Matthew 5:14 and Ebenezer Lutheran Church...

Jesus' words to his disciples from Matthew 5:14: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

I like, perhaps for obvious reasons, to think of this city as being lit up at night. It does not need to be understood this way in the context of Jesus’ words, since light reveals a city on a hill in the daytime. However, if we are a city and have Jesus’ light, we too will light up the night sky. If night is understood to represent times of trouble, a lit city can represent safety from the troubles that seem to surround us.  It is, however, God’s light and strength and safety through Jesus which we emit.

It is not much of theological stretch to work our Ebenezer name into Jesus’ intention as he spoke the above words to his disciples. Ebenezer is a Hebrew word meaning “stone of help.” It refers to the stone which Samuel erected after defeating the Philistines. God’s people had just repented from their abandonment of God’s word, and were under the oppression of the Philistines, until Samuel called them to seek the Lord again. They returned to the Lord and He saved.

The people returned to the light of the Lord, and He saved them. Ebenezer marks the spot. Ebenezer remembers God saved when the people returned to the light of His Word. Ebenezer reminds us that it was not the people who gained the victory, but God who rescued them.

Today, Ebenezer can remind us of returning again and again to the light of God’s word for His rescue, present always for us in His Son Jesus. Jesus, the light of the world, whom we carry in hour hearts and minds, so we too will be the light of the world, as Jesus promised to His disciples. We are His disciples. Let us not be hidden! Shine your light, stand out like a stone raised to remember God’s salvation.