Mobile Mountain Communities
Imagine a community where honest people work together to fix brokenness. Every person you meet loves you authentically, and you love them in the same way. How would living in such a community change the way you think, feel, and act?
Jesus invites us into that kind of community. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus says, âYou are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.â
The Greek word for âhillâ can also mean âmountain,â and in the ancient imagination, mountains were places where Heaven and Earth intersectedâwhere people could encounter the gods. The ancient Hebrews understood mountains as unique spaces where God meets with humanity and where both dwell together as partners.
Abraham experiences divine testing and blessing on a mountain. God invites Moses up a mountain to receive instruction. And the prophet Isaiah uses mountain imagery to dream of a day when the Heaven-on-Earth space will expand beyond the mountain, filling the world with Godâs Kingdom and vanquishing the darkness of evil.
This makes Jesusâ teaching truly wild! Heâs saying that Heaven and Earth reunite through peopleâthrough us. When Jesus calls his followers a âcity on a mountain,â heâs saying they will bring the mountaintop experience to the world. Heâs inviting us to become mobile mountains, creating pockets of Heaven on Earth wherever we go.
We do this by letting go of the old ways of fighting our enemies and picking up the practices of Jesusâfeeding the hungry, living justly, and loving people patiently. When this happens, the light of Godâs way that leads to true life shines through us, piercing the darkness. So letâs find ways to be mobile mountain communities and participate in making Godâs Kingdom shine brightly on Earth as it is in Heaven.
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Jesus invites us into that kind of community. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus says, âYou are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.â
The Greek word for âhillâ can also mean âmountain,â and in the ancient imagination, mountains were places where Heaven and Earth intersectedâwhere people could encounter the gods. The ancient Hebrews understood mountains as unique spaces where God meets with humanity and where both dwell together as partners.
Abraham experiences divine testing and blessing on a mountain. God invites Moses up a mountain to receive instruction. And the prophet Isaiah uses mountain imagery to dream of a day when the Heaven-on-Earth space will expand beyond the mountain, filling the world with Godâs Kingdom and vanquishing the darkness of evil.
This makes Jesusâ teaching truly wild! Heâs saying that Heaven and Earth reunite through peopleâthrough us. When Jesus calls his followers a âcity on a mountain,â heâs saying they will bring the mountaintop experience to the world. Heâs inviting us to become mobile mountains, creating pockets of Heaven on Earth wherever we go.
We do this by letting go of the old ways of fighting our enemies and picking up the practices of Jesusâfeeding the hungry, living justly, and loving people patiently. When this happens, the light of Godâs way that leads to true life shines through us, piercing the darkness. So letâs find ways to be mobile mountain communities and participate in making Godâs Kingdom shine brightly on Earth as it is in Heaven.
YouVersion