[Frank Dunkle] In the year 1630, an Englishman by the name of John Winthrop sailed across the Atlantic on board a ship named Arbella leading a group of colonists to the New World. John Winthrop had been elected to serve as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Company. But that company did something different than a lot of other companies that started colonies in the New World. They took their corporate charter with them so that the colony they established and the company would be essentially one and the same thing. And that won't seem like a big deal to most of you here. It's really only to history teachers like me that that's kind of a big deal. But one thing important about it is that it made it possible for them to run their own affairs without interference and to try a grand experiment. They had a purpose for coming.

Now, to make that purpose clear, we should understand that this was a different group than the pilgrims who sailed on the Mayflower about a decade before then. Now, this group shared many beliefs with the pilgrims. Both were called Puritans. Puritan came from the name in England of people who wanted to purify the church from what they thought were corrupt practices and beliefs that had crept in. The pilgrims who established the Plymouth Colony thought that the Church of England and the British Empire had become so corrupt they needed to separate from it as far as possible. And across the Atlantic Ocean was pretty far. So, they believed themselves completely separate. It was a new church. Now, the Puritans who established Boston and the Massachusetts Bay Colony, they also went across the Atlantic, but they had a different view. They're known by historians as non-separatist Puritans because what they thought they were doing is, rather than starting a new church, they were just giving themselves enough elbow room to set a good example for the church and for the British Empire that they still believed they were a part of.

So, they saw themselves as setting an example while being part of that Empire, you know, setting in a godly example. To borrow a phrase, you could say that they believed themselves to be in the Empire, but not of the Empire. That might sound familiar and that might begin to give you an idea of why I'm talking about them in the first place. You know, we see ourselves as called-out Christians. But I would say, in a sense, we're non-separatists from the world around us. And we strive to be in the world, but not of the world. This idea comes from something Jesus Christ said in prayer to the Father. If you'd like to turn there with me, it's in John 17, beginning in verse 15. Just to set the stage, John 17:15. Specifically, that last night Christ spent with His disciples before His crucifixion. As He prayed, He said to the Father, starting in verse 15, "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world…” And, of course, He was praying for His disciples that He loved very much.

"I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I'm not of the world." And He goes on to ask God to sanctify them by His word that was truth. What's the point though, of being in the world? Well, during the voyage to America, John Winthrop while still on board ship, even though he was not a minister himself, he was a deeply religious man, and he gave a sermon to his fellow passengers. And this was a message that would become… Let me say that more slowly, that would become rather famous in American history. He told the colonists that they would be a city set on a hill. Let me read the paragraph following that. He told them, "The eyes of all people are upon us; so that if we deal falsely with our God and this work that we've undertaken and cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world, we shall open the mouths of our enemies to speak evil of the ways of God and of all professors for God's sake; we shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us until we're consumed out of the good land whether we are going.”

Bad results if they turn away from being that example they were striving to do. They came with high ideals, lofty goals. And it's good for us to remember that in the founding of this country, there was that involved. I wouldn't say that for all of those who founded colonies in America, that many people came for various different reasons. And generally, the biggest reason was for a better life, to have a better life than they left behind. But some wanted to really make things different. And as I said, be an example.

Now, I'll leave for another time the discussion of, you know, how the United States, although it has received the blessings that God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and seems to be losing those blessings, I'll leave for another time discussion of the fact that we shouldn't view the United States as the same as the Kingdom of God.

I want to focus on that concept of being a city upon a hill, that being that city on the hill is done while being in the world, while still not of it because John Winthrop thought… Boy, Winthrop and thought are hard to say in the same sentence because this man believed that the government he was leading in the church should be one and the same, he had no qualms in looking to Scripture for guidance. You know, so the government leaders saw the Bible as their guide. Well, we're not a government but we are a church, of course. You know, we're God's called out people and we certainly want to look to God's Word. So, let's do that. We are as Christians if we were to be a light, a city on the hill, how do we do that? What does it mean? Well, we can get some good guidance if we look to where Jesus Christ actually said that in Matthew 5. Please join me in Matthew 5. We'll begin in verse 14. This is part of what's routinely called the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus Christ says to the people, 'You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.'" This passage tells us quite a bit about what it's like to be a Christian, what it should mean. There's a big need for light in this world. I'm speaking metaphorically. It's light outside today. But in another sense, the world seems to be dark and getting darker. I'll reference John 3:19 without turning there because I've got some of the texts written here. But in John 3:19, John wrote men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. If God's ways are good are light, it can be contrast with the darkness of evil. God doesn't want the world to be dark. We don't want it to be dark. But sadly, in many ways, it is dark.

So what do we do about it? I was reminded there's an old saying, and actually, after I gave this sermon, this message earlier, someone wrote out part of the prayer or sermon, or prayer or poem that one phrase says, "It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness." And even if we can't eliminate all darkness from the world, we can and we should bring light to as much of it as we can. How do we do that? There's some explanation in what Christ said. If you look at it again, when He said, verse 16, "Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works," it seems that he's saying letting your light shine is what's happening when we're performing good works. It reminds me of a basic fact about light. And many of you have probably heard this before. Light is something that you see and you don't hear. Now, light can be silent, not only can be silent, it is silent. We live in a world of loudly competing voices. You know, ideologies are trumpeted in the streets and on the airwaves and on the internet. People loudly proclaim ideologies and beliefs and then people from over here denounce those ideologies and beliefs and they promote their own.

Well, I should say, as a group, we're not quiet. So when I say light is seen but not heard, that doesn't mean we have to be silent. Jesus Christ did commission His Church to preach the gospel, and so we do. We preach it to all the world using media as we're able. And as an aside, I would say, we certainly should pray that we can do more so. We certainly want to have opportunity to be on the cable networks and TV stations as possible. And as individuals, well, as individuals, sometimes we explain more than we proclaim. But hopefully, we are ready to explain. You know, we do what it says in 1 Peter 3:16 to be ready to give an answer, you know, to anyone that asks the reason of the hope that lies in you. So, if being a light doesn't necessarily mean being eternally silent, we should think though, what is it we're saying? Hopefully, not the same as cursing the darkness.

I'm brought to mind there’s… I've got a collection of old Peanuts cartoons in this book. And there's one where I think Linus and Charlie Brown are talking to each other. And Charlie Brown brings that up, you know, the old saying, "It's better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness." And Linus says, "Yeah, but there are always some who might disagree." And the next frame shows Lucy out in the dark saying, "Curse you, you stupid darkness." That's not what I'm getting at. I'd like to think we could gain some guidance from an old cliche. It goes like this. "What you are, speak so loudly, I can't hear what you're saying. What you are is so loud, I can't hear what you're saying." Just hearing that probably strikes a bit of a chord because there is just an innate truth in it. You know, we experience people, and sometimes just watching them and the way they live and act means more than what they say. And I could make that personal. I could say many good things. I get to stand behind this lecture and just about every day and teach from God's Word. But if I'm living a life of immorality, if I act spitefully or selfishly, you won't pay attention to what I say. The students will disregard me.

You know, what I am would speak more loudly. There's a poet from many years past named Edgar Guest, summarized this very well and a poem that I've come to love. It's titled "Sermons We See." I'm guessing many of you have heard it before, but because I liked it, I still like it., and I like to hear it, I'm going to read it to us again. It says, "I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day. I'd rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way. The eye is a better pupil and more willing than the ear. Fine counsel is confusing, but example's always clear. And the best of all the preachers are the men who live their creeds. For to see good put in action is what everybody needs. I soon can learn to do it if you'll let me see it done. I can watch your hands in action, but your tongue too fast may run. And the lecture you deliver may be very wise and true but I'd rather get my lesson by observing what you do. For I might misunderstand you and the high advice you give, but there's no misunderstanding how you act and how you live. When I see a deed of kindness, I'm eager to be kind. When a weaker brother stumbles and a strong man stays behind just to see if he can help him, then the wish grows strong in me to become as big and thoughtful as I know that friend to be. And all travelers can witness that the best of guides today is not the one who tells them but the one who shows the way. One good man teaches many. Men believe what they behold. One deed of kindness noticed is more than 40 that are told. Who stands with men of honor learns to hold his honor dear for right living speaks a language which to everyone is clear. Though an able speaker charms me with his eloquence, I say I'd rather see a sermon than to hear one any day."

That leads me to the next point I want to make related growing out of this from what Christ said in Matthew 5:14. Looking down there, I'm still open to that passage, He said, "You are the light of the world." He was speaking to a general audience and particularly disciples. I should learn to avoid that word. But what He did not say, He didn't say, "You're the light to the church." Now, the church is in the world, though not of the world. So if we're a light to the world, that light will fall in the Church. But the good deeds that we do so that people would see them and glorify the Father shouldn't be limited only to our spiritual brethren. Now, we should never exclude or neglect our brethren. I'll note in Galatians 6:10 is the scripture I think where Paul gives us a really good guidance for balancing this. Galatians 6:10, he says, "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith." This Scripture was the guideline or motto for an organization that I was privileged to be a part of when I was an ambassador student called Outreach.

And actually, you know, my predecessor, Mr. Antion was our faculty advisor. And I remember he filled that role to an exemplary degree. And one of the things I learned coming out of this, the word all is not there by accident and neither is the word especially. So Paul put it so there's a balance. We need to do good to all as we have opportunity and especially to our spiritual brethren. And while we're doing good to all, that will let our light shine through those actions. Is it going to be easy? Sometimes it will. Many times not. A few pages over in the book of Philippians, just towards the back in Philippians 2:15, something else Paul says about this. Philippians 2:15, he said, "That you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault” where? “In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world." So that's what we're striving to do. As I said, it won't be easy. And since we're in the midst of what he calls a perverse and crooked generation, when we are being blameless and harmless, it's going to make us stand out. It's different. It's not what people expect many times.

God's people are intended to stand out as different. And it should show in our works. And so many times that's going to be in what we do much more than in anything we say because what is it we're supposed to do? A related question is how are we going to be able to stand out and be so different? I'd like to address that before we look at the specifics of what because, actually, as I was writing this, I thought, you know, if I were following this, I'd be thinking, "Hey, there's these Scriptures you should have read by now." So I'm going to. I want to at least reference John 8:12. Actually, I'll turn there because this tells us quite a bit about the light in the world that we're to be. John 8:12 is where Jesus spoke to them, again, saying, "I am the light of the world," that Jesus Christ is the light of the world. And He said, "He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." So Jesus Christ is light. He just said so Himself.

I sometimes like to comment that that does not mean that Jesus Christ consists of electromagnetic waves in the visible light spectrum. That's one definition of light. He's also not photons. And from my understanding, physicists aren't sure exactly what photons or light waves are. That gives me a little bit of pleasure. Sometimes I think maybe God compared Himself to light because He likes that we have trouble knowing exactly what it is. While we might not know what light is, we know what it does. There's three things that I would point out. Light shows what things are. Light reveals characteristics. You know, you turn on a light. Oh, that's what that is. Light can give guidance. It shows you where to go. I think on the roads lately, we've looked for that shininess. I don't want to go there. I want to go where it's just flat black. Light also is beautiful. It's lovely. Look outside. I've got a beautiful vision of our leaning snowman. Those of you on the webcast.

It's funny, I think a week ago we were saying, "Well, it probably won't be standing by tomorrow. It's still standing. It's doing deep knee bends or something. He's almost over." But besides that, though, isn't it a nice thing that light reflect off of that snow and the sun is in the sky? God made it so light just beautifies things and is cheery. As Christians, does our way of life do that? Do we shine a light that helps reveal what's good and what's right and what's not? You know, do we set an example of the way to go? And can we be pleasant and lovely while we do it? That's a tough one. I'd imagine we could say a lot more on that. I want to read this passage in 1 John 1, beginning in verse 5, while we think about, you know, the beauty of what light is and the contrast and reminding us that the beauty in the light comes from a single source and it's not a mixture, 1 John 1. And I turned to John 5. Let me flip back. 1 John 1, beginning in verse 5, John writes, "This is the message which we have heard from Him and declared to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him, and we walk in darkness, we're lying. We don't tell the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sins.”

It says, "Darkness is the opposite of light." And one way we could look at this is, you know, we can't be both. You know, we have to decide we're with God or we're not with God. God's light is in us or it's not. Of further help to that is I would say, we have God's light in us when God is in us. We as Christians should have God dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit. A scripture I'd like to read on that is Galatians 2:20. Galatians 2:20. I was debating whether to ask you to turn there, but I would like you to because every time I try to recite this from memory, I get it wrong, as the ABC students are pretty familiar. But it does tell us how God is supposed to be living in us. Galatians 2:20, Paul wrote, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; Christ lives in me; and the life that I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." And I could go further and say the way that Christ lives in us, of course, is through that Holy Spirit that flows into us, and we want to let the good works come out of that. I'm not going to do an exposition on that. But Paul does explain it very well. And I think the book of Romans is where he does so exceptionally. So, I would refer you to maybe spend some time with Romans 8 later. But my thought is, I could say this when someone sees you, do they see Christ? But when I say that I'm imagining almost there's the mirror here, like, when I'm in the bathroom and I'm saying, "Frank, when people look at you, how much are they seeing Christ?”

When my next-door neighbor sees me rolling out my garbage can on Wednesday evenings, do I do it the way Christ would? Now, I'm not sure how He would do that exactly but I'm sure it would be just right. But Christ being a light in the world and me being a light in the world should be in many ways the same thing because Christ is living in me through His Holy Spirit. One of the reasons I wanted to ask you to turn to Galatians, not only so that I would read that properly, but if you go to chapter 5, just for me a page flip over, in Galatians 5:22, Paul lists what he calls the fruit of the Spirit. And think of this in terms of light being beautiful and lovely. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” These traits are beautiful and lovely like the sun's shining on a nice day. And when we have those traits, it's like God's light is shining out from us. So I would say, you know, in a few moments, I'm going to look at some specifics where God's Word tells us some things to do. But, in general, we could say, is whatever we do, done in love? Is it exemplified through kindness, through patience, gentleness?

When you're dealing with someone in a retail store, an employee that seems to be more intent in folding shirts than answering your question, does God's Spirit lead you to have longsuffering? When you've got someone at a drive-thru window when you're ordering a hamburger… I say this one for me personally because more than once I've had Sue nudge me and say, "You don't have to say that. Be patient." I'd say, "Yeah, you're right. I need to let God's Spirit work in me." And the bad thing is I've been that guy at the window. You know, I like to think that God's Spirit is what makes me feel guilty if I haven't done it quite right because people should see me and say, "Yeah, that's someone working with Jesus Christ." There's an example in the book of Acts that I want to turn to. The book of Acts 4:13, it's actually the conclusion to a longer story. Acts 4:13 is concluding one of the times when, you know, the disciples were getting in trouble because they were preaching the truth. And the religious leaders in Jerusalem didn't particularly like that.

I used that word again, particularly. They didn't particularly like that. They had them arrested, questioned them. I want to come to the end…  The conclusion in verse 13 says, "When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, untrained men, they marveled and they realized they'd been with Jesus." You know, the apostles hadn't studied in the rabbinical schools. They weren't with the acknowledged rabbis of the day but they were showing that they did know God's Word. They knew God's way and the way He wanted them to act. They had been with Jesus. They spent time with Him. And we can say Christ dwelt in them. And through the Holy Spirit, the light of God was shining out. I would hope as people that spend time with you or with me might afterward say, "I think he's been with Jesus.”

Now, I know I'm speaking a little bit metaphorically because if you go to work… You know, you go to work here and you say, "I've been with Jesus." We'd probably say, "Well, yeah, haven't we all?" But a lot of you have employers elsewhere and if you say, "Hey, I spent the weekend with Jesus," I'm not sure how they would look at you. But I'm thinking of your way of life and your manner of being. I wonder if they found out that you're a Christian that they would say, "Yeah, okay, now I get it." As I said, this is an analogy. You know, if Christ lives in us, if we're lights in the world, it's going to show. That doesn't mean because we're glowing. But as it says in Matthew 5:16, People will see good works. And seeing those good works, they'll glorify God the Father. That leads into the next point that I want to bring out is that Scripture describes one more thing as light, you know, one more thing that I'm going to mention at least. We can find it in Psalm 119:105. Actually, I would say it says it more than one place. If you want to jot alongside this, Isaiah 8:20.

I decided not to turn there because I can't say it without shouting. But on Psalm 119:105, we see a pretty well-known or memorized verse, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." You might remember a few decades past, a popular singer named Amy Grant put this in music form. And I just love the song. Do you remember it goes, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” I'd like someone to come up and harmonize with me but… But that's not saying I can take this outside at night and it helps me to see the way instead of a flashlight. What it means is God's Word, His direction, shows us the way to go. It helps us to make good decisions. It illuminates things. If I don't know what good works I should do so that men should see and then glorify God, God's Word tells us. If you will join me in Matthew 19. Jesus Christ pretty much said the same thing, Matthew 19:16. And again, this is a story that I like to turn to and recite several times.

And there's different versions of it in the gospel, but it involves a young man coming to Jesus, you know, with more or less an understanding of God's way. And nowadays, we might say He'd been raised in the church. He knew God's Word, but He has this question, you know because He wants to have life. So Matthew 19:16, it says, "One came to Him and said, 'Good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?'" Now Christ sets him straight and wanted, "Why do you call me good? One is good. That's God. But if you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” Keep the commandments. Now, I sometimes point out the things that Jesus did not tell him to do to have life. He didn't tell him, "Study and make sure you understand every detail of the 70 weeks prophecy or of any end-time prophecy." He didn't discuss that you have to know that a modern identity and locations of the tribes of Israel.

Now, it's not bad to know these things. He didn't say, "You must know how to pronounce God's name in perfect Hebrew." He said to keep the commandments. And there's a discussion that follows where, interestingly, when he says which commandments, Jesus mostly discusses the ones that have to deal with how people relate to people. And that's not to say that, you know, it's not important how we worship God, that we don't take His name in vain, we do keep the Sabbath and we have only one God. But what aspect of obeying God's law might people notice about you? Mostly the ones about how you treat people. Excuse me. So, I wrote something in my notes that I could not read. I don't know if any of you experience that. As you get older, you do. One of the things I wanted to point out is that our light will shine through not so much in one great deed. I know I'm a little bit of a romantic and I've grown up, you know, looking for that great deed. I want to go slay the dragon or conquer whatever. You know, that'd be nice. But mostly God's light shines through in a series of little things we might do here and there, a lot of little actions, you know, being considerate and how we deal with people.

Along those lines, I'd like to turn to a place in the Bible that you might not think of so much is where you go, you know, for being a light to the world. And that's the book of Leviticus. If you'll turn with me to Leviticus, just in chapter 19, not the whole book. So as you might think, "Yeah, Leviticus, isn't that all about the offerings and sacrifices?" And those are in there. And we certainly would get attention and stand out if we started slaughtering animals. But that's not the point. I did mention earlier that having God in us and being a light would make us different. It's worth noting that the Hebrew word for Holy is based on a word that means simply different. Being holy is different. There's the holy and the profane. Profane is the common every day. And the book of Leviticus is largely about being holy, how God's people are different.

Let's look at Leviticus 19:2, God speaks to Moses saying, "Speak to the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them," and somehow, He always has that tone of voice, "Speak to the children of…" No, I'm not sure how he said it to him, but, "Moses, tell the people, say to them: 'You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.’ I'm different. I'm not like those false gods that are made of rock and stone, or rock and wood, and you're going to be different. 'Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths: I'm the Lord your God.'" I would say to the extent that people around you know that you keep the seventh day holy, they probably think, "Yeah, that's different." Well, that's okay. But consider what it said before that. In a world that values youth to an extreme and really that tends to denigrate and cast aside the elderly, do we stand out by how we treat our parents, that we honor our father and mother? Look a little further in the chapter. If you'd go to verse 32 of Leviticus 19, it says, "You shall rise before the gray-headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the Lord.”

This is reminding us that it's not just our parents that we honor but anyone who's lived on this planet quite a bit of time deserves that respect and that special treatment. It's funny, it doesn't even tell us that the old person that I honor has to be a nice guy. You know, Christians let their light shine in the world by treating the elderly with dignity and with respect, not only the ones we admire, not only those who could do us a favor but that crotchety old man down the street that keeps yelling at you to stay off his lawn. You know, the one that never shovels his sidewalk. And this week you know who that is, you know, or maybe the mean old woman that made you wait extra long when you went to the BMV. I bring out that story… Actually, a couple of weeks ago, I went to the BMV. And it was a beautiful experience. I hardly had to wait. People were nice. So I just made up this example, even though it's not real.

Turn back to verse 11 with me, if you will. Leviticus 19:11, "You shall not steal, nor do you falsely, nor lie to one another." Do your co-workers notice after months or years of being around you that you're an honest person? You haven't been telling them lies. They can count on you to be accurate and truthful. That would certainly be a light in the darkness. Your co-workers, let's say, your neighbors, do they trust you're not going to be someone who would steal from them, take advantage of them?

I've got a pleasant memory. You might not think of this as a super pleasant memory but when Sue and I had our very first house that we purchased and we'd been there a little while, we got to know our neighbors. And I still remember this first time our neighbor came over and he was holding out his house key. Now, he'd mentioned to us whether or not we'd be willing to watch their dog while they went away for the weekend. And so he came over and just handed the key to his house and drove away. You know, he didn't say, "Oh, and please don't steal my stuff." I think he just, sort of, accepted that would be the case.

And, you know, I think it's just because we tried to be good neighbors. And it's not like you have to be a member of the Church of God because we returned the favor. There was other times when we gave them our key, and they never stole our stuff, not that there's a lot of my stuff in my house people would want but I used to hesitate. Now, I've got a 10-year-old boy. There's a lot of cool toys in my house that people might want that weren't there before. Hmm.

Now, these are principles in the 10 commandments. Let's drop down to verses 35 and 36. See, this is getting broken down and expounded a bit further. Verse 35, says, "You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, or weight, or volume. You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin." Now, these are terms we don't use very often. But it's basically saying, "Be honest in your dealings with people.”

Christians let their light shine when they deal with people honestly. Christians don't cheat on their taxes, don't file fraudulent insurance claims. We might go further and say Christians stop a cashier who's about to give them back too much change or who starts to ring up a very low price, you know, by accident or something. You say, "No, we want to be honest. We want to pay what we owe." There's other subtle things like communication.

Let's go back to verse 16. Leviticus 19:16 says, "You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I'm the Lord your God. You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord." Christ Himself cited this when someone had asked Him, "What's the greatest commandment? He said, "The greatest commandment is love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might." And then he added, well, the second is like it. "Love your neighbor as yourself.”

As we see here, sometimes that means you might have to correct your neighbor so that he's not stuck in a sin without anybody being kind enough to point it out. But I should add in Matthew 18:15, Christ pointed out that that should be a private conversation. I won't turn there. But He said, "If your brother offends against you, go to him… you and him alone." Do I let my light shine in a dark place by not publicly arguing with people, by not holding grudges? You have your Facebook friends, your Twitter followers. What do you call Instagram? Are those followers? You can tell I'm not a social media savant. If you have whatever they're called, do they notice you don't accuse them and call them names if they disagree with you on something? You know, because a public forum isn't the place to correct someone.

But rather do your followers see you as someone who's patient, that you're encouraging, that joy and love comes through in the things you post and the things you say. It's in our words and our actions where the fruit of God's Spirit comes out, the light of God shining in us, shining through us. Hopefully, a person who's known us, anyone who's been around us a while, and they won't be surprised when they notice these kinds of standards. You know, they'll get used to it. Sometimes it might raise a question. I mentioned 1 Peter 3, was that 18 or 15? Be ready to give an answer. It's probably neither. But we know it's in 1 Peter 3. You know, if you work in an office or on a crew, do they say, "Oh, you know, sometimes we order pizza on Fridays. Why do I always have to get one without pepperoni?" It's an opportunity to explain something. You know, why don't you participate in the Christmas gift exchange? Why don't you cuss? You know, I don't know if you've had that experience.

I remember being in a staff meeting once and someone next to me said a word that I won't repeat, and then she looked at me said, "Oh, sorry." And it's funny, I'd never said anything about my beliefs. I guess it just, you know, became known. Another question to come up, how can you be happy at a time like this? You know, because I have a hope that lies within me. I'd love to tell you about it. If a case like that comes up, hopefully, what you are speaks so loudly that people can't hear what you're saying. You know, there are times when a Christian lifestyle can seem odd or mysterious. But I hope that, in general, people see you that you're honest. People see us and that we're giving and considerate. People see that we strive for a moral purity in our lives. Hopefully, when they see that, it will glorify our God, and they'll realize it's not us. You know, it's not me. My neighbor when he trusted me not to steal stuff out of his house, I hope you realize it's not because I'm so good. Hopefully, people will take note of you and they might even think, "Yeah, she's been with Jesus.”

You know, John Winthrop and those Puritans who established Massachusetts, they were quite deliberate in wanting to do things differently than their countrymen back home were doing. They wanted to set an example of a better way of living, a better way of worshipping God. Of course, I'm not advocating that we adopt their religion. But we live in a world where we're in the world. You know, we try not to be of this world, but we live amidst a society while we're trying to be different. We're to set an example of a better way of living, a better way of worshipping God. So, even more than the Puritans of New England, we should be a city on a hill. You know, if we strive to be lights of the world, doing good works that men can see and thus glorify God, then much more than the Puritans did we will have the eyes of all the world on us. I want to encourage us. Let's not shrink from that. Let's not be embarrassed by it. Let's take the opportunity. Let's boldly allow Christ to live in us and let's be the lights of the world.