Salt and Light
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Matthew 5:13–16 (NIV)
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:13 (NASB 2020)
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by people.
Disciples bring hope to a hopeless world.
Why?
Because they sustain what is good.
Because they flavor what is not good.
They light the way to the Father
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by people.
Notice, Jesus is saying that they ARE the Salt of the world. This is not something they are trying to do, but as disciples this is who they are.
And what is it that Salt does? It is the first way that disciples of Jesus bring hope to a hopeless world.
Disciples Sustain what is good
It is easy for us to become heaven minded, to be focused on getting to heaven. But the first role of salt is to sustain what is good. And so Disciples are looking to sustain what is good on earth.
“The disciples, then, must not only think of heaven; they have an earthly task as well. Now that they are bound exclusively to Jesus they are told to look at the earth whose salt they are. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Discipleship has to be lived out here on earth.
Now salt is used through scripture as a particular image for wisdom
Colossians 4:6 (NASB 2020)
Your speech must always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.
Notice the word tasteless. That word can also be used for “foolish”Jesus is saying that it is literally foolish to say you are a disciple and not actually preserve what is good around you. To not live as one.
It is like a refrigerator today. Imagine having a refrigerator, but you dont have it plugged in.And you decide though you want to use it for something. So you put it in your bedroom. And you begin putting your shoes in it. Maybe some clothes. A hat.... Is it a refrigerator at that point?
Now the second way disciples bring hope to a hopeless world.
Disciples Flavor what is not good.
Now this is not the first time that God has invited a people to be salt in the world. In fact the Covenant with Israel is full of Salt language. Israel was meant to be salt for the world around it. Again not blessed to be blessed, but blessed to be a blessing.
God had called Israel to be the salt of the earth; but Israel was behaving like everyone else, with its power politics, its factional squabbles, its militant revolutions. How could God keep the world from going bad—the main function of salt in the ancient world—if Israel, his chosen ‘salt’, had lost its distinctive taste? - NT Wright
And so Jesus is building a bridge from Israel to the disciples by telling them that hey are the salt of the earth. That they will flavor the world.
Now this is different than the common narrative in the world that our Faith life should be seperate from the rest of our life.
Our discipleship to Jesus should flavor every part of the world around us.
But doesn't that mean that other faiths are going to get to as well in the public square? Yes. But we need to believe that our salt tastes better. That our Jesus is better. That he offers a more beautiful life than any other faith can offer. At no point is Jesus afraid of other faiths getting to compete.
In fact, the light often shines brighter when compared to darkness.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
The final way that Disciples bring hope to a hopeless world has to do with them being light.
Disciples Point to the ultimate good.
So often in the church we have pointed to other things that God and offered them the glory. Whether it is teachers, self help practices, political parties, or even themselves.
We need to ask the question Who is being celebrated?
The way you live matters. We do not force ourselves to live as Disciples, but we can see the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If we are not sustaining, flavoring or pointing to Jesus, we need to ask ourselves what the problem is.
Disciples are the way that God has chosen to provide hope to the world. When we are not, we cannot blame the world for being dark.
What we do need to be concerned about is when the world is not inspired to hope, but is afraid of the light.
We can forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. - Plato
But doesnt Jesus say that the world will hate the light?
Yes, but there is a difference here. World systems of power will hate the light. Systems that are antagonistic to the way of Jesus.
But most people are lost. Hurting. Isolated and afraid. The light should be a comfort and light the way home, not harm them.
When we look at Jesus we see someone that people loved and were attracted to. He came for the lost. He came to restore God’s good creation. But the darkness tried to overcome him. But it could not, and he was raised to life and defeated the powers of darkness. People no longer have to live lost anymore, they can come to llive in the light, and it is you and I that lead them there, not by our words, but by our actions.
A Prayer to begin praying
By Strahan Coleman, from Prayer Vol. 02
As the dawning light ascends, God,
so do I to you,
so do I in you,
to the melody of your love.
Today is yours, Father,
and as with every day,
You have made it ours.
So may my steps be as Your steps,
my words be as Your words,
and my heart be as Your heart,
until the dusk arrives
to beckon me to rest once more.
