Salt & Light

Introduction:

today in Jesus teaching he is going to teach us about how we are like Salt & Light to the world

these are two things, especially this time of year, are near and dear to us as its 11 degrees outside and i’m tempted to find Elsa and ask for her to restore summer ——

SALT: you’d think that the most dangerous thing in the winter time here is the ice on the sidewalks —- if your like me and have gotten stuck watching reels where its a compilation of people slipping on ice we should probably ask for forgiveness now —- but what i find is just as dangerous is the thousands of pounds of salt that is thrown on the sidewalks that are supposed to prevent the ice from making you SLIP and yet baker has taken a tumble or two due to the salt! ! seems counterintuitive doesn't it!?

LIGHT: AND how many of us in this room have an apartment that has at least one room in that does not have a light mounted on the ceiling?

— I have to admit…when we first moved to NYC this concept made literally zero sense to me —- why would you have a room in any living space that does not have a light source already in it?

I thought the was a little wild…then I was like “oh, we can just have a couple of lamps in the living room and that will be sufficient” —- then NYC said”not so fast, we only put one outlet in the room so don’t bother with your multiple light sources…you get one!”

if you are anything like my wife, not only do you want plenty of light in the house, the TYPE of light has to be the same! —- I began to learn the difference between Edison bulbs, LED bulbs, and that doesn’t even begin to get into what type of covering needs to go over the light!

have you ever been in a room long enough that the lighting in the room begins to bother you? maybe it gives you a headache or on the other end of the spectrum…in many cases the lighting is what makes a space pop!

As we dive into todays passage we will see just how important Salt & Light is to Jesus — as He will call us, His people, the Salt & light of the world!

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In todays passage Jesus is going use Salt as the What we are to do as jesus followers, and the light as How we are to do it!

salt: we are to preserve what God has entrusted us with, and we do that by shining bright the goodness of Jesus in our lives

please stand as Brooke comes up to read the word of God

Salt and Light

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.

Our Purpose: Preserve Gods Principles

the word purpose is int he title and I just feel compelled to be really clear by what I mean by that word —- our culture is very interested in purpose — “what is my purpose or rather someone may say it like this “what am I going to contribute to this world?” or even “I want to leave this world better than I found it” —- rather than say “good luck without Jesus buddy! —- I think the reason most people ask this question and can’t find an answer is because we were made to acknowledge and pursue our purpose in Jesus. its a great question and I want us today to think about our “capitol P Purpose” — if everything else was whittled away what is my purpose as a human being in christ?

Matthew 5:13

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.

before we dive into what Jesus is teaching we ought to know how salt was perceived in jesus’ time —-

A) Salt was extremely valuable a it was one of the only ways to preserve your food

B) it was so valuable that soldiers were paid in salt as were other occupations —- in fact the root word for salt is how we go the word Salary —- have you ever heard someone say “are they worth their salt? this is where that comes from

c) you used salt to predominantly to preserve your meat —- the way they would cover their meat with salt and then wrap the meat in seaweed and story it —- once you have used the meat you would throw your seaweed on your roof because it acted like a natural waterproof seal

d) people typically lived on hillsides, so the sidewalks around the hillside was actually peoples roofs — they would layer houses up the hillside and you’d walk over peoples houses

so, when Jesus is talking about the salt of the earth —- the listeners would have known of course the importance of salts preservation but they also would have known how vital salt is to humanity —

What Jesus is teaching about in this passage is the Christians purpose —- both what we are to do, and how we are to do it!

We are the salt to the earth in that Jesus’ Values, Virtues, and Power preserve the world that God has given humanity —

now, if I needed to help you understand the context of the teaching of Jesus in His time —- we also must understand our context to fully understand this passage

because, if we miss the importance of salt in Jesus’ time than we could mis the importance of His teaching —- in the same way if we blur the teaching of upholding christian virtues, values, and power with nationalism than we will miss the power of this teaching

what I mean to say is that the misunderstanding of this text and many others has given license to some in our country to tie at the hip the success of America with the importance of Jesus —- saying that we are the city on a hill and our country is the salt of the earth and we need to hold on to that as long as we can. no.

MAIN POINT: Jesus, here, is saying that the Christians purpose is to preserve the things of God, which in tern preserves the people around them —- and we do this through being a light, by telling people how they can live forever, find joy, and believe in the savior —- and in tern they begin to preserve the things of God and preserve the things around them —- you can see the cycle Christ is presenting here

CHINA PROFESSOR: There was a professor in China who became extremely curious to why a section of china had began to prosper —- it wasn’t exactly known for being a popular place and drugs abuse was frequented there — he though it was because police forced the bad out and allowed the good to come in —- what he actually found was that Christians had planted a church there and it was turning the entire community upside down —- he was dumfounded by the remarkable impact that christians made by moving into this area

Jesus is teaching us here that when we live our our purpose in Him it directly impacts those around us —- that we are preserving the earth by proclaiming and BEING like Him.

let us not take lightly when non-religious people look at you and thank you for how you treat them, love them, and show up for them —- that is a part of the preservation Jesus is talking about!

this is where the Christian combines justice and mercy in our city —- this is what God teaches, so we do it

this is where christian service in our communities comes to life —- we are upholding the things God cares about which is…everyone

this is where evangelism takes importance in our lives — God has called His church to proclaim the gospel for there is no greater preservation that eternal life in Jesus

this is our purpose as Jesus followers —- we preserve Gods heart and teachings through teaching, loving, serving, others so that they may see the glory of God

As Jesus preserves us, he teaches us to preserve the world around us

have you ever eaten something that had gone bad? anyone ever had food poisoning? it usually only lasts about 24 hours but those 24 hours are horrible…shelby and I had a guy staying at our apartment that was all excited to eat a street hot dog… and boy did he pay for that for the next 24 hours… i mean the man turned literally green he was so sick —— the reason he was sick was because he ate something that had rotted…. it had gone bad —— sometimes we allow ourselves, usually directly tied to sim, to grow rotten rather than salty — to lose our taste a bit

and i want us to think about what Jesus is calling us to here through the lens of obedience to His way — the Jesus way — of loving those who others don’t, of caring for those who others don’t, of serving and teaching and being there for those who need it —- as obedience to His way —- our saltiness is directly tied to obedience and our obedience is directly tied to our intimacy with the father —- obedience breeds intimacy with God

the difference between salt and what Jesus ultimately does is that salt can’t bring something that is fully rotten back to health —- but Jesus can take something that is fully dead and make it fully alive!

2. Our Place: The Light of the World

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.

Example story: when the power goes out — what do you do? you immediately light a candle —- and when you light that candle you place it in the most strategic place possible for you to see as much as you can see ——

In jesus’ time the cities center was built on top of a cobblestone tower and it was lit by candle light 24/7 —- so you would always know where the center of the city is

Jesus is saying here that you, through who He is, what He has done, and what he is calling you to —- is the center and the light that must shine to all of the world

and just as the the city center was strategically placed so that people knew how ands where to travel under the nights sky, so has God strategically placed you around the neighbors you have, places you work, and the neighborhood you live in. to preserve the kingdom of God and its principles

the salt is our purpose which is to preserve what God is and is all about, the light is our place and power to shine it.

question: where has God placed you on purpose to live out your purpose?

the way I can bust summarize this life jesus is teaching about is this: Missional Discipleship —- our purpose is our mission and discipleship is our light shown to others

But just for a second I want to think about the natural rebuttals that swell up in me

1) what if Jesus rubs people the wrong way —- he will, be kind, love well, preserve the kingdom living inside that relationship

2) what if this type of living looks different for me than others? — it inherently will and will not at the same time — God knows you, your strengths, your weakness, and He wants you not somebody else's version of you —- however all salt and light ends in Jesus being exalted and Him being represented in our lives to others

3) I can’t seem to grow myself — how can I be a light to others? — it depends on what you think about Jesus. if he isn’t the savior than that informs your lack of growth — however, if you believe He is your savior and you place your trust in Him than ask Him to help you grow and put in place practices to know Him more and to be a light to others