“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:14, NKJV
Mobile Mountain Communities
Imagine a community where honest people work together to fix brokenness. Every person you meet loves you authentically, and you love them in the same way. How would living in such a community change the way you think, feel, and act?
Jesus invites us into that kind of community. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”
The Greek word for “hill” can also mean “mountain,” and in the ancient imagination, mountains were places where Heaven and Earth intersected—where people could encounter the gods. The ancient Hebrews understood mountains as unique spaces where God meets with humanity and where both dwell together as partners.
Abraham experiences divine testing and blessing on a mountain. God invites Moses up a mountain to receive instruction. And the prophet Isaiah uses mountain imagery to dream of a day when the Heaven-on-Earth space will expand beyond the mountain, filling the world with God’s Kingdom and vanquishing the darkness of evil.
This makes Jesus’ teaching truly wild! He’s saying that Heaven and Earth reunite through people—through us. When Jesus calls his followers a “city on a mountain,” he’s saying they will bring the mountaintop experience to the world. He’s inviting us to become mobile mountains, creating pockets of Heaven on Earth wherever we go.
We do this by letting go of the old ways of fighting our enemies and picking up the practices of Jesus—feeding the hungry, living justly, and loving people patiently. When this happens, the light of God’s way that leads to true life shines through us, piercing the darkness. So let’s find ways to be mobile mountain communities and participate in making God’s Kingdom shine brightly on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Oftentimes, I’ve found the answer to the above question: how will you shine the light of Jesus to the world today? to be found in the routine and the mundane. I have often thought and expected that in order to fulfill the Great Commission, I have to do something extraordinary, like go to another country to serve, or even go to the inner-city of the nearest big city (in my life, that has included places like Chicago, New York City, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, etc) for what I do to be considered as making a difference. But the reality is, it’s found in the people I already know and spend time with, and, in terms of going outside that comfort zone, it’s found when opportunity knocks. Not so much going on my own effort and plans and strength to seek out people to randomly preach the Gospel to. Food for thought for all those who come across this page.
Below, I wanted to also include the prayer section of my Bible app’s devotional, as I found it to be powerful as well.
Good, challenging questions: what does loving God look like? and, Is there anything you need to give up in order to pursue God wholeheartedly? I kind of already answered the first question in the previous paragraph -- love God from where you’re at and who you’re with already. Make sure you are actively loving those people. I am aware of actual resistance regarding the second question: what would I need to give up in order to love God with my all? (Yes, I’m rephrasing it a bit.) I have a selective weakness that feels crippling at times regarding speech and specifically speaking with people that I’m not 100% comfortable with. And mind you, that discomfort could be for any reason at all: perhaps there is something that happened between us that I still bear in mind; perhaps there is none, except that I picked up on something that the other person may not have noticed or even have any clue about. Perhaps it is also simply fear, most often based on previous experiences with other people, and supposedly with enough other people that in my mind I see no reason not to expect the same out of you, the person with whom I experience discomfort for reasons other than that any issue ever came up between us.
Maybe I was being dangerously vulnerable in the above paragraph; or maybe I intended it to be a segue to my next point, which is this: I am far more comfortable in writing. I blog very frequently, except for seasons in which other things have taken priority. I have mentioned in the past about how I earnestly believe that the music composition I do is a part of my relationship with the Lord, especially considering that I have quite an output of choir music set to Biblical text (this is truly an opportunity for me to meditate on God’s Word as I have to look at the text multiple times, first as I sketch, then as I input into my music notation software, and then again as I format the piece, etc.). It is virtually impossible not to take in God’s Word and His truth as I do this. I say that to say this: it is essentially the same now when I blog. It wasn’t always this way, and it has taken many years for my literary writing to catch up the point of also being a part of my relationship with the Lord.
As such, whether by literature or by music, I consider these to be vehicles for me to practice loving God with my all, and if not with my all, then at least with my best. For in these things I pour out my heart. And if I love God in the same spaces that I pour out my heart, then it is very easy for me to answer the question in reality: what does loving God look like? But it is a far longer bridge for me to cross regarding going out into the world and speak the Gospel.
As far as what I need to give up, I question my own readiness to really step into answering that question. I willingly gave up my comfort zones when I was in therapy, because I was desperate to grow. Now, my desperation to grow has waned significantly, especially considering that by God’s grace I have been able to attain the many current blessings I have. Maybe my answer to the second question is simply this: to not get complacent.
I think about something Apostle Paul said that I think can apply here as well:
Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:11-13, NKJV
The bottom line from the above passage: following Christ pushed Paul outside his comfort zone constantly. Whether it was spiritual, emotional, mental, physical [the thorn in his flesh, for example], financial, or even relational, Paul’s life post-conversion is an example of being constantly challenged to grow until God said enough, which didn’t occur until after he passed into eternity. It was also a case of fulfilling what Jesus Himself said:
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. Matthew 16:24, NKJV
When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. Mark 8:34, NKJV
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. Luke 9:23, NKJV
It’s a tall mountain for any of us to climb, and it’s a task I fall woefully short on. But, the good news is that you don’t have to climb on your own. Just surrender your life to Jesus Christ as your Lord, King, and Savior. He will take you up. I pray I do this, if nothing else.
Prayer: Jesus, thank You for bringing God’s mountaintop presence down to earth. Thank You that this heavenly presence now fills every one of your followers. By the power of Your Spirit, help me and my community live as the shining city on a hall, where heaven touches earth, so that many may experience the love, wisdom, and blessing of God. Amen.
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