City on a Hill (2)
Matthew 5:13-16
I try very hard to not preach the same message twice.
I do it occasionally, maybe once a year or less.
Today, I am going to revisit a message I preached on September 30, 2018.
I had not quite finished my first full year as pastor here at Faith Baptist.
I doubt anyone remembers that particular sermon besides me.
It is one of my favorites I have preached here.
When you are coming down 380 from Decatur, our church sort of sneaks up on you.
Over the past few days, I have just tried to look for the radio tower, but sometimes it is hard to see.
But coming from Bridgeport, about the time you get around Seven Wires, there is a great view of the church.
We are not on the highest ground in our vicinity, but we are on a hill.
I love seeing that view because it reminds me of our text.
“A city on a hill”
I have seen Decatur referred to as “a city on a hill” at times.
Honestly, I do not know why it is not used more often.
It fits.
Just about anywhere you go in the county you can look up and see the courthouse on the horizon.
Ronald Reagan famously used this theme in his farewell address to the nation in 1989.
He laid out his hope that the American would be a beacon of hope and freedom.
Reagan did not acknowledge the phrase is from the Bible, but rather that it was used by John Winthrop.
Winthrop from our text on March 21, 1630, to the congregation that would soon migrate to the new world and become known as the Pilgrims.
He laid out a vision that the new community would be watched by the world around them.
They had a great responsibility to serve God and live exemplary lives because so many eyes were upon them.
On Wednesday, October 25, 2023, around 3:30 in the afternoon, I received a phone call from Oliver Araiza.
I met him as a teenager when he was an evangelist working with a youth camp in West Virginia.
We reconnected shortly before this after he stumbled across my website.
He told me then I needed to get into the radio ministry, that there was a huge need for the type of material I was putting on my website.
That day in October, he called to tell me about an opportunity to possibly get a radio station for our church.
He told me about a program that could help us apply and get started.
It also would shoulder much of the upfront cost.
I swallowed it hook, line, and sinker.
I had some funny looks as I was telling people about it right after that call.
We moved ahead cautiously optimistic.
A couple of months later, I put something on my Facebook page about the opportunity.
In that post, which I think was the first real public mention of what we were trying to do, I said I was thinking about calling the station “The Voice of Wise County”.
I am so glad I decided to go in a different direction.
Somewhere along the way I remember that sermon I preached about the city on a hill and it just all seemed to fall into place.
Why City on a Hill Radio exists today, especially with that name, is because of a desire for our church to be a city on a hill.
Our text is part of the Sermon on the Mount.
I like to think of these chapters as Christ the King declaring the Law of His Kingdom.
He sets the tone with the Beatitudes as an introduction.
Then Christ looks out at the multitudes and declared His desire for the community of those that would trust and serve Him.
The first thing illustration He uses is salt, which preserves food and enhances flavor.
We are to be the preserving factor in a world that is rotting quickly.
We are to be the savor that helps people taste and see that the Lord is good.
The second illustration will be our focus.
A city on a hill.
In ancient times cities were often built on or around a hill.
It provided natural protection and defense against invaders.
It also proclaimed to all around that it was there.
You could not escape notice of the territory you were in.
It provided direction, just like around here you can see the courthouse and know where the center of the county is.
For a few minutes, I want to examine a few elements in Christ’s use of the city on a hill.
I want these to be a challenge to us and help us chart a course forward.
I. The Darkness
The darkness is the need and the cause for the city on a hill.
I was always amazed while growing up to look from our house to the southeast to see the glow of the cities on the horizon.
I have always assumed it was Denton and the Metroplex, but it was obvious there were a lot of people in that direction.
If I turned in the opposite direction, there was no evidence that Forestburg was out there, somewhere.
How did I know which direction the cities were?
They could be seen in the dark.
Not in the daylight, only in the dark.
I really try to be optimistic about things and search for the positive in our nation.
However, you would have to be a fool to not see the growing darkness.
Just look at the headlines:
Political scandals.
Economic distress.
A mother that murdered her three children in cold blood.
And people are supporting her!!!
This old world is a mess.
People are blindly searching for peace and purpose.
We have an opportunity – no, a responsibility – as individuals and as a church to do something about that darkness.
We can do something!
We can save someone!
We can make a difference!
II. The Light
What is it that we need to shine into the darkness?
A neon sign for a church is not as effective as it once was.
Too many people have been hurt by churches or discouraged by their misconduct.
Too many Christians today, I am afraid, think they are shining a light that is actually a spotlight on themselves.
What this world needs first and foremost is the light of the Gospel.
From our own backyard to the furthest corners of the globe, people need to know about Christ.
They need to know they are sinners condemned by God.
They need to know of His great love for them and the price paid by Christ.
They need to know it is nothing we do that merits salvation, but simple trust in the Christ who died and rose again.
They need to know that all that come to Him, He will in no wise cast out!
I have said this for years:
I do not necessarily care if I shake your hand in our church.
I would love to, but that is not the point.
What I want to do is be able to shake your hand in heaven someday.
That is what matters.
The Kingdom of Christ is greater than an individual local church.
We need to be a part of shining the light into the darkness.
Pray! Give! Go! Pass out a tract! Invite someone to church!
Do something!
As long as it is Scriptural, moral, legal, and effective.
Make a difference not only in this world but also in eternity!
III. The City
In vs. 15 and 16, the individual witness of a believer is compared to single source – a candle or lamp.
This highlights the personal responsibility we have to shine our lights for Christ.
But what I find most interesting in this passage, and I rarely hear this mentioned, is that vs. 13 and 14 speak about a community of individuals sharing their light.
In vs. 13 we have salt.
Now, how many of you get a saltshaker and carefully get one grain of salt out to season your food.
No, you pour out hundreds, thousands, millions, maybe billions of grains of salt.
It is the multitude of individual pieces of salt that flavor your food, not just one grain.
In vs. 14, we see the city.
What is a city?
There are a bunch of people living together in close proximity.
I spoke earlier about seeing the lights of a city at night.
When you see that glow it is not one big light.
No, it is hundreds and thousands of individual lights.
What I am trying to press on you this morning is that, yes we should be witnesses as individuals, but look how much greater that light shines when we gather our lights!
I can cover up one light, but I could not cover all the lights of a city!
We have strength in numbers when believers are united in their mission and passion to reach the lost.
How are we going to make a difference?
The best chance we have is to work together as a local church.
God knew we needed a church to belong to.
It gives us community and direction.
The Gospel proclaimed by a local church is the most effective method of evangelism in God’s design.
CONCLUSION
- What are we doing to shine the light?
- We cannot allow our lights to be contained within these four walls.
- Who are we working together with in God’s service?
- Christians were never meant to be “lone wolfs”.
- Have you seen the light?
- You cannot share it unless you have it!