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by Trudy Kenyon
By Trudy KenyonMatthew 5:16
Thus shine your light before the people so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
“Having compared us to salt and light, Jesus now moves on to make sure we understand. This verse is usually translated by some variation on the anemic, ‘Let your light shine.’ However, the verb Christ uses is imperative, the tense used for a command. This isn’t a suggestion. ‘Shine your [pl.] light!’ Jesus orders. We are to shine in the presence of other people, not to glorify ourselves but to help others understand why we behave as we do. The phrase ‘good works’ might perhaps be better understood as the beautiful, useful service we do for others.
“If our light is shining—if we are not shy about who we are and whom we serve—then what we say and do will be seen by others and cause them to think well of the God we serve. We need to remember that at all times we are God’s ambassadors to this world, always in the public eye and always living our God-centered lives for the good of those around us. . . . .At the same time, we can take heart that all the yous in this verse are plural. Christianity is meant to be a community affair. Many grains of salt make people thirsty. Many different kinds of light make the city glow. When we work together with Jesus as our guide, we can do great things.” (47)
Oberst, Karen L. But I Tell You: Jesus Introduces a Better Way to Live. Newberg, Oregon: Barclay Press, 2007. 47.
