Be a Blessing (2)

We are in a sermon series focusing on us being on a Journey with Jesus. We are allowing the Gospels, mainly Matthew, to help us see the impact that Jesus has on our lives when we are willing to rely on him.

We have seen the importance of recognizing God at work around us, how we have been baptized for God. Why we need to testify about God, how we are called to serve God and last week that we have been blessed by God. You can find each of these sermons on our You Tube channel.

This week we show that our journey with Jesus should lead us into becoming a blessing to those around us. Our scripture comes from Matthew 5:13-20. The words will be on the screen.

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.

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Please pray with me…

We are blessed by God to be a blessing to those around us. Last week we looked at how we receive blessings from God. We had what we call the Beatitudes show us that no matter where we are on our faith journey God blesses us.

We are now moving on to the next section of the Sermon on the Mount.  In this section, we have Jesus using analogies to remind us that we should decide to be a blessing to those around us. He does this by saying that those that follow him need to be salt and light.

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Jesus begins our scripture for today by telling his disciples or followers, this would be more than just the 12 that are often called within scripture the twelve or the 12 disciples, that they are the salt of the earth. They are probably thinking what you are thinking, what does this mean?

Jesus was still early in his ministry. Jesus hasn’t spoken to his disciples yet using Parables or as he is today an analogy of what we are to be if we are a follower of Jesus. Jesus has transitioned from all people being able to be blessed to now offering how we should respond to being blessed by God

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Salt was an important part of the life of the Jewish people. It helped food to be able to stay fresh longer. It improved the taste of the food. These were the two most common purposes for salt.

The job of the disciples of Jesus was like salt. They were to help preserve what was expected of a follower of God and they were to enhance the faith that the Jewish people had lived out for generations.

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The idea of preserving is lived out through what Jesus tells us in verse 17 of our reading “that he has not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets.” Jesus is stating that my message is not what you had been taught in the past but that does not mean we don’t continue to follow the scriptures that you have learned.

The difference is not that these laws and stories do not have a purpose. The difference is that we are following the rules for a different reason. Jesus is offering them and us the realization that following the law is an impossible task. A task that we will fail.

That is where the sacrifices came in for the Jewish people. There was a need to sacrifice animals to seek forgiveness from God of the failures that occurred. Through this sacrificial practice, the Jewish people are acknowledging that they weren’t good enough.

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This is where enhancement enters in. Jesus’ spoke of a focus not on rule following but on loving. A focus not on condemnation but on compassion. It is through this change that his followers will be salt to the world.

He is asking for his followers to be people of love and compassion. He is stating for them to make sure that they are loving their neighbor. He not only tells them, but he also shows them. He becomes our example on how we are to be salt to the world.

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Jesus does have a concern that he also addresses in today’s scripture. His concern is that the people will lose their saltiness. His concern is that after he is gone that they will revert back to the way the Jewish faith had been lived out before his arrival.

His audience would have understood what it meant to lose saltiness. When Jesus spoke of salt losing its saltiness, he was naming a real experience his listeners recognized. In the first century, salt was rarely pure.  Much of it came from the Dead Sea and was mixed with other minerals.

When exposed to moisture, the true salt could up leaching out, leaving behind something that still looked like salt but no longer functioned as salt. It couldn’t preserve or enhance the taste of food. It existed, but it was ineffective.

That’s why Jesus says it is “good for nothing and should be thrown out.” The warning isn’t about disappearance. It is Jesus’ fear that the disciples will lose their purpose. Followers of Jesus don’t stop being present in the world, but they can stop making a difference for the world.

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Each one of us needs to be careful that this does not happen to us. We need to remain vigilant that we don’t allow our faith to become about ourselves and our own personal relationship with God.

Our relationship with God obviously matters, but it should lead us towards helping others become the person that God desires for them to be. We are called to be a blessing to those that are around us. This can remind us of what Jesus calls the greatest commandment.

We are called to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength while also loving our neighbor. This is why we have in our mission statement at The Church of the Good Sheperd the importance of both connecting in love with those in our communities and growing in faith together.

We are not called to only be connected to God or connected to those around us. We are called to allow God through our connection with him to work in us and through us to show love and compassion to those that are around us. We are called to be a blessing because we have been blessed.

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Jesus next tells the followers that they are to be the light of the world. They are to be a beacon of light shining and showing the world Jesus. We are to remove the darkness and have light shine through us.

Jesus relates it to a house on a hill. It stands out above everything else around us. We are to stand out in the world. It goes back to the idea that we are to live in the world but not of the world. We are to be different to those around us. Our light is supposed to shine.

Our light shines when we are being a blessing to the world. When we are deciding and following the ways of God and allowing God to work through us in order to change the lives of those around us.

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That is what this year is about for The Church of the Good Shepherd. Last year we were working on what it means for us to be the light. We were allowing ourselves to get ready to share the love of Jesus with those around us.

We are no longer to be focused on preparation. We are to help those around us see and discover that the light of Jesus is shining from us. We are to be people of love and compassion to those that we meet.

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That is what the end of our reading is telling us. We are to live lives that would be pleasing to God in order to allow the light to shine into the world for others to see. We are to not only have an internal faith.

We are to have the faith to believe that God has a purpose for each one of us. That purpose is to allow us to bless those that he places before us. We are not supposed to hang out together. We are to share the love of God with others.

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Our first reading points this out to us. This is one of the most controversial texts within scripture because it turns on the head everything that I have told you regarding God. This scripture tells us that believing is not good enough. We need to add some actions around our belief.

The words themselves convey that message, but the meaning is different than how the Jewish people were living out their deeds. We are to be good and do good not just to be following a set of rules. We are to do what we do because we love God and want to serve him.

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The part of this scripture I want to focus on is the part that allows us to understand why blessing others is important to our faith. James is believed to be writing to a group of people that have been forced out of Jerusalem.

They were feeling the pressure that the Jewish religious authority was exerting upon the Christians. They decided that they needed to leave their homes and move to another area. For most of these individuals this would not be a Jewish area.

This would have made it easy for them to live out their faith internally. To choose to not reach out to their neighbor. They had already faced persecution and didn’t want to face it again in a new land.

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But James is saying that is not the purpose that God has given to you. God has you in that place in order to help those around you reach the realization that there is a better way for them to live their lives. That way was through having their sins forgiven and becoming a follower of Jesus.

He also wanted to make sure they understood that words were not going to be enough to accomplish this goal. He is telling them that you must help to take care of the basic needs of those around you before they will be willing to listen to you.

He makes this point by saying that if you talk to someone about Jesus and ignore that they are lacking the clothes and food that they need then you are wasting your breath. These actions show a lack of compassion to those around you.

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This can be a harsh message for us to hear. We are here on Sunday mornings. We follow God throughout the week. Why do I have to do more? We have to do more because of the words James is giving us.

We are to do more because The Church of the Good Shepherd has been placed in the Sharon Woods neighborhood in order for us to serve those around us. We are called to be not only the voice of Jesus but also to live out the example he gave us by being the hands and feet of Jesus.

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Enough talk on what we are supposed to do, let’s turn our attention to how we do it. We are to be a blessing to your family, to your friends, and to those that you don’t know. We can do this through our words and our actions.

Is your light shining out to those around you? Meaning, do people see you as someone who shows the love of God to those around you. This is not only in person. Are you through your online presence building up or tearing down.

To be truthful I don’t know of anyone this has been an issue but I want to put it out there that the way you are personified on social media, and when you are out in public can go along way in allowing you to share the love of Jesus with those that you meet.

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Do you have a Jesus Story to share with those that may ask? Just a reminder that a Jesus Story is a short story of one of the ways that Jesus has impacted your life. We are talking no more than five to six minutes.

Your Jesus Story can be an answer to prayer or an introduction to Jesus to someone that you meet. Jesus desires to use our stories to help those around us decide that they want to have a journey with Jesus.

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Are you able to help at one or more than one of our upcoming events? We will be in need of people to help us as we are a blessing to those around us. Many hands make less work. The more help we have the easier it becomes and allows each of us to interact with those in our communities.

Let me give you one example, we are going to have a program called Alpha. Alpha is a way for those in our communities to have discussions about faith. We will be in need of table leaders for this event. The job of a table leader is to ask questions and keep the conversation moving. Please think about and pray about if you are supposed to be a table leader.

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The last way we can bless those around us is to invite them to these events. Ask God to help you discover who you are supposed to invite. Ask God to give you the opportunities to invite your family, friends and neighbors.

Research shows us that a large majority of people will be willing to attend church if they are asked. We need to allow our faith factor to be greater than our fear factor and invite those around us to church and to the events we are offering to those outside of the church.

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We have been blessed by God in order for us to be able to be a blessing to those around us. Let us look for those opportunities that God provides for us in order for us to be the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus.

Please pray with me…