# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1910_S9
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1910. 9

sinner into a child of God. It is a high honor that
Christ shows his believers by giving them his own title:
"Light of the world."

It lies in the nature of light that it shines.
A dark light is a contradiction in itself. Therefore Christians
are never to forget their nature as light. Christ himself admonishes them:
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Luther says on this passage: "Behold, how diligently he urges the admonition, which he would not need to do at all if there were not great danger
and need. And it is as much as to say: Men will want to darken your light
and will not suffer it; but only be bold and of good courage against it,
so that you obtain only this much, that you do not creep under the bushel
but perform your office faithfully, and I will see to it that it
shall not be so suppressed." "St. Matthew, together with the other two Evangelists, Mark and Luke, does not urge his Gospel so strongly and
so much upon the high article of Christ as do St. John and Paul.
Therefore they speak and admonish much about good works; as indeed
it ought to be in Christendom that one urges both, yet each goes in
its own nature and dignity: that one first and foremost
leads to faith and Christ, and afterward urges the works also." (Erl.
43, 80 f.)

As the light of the world, Christians cannot do otherwise than shine.
They have been set by the Lord on the lampstand. They are a city
that is set on a hill; it cannot be hid. "I
believed, therefore have I spoken," Ps. 116:10. Even in prison Paul
and Silas prayed and praised God, Acts 16:25. Despite the threat of the
High Council, Peter and John would not cease to speak in
the name of Jesus, Acts 4. "What shall I render unto the Lord for all
his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord," Ps. 116:12, 13. That Paul was the
chief of sinners did not seal his lips;
on the contrary, that he had obtained mercy made him all the more loudly
proclaim the grace of Christ. "O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high
mountain! O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength;
lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah: Behold your
God!" Isa. 40:9. So the Lord calls to his Church, the light
of the world. And Zion answers:

    O that I had a thousand tongues
    And a thousandfold mouth,
    I would join in the contest
    From the deepest ground of my heart
    With one song of praise after another
    Of what God has done for me.

What would the world be without the light of Christians! In the night
people lose their way; they stumble and fall; they plunge