Today's Gospel passage from the Sermon on the Mount follows immediately after Jesus spoke the Beatitudes, which can be seen as a charter for the living of the Christian life. They can also be seen as a portrait of Jesus himself and hence we should aim to make them a portrait of our own life as well. But today's reading makes it clear that it is not just a matter of how we live our lives in private. There is no such thing as a private Christian. We are not only to be followers of Christ, we are to be seen as followers. So Jesus lists a number of striking images. We are to be the salt of the earth, giving a special taste to the world. We are to be a lamp giving light, we are to be a city perched on top of a hill, visible to all. And finally, we are to behave in that way not so that people will say how holy we are but so that they will be drawn to know, love and serve Christ as well. That is our mission as his followers.