The City On A Hill - - - Matthew 5:13-16

Matthew 5:13-16

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵ No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵ No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

          In the original Spiderman movie, Peter Parker is a restless teenager who is giving his guardians – Aunt Maye and Uncle Ben – a bit of a tough time.  After all, he has just been bitten by a spider that has been exposed to gamma radiation, which has changed Peter Parker into a teenager with great power.

          In a tender moment, Uncle Ben senses that Peter is going through confusing changes in his life. He does not have a clue what kind of changes, but he turns to his nephew and says, “These are the years when a man changes into the man he is going to be the rest of his life.  Just be careful who you change into.”

          Now that is just a movie.  And it is based on just a comic book.

But it is true.  From time to time we face decisions and in those decision we are not just deciding what kind of work we will do, or whether we will do our homework for school, or whether we are going to do a good job or a sloppy job – what we are really deciding is what kind of person am I going to be?

Am I going to be a loving person or an unloving person?

Am I going to be a just person or a selfish person?

Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.”

He does not say you are going to be a light of the world.  He does not say that someday you are going to become a city on a hill. 

He says this is what you already are.

You ARE the Light of the world.

You ARE the city on the hill.

The question is this – when people look at you, what kind of city do they see?

In 1630 eleven ships carrying a thousand Puritans left England to immigrate to Massachusetts.  On one of the ships, the Arebella, their future governor, John Wintrhop, delievered a sermon named, “A Model of Christian Charity.”  In it he referred to this text from Matthew and said that the colonies in America were a city on a hill and the eyes of all people were upon them. 

The eyes of the world are still upon us.

I have a friend on Facebook, and like a lot of friends on Facebook I have never met Kate.  Kate and I share the hobby of astronomy and that is how we have connected.  Kate would be furious if she found out that I was talking about her in a sermon – she is an atheist and hates anything to do with the church.  But we do have good conversations about astronomy, and sometimes about faith.  She is intensely interested in politics.  She wanted Hillary to win so badly.  She is watching the news very closely about Trump’s appointment to the US Supreme Court.  She counts the roll call votes on certain proposed legislation.

Which surprises me because Kate lives on the other side of this planet.  She lives in Australia!

I asked her one time why she had such a deep, deep passionate interest in our politics.  I mean, I don’t follow Australian politics.

She said it was because what happened in America was felt all over the world.  She looked to America to lead the rest of the world.  In other words, even though she is an atheist, she believes in the words spoken by Jesus when he said to his disciples, “You are the light of the world, a city on a hill.”

Of course, Jesus was not talking about America here.  He was really talking to his disciples. 

But we like to think that America is a Christian nation.  Of course, we know that America is not just a nation of Christians.  We have Jews and Muslims and Hindus, but we like to think that many of our values as a nation came out of the influence of Christians.

And if we are to call ourselves a nation with Christian values, we need to remember that we are indeed a light to the world, and a city on a hill.  People are watching us to see what kind of city we are.

President Reagan loved to refer to America as a city on a hill.  He used that idea frequently in his campaign for the 1980 election.  In his farewell speech to the nation on January 11, 1989, he said, “I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it.  But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city that hummed with commerce and creativity.  And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get there.”

Part of being this city on the hill is that it comes with a burden of responsibility. 

In January, 1961, then President-elect John Kennedy also evoked this verse when he spoke to the General Court of Massachusetts as a reminder that America is still that city on a hill, and he told them that every level of government and every person needed to be aware of the great trust and responsibility they had to be an example to others.

Kennedy had such a way with words and he hit the nail on the head by referring to being called a city on a hill a “great trust” and “responsibility.”

Those of you who grew up with younger siblings probably remember the admonition of your parents to set a good example for the younger brother or sister.  You had a responsibility to be an example.

Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, Brownies, all of you have the sacred trust and a “great trust” and “responsibility” to be an example to the world.  People are looking at you, and you are an example, a city on a hill.

You see, it doesn’t matter if we are talking about America, or our church, or our scout pack or troop, or yourself as a lone individual.  People are watching.  You are setting an example.

The question is, what kind of example are you setting?  What kind of city on a hill do people see when they look at us?

What kind of nation do people see when they look at America?

What kind of Scout troop do people see when they look at your group?

What kind of individual Christian do people see when they look at your Facebook page, or your conduct at work, or your behavior in the classroom.

You are, right now, the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and the city on the hill.  You are not becoming that, you are that right now.  And people are looking.  So what do they see? 

And now unto God the Father,

God the Son,

And God the Holy Spirit be ascribed all might, power, dominion and glory, today and forever, Amen.

Copyright 2017. 

Dr. W. Maynard Pittendreigh

All rights reserved

Ministers may feel free to use some or all of this sermon in their own ministries as long as they do not publish in print or on the Internet without ascribing credit to the author.