You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. (Matthew 5:14)
Ronald Reagan described America as a city on a hill because it is the hope of immigrants from for a better life. Do you remember the second Godfather film? There is a great scene after young Vito Corleone flees Italy. He comes through Ellis Island yet must be quarantined due to an illness. His little hospital room faces the Statue of Liberty. The sick little boy sits in his room looking at Lady Liberty and begins to sing a hopeful little Italian tune. Even in his sickness he was hopeful that America would provide him a better life. Lady Liberty was lighting the way!
A city on a hill is distinct from those below it. Further, its height communicates superiority in some way. The city above is better than the city below. But, how does the city above relate to the city below? The city above is a hopeful symbol to those below by beckoning them to something superior. Jesus is saying the city on a hill is a symbol of hope. The Statue of Liberty is about hope. Likewise, the church is to be a symbol of hope to the hopeless around us.
Our marriages don’t have to be perfect, but they should provide hope for the marriages around us. Our parenting doesn’t have to be perfect, but we should be able to give hopeful advice about how to do it according to the Bible. As employees we should provide a hopeful way forward by being more ethical and Christ-like than others in our office. Christians and the Church are to be symbols of hope for a hopeless world.
The gospel is the key to this hope. The gospel is how marriages parents and employees become symbols of hope. Couples dads and middle-managers should strive toward clean righteous living. They should carry out their duties with excellence and transparency and grace. Living according to the Law is a blessing and gives others hope. However, husbands mommies and clerks are all going to blow it. Yet, the good news of the gospel is that God forgives and restores bad husbands lazy parents and dishonest salesmen. As we transparently confess our sins to God we are also able to openly acknowledge our failings to others. We can walk in this freedom because God is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Living according to the gospel, especially when we fail, gives hope to those around us. Living according to the gospel enables us to be a city set on a hill! Neither unattainable perfection nor phony religion is going to bring hope to our city. Rather, walking in the light when we blow it highlights our hope on the gospel. Walking in the gospel is how we bring hope to our city.
Is there a part of your life you are keeping in the dark? Is there a failing that you are refusing to confess to the Lord or others? Have you blown it and now want to quit due to the condemnation you feel? Believe the gospel to the degree of bringing sin to the light. Bring hope to those around you by radically believing the gospel...especially when you fail!