Day 33 - Being visible

The Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5:1-16.

“That’s impossible, it must be Jesus speaking of perfection, or something”, is the sort of thing we hear when we remind people of the Sermon on the Mount.

The conversation often goes on to point out that our world has no obvious examples of humble people inheriting it. In fact, quite the contrary, the world appears to be fully controlled by the rich and powerful who make up the rules that perpetuate their own ends. The very opposite of being humble.

Then those who are really impoverished come to mind. For example, the coltan miners in DRC, often children who toil in appalling conditions to extract the rare earths needed for the technology upon which we all, here, depend so much. They do not seem to be much blessed.

It’s all very confusing. Especially when you accept that the churches that are supposed to represent the teachings of their Christ are themselves often imposing examples of wealth and power, and staffed by people who are concerned about title and position.

It is unsurprising that a lot of people reject what they see of Christianity, and level the charge of hypocrisy.

I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t want God to be telling me that I’m a hypocrite. I am often moved to trepidation by Revelations 6:6: And they said to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. I can understand that the holiness of God is capable of producing that sort of response.

So, it’s important to re-consider what The Lamb has told us. Take it to heart. Push our pilgrimage into accepting it as true. Modifying our lives towards it. Stop diluting it with the ways of the world. Then we can be seen by God through the work of The Lamb, and not be either hypocritical nor fearful.

Look again at the Sermon on the Mount. Notice what Jesus is really saying. The apparently contrary characteristics of those who He wants as followers, they actually amount to our understanding that worldly values keep us from God.

The realisation that we need God and can rely upon God is paramount. The world is as transient as are we, but by putting the world away from us, we can be sure of spending forever together with the God who loves us. It costs to follow Jesus, but it costs considerably more not to.

If you look at verses 14-16 again, you will see that we are meant to be visible so that no-one can doubt what God’s people look like. Sadly, that is not so in our generations. Our forebears were visible in seeking justice, for example. They organised to push for it and their churches were full. They had their faults, but they were visible.

‘You are the light of the world’ – think about it, and pray.

John Cartwright