St. Patrick Presbyterian Church, Epc

The image of the church that Jesus imagines is a City on a Hill. In Jesus’ day a city was a place of culture, life, and protection. It was a refuge for people who were adrift and who needed all the things that make for human thriving. The image is startling, breathtaking actually. Jesus is saying his people—collectively, in their common life of holiness, care, community, and love are a beacon of hope for world weary people. One of the big things about the Sermon on the Mount which we are discussing on Sundays is that the assumption is that salvation is never just “me and Jesus,” rather collectively the people of God are the social strategy that will make the God we can’t see, taste, touch, or hold—real and visible. As one writer puts it, “The most creative social strategy we have to offer [the culture around us] is the church. Here we show the world a manner of life the world can never achieve through social coercion or governmental action. We serve the world by showing it something that it is not, namely, a