You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:14 NASB
The average person thinks and speaks of the Church as a building. Jesus, the Founder of the Church, intended the Church composed of His followers to be a gift to the world. We as Jesus’ followers are that tangible gift in our communities when we become more than a group that gathers in a building, but a living body with intention and purpose. When believers decide individually and as a group to actively serve, they become salt and light reflecting God’s love and sharing hope. They become the gift that a hurting, disillusioned society needs. Together they are the city on a hill that Jesus described.
There is nothing like the Church when it is living and loving like Jesus. The gospel of Jesus is spoken in a language every person can understand as it is lived out through the local church. When ordinary people just like you and me move into their communities to take helpful action meeting real needs, they notice. When we do the things that may seem small like holding babies and pouring coffee, or the things that seem larger like repairing houses and doing landscaping, they notice. When we see them as friends and neighbors, they begin to experience the grace of God in a personal way, even when they don’t know what to call it. Eventually they connect the dots as we are salt and light, as Jesus commanded in Matthew 5:14-16. And it turns out just as Jesus said. “Let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:16 NLT).
Each of us is uniquely gifted and equipped by the Holy Spirit to serve others. Every one of us matters, and when use our gifts to serve, the mission of Jesus who came for the whole world moves forward. “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another” (1 Peter 4:10 NLT)
Serving is faithful stewardship of God's gifts and a profound act of worship. Serving allows me to participate in the mission of Christ. Serving together with others as the Church has a monumentally multiplying influence. The community and the world begin to feel the impact of the love of Jesus made tangible and visible. Interestingly, when we serve the world to meet their needs, we benefit too. Serving together stretches us and grows the fruit of the Spirit in us.
Serving is the way that we become more and more like our King Jesus Himself, who “came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45 NLT).
- King Jesus, You did not come to be served, but to serve. Help me have Your heart for people. Open my eyes to see the needs around me and to use my gifts to help in Your name. Help me work with Your Church to be the city on a hill that will draw people to You.