Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13–16 ESV

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Missional Living

Allow me to introduce you to a latin phrase, “missio Dei” (meaning, the sending God) which was coined by a German missionary named Karl Hartenstein.

This was not an easy concept to understand at first because missio Dei wasn’t speaking about an activity a person or a church did, but it was about the attribute, the characteristic of God.

It’s not a statement like “God wants us to be missional!” or “We have to tell the world about God!” Remember, it literally means, a sending God. It’s who He is.

Now from that came a new phrase in the evangelical world, “Missional Living” or the “Missional Church” in the late 20th century. It was popularized by the likes of Tim Keller and Alan Hirsch.

They taught the following — God didn’t design life to be lived aimlessly. He is a God of order, structure, and purpose. Therefore, it’s only logical to believe that the life we have, the life we’re granted with, has a purpose and a design — That’s missional living. That’s missional church.

And right here is where we (or some of us) begins with the tension.

Our nature (human/sinful) kicks in to high gear and doesn’t like the idea of a God or anyone for that matter, telling us how to live. We believe it’s our prerogative to be as lazy as we want or as productive as we want, as selfish as we want or as generous as we want — “Who is to tell me how to live!?”

Tension. You feel it — If we’re honest, this is the problem.

We don’t want to do what God wants us to do:

He says for us to forgive those who’ve done wrong against us, but we want revenge. We want to see those who hurt us fall and fail.

He says for us to worship Him and Him alone, but there’s so much things to worship in this world. We worship people, we worship careers, we worship money, and list goes on.

He says for us to give abundantly and generously, but we want to hoard. We want to collect, we want to gain, we want to profit.

He says for us to praise Him, but we want a reason to praise or worse, we want something in return. Maybe if He does something for me, then I will praise Him. Or if I praise Him, I better get this/that.

And it’s this very tension I want to alleviate.

And listen carefully, this tension is created because there is resistance between God and us due to the difference of what He wants and what we want. His purpose does not align with ours.

However, if you are truly a believer of God, a follower of Jesus, and reader of the Holy Bible, you cannot live aimlessly, rather, what I believe God teaches is for us to live missionaly.

Because missional living is godly living; it’s righteous living; it’s the life that God has designed for all of us.

So, then, what does that look like?

Salt of the Earth

Matthew 5:13 ESV

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

To live missionaly means that we become the salt of the earth.  

There are two purposes for a salt in the biblical days: (1) it was used to preserve food and (2) for flavor/seasoning food — And it appears that Jesus is focused on the latter.

What do you think He means when He questions the loss of saltiness?

To keep this as simple as possible, the most common way a salt can lose its saltiness is when it’s overpowered — When it’s diluted from water or when it’s overpowered by other seasoning is when salt loses its effectiveness.

So try to follow the logic behind Jesus — You are the salt of the world. You have a specific purpose (whatever that may be); however, what good are you if you are diluted and ineffective?

Then how does such dilution happen? I believe the way we become diluted is through being influenced by the world around us. It gets to us.

Samson Giving In

We don’t often talk about this character, but consider Samson from the book of Judges — We grew up hearing about this Hercules-like character.

He ripped apart a lion’s mouth with barehands.

He overcame an entire army of Philistines using only the jawbone of a donkey.

He pulled down two pillars that held up a building with sheer strength of his own.

He’s become somewhat of a caricature of many things, but what stands out from his story more than anything else is how His God-given identity was stolen and taken away by the influence of the world.

In other words, he lost his saltiness to a woman (Delilah) who betrayed his trust. And that’s an understatement because Delilah repeatedly showed her hands — Every time he lied about how he can lost his strength, she exploited. Yet, he didn’t recognize it and gave into her ways.

Such is the perfect image (a depiction) of our strength or lack thereof if there is one.

Samson was designed purposefully by God.

Judges 13:5 ESV

5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

Samson was born with a mission; a godly purpose and reason. But he lost it all as he gave into the temptations.

And like him, we are born with a mission, a godly purpose and reason. And if we continue our ways of giving into the ways of this earth, we will lose our saltiness and the question from Jesus resonates — “How shall its saltiness be restored?”

It can’t. We become good for nothing. Except to be thrown out and trampled under the feet of people.

Know Your Purpose in God

So, if living missionaly means being the salt of the earth; that’s a call upon you to know what your purpose is in God.

This means that you have to pray and find out what God’s plan is for you. That’s it; there’s nothing else.

Anything else is simply our “adventures” (it sounds good) but those adventures are nothing more than a salt without taste.

Don’t you want to live with and for a purpose? Aren’t you tired of wasting time running into adventures that simply fall short?

Become a salt of the earth. Pray and learn what your purpose is in God.

Light of the World

Matthew 5:14–16 ESV

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

To live missionaly means we become the light of the world.

Whenever we read from the Bible about light, familiar readers will have the following thought: “Jesus is the light of the world.”

John 8:12 ESV

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

So there’s this biblical and intellectual tension. How do we make sense of these two conflicting reports? Who is the light of the world?

The elementary thinking/teaching is — Oh! Jesus lives in me; therefore, by association, because He is the light, it now makes me the light of the world… No.

Please listen carefully, Jesus is actually talking about the mission that comes from your purpose as a salt of the earth because your purpose is not about you. But it’s about Him.

“…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

In other words, to live missionaly, to become the light of the world, means that we live to bring Him glory.

Psalm 115:1 ESV

1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

Radical Life

Imagine living your life so radically different than how you’re living now.

And please don’t mistaken this as an offering of life that’s not pay-check to pay-check, worry-free, burden-free, or some utopian life. That will not be what you’ll hear from me.

I’m talking about a life that God had originally intended and designed for you (Yes, that exists!) — A life where you are a vessel, a life where you are His instrument, a life where you fulfill the the plans and the works of God.

A hammer in the hands of child is a disaster waiting to happen, but in the hands of a handyman bridges and skyscrapers are built.

A musical instrument in the hands of a novice can be fingernails on a chalkboard, but in the hands of a musician, it’s art.

A life in the hands of a fool is wasted and squandered, but a life in the hands of God, imagine the possibilities!

So, then, what would your life look like if you gave yourself into the hands of the Father?

I’ll tell you — You would become a city on a hill that cannot be hidden and you would give light to all those in the house. You will be the light of the world.

A Church Afire

Last week, we had Howard Jang (a missionary) come and share with us a message about The Great Commission. His sermon was practical and straightforward — He taught us what the Bible actually teaches about missions.

On that Sunday evening, I took an unexpected trip to Dominican Republic and came back on Thursday. The trip was to visit pastors and leaders of multiple cities with hopes to gather the children for us to go and minister to come July.

There’s a common thread that I want to help you see.

Almost a year ago, I planned a budget for our ministry for the upcoming (this) year and something prompted me to created a new item/line that we never had — Missions. And since then, I prayed time to time on how we as a church (as a ministry) can be missional.

Then three weeks ago, in my prayer closet, while I sought God and prayed for PIF, I felt a strong tug in my heart to read the Book of Acts. So I did and it became clear to me that this is God’s direction.

I believe God wants PIF to know the missio Dei. The Sending God. Again, not an activity a person or church are to do, but the attribute and characteristics of God.

I believe God is preparing us to become and live radically for Him.

To be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Therefore, starting in May, we will begin a new sermon series I’m calling A Church Afire, which we will go through the book of Acts. We will learn from history the radical changes that came to the life of Jesus’ followers and how that set afire the world with the gospel.

And it’s my way of telling you, starting today, will you open your mind and heart for a radical transformation in your life? Will you carefully assess if your life has lost its saltiness? Will you thoughtfully examine if your life is hidden under a basket?

Let us become the salt and light for His glory and His glory alone!