“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.” (Revelation 2:7)
I picked up a piece of sea glass on the beach as I walked one late afternoon. The sharpness of the edges had been softened by the friction it had encountered in the ocean environment. You could see the embossed letters “BRA” that were perhaps the beginning of the name of the bottle’s contents at one point.
As the sun was setting, I held the sea glass up to the sun to get a good look at it. Just moments earlier I had looked at the sun but it was too bright to look directly at it. But as I held the sea glass up to the sun, the strength of the sunlight through the sea glass diminished dramatically. The glass’ transparency had been warped significantly by the ocean environment it had been floating in. What was once clear, was now dull, opaque and a weak conduit of light. Useless to kindle a flame.
Have we as Christians become like that of the sea glass? Our edges softened… loss of sharpness due to the influence of the world we live in… worldly encounters that have dulled and changed us … our imprinted name of Christian somewhat unrecognizable perhaps due to being more identifiable with the environment we live in than the One we are called to represent… blurry and limited in our ability to radiate the light of Christ to those around us… too weak and distorted to keep the light of Christ alive and bright in our own lives?
The Scriptures we are called to live by tell us:
“You are the light of the world…” (Matthew 5:14)
“Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights…” (Philippians 2:15)
“For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!” (Ephesians 5:8)
In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, you will find where the seven churches in Asia received what one might call an appraisal of their light in their localities. The feedback provided was specific regarding the church’s deeds and their ambassadorship of Christ in their communities. It identified the positives and where they were falling short along with changes needed to fulfil Christ’s intended purpose for His church (the body of believers).
What would such an appraisal say about the light of His church (the body of believers) in Bermuda? What downfalls and successes individually and collectively would be highlighted? What distinctive actions would need to be taken in our community to let our good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise our heavenly Father?(Matthew 5:16)
Perhaps we could start by following God’s example when He “became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood” (John 1:14 The Message). God came to us so that we might know Him fully and personally. Jesus commissioned His Followers to continue to make Him known in our communities by our words and deeds; going and moving amongst those who don’t know Jesus that we may point them to Him. And if we as Christians are failing to do just that, we are nothing more than flameless candles that appear to be real but are truly illusions of what Christ meant when He said we are “the light of the world.”
Considerations 