Title: SALT AND LIGHT
Focus: Make a difference in the lives of people around you with actions that testify to your faith in Christ
Function: To move people to make a difference in the lives of others by acting Christ-like.
Text: Matthew 5:1-16
Years ago, I had a conversation with my grandfather. At that time he was about 75 years old. We talked about what it is like to grow old. I don’t remember much of our conversation, but this one thing I’ve never forgotten: “I hope and pray,” said my grandfather, “that I may grow old and retain my self-identity, my awareness of who I am.” My grandfather feared loosing his memory and loosing the power of self-identity. God answered his prayer. My grandfather lived to the ripe old age of 94 and to his dying day he knew who he was.
Trouble with knowing who you are does not require an illness such as Alzheimer disease. I think all people, young and old alike, struggle periodically with who they are. If you think of life as a series of stages, you will recognize that each stage calls for adjustments in self-identity and self-reflection.
For example, when you are a child, you act like a child. But children grow up; they become teenagers, adolescents, and young adults. And each of these stages bring with them challenges and adjustments. Young adults mature into full-grown men and women, who eventually move into midlife, where all kinds of challenges (or crises) await them. Who are you? is the question. What are you about? Those of us who answer these questions with a sense of certainty tend to be the ones who live life with a sense of purpose.
Today, the scriptures come to us with a clear identity statement for followers of Jesus Christ: “You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world.” And in that statement lies a call for all of us, including Evan, and David, and Lucas—as they profess their faith publicly today: Make a difference in the lives of people around you with actions that testify to your faith in Christ!
THE PASSAGE: MATTHEW 5:1-16 Let me ask you: what do you think the world needs? What’s missing or lacking? What has God given you and me that the world needs so much? Listen again to Jesus’ words in the text: “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world.” I think that the Lord Jesus is saying that the world needs salt and light. And Jesus pinpoints the source of these items by looking at his disciples: you are the salt and the light of the world.
You see, the Lord Jesus is in a teaching mode. Surrounded by a large multitude of people, the Lord Jesus addresses his immediate followers. And in the first 12 verses of this passage, the gospel writer startles Jesus’ followers with radical, penetrating saying such as “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 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.” Clearly, in these verses the Lord Jesus prepares all his followers for a life of hardship and blessings.
One of our first reactions may be: who does Jesus think we are? Do I really want to be a disciple, a follower of Christ and function like a doormat, being persecuted and vilified for my faith? It’s like Jesus anticipates the question, for immediately, in verses 13-16, we hear him say: “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.”
Let me ask you again: what’s wrong with a world that persecutes Christians? What’s lacking that salt is needed in our world? The biblical answer is two-fold:
a. Sin has entered the world:
Sin has corrupted God’s creation, so much so that even the earth itself is in bondage, is in need of restoration. We are the keepers or the stewards of the earth. But humanity has become unwise in her stewardship: exploitation of the earth is our mantra; dominion over land and resources for personal gratification is the impulse that goes through the veins of our human nature. That’s all part of the nature of sin. And because of sin and its power, the world lacks wisdom; people don’t see themselves in relationship to God the Creator. That’s why we need salt—and light.
And that leads us to the second part of the question: what is lacking that light is needed in our world?
b. There is a lack of
knowledge: that is, people lack a knowledge of God that informs them of a right relationship. The world is in darkness; for many the “lights” have gone dim;” for others the lights have never been on. When I consider what has happened in Europe the last 50 years—I’m thinking of the enormous secularization of European society—I am startled at how drastically the lights have gone off for the younger generations there. The darkness of unbelief, the dullness of agnosticism, the increase of idolatry and false religions, not only in Europe, but also on this continent—are all reminders of what’s missing, and of what’s needed so desperately today: salt and light!
Our society today has no longer a collective conscience of what’s right or wrong. Everyone opinion is valid, and therefore no one is right or wrong or needs to be corrected—unless a crime is committed. But, then, what is a crime today? Decay in standards of morality sets in; and the moral fabric of society unravels when there is no true knowledge of God. What the world needs today is salt and light. “You are that salt,” says Jesus to his disciples. We are that light.
But what does it mean to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world? It means to make a difference in the lives of people around us with actions that testify of faith in Christ Jesus.
A baked potato without salt lacks flavor. Salt will bring out its flavor and make the potato palatable to our taste buds. Salt, then, has the power or characteristic of adding flavor. Salt, however, also has a preservative quality; it combats decay. When rubbed into freshly cut meat, the salt will stop the process of decay for many days. Fishermen will salt their freshly caught herrings and sell them on the market many days later. Salt preserves and fights decay.
So, when
Jesus says that you and I are the salt of the earth, he calls us to make a
difference in the lives of people by giving them something that improves or
preserves their lives. What is that something? Disciples of Jesus have received
heavenly wisdom and knowledge that brings life and wholeness to people. One
ancient Christian communicator has said (Ancient Commentaries) : “…the
apostles are the preachers of surprising heavenly things and eternity. Like
sowers, they sow immortality on all (people) on which their discourse has been
sprinkled.”
Another ancient Christian bishop once said that the people of salt, that is Jesus’ disciples, have a “frame of mind that is filled with the apostolic word, which is full of understanding. When it has been sown in our souls, it allows the word of wisdom to dwell in us…just as neither bread nor fish is edible without salt, so too without the apostle’s understanding and instruction, every soul is dull and unwholesome and unpleasant to God.”
In other words, God’s Word, in all its fullness, then, makes up the salt, which we are to rub into the world.
So then, by combating moral decay with truth and knowledge from God, we preserve life and wholeness in society; that’s why Christian scholarship and education is so important today. For we live in a society that needs to hear that
-life is precious in God’s sight,
-that stem cell research leading to the cloning of people is a slippery slope into a pit or culture of death.
Salt people are needed today to promote justice in society, to fight racism, and to be an advocate for the poor and disadvantaged. Make a difference. Why? Because we are the salt of the earth.
If salt has a positive impact, so does light. Light penetrates into darkness; light makes it possible to walk in places where darkness once reigned. “You are the light of the world,” says Jesus. Make a difference. Let you light shine.
Jesus calls us
your faith; do not isolate yourself from the world; do not privatize your faith in Christ. Be transparent in your actions and in speech. There’s something wrong when our coworkers, after having been around us for a year, still have no clue that Jesus has illumined us, has changed us, has touched us. Be transparent. In that way, we let our light shine. Also, Jesus calls us
what is it that Christians transmit? In the Bible, “light” indicates true knowledge of God. Listen: (Ps. 36:9) “In your light we see light.” “Light” also stands for goodness, righteousness, and truthfulness. Listen to Paul (in Eph. 5:8,9):
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.” To shine our light in the world is to make a difference in the lives of people around us by our actions that testify of our faith in Jesus.
All of this leads me to one, final observation: We cannot let our light shine, if we are not plugged into the source of light called Jesus. For Jesus is the source of all light and life. There’s the sun and there are the sunrays. Jesus calls us to be sunrays—and in that way let our light shine. But we can only do so, when we are connected to Jesus by faith. For Jesus is the source of all light and life.
Do you know Jesus? Does he live in us? Have you opened your heart to him? Today, the Lord Jesus calls us to make a difference, to profess our faith in him by our actions.
David, Lucas, Evan, young people, members of Calvary, friends, guests and visitors: Never forget your identity in Christ! Make a difference!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.