Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13–16 ““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. “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 a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 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.”

What:

Now, before we dive into how this applies to us, we need to understand the context in which Jesus is talking.

Salt back then was more than a tasty seasoning. Salt did two additional things. One, it preserved. Back then, they didn’t have refrigerators. So they would use salt on meats to help them not spoil.

Not only was it used to preserve, it was used to purify. They would use salt on wounds. It would sting, but it would help purify.

So salt was used to preserve and purify.

But how does salt lose it’s saltiness? Really, it actually doesn’t by itself. So what does Jesus mean? The way it loses it’s “saltiness” is by being diluted or polluted.

You dilute salt in salt water by adding more and more water until it loses it’s potency. Have you drank salt water. It has a kick to it. But you can keep adding water and adding water until it no longer has that kick.

You can as pollute it. You can add other things so it no longer has the characteristics of salt. It tastes bad because it has other things mixed in. It does preserve, but it actually makes it spoil quicker because of what is mixed in. It doesn’t purify, but it actually makes things worse.

So that is salt, what about the light?

This one is easier for us to understand. How many times do you wake up in the middle of the night, and you think to yourself “I drank way too much water.” And you hobble through your room, and ow! You step on some legos, or you stub your toe on the dresser. It’s dark, and you try to feel your way through the dark.

It doesn’t happen much, because can turn on a lamp. Some of you have phones. What if I wake up, turn on the flash light on my phone, and then cover it up. It’s like, what’s the point?

So how does this apply to us?

You are suppose to impact those around you.

We talk a lot about your walk with Jesus. Your relationship with him. But Jesus didn’t call us all to be monks, to not interact with anyone else. We are suppose to interact with others.

We are called to preserve and purify.

We are also called to be a light for Jesus to those around us.

So we are suppose to impact those around you.

Second point is…

We need to be careful not to be diluted or polluted.

Although we are suppose to be in the world, we should be of the world.

We should be different than those around us. If we start to compromise and not pursue righteousness, we start to lose our kick.

And if we can even end up hurting our witness. If I’m sharing the gospel, but I start gossiping, not only will other think Christians are no different, so why should they become one. But think about the person I’m gossiping about. They not only could think “There is no difference.” They could end up resenting Christians and Jesus.

We need to shine for Christ, because someone is always watching.

If I cover up this light, chances are some light comes through. But someone might notice that I’m covering it up. They may think “Why would they cover it up.”

A older, wise godly man once said to me, “Someone is always watching.” It could be someone who doesn’t know Jesus. It could be other Christians.

We are called to be salt and light.

Question

Where do you need to be salt and light?

Questions:

What are some opportunities for us to be salt and light?

What are some ways we can be diluted and polluted?

How can we encourage others to be bold for Jesus?