Let Your Light Shine

Last week we embarked on a journey through scripture. We are taking a bird’s eye view of the Bible to see the thread of redemption woven through the tapestry of history. It is a challenge to read large portions of scripture at a time. The benefit of doing so is we can begin to see how these stories weave together. Last week you read the entire book of Genesis and almost the entire book of Exodus. You have seen how God revealed himself to one man and chose him as the father of a new nation. The promise of land, offspring, and blessings were made. You saw how his family had grown as God had promised and how God orchestrated circumstances leading to the enslavement of Israel as God prophesied all the way back in Genesis 15.

As we enter in to the story today, Israel has been in Egypt for about 400 years. In an attempt to curb the Hebrew population growth, the Pharaoh of Egypt sentenced all Hebrew baby boys to death. One mother refused to comply and hid her son in a basket among the reeds of the Nile river only to be discovered by the Pharaoh’s daughter. She adopted him and gave him the name Moses.

Moses grew up in Egyptian royalty. Though he was a Hebrew native, he was not seen as one of them. In an attempt to show his people that he was one of them, he killed an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew slave. When the plan did not work and the truth was discovered, Moses fled Egypt and lived in the land of Midian. It was there God revealed himself to Moses and called him to be the liberator of Israel. He returns to Egypt and God wages war against Pharaoh through a series of plagues. Pharaoh finally lets the Israelites go and they journey to mount Sinai, where a covenant is ratified for the nation of Israel.

In Sunday School today, you heard about the Ten Commandments, which provides the skeletal structure of the covenant relationship between God and Israel. This morning we are going to talk about God’s purpose for Israel through this covenant relationship and how he is still doing this today.

As God called Israel out of Egypt, He called them to be a light to the nations.

From one family, the nations emerged. Everybody alive today is a descendant of Noah. The descendants of Noah multiplied and from then the nations were born. Then God reveals himself to Abraham and through one family, God is calling the nations to himself.

God leads the nation of Israel out of captivity in Egypt to become a new nation on the earth, to possess the land they had inherited, and live in covenant relationship with the Lord. We pick up the story in Exodus 19 as Israel came to Sinai. Moses went to the mountain and God spoke to him. We pick up here in verse 3:

Exodus 19:3–6 NASB95

Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

God reestablishes his authority based on how he rescued Israel from Egypt. He reiterates his intent to claim them as his own possession. They will be unique among nations because they will belong to the Lord. But he also tells Moses what they will be. They will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

All the way back in Genesis 12:3, God promised Abraham that whoever blesses him will be blessed and whoever curses him will be cursed, and that in him all the families of the earth will be blessed. How does that work? The key here is Israel’s identity. The Lord is calling them a kingdom of priests. These terms are significant.

God establishes a nation where He is king and his people are priests. But what do priests do? They act as mediators to restore the relationship between two parties. So if Israel acts as priests, who are the two parties? God and the nations. So Israel is in the position of directing the nations toward God through their relationship with Him. By being a holy nation, they were to accurately represent God through their relationship with Him and their relationships with one another. The bad news is they failed at this task repeatedly as they began to worship false gods.

Regardless of Israel’s obedience to the covenant, this is who they were supposed to be. Israel was never supposed to close themselves off from the other nations or begin to think they were an elite group. Sometimes we get the impression that God chose Israel at the exclusion of everyone else, but that is not true. He chose Israel for the inclusion of everyone else. This was always the plan.

Like Israel, God has chosen the church to be the light to the nations.

A new covenant has been established with a new mediator of the covenant. Jesus is now our high priest. God chose one man to reveal himself to the world and now uses his followers to do the same. This new covenant is not based on geographical location, nationality, skin color, language, or any other physical trait. This covenant is centered on the identity of Jesus and his accomplishment of atonement for sin through sacrifice.

As Jesus was preparing his disciples for ministry, he preached the sermon on the mount and starting in Matthew 5:14, he says this:

Matthew 5:14–16 NASB95

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

What Jesus is saying here to his followers on the mountain is what God was saying to Moses on mount Sinai. As Israel was to be the instrument to draw the nations to himself, the church is in the same position today. The nations have indeed been blessed through Abraham because it was through him the nations understood who God is. The nations continue to be blessed by God through his relationship with the church.

We were not blessed so we could think there was something special in us for God to choose us. But because he has chosen us, do we not want others to experience true salvation and a life transformed by knowing God? Does the word not say that they will know we are Christians by our love? Does our lifestyle accurately reflect a life transformed by the gospel? Do we, by word and deed, reveal Christ to the world around us?

A quote attributed to William J. Toms says, “Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some person ever reads.” This quote carries a lot of truth in it. It is true that certain people will not pick up a Bible to read it. But the question remains, if they saw how you lived your life, would they want to? Through our actions and lifestyle choices, we either draw people to the gospel or drive them from it. Are you a lamp on a lampstand or have you hidden it under a basket?

Our gospel witness must include both word and deed.

In 1 Peter 2:9, Peter writes,

1 Peter 2:9 NASB95

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

Here Peter uses the same language as God used with Moses on Sinai to remind believers they share in the same role. But to what end? That the Christian community would proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. In Matthew Jesus emphasized living a lifestyle visible to others that would attract them to Himself. We must also be careful not to rely solely on our good deeds to share the message of hope with others. The gospel is proclaimed through work and deed.

When we have the opportunity to share what Christ has done for us, we must. When we live our lives as others see us, we must be mindful of how we represent Christ to the rest of the world.

The mission of God is the same today as it was when he called Israel from Egypt. As God positioned Israel to be his light in a dark place, He has called us to be that same light to the darkness around us. Our mission to share Jesus to the world is a call to be the light in both work and deed. We are commissioned to live our lives in the public square. We share Jesus to the world through the way we conduct ourselves. We show Jesus to the world through honest business, through the way we treat servers at restaurants, how we handle ourselves when retail employees get under our skin. We show Jesus to others in how we treat one another, in how we disagree on politics. We share Jesus to the world when we share from scripture what God has done for us.

Consider how your light shines and let it shine brightly. By the shining of your light, people will see Jesus in you and glorify God.