Light for the Broken

In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

At Sojourn last night, we discussed the concept of sin and debated whether or not the world is "broken." While that's all well and good for middle to upper class educated philosophical types sitting in a warm coffee shop sipping on warm drinks, and heading home to a warm bed, for many people around the world, the question of whether or not the world is broken seems ignorant to even ask. The answer is so obvious!

Much light is needed around the world. There is much work to be done. Jesus says that we are the light, and that the light that shines through our lives is meant to lead people into a relationship with God in which they will glorify Him. But don't make the mistake of thinking that going to the broken only means going to Africa (although God may lead some of us to leave our homes to serve the broken around the world.) We must realize that beyond the obvious brokenness of starving people, refugee camps, warzones, disease, and poverty is the brokenness that all people who do not know Christ share: spiritual brokenness and the possibility that they will spend eternity seperated from the love of God. May God teach us to be a city on hill, ministering to broken people, and leading them into the light that has captivated us-- and may he teach us to be just as burdened for the broken people that surround us in our warm coffee shops and classrooms, as we are for the orphan in a far off country.

Oh God, make our light contageous, here, at Penn State, and to the ends of the earth!

Break our hearts for the broken!

"Yahweh" by U2

Take these shoes
Click clacking down some dead end street
Take these shoes
And make them fit
Take this shirt
Polyester white trash made in nowhere
Take this shirt
And make it clean, clean
Take this soul
Stranded in some skin and bones
Take this soul
And make it sing

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still I’m waiting for the dawn

Take these hands
Teach them what to carry
Take these hands
Don’t make a fist
Take this mouth
So quick to criticise
Take this mouth
Give it a kiss

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahewh, Yahweh
Still I’m waiting for the dawn

Still waiting for the dawn, the sun is coming up
The sun is coming up on the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, tell me now
Why the dark before the dawn?

Take this city
A city should be shining on a hill
Take this city
If it be your will
What no man can own, no man can take
Take this heart
Take this heart
Take this heart
And make it break

Note: Image found at www.vagabondish.com