subject of the verb is “the light” which is a collective noun referring to every believer in the Church.  We have an individual responsibility to work in and through our Church to make sure that the “Light” of the gospel burns brightly in our community.  Nobody can escape his or her individual responsibility for doing his or her part in and through the church.  Our responsibility as believers is nothing more, or less, than “our response to God’s ability!”  We do not create the “Light” but we simply have the responsibility to reflect the light of the Holy Spirit that is inside of us.  We don’t own the business, but we simply need to show up and perform our duty in the business of the Kingdom.

This week I was reading a story about a customer in a small retail store who discovered one day that a clerk by the name of “Eddie” was not around.  This customer was a regular and had become friends with “Eddie” who was a rather—how should I say it—slow moving employee.  Eddie almost caused more work than he accomplished if you know what I mean.  The customer asked the manager, “Where Eddie?  Is he sick?”  The manager answered quickly, “Nope. He ain’t sick.  He doesn’t work here anymore.”  “Oh,” the customer replied.  “Do you have someone in mind to fill the vacancy?”  The manager answered matter of factly, “Nope. Eddie didn’t leave no vacancy!”

What if we applied this to our lives as members of our church?  If we weren’t here for whatever reason, would we leave NO VACANCY? The Church is a community full of wonderful opportunities but membership is not without great responsibility.  We need to “Let our light shine” in and through the Church.  The Church’s ministry is the responsibility of each and every member.  The success of our Church’s ministry--measured in souls rescued, needs met, and lives transformed—is the responsibility of us all. 

I Love My Church.  Do you?  Do you share in her community?  Are you enjoying her opportunities?  Are you fulfilling your responsibilities?  The Church is the Beloved Bride of the Lord Jesus Christ and the best way we can show our love for the Lord as we spin on this terrestrial ball, is to love His Bride There is no organization that has greater potential for doing good than the Church, united in vision and excited about service.  So, let’s all agree to do our best to “Let It Shine!” like a blazing inferno until Jesus comes!

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