A City on a Hill

“You are the light of the world, a city on a hilltop cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket, instead they put it on a stand where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine out for all to see, so that everyone will give praise to your Father in heaven.” – Jesus

Jesus said these remarkable words to some of the weakest, least powerful, most oppressed people that our sin-broken earth had fielded in a long time. The Jews, handed off from super power to super power, who grew up in the shadow of the massive building program of King Herod, who was able to conceive of buildings as beautiful as his heart was ugly.

But when Jesus began to institute his new Kingdom and selected the leaders of his church, he didn’t go to those trained in those beautiful and massive buildings. He went to a bunch of poor and powerless Jews. They were to be the light of the world, a marker of something much bigger and more beautiful than the buildings. They were to reflect the light of Christ to a world that desperately needed it.

In the shadow of Lane stadium the fruit of the commitment of those Jews heard the same thing spoken of them. This campus and community doesn’t need Christ more than they did prior to April 16, 2007.

But they can see that need him a lot more clearly.

And so, as that cluster of leaders from [nlcf] walked up to the top of the stadium that night, they dedicated themselves to fulfilling the mission instituted by none other than God on earth, Jesus. He called a bunch of people to live for something massive, and to dedicate themselves to seeing the light of God reflected to those around them that need it.

Our area needs memorial ceremonies, and football games and placards with inspirational signs and the prayers of those around the world directed on them. But what it needs more is for the believers that are already there to be the thing that Jesus called out that day on that hill.

Visible.

This year [nlcf] is called to be a city on a hill. Not the only one. But one nonetheless. To reflect the light of Christ to a dark world that desperately needs it. And on August 27th, a group of followers of Christ spoke on behalf of a much larger church and said that they would. We won’t do it any more flawlessly than the early church leaders did. We will trust God for our strength, our direction, and then we will trust him to take what is not enough in us and make it enough.

Who would have ever guessed that those that heard Jesus’ words that day and began to live them out would have had the impact they did?

The only questions are… what will he do through us now? And will you join us?

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *