CW3- Metaphors

So, the journal was a reflection on Jesus’ metaphors in Matthew 5.  Fittingly, our CW assignment was to come up with some metaphors of our own and expound on them.  After much brainstorming, I ended up with the following.  Hope you enjoy!

---

Diamonds

You are the diamonds of the world. You start out as ugly, filthy, shapeless lumps of black coal. You are the remains of dead things, good for nothing but to keep the lake of fire going. But by God’s indescribable and glorious grace, you are rescued from this body of death. In an ongoing process, through much time, pressure, and intense heat, the One True Transformer changes the blackness of your hearts into a pure, priceless crystal. You are living testimony to the Redeemer’s handiwork.

Lighthouses

You are the lighthouses of the world. You began as a jumble of rocks, wood, metal, and other parts organized (or unorganized) in an arrangement that served only you. But God in His infinite wisdom had a different plan to use you for His kingdom. He took you apart, cut down and sawed up your tree, quarried and smoothed your stones, dug up and smelted your ore, and began a process of making a new creation. He reworked (and is still reworking) you into something you never would have envisioned, setting you up as a beacon to point the way to safety with the radiant spark of His Holy Spirit glowing within you. But if you quench the divine flame of the Spirit, you will bring no one to salvation, only leave them to destruction and shipwreck. You must direct onlookers to His dominion that men may sing His praises.

Termites

You are the termites on this earth. Gradually, but definitely, you undermine the already hollow philosophies of the world. No one of you does all the work. There is no special termite who does the job while the rest of you sit back and look interested. Each of you moves forward according to the basic principles he knows — eat wood and do not stop. It is not a sudden crash, but with each doing his part, it happens: the building crumbles. This is how you demolish strongholds and every pretension that sets itself against Christ. This is how you spread His kingdom on earth.

P.S. I figured out Tuesday just as I was about to post this that diamonds probably do not actually come from coal. L However, since I am short on time and this is for a creative writing class, not a geology class, I have not bothered to fix it. Just don’t cite me in your papers…

J3~ Matthew 5:14-16

Assignment: Read Matthew 5:14-16. Which metaphor speaks to you the most and why? Write a brief response.

---

“You are the light of the world. …let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:14-16

Today’s journal response comes from Interstate 77 South as I am coming home with my Dad from visiting
Cedarville University in Ohio. (Ah, the senior year of high school…)

Cedarville’s Center Biblical and Theological Studies

The reason this metaphor of the light stood out to me the most of those used in this passage is partly because of my experience at Cedarville. There, the university’s Center for Biblical and Theological Studies (BTS), as our tour guide explained is structured around this theme of the ‘light of the world.’ Constructed with large walls of windows and daylight in every classroom, the symbolism is that the building soaks in sunshine during the day, just as its students are soaking in the Word of God. Yet during the night, the edifice’s countless glass panes allow it to be a beacon, glowing with light in the darkness. I found this light-in, light-out metaphor so fascinating because it illustrates the key truth that we are not the light of the world on our own. In John 8:12, Jesus also calls Himself the Light of the world, for He is the ultimate Light. We have no light in and of ourselves; our light comes from the Sun – the supreme, self-sustaining source of light, warmth, and light.

This idea brings to mind the often-made analogy moon-and-sun analogy. The moon has no light in and of itself. On its own, it is nothing but a cold, lifeless rock. But the reason it glows so beautifully at night is because it reflects the light of the sun.

Along these lines, another analogy is found in the up and coming field of solar power. Some amazingly clever people have realized that using a certain dark-colored panel, we can absorb energy from the sun throughout the day so that we can use its energy (just as Paul mentioned in Colossians, saying, ‘I labor… with all His energy…’) to produce a luminance that shines before men.

We need to follow in our lives this pattern of Cedarville’s BTS, of the moon , and of solar panels, taking His light in so that we can shine His light out, and that men may see our good deeds and praise our Father in Heaven.