"A City on a Hill" by The City Harmonic is the type of song I wish I was singing at my church, from their amazing new album Heart. No worship band in recent history has created the kind of reaction the Dove Award nominated The City Harmonic has with their EP, Introducing the City Harmonic and their powerful full-length album I Have a Dream (It Feels Like Home). Once you hear The City Harmonic for yourself, you’ll feel what the buzz is all about.

The lyrics are based on The Beatitudes, which is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Some other songs based on this passage are "Blessed Be" by Jason Gray, "Let Your Light Shine" by Bethany Dillon and "Amen" by Shaun Groves, all of which thematically link to The Beatitudes from The Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew.

I think we forget those words quite often as followers of Jesus by keeping Him to ourselves. That is probably due to our shame over our own sinful natures and concern that others will consider our actions hypocrisy if they really know us. The Good News of the Gospel is that we don’t have to pretend we’ve got it all together. That is certainly an area of sin in my life. I find myself wondering how I can "do" more to earn love from God and people. Only in the Name of Jesus and putting our faith in His sacrifice on our behalf can we be free from sin, shame and hypocrisy.

The City Harmonic captures this perfectly in their song. I had the great opportunity to interview front man Elias Dummer about the song and its message for believers.

Please tell me about the message behind the song.

"A City on a Hill" was actually written after we thought the album was done. We had written the songs and recorded the album. Shortly after, we were over in Europe doing some festivals. I got together with Nick Herbert and Ben Cantelon. We ended up with a few different ideas, and lyrically ended up with the idea of singing through the Beatitudes. I didn’t think about it until after, but the song ended up being a way to try to process some of what we had been thinking with the rest of the songs on the album, almost like an epilogue or afterthought.

We were wrestling with image-bearing of Christ as people now throughout the album, and here we come trying to unpack the Sermon on the Mount in a sing-able way. I think that it was fascinating that when we returned from England, we cut the song from top to bottom in one day. It was like an emergency recording session, and we knew this song needed to be on the record.

The song takes the high concept view of Christ and brings it down to earth in the form of the very things He said in the Sermon on the Mount. It also forms a natural transition into the balance of the album, which attempts to marry the ideals with our real lives.

In Christ, God has given us the perfect example to live by, and the means to live that way. For the Christian, discipleship isn't simply adding knowledge to our lives, but it's to become increasingly more like the human example we've been given— to become "little Christs," and carry our cross through the mud and mire of a broken world in the knowledge that by the grace of God we arise brand new.

Which Bible verses connect to the message the song?

Matthew 5:1-12 (NIV): Now when He saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Matthew 5:14-16 (The Message): "Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."

What's the takeaway message for listeners regarding the song and album?

Everything else about the album was extremely intentional. This happy accident song fell into our laps and we had to put the song right where we put it, which is smack after the section from Colossians called "Glory" and before we go into the rest of the album, which is about now, not yet. "A City on a Hill" says, really in the same way as the Sermon on the Mount says, this is what Jesus actually said. This is the Man we follow. We might have all kinds of theological ideas about the Cross, but this is what He said the Kingdom is. While it might be tempting to call Jesus the Light of the world, He uses that title to describe us.

The song is difficult in every way. No one wants to say blessed are the poor, blessed are those who mourn, because that is counter-intuitive to how our society and culture operates. But they are the very things that Jesus said.

I’m not about denominationalism at the expense of love. Right now there’s a church culture which can be very dangerous, which is to say that the Gospel is a singular interpretation through a single sixteenth century lawyer. It’s not that they are wrong, that’s not my point. My point is that if we lose sight of Jesus by leaving Him on the Cross, then we’re missing the point altogether. I don’t mean leaving Him on the Cross like He didn’t resurrect, but I mean that Jesus is well-behaved while He’s on the Cross.

All the things He said up unto that point is what got Him there. Everything His apostles say afterward is pretty difficult to live up to. We like Jesus on the Cross. We don’t really like Him being Human and saying challenging things that we need to live up to. That’s why we were so convicted to write the album the way that we did. The Sermon on the Mount for all its universal Truth is difficult. It’s a discipleship challenge like no other. It is the gauntlet that Jesus laid on the ground. He said, if you’re going to follow Me, this is what life looks like.

We set out to write an album "on being, and becoming, human," but, in a way, it's about image-bearing. By that I mean that yes, we're human— and the Bible tells us that we're made in the image of God, and each and every human has an inherited dignity as a result. But there's more to it than that.

God made this universe around us and often refers to the cosmos as a temple. I mean if you stop and think about the role an "image" or "statue" might play in a temple, you begin to see that we humans have quite a role to play. Whatever our present circumstances, the biggest challenge before us is to recognize that in Christ we've been given the responsibility and capacity to become like Him, and as we do, we are becoming exactly the kind of humans we were meant to be from the beginning.

Lyrics:
Blessed are the poor for the kingdom is yours
Blessed when you mourn: there's comfort in His arms
Blessed are the meek with the world at your feet
Blessed when it's righteousness that you seek
It's beautiful

Beautiful like a city on a hill
Lighting up the night
For the glory of the Lord
Rise and shine

We will shine
Light of the world: we can't hide it
This beautiful light
It shines
For all of the world to believe
We can be
A city on a hill

Blessed when you're merciful: you find grace
Blessed are the pure: you'll see the face of God
Blessed are you making peace on earth
Blessed when you follow even when it hurts
It's beautiful

Beautiful like a city on a hill
Lighting up the night
For the glory of the Lord
Rise and shine

We will shine
Light of the world: we can't hide it
This beautiful light
It shines
For all of the world to believe
We can be
A city on a hill

For the glory of The Lord, rise and shine!

Jesus really loves us just as we are, not who we pretend to be. Not only does he love our weaknesses, he blesses us because of them. Being poor in spirit, meek, persecuted and insulted bring blessings from God, which is all we need.

I can’t help but break down every time I listen to this song. This song encourages me and is one of the most inspirational songs I’ve ever heard. The City Harmonic really captures what it means to be loved unconditionally by Jesus. I love knowing that in my brokenness, I am actually closer to God. It is so wonderful to know that failing by the world’s standards is what we are called to be as devoted followers of Jesus.

The themes of this album are about trusting God, loving Him and loving others as He loved us. All of the songs are catchy, exciting and worshipful. After listening to the album, I am stirred with compassion to love people as Jesus loves us. That's the heart behind this album, and thank you The City Harmonic for blessing us with your music and for singing the Truth of the Gospel for the Kingdom of God.

This is a great message and song for us to celebrate our freedom from sin based on our faith in Christ Jesus. Also, it is commanded by Jesus in Matthew 5:16 to "let your light shine" so that others may praise God based on seeing the power of His life in us. Sometimes we forget to give Jesus credit for our freedom and accomplishments. We need to celebrate that freedom with our hands reaching out to others in Christ and show His light in us and let Him shine in us, "like a City on a Hill." Amen!

(You can watch the lyric video here.)