Black out curtains

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” ~ Matthew 5:14-16

During WWII the real and imagined fear of bombing raids gripped both England and the United States. In the US the coastal cities out west feared the Japanese would bomb them and took precautions against air raids. In England the fear was actually realized as the German Luftwaffe nightly terrorized London and other major cities, and rained down terror on them. In both countries precautions had to be taken so bomb shelters were set up, air raid sirens blared out warnings of pending terror, and the lights of the city were blacked out to diminish the enemies ability to locate targets. In both countries homes, businesses and factories where outfitted with black out curtains or screens to prevent the bomber pilots from finding targets and not allow them to use large metropolitan areas as navigational aids.

Towns would appoint ARP Wardens or Air Raid Precaution officers who made sure civilians carried gas masks at all times, monitored if black out protocol was followed and guided people to air raid shelters during attacks. The ARP Wardens at times were despised by their communities because they tended to be over zealous and in their tasks and used their position to exercise control or lord over people. They would walk through a neighborhood and yell “put out that light” and make sure any source of illumination that might alert the enemy could not be seen.

In our day-to-day lives are we shining brightly for the Gospel and bringing glory to God by the way we live and interact with others? Or do our actions, attitudes or words obscure or completely black out the Light of the World? Does the light of Jesus Christ shine before men and does the Gospel glow and radiate through us and does it draw people to give God and His Word a second look? In Matthew 5 Jesus gives the Sermon on the Mount and talks about how our lives are supposed to be markedly different and be a living testimony for the world to see HIM and not us. The lives we are called to live are supposed to shine brightly from within because of the message of Christ, the glory of the Gospel and not be blacked out or obscured by our self righteousness or a holier-than-thou sanctimony.

When the topic of faith or Christianity comes up in the work place or out around town are you and I thought of as a bright light that helps others navigate their way to the Truth of the Gospel? Or when the topic of the meaning and purpose of life come up, mortality, moral absolutes come up do we hear the air raid sirens going off in the back of our head, and we are worried what people will think of us if we speak up? Do we purposely want to avoid a discussion of our faith due to fear of how people will react or what they will think of us, so we pull down our “black out curtain” and ignore the prompting of the Holy Spirit to speak up about what faith in Christ has done in our lives. Or maybe we are so focused on our own agenda of moralizing society, our political opinions or telling everyone what standards or preferences they must adhere to that the light has a hard time peeking out our is obscured by the image of us rather than the Light of the World.

In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus tells us that we are to be a light that shines, but He mentions a very important point we may overlook back in verses 11. He states; “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” The key words are “on my account”. It is not saying that people should revile us because of our misinterpretation or misapplication of scripture, or because of our personal “holiness standards” or religious subculture. On His account is because of His message, His Word and because of a rejection of His sacrifice.

Our light shining is supposed to be because of our good works. He isn’t talking about things like just going to church, having a fish on the back of your car, a clean cut image or carrying a Bible as big as a boat anchor. He is referring to our good works of compassion, love, mercy, joy, grace, forgiveness, faithfulness, obedience, honesty, encouragement and various fruits of the Spirit mentioned in places like Galatians 5:23-26. These are far brighter and more illuminating than any “religious” actions or activities and mark us as different from all other “faiths”. Our good works are not about us or because of any innate goodness in and of ourselves; its source is the person and work of Jesus Christ, and it is Him that is supposed to be the blinding light that the world sees in us.

Are you and I shining brightly and are our lives navigational aids to those looking for Truth? Are we ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us or pulling down the black out curtain to avoid the “bombing run”? As the words of the song go; “shine make ´em wonder what you´ve got, make ´em wish that they were not, on the outside looking bored, shine let it shine before all men, let´em see good works, and then let ´em glorify the Lord.”

"But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” ~ Matthew 10:33