Lampin

Lampin is a slang term that signifies the act of chilling or hanging out. As it turns out, this may be a strangely instructive term in exposition of our text, where simply being what we are in Christ illuminates others like a lamp. Let’s read it:

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. Matthew 5:14–16

In these few words, our Lord tells us who we are and what to do with it. We are the light of Christ in a world of endless night (always nighttime, never Festivus-eve). We are the light of the world, or the word may signify the universe—so that we are like the stars of heaven—and should therefore let our lights shine even as the heavenly luminaries, which never cease to smile upon the earth with their kind twinklings. After all, it is the light of our “Father who is in heaven” which we shine forth to others.

Christian, let your light shine. Be what you are in Christ, and do what you do in Christ, as a display of God’s life-giving light to those around you. Let your good works and words go forth freely, enlightening lost sinners and encouraging those who have been found by Christ to do the same. In this way, we are God’s visible messengers of the kingdom of heaven on earth. And that’s the church in a nutshell.