Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

• Matthew 5:14

“The illustrations our Lord uses are all conspicuous, viz., salt, light, and a city set on a hill. There is no possibility of mistaking them. Salt to preserve from corruption has to be placed in the midst of it, and before it can do its work it causes excessive irritation which spells persecution. Light attracts bats and night­ moths, and points out the way for burglars as well as honest people: Jesus would have us remember that men will certainly defraud us. A city is a gathering place for all the human drift­ wood that will not work for its own living, and a Christian will have any number of parasites and ungrateful hangers-on. All these considerations form a powerful temptation to make us pretend we are not salt, to make us put our light under a bushel, and cover our city with a fog, but Jesus will have nothing in the nature of covert discipleship.”

• Oswald Chambers, Daily Thoughts for Disciples (July 13, from Studies in the Sermon on the Mount)

If I pictured a city on a hill, and everyone had their lights on in their houses, I can picture seeing that light from a good distance away.  I have done my share of night driving, and with the artificial light of today, even simply the streetlights in the middle of the night, you can see the sizeable towns and cities from a long way off.  Even more so when you are traveling in the mid-west with rolling hills.

In contrast, you have to get out of the city a great distance before the light pollution allows you to see the stars.

But then Jesus talks about how salt loses its saltiness, and it is of no use as salt.

What?  If salt loses its saltiness, it is not salt.

When Jesus said for those who have ears, let them hear, He was talking about a parable or a metaphor that may not be obvious to the common person, but very clear to those who love the Lord and keep His commandments.

The metaphor of the town on a hill is prefaced by Jesus saying that we are the light.  We can easily get the connection.  But what light do we shine?

That is when Jesus talks about not even calling someone a fool when we are angry.  Not lusting when we see an attractive person of the opposite sex.  Loving our enemies.  Turning the other cheek.  Going the extra mile.  And those religious things, like praying and fasting should be done in private, just you with God.

But even then, we find that even with a blueprint that Jesus gives us, we cannot measure up.

That is when we turn to God and say, “This seems simple, but I cannot do it.  Lord, I need help.”  Then, we understand the “how” that goes with the metaphor.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.