You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16
He showed me many trees that did not have leaves but appeared to me to be withered. And they were all alike. He said to me, “Do you see these trees?” “I see them, Lord,” I replied. “They are like one another and withered.” He replied, “These trees you see are the people who dwell in this age.”
“Why, then, Lord,” I asked, “do they seem withered and like one another?” “Because,” he said, “neither the upright nor the sinners stand out clearly in this age, but they are like one another. For this age is a winter for those who are upright: they do not stand out clearly while dwelling with the sinners.
For just as the trees that shed their leaves in the winter all look alike, with the withered indistinguishable from the living, so too in this age it is not clear who the upright are and who the sinners, but they all appear alike.”
The Shepherd of Hermas 52. 1-3, Parable III (c. A.D. 70-140) as reported by Bart Ehrman in Lost Scriptures: Books That Did Not Make It Into The New Testament (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003) 271.
In today’s Scripture we see Jesus liken our generous deeds to shining as lights. We are illuminated. We stand out. We bring glory to God through our living, giving, serving, and loving.
Then in the Shepherd of Hermas, this parable describes trees in the opposite way.
No wonder Jesus gave instructions to let our light shine. When we conform to the world, we are indistinguishable from those who do not follow Jesus.
“How’s your light?” Or maybe a better question is to say, “What does your tree look like compared to other trees in this day and age?”
God has me still praying for capital for GTP to scale. If you have resources, put them to work.
Our works send a message about what we believe more than our words. And they bring glory to God when they illuminate the darkness around us.