Friday morning Bible study

This morning, we continued on in the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5. We read from verses 14 through 16: "You are the light of the world..."

One of the things we discussed was that we are to let our "light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." We are to be the city set on a hill, which cannot be hidden.

This means, among other things, that, as far as it concerns us, we are to live with abandon for the glory of God.

What does it look like when Christians do this? Here's an example that I came across on-line recently. It's a true story told by Tony Campolo:

"Teddy Stallard certainly qualified as 'one of the least.' Disinterested in school. Musty, wrinkled clothes; hair never combed. One of those kids in school with a deadpan face, expressionless - sort of a glassy, unfocused stare. When Miss Thompson spoke to Teddy, he always answered in monosyllables. Unattractive, unmotivated, and distant, he was just plain hard to like. Even though his teacher said she loved all in her class the same, down inside she wasn't being completely truthful. Whenever she marked Teddy's papers, she got a certain perverse pleasure out of putting X's next to the wrong answers, and when she put the F's at the top of the papers, she always did it with a flair. She should have known better; she had Teddy's records and she knew more about him than she wanted to admit. The records read:

'1st Grade: Teddy shows promise with his work and attitude, but poor home situation.'
'2nd Grade: Teddy could do better. Mother is seriously ill. He receives little help at home.'
'3rd Grade: Teddy is a good boy but too serious. He is a slow learner. His mother died this year.'
'4th Grade: Teddy is very slow, but well-behaved. His father shows no interest.'

"Christmas came, and the boys and girls in Miss Thompson's class brought her Christmas presents. They piled their presents on her desk and crowded around to watch her open them. Among the presents there was one from Teddy Stallard. She was surprised that he had brought her a gift, but he had. Teddy's gift was wrapped in brown paper and was held together with Scotch tape. On the paper were written the simple words, 'For Miss Thompson from Teddy.' When she opened Teddy's present, out fell a gaudy rhinestone bracelet, with half the stones missing, and a bottle of cheap perfume. The other boys and girls began to giggle and smirk over Teddy's gifts, but Miss Thompson at least had enough sense to silence them by immediately putting on the bracelet and putting some of the perfume on her wrist. Holding her wrist up for the other children to smell, she said, 'Doesn't it smell lovely?' And the children, taking their cue from the teacher, readily agreed with 'oohs' and 'ahs.' At the end if the day, when school was over and the other children had left, Teddy lingered behind. He slowly came over to her desk and said softly, 'Miss Thompson . . . Miss Thompson, you smell just like my mother . . . and her bracelet looks real pretty on you, too. I'm glad you liked my presents.'

"When Teddy left, Miss Thompson [a Christian] got down on her knees and asked God to forgive her. The next day when the children came to school, they were welcomed by a new teacher. Miss Thompson had become a different person. She was no longer just a teacher; she had become an agent of God. She was now a person committed to loving her children and doing things for them that would live on after her. She helped all the children, but especially the slow ones, and especially Teddy Stallard. By the end of that school year, Teddy showed dramatic improvement. He had caught up with most of the students and was even ahead of some. She didn't hear from Teddy for a long time. Then one day, she received a note that read: 'Dear Miss Thompson: I wanted you to be the first to know. I will be graduating second in my class. Love, Teddy Stallard.'

"Four years later, another note came: 'Dear Miss Thompson: 'They just told me I will be graduating first in my class. I wanted you to be the first to know. The university has not been easy, but I liked it. Love, Teddy Stallard.'

"And four years later: 'Dear Miss Thompson: As of today, I am Theodore Stallard, M.D. How about that? I wanted you to be the first to know. I am getting married next month, the 27th to be exact. I want you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she were alive. You are the only family I have now; Dad died last year. Love, Teddy Stallard.'"

The point is clear, isn't it? When Christians are committed to living our lives as light so that God may be glorified, lives are changed (both our own lives and those of others). It is then that Christians become change-agents in the hands of an Almighty God.

Even so, let it be!