Salty Saints

Jesus use a lot of illustrations in his ministry. 2

Help us understand Kingdom truth.

because he felt he knew that we needed to have a a full comprehension. God's rulership and his plan in our life and in this world.

He also knew that many Believers would at time struggle. understand their purpose Jesus would use these illustrations like the one that I have on the platform. To help us comprehend our purpose and when we know our purpose amazing things happen.

When we know why we exist we are full of confidence when we know God's word in his passion and his work in our wife, then we can get through some of the valley experiences that everyone of us will deal with from time to time.

So what was Jesus thinking when he use this illustration turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5. As many of you know, we've been going through The Sermon on the Mount we have just concluded the Beatitudes the first 12 verses of Matthew chapter 5. And then Jesus says these words inverse number. 13 He says you are the salt of the earth. But if salt has lost its taste how she'll its saltiness be restored. It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and Trampled Under people's speech. I would imagine this this Christmas season this Thanksgiving Christmas season. You've been using a lot of seasonings in your food.

Now some of you like it Bland. And some of you are really good at discipline your health health wise and you use salt sparingly or you use seasoning sparingly, but there's others of you that you just love to go to town in the kitchen with all your spices and herbs and all the other things and making various concoctions. You enjoy it. Or some of you like to go to McDonald's every once in awhile. You wouldn't admit it, but you go to McDonald's just to order their French fries. And you don't say please hold the salt know you want it on there. Sometimes it's difficult for us to to understand why Jesus would use salt as a positive when we're reminded every single day. You're having too much salt. In fact, New York City just last week instituted a new rule a new guideline concerning their menus and restaurants. And if there is more salt than the recommended daily requirement, then you have this little salt shaker as a warning that you are going to die.

Well, let me tell you something. Every one of us are going to die. Unless Jesus comes in the Rapture. Okay, summer just going to enjoy it more than others. Okay.

But then and then am I can understand this but the daily recommended amount of salt to have in your diet is one teaspoon. That's a french fry.

But did you know that even a hundred years ago or later? Salt was an incredibly important.

It was important to society. It was important among nations. It was part of treaties. It was even even part of wars. In fact in the Civil War one of the strategies of the north was to capture the salt mines in the salt manufacturing areas in Virginia to keep the southerners from having salt.

In fact in the in the in the Napoleonic Wars are one of the reasons why the French lost in their battle to overtake Russia was because they ran out of salt and their wounds began the faster they began to get sick.

In fact up until just you know, the latter part of the Industrial Revolution salt was hard to come by. Salt was difficult to mine. And even though the in thing now is to have sea salt. Back, then even sea salt was difficult to put together.

So when Jesus used salt here, he had a purpose in mind. And so this morning I want to talk about that purpose in helping us understand what it means to be a genuine follower Jesus Christ and what he wants us to do in this world what he has called The Believer to do and to be the first thing that I think of as I look at why Jesus would use salt to describe a Believer a Christian is this you are valuable to the kingdom. I want you to understand that you are valuable to the king of $9. This cost me a dollar 18 at Pick n Save yesterday. Okay, but I know in the frontier days 200 years ago salt was an incredibly valuable part of your equipment as you track across the American plane. In fact at home somewhere in my stack of stuff. I actually have a salt horn you've heard of powder horns, but they also had salt horns, and that wasn't a very valuable thing to have in your your your your stuff. Now what was interesting about salt and the value of salt in Jesus's day was often times people like the soldiers in Rome were paid in salt. In fact, that's how we get our word. Salary salary is from the word salt. It's so when Jesus mention you are going to be the salt of the world what he was saying is that you are valuable to the kingdom you are intrinsically valuable to what God is doing what God is doing in his Redemptive plants in reaching people for Jesus Christ. You're you're not someone who is pushed in the margins you are you are important to God. Now there's a problem with this so often. I know a lot of Christians that we feel like failures. We feel like if I just had the right faith if I just said the right words might just end up right things and everything would work out but sometimes it doesn't work out and we feel so discouraged. We found we were still down in the dumps. We almost feel guilty when we experience Joy. But I want you to know God has a plan for you and he wants to use you in his kingdom work and you are valuable to him you are important to him. You might say what what was the pastor is valuable in that you're absolutely not. I can think of are the ones that are valuable to the church and all its everyone of you. You are like a symphony. And as you play your part in God's work we come together. And we have an impact on people's lives. You are valuable. The enemy wants to try to convince. You you are nothing God doesn't love you. And you messed up. He wants to squish you like an A on it. But God loves you you are important to him everyone of you. You my only been a Christian for a short amount of time. How can I be in his kingdom you are valuable? Do I say what I messed up last week. I really had one of those crash-and-burn experiences. You are valuable to God.

In fact, I had I had an elderly gentleman in one of the churches I served in who would never for take of communion never finally. I I was curious because in our conversation he sounded like a Christian. He had the mannerisms of a Believer, but maybe maybe I wasn't reading things correctly. So I went up to him I said I said I noticed that you never protective communion. If you believe in Jesus Christ is Jesus Christ your lord and savior.

So why don't you take communion? Because I'm unworthy. I said Well in that since all of us are unworthy. But Jesus has made us worthy by what he did on the cross.

So I want you to understand that you are valuable to God. Another thing that Jesus must have been thinking about when he said you are the salt of the world is that you are part of Community preservation you are preservative. Now I know preservatives get a bad rap, but two thousand years ago without salt you couldn't travel. Because your food wasn't stay Juan meet with spoil. And so salt was used often time many times as a preservative keeping that meat. Good morning. Jesus has called us to be a preservative recognizes as a follower of Jesus Christ that you are going to have an impact in people's lives. In fact you are going to You're going to be able to arrest you're going to be able to stay you are going to be able to to slow down the moral decay of our world you are. Now you know that. The world is in bad shape. Once again, we had another shootout this past week in San Bernardino about an hour and a half where I grew up. They were having a Christmas party. That should be a safe place. 14 people killed 21 injured one of those that were injured he was shot four times was he was the sound man at their Assembly of God Church in San Bernardino.

You don't ask followers of Jesus Christ. We should impact our world. Not just with what we say. But with what we do. Impacting our world slowing that decay down. We tell your sin has a corrosive cancerous effect on community. It does. We be coming to an incredibly selfish. Self centered my way or the highway kind of mentality. And it's very easy for for for for a community to to slide that slippery slope into into just battling one another telling Terry one another apart. It's called us as followers of Jesus Christ. The share the news not just with words, but with actions The Compassion message of Christ.

We we are two to impact our world preserving a sense of community even even in the midst of sin.

So when Jesus use that term salt, he was reminding of us of our purpose in community. I know I know that we live in a generation today and they're saying the Christians hate shut up be quiet don't share your faith. In fact, one of the news articles about about the shooting that happened in San Bernardino is one of the men that were killed with a b c on it.

And he was he was not quiet about his faith. In fact, one of the shooters and him would have all kinds of discussions.

And so those are there was this implication in the media that if you would have just been quiet if you would have just shut off then everything would have been fine.

Well, most of us have shut up and the world's not fine. So I think it's I think it's important today that we we stand up and we vocalize the truth of Jesus Christ, but not just woke like like I said, we live it out. We live the love of Jesus Christ. psych 101 Sage of the past said we are too we are to be his Witnesses Christ Witnesses. and if absolutely necessary use words

I think one of the problems is sometimes our walk doesn't match up with our talk. But we are to be a preservative in our world. Slowing down the moral Decay that is happening. A third thought that I find when Jesus uses that term of salt is that it and we are to promote thirst. Hey when I have a McDonald's french fry. Why don't drink Coke anymore, so I got to have a sweet iced tea have to okay, cuz that that thirst have to be punching that in fact, I'm thirsty right now. I got a bottle of water right here talking about this salt is made me thirsty.

Sew-in in a world where where salt was was was scarce almost but when you had it, you also had to had a nice nice cool beverage right next to your side. Okay, you know what Jesus uses that term of salt.

He is he is telling us. that you know We need to help people see their need for Jesus Christ.

You understand that it's not just merely telling them they're need but it's helping them see their need for themselves.

Whether you're in school or in the workplace or at Walmart Pick n Save Piggly Wiggly gas station the mall. Wherever You Are What we need to do is we need to recognize that we are always God's Witnesses. The question is what kind of witness are we? When we're at the restaurant, what kind of witness are we? When we're going about our life, what kind of person are we displaying? What kind of message are we declaring to others?

No, I know in this Christmas season tempers can be very short.

One of the reasons why I rarely go to Walmart during this time. I just don't okay. You going to it to Walmart? Remember? I told you the story when I came here. I was I was I was not even a candidate then that we were in an interview.

And we were at the hotel. We were about what 30 minutes away from the time to be here at the church. And so Angela said probably time to get her shoes on and get ready to go. So k so I pulled out the shoes that I had packed for myself.

They were my wife's shoes.

my first imagine if my first thought was That's going to be really weird fitting my big feet in her shoes trying to walk through this and try to make an impression.

We got to go to Walmart. It was at the end. What's at the end of November or beginning of December that we can't remember but it was Christmas time and we went to Walmart. It was packed. Iranian Salma shoes And I went up to the cash register and there must have been 20 people in each line. I am minutes away from having to be here. I'm sweating. I'm I'm I'm panicked. I am panic. I do not like to be late. I like to be right on time. And now my whole world is crashing down on me. I went to the back to the electronics area and I saw it was clean. It was cured. There was nobody there. There was no line or anything cuz I saw the worker I was I was almost there and then this lady pulled right in front of me with the card of millions of things.

Well, that's what's going to be a fun trip. Finally, I found the self-checkout checked out. We raced here praise the Lord didn't get a ticket and we pulled in one minute late, but there was a deacon in front of us, so I didn't feel so bad.

I don't even know what I was doing with that story in.

It sounded really good. I was a good illustration, but I can t remember where I was going to go. I can't even save myself on this one.

No, I know. Okay. I had the check. I had that I had to chase all the different Connections in my brain now, I figured it out now I figured out what I was doing. You're at Walmart.

Just remember you're a Christian all the time. I could have pushed that lady in front of me and taking my spot, but I didn't I didn't.

IW

I know you can get upset during the season. But remember you're always on stage. The light is always on you. And this is what you want to do in people's lives. You want to be able to get them to come to this conclusion? There's something in you.

that I like and I want to be

and that's what you want people around you to start doing. And if you are living out the Beatitudes in the moral law of God people are going to start saying there is something in you. I need to know.

Because some of you just say, I don't even know how to witness. I don't want to go up there somebody I don't know what to do call you need to do live out. The Beatitudes live out the moral law God and somebody is going to take notice. And they're going to say there's something in you. I need to know what is it and you're ready to give a defense of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. We need instruments that God can use to create thirst in our worlds. I think God could have called the angels to be Witnesses. He didn't he could have he could have written a message in the sky, but he chose not to hate chose to write his message on your heart so that you can be the clearance of that message in this world.

Just think of the people that were in your life and instrumental in you coming to Faith in Jesus. Very few did it on their own? For me, it was our neighbor across the street at a Good News Club almost like a little VBS in the neighborhood. When the light finally came on that I needed Jesus in my life. For my dad, it was a pastor who invited him to church. And my dad started coming to church and on a Sunday morning right in the middle of the message the pastor stop preaching and he said somebody is ready to receive Christ and my dad stood up crying came forward and receive Christ. Somebody ran to get my mom who was in the nursery with six-month-old knee and she came forward and receive Christ as well. You know what? We need to create an environment around us where people are thirsty for the truth thirsty for the hope that we have thirsty and hungry for what God has for them. And God has chosen you to be the salt to create that thirst for that leads to another thought about salt, but it's a negative thought. Saul can lose. usefulness salt can lose you can lose usefulness. No-fault is a very stable. nutrient sodium chloride how does salt which is very stable lose lose its usefulness while back in the day in Jesus's day in Jerusalem. Oftentimes the salt was mined or was gathered from the Dead Sea and in it were a lot of other. Other elements a lot of other stuff minerals. That work was part of that salt. compound and and and there were there were times many times where those minerals would Leach out the salt and what was left look like salt but it wasn't salt there was no salt left in there.

And when that happens Jesus said there is no usefulness for it. You just need to throw it out Trampled Under feet.

Cure. Jesus was giving us a very sincere warning. He said but if salt has lost its taste how she'll its saltiness be restored. It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and Trampled Under people's feet. Jesus was giving us a serious warning. To maintain your purpose. You need to maintain your purity.

One of the great challenges that we face as human beings and it is old as Adam and Eve. The idea that we can have it both ways. We can be worshippers of God on Sunday, and we could live like the world Monday through Saturday.

That we could look spiritual. That we can look like we have it all together spiritually. but in the secret recesses of our heart many times were a million miles from God.

See, I think that's a very dangerous thing to be and when we lose our usefulness.

Jesus talks about this but he uses an illustration that was very common back then and it's very common today. If Jesus live today, he would say go watch television. See what I'm talking about go to the theater and see what I'm talking about. Because I'm television and in the theater. you have people that are actors and actresses. And bathe dress up the part of their character. They wear makeup. Some in Jesus's day would wear masks. And they would pretend to be somebody else. To convince the audience that they were this particular character. They didn't call them actors back then. They used a different word and the word is hypocrite. hypocrite literally means play after or mask wearer Mmm, Jesus's day. The mask where is the play actors often times were the religious leaders like the Pharisees? They gave a good show of spirituality, but they were not living an authentic life of faith in God. They were going through the motions of spirituality, but they were far from God.

And Jesus is giving us his church a warning.

It's too easy for us.

To invite and there's this word. That's an old an old ancient word syncretism. where we invite both God and the world into our life and we build altars to each In fact, you could go to Israel today and in the some of the high places you could go to the ruins of a temple. I'm a place of worship and there would be two Alters side-by-side one to Yahweh and one to bail or another deity. They didn't want to put all their eggs in one basket. And so they were more comfortable worshipping both. But see we serve in God's word a jealous God. And he does not share his authority and he does not share his power. He is worthy to be praised and worthy to be glorified. He alone is to be exalted. Alone, but see what has happened in our lives as we have been sold a bill of goods and the bill of goods that we have bought into is that we can live a life in Christ on certain times. But other times we can live whatever we want to do. We can engage in sexual immorality. We can engage and unforgiveness and hate we can engage in bitterness. We can engage in Rage and anger we can engage in gossip and we spiritualizer door somehow we try to make it look nice and we are as Jesus said I whitewash to where we look really nice on the outside, but we're full of dead men's bones.

Jesus said I have not called you to be useless. in fact uselessness Or being a fake. or counterfeit can be dangerous. Could you imagine that you are traveling across the country to hundred years ago and you filled your salt horn? With what you thought was salt, but it's not salt.

Now I say, you know today we have too much salt but back then you didn't have enough. It's an essential nutrient to keep life living. friends if we if we become comfortable living play acting experience.

What we are telling everyone around us. Is that you could do anything that you want to do? And everything's going to be okay.

When sin will bring destruction not only in our life Anyone's life without the saving victory that Jesus Christ brings to bear. Prince God has called us to be useful for God has called us to impact our world.

Let's let's not circum.

To being a play actor.

in the arena of our mission field

This leads me to. My final two thoughts too critical truth.

When Jesus said you are the salt of the world, I think you could have boiled it down to two. Very critical essential truths that we need to embrace critical truth is Tiffany said you are the salt of the world. He said I want you to be the real deal. I want you to be authentic. I want you to be sure. I don't want you to live life. Anyway that you want to embracing the world one day living like your ass ain't the next. But I want you to be chimney when you get your walk and your faith in Jesus Christ. That's what Jesus would say. That's what he was calling you to be real. Cuz it's the real stuff that causes thirst. It's a real stuff. that preserves Community sliding into the Stop. He wants you to be real. second one

Secondly, he wants you to have influence. And I have influence you need to have contact.

This salt right here. Is no good. Stay in this container. I don't think it looks good on the counter but someday. But if it stays there is it serves no purpose maybe except for a paperweight, but that's it for this salt to be effective. It needs to have contact with something. Needs to have contact with that. Nice juicy steak some of your going to eat this afternoon. at a restaurant

Did you know 2,000 years ago they would put salt on salads? fact solid comes from the word salt It's been so long has contact with whatever is doing preserving butt enhancing flavor.

I want you to feel real and I want you to have influence with those around you.

I want you have an impact if people want I want you to be a witness. I want you I want you when people look at you. They see the compassion that Christ house. and it takes it really It's been one of those crazy busy busy times in the Walker house hole. We celebrated Friday night with our leaders in our church and just giving them thanks for all that. They do and we are so blessed to have leaders in our church. Like we knew we are so blessed. and then if we weren't gluttons for punishment enough then last night we had our neighbors over. Is About 25-30 Vapors over our house and why we did it right back to back on something. I don't know but it happens sometimes but we wanted to be a witness what guess what? I didn't preach or four point message. But I display the love of Christ. Horse word got around. I'm a pastor. And so it was great to have conversation with people and I didn't even have to make anything happen.

Friends, we need to have an impact in our world. We need to be saw that flavors this world for the glory. I've got so what prayer for you this morning is that you become the salt that God has called you to be. that you be.