Remember Who You Are

 

“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

—Matthew 5:16

We are the Vincent Chorus.
We will look our best, perform our best,
    and act our best.
We represent our chorus, our school
    and our families.
They have allowed us to proudly show what
    kind of singers and students we are.
We will not disappoint them.

I always had my chorus children recite this mantra before every concert and every field trip. I wanted them to rise to their very best when representing from where they came.

Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in his sermons on the “Sermon on the Mount,” spends sixteen chapters telling Christians who we have become in Christ. He begins with the Beatitudes and describes us in terms of poverty of spirit, mourners over sin, meek, hungry for righteousness, merciful, peacemakers, and how we behave as persecuted people. Then He compares us to salt and light.

But, when he gets to the seventeenth chapter, he goes from describing Christians to reminding us of how we manifest this essential character we carry with us. He says:

We are children of God and citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Because of that, we have to manifest the characteristics of such people. We do this in order to manifest His glory, so that others may be brought to glorify Him.¹

Because Jesus came directly from the Father, He was not a Pharisee, or trained as a Pharisee. He detested their interpretation of the Law and the Prophets. He sought to live and teach a new way of living. Jesus did not abolish the Scriptures. But, He fulfilled them in new and vibrant ways, which caused the Pharisees to criticize Him. And, He wanted His followers to see the difference so they could properly represent themselves, as Christians, in His footprints.

Upon careful study, we often learn that the Old Testament Scriptures taught unorthodox ways compared to the leaders in Jesus’ day who were exponents of the Pharisaical laws. Jesus taught us to follow Him, to represent Him, to apprehend the spirit of the Law, so that the world might know He has come to bring a new way of living empowered by His Holy Spirit.

Just as I wanted my chorus children to represent a different character from what culture believes children should look like, sound like, and behave like, so Jesus wants us to proudly represent Him and His Kingdom to the world. This will happen only as we live by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which He has given us, and as we study His written Word to understand His ways for us. Then, let the world sit up and take notice!

______________________

1 Lloyd-Jones, Martyn D. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co./Inter-Varsity Fellowship, 1971. p. 180.