Light of the World

 

In a myriad of ways we can be used by God to bring blessing into the lives of others and so bring glory to our father in heaven.

Think, for example, of that well-known Prayer of Francis of Assisi.  It spells out with great clarity some ways we can be a blessing to others:
            Where there is hatred let me bring your love;
              where there is injury your pardon Lord...!
            Where there’s despair in life let me bring hope;
              where there’s darkness let me bring your light...!

Living out that prayer of Francis of Assisi is not an optional extra for Christians... it is our mandate... our duty.  And that calling we have is spelled out in many ways in the Bible.  Let me give you just one example.

Jesus is linked to LIGHT!  Isaiah the prophet, when predicting the coming of Messiah said, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.”  When John, in his gospel, links the coming of Jesus back to Genesis and the beginning, he picks up on the words God spoke when He said, “Let there be light!” (Gen.1:3) and tells us that “In Him (Jesus) was life and that life was the light of men.”  Then to cap it off this gospel writer, a little later, quotes Jesus saying, “I am the Light of the World.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”  So here’s a truth that the Christian Church has upheld right throughout its history: The Jesus, whom we follow and whom we worship and serve, is the Light of the World!  He removes the darkness from us and enables us to see.

Well, that’s a wonderful teaching that has been expounded from countless pulpits over countless centuries.  That truth has even found expression in works of art, such as, for example, William Holman Hunt’s ‘The Light Of The World’.

But that’s only half the story.  We get the other half of the story at the end of The Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount.  There Jesus tells His disciples: “You are the light of the world.”  And then He adds: “Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Wow..!  That’s mind-boggling when you pause and think about it.  Jesus Christ makes us what He is...!  He is the Light of the world and he calls his followers: Light of the world.  That’s not just Jesus letting us know that He’s role-modelling for us a certain life-style... and that we need to imitate Him.  Of course He is our role-model.  Of course we should imitate Him.  But this goes much further – we actually are what Jesus is: the Light of the world.  Of course it goes without saying that we can only be what He is when we are His followers... when we are joined to Him by faith.  Then the Spirit of Jesus works in us to let the light of Jesus Christ shine to others around us – and as people see that they will praise our Father in heaven.  The light we show others is His light in us.

So, how are we to be the Light of the world?  Well, Jesus spoke of our good deeds.  We saw some ways we could do that in the Prayer of Francis of Assisi.  Really, the sky is the limit.  In every deed of kindness and compassion we are being Christ to other people.  I should add that we do this with many failings.

There’s poem that expresses this teaching very well.  It’s called The World's Bible by Annie Johnson Flint

Christ has no hands but our hands
To do His work today;
He has no feet but our feet
To lead men in His way;
He has no tongues but our tongues
To tell men how He died;
He has no help but our help
To bring them to His side.

We are the only Bible
The careless world will read;
We are the sinner's Gospel,
We are the scoffer's creed;
We are the Lord's last message,
Given in deed and word;
What if the type is crooked?
What if the print is blurred?

What if our hands are busy
With work other than His?
What if our feet are walking
Where sin's allurement is?
What if our tongues are speaking
Of things His lips would spurn?
How can we hope to help Him
And hasten His return?

John Westendorp
2MaxFM 12/1/2025