Be Salt and Light
The Greatest Sermon Ever • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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We are in a series of messages from the Sermon on the Mount that is found in the book of Matthew starting in chapter 5. The title of this series is “The Greatest Sermon Ever”. Last week, we covered the beatitudes that start with the phrase “Blessed are”. I want to read them again this morning, as they are an introduction of sorts to the next part of Jesus’ sermon.
As a quick recap of last week, these statements are descriptions of what a Jesus follower looks like - the characteristics of someone who is saved and has placed the faith in Jesus as savior and has also made Jesus Lord of their life. We cannot be too much of any of these “Blessed are” statements.
Let’s read them again...
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
As we follow Jesus, we should see the fruit of these Blessed statements in our lives. I know people who I see in these statements. People who you just know they’ve been with Jesus and they’ve not just heard the Word, but they also apply it in their lives.
I am doing a review of my 2023. In that review I am reflecting on the year I’ve had. In order for that review to be effective, I have to be brutally honest with myself about a few things. One question is: Am I more Blessed, according to this list, at the end of 2023 than I was at the start? I certainly wasn’t perfect in all of these, but I think I can say that I’ve made progress in pursuing Jesus and implementing his teachings in my life?
How would you answer the question: Am I more blessed, according to this list, at the end of 2023 than I was at the start? The follow up to that is what I am going to do with 2024 to make progress in being more like Jesus? A person who is intentional about making progress is more likely to make progress than someone who is not.
***Title Slide***
That was a very lengthy introduction to our passage for today as these qualities of a blessed Jesus follower directly impact what Jesus is going to say to us next. He is going to tell us we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. These metaphors would have slightly more meaning and context for the people Jesus was talking to in person, but we can certainly draw some conclusions and actions based on what Jesus has to say to us.
Let’s read verse 13...
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.
During this time in history, salt was used quite different than we use it today. Today we use it to melt ice and snow in the winter and to make our fries taste better. I don’t think Jesus was talking about our ability to melt snow or make food taste better.
Since there was no refrigeration, ice or freezers, the main way in which people would preserve meat and fish was salt. It kept the things that nourished fresh and usable as a nourishment. Salt was applied on the surface of the meat and it would penetrate below the surface to preserve the meat. The qualities of the salt were transferred to the meat.
That is one of our primary roles in living our blessed life…we are to be salty with the world around us. That our saltiness would not just impact the surface, but would penetrate the world around us.
Catch this…We have a life giving preservation in our faith in Jesus. That same preservation is available to others, but we’ve got to get close enough to allow it to rub off of us and onto the world.
Salty people of Crossroads…we are the salt of the earth. That means we are spread our salt all over the earth. This requires us to have relationships with those who need Jesus. I think one of the things that is a tendency for church people to do, is to create a bubble of other church people around them. They don’t allow non-Christians in their homes or have any friendships or acquaintances who are not believers. How can we be the salt of the earth if we don’t take our salt to those who need it?
Yesterday at men’s breakfast, we were talking about integrity. I think you could look at the beatitudes, the blessed statements, and see that a Christ follower who is living those out is walking in integrity. Integrity is how we maintain our saltiness. When we do not have integrity, we lose our saltiness.
In Jesus time, the salt they used was not 100% pure. There were always other minerals in what they called salt. As those minerals became the only thing left, the salt lost its saltiness.
When we allow the impurities of the world into our lives, we dilute our saltiness. Allow too much of the world in and we can no longer offer any life giving, preservative through the message of Jesus. We’ve lost our ability to be an effective witness…we’ve lost our saltiness.
The good news is that by removing those impurities, i.e. sin, repenting and then pursuing righteousness, we can regain our saltiness. We regain it by removing the “impure” salt and replacing it with pure salt.
Before we move on to light, let’s summarize the salt:
Salt is a preservative
Jesus is the eternal preservative that the world needs to hear about.
The world needs our salt
We have to be willing to share our saltiness with those who need it the most
We stay salty by living lives of integrity
If there are areas in which you are allowing sin to take hold, repent and pursue righteousness. Jesus says salt that isn’t salty doesn’t have much purpose.
As salt of the world, we have the means of leading others to eternal preservation. Next, Jesus tells us we are the light of the world as well…before we read that, I want to read another quote from Jesus in John 8...
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Did you know that most of what we are able to see it not the actual source of light, but a surface reflecting the source of light.
***Black slide***
Let’s try an experiment in the room. Not sure what the impact is going to be online, so bear with us. You may even be able to try this at home.
Let’s turn off all the lights in the room.
With all of the inside lights turned off, we can still see in this room. Can you see the source of the light? Can you see the sun? We can’t see the source of the light, yet all around us we can see objects that are reflecting the light from the source so that we can see. The light of the sun is so strong that it bounces of the clouds and the trees and the snow and reflects all around so that even if we can’t see the sun, we can still see the light.
Let’s turn the lights back on.
Let’s put that quote from Jesus back up there. The light from Jesus is so powerful that when we walk in it, we reflect the light of Jesus to those around us. Jesus says that whoever follows him will have the light of life.
Jesus came to be THE light of the world, and by following him, we reflect that light and become the light that people can see.
Let’s now read from Matthew 5:14...
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.
Have you ever worked with someone that you just thought was such a nice person and then after years of working with them, you find out they are a deacon in their church? I have known some people like that. They have put a bowl over their light and have hidden it from those around them.
We’ve been told that our businesses and our workplaces are no place for our faith. We’ve been scared into keeping our faith a secret. It used to be that people would keep their sin a secret, but we’ve got all kinds of sinful behaviors “coming out of the closet” and being celebrated while talking about Jesus is something we keep bottled up and under a bowl.
There are people walking on a path of darkness, a path that leads straight to hell. We have a light that can illuminate a path to Jesus and something keeps us from sharing that light with others…Oh, we’ll be nice, we’ll be kind, loving and all of the other qualities that Jesus calls us to, but we don’t fully let our light shine before others.
Look what happens when do let our light shine… “that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Shining our light brings others to glorify God. I think we are so worried about verse 10, 11 and 12 that we miss the possibility of verse 16. We can be so terrified of persecution, insults and lies about us that we keep our light hidden instead of being proud of our light so that others would come and worship the Father with us!
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
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