Salt + Light

SERMON BUMPER

ZAKK NAME GRAPHIC

Me

Have you ever met one of those people who claim to be a Christian — but you don't really see the fruit? Like, they say they have the joy of the Lord in their heart — but best you can tell, it's way, way, WAY down deep in there somewhere?

A couple years ago I was standing in line at Best Buy waiting to check out — and I was behind this woman picking up an order — and she was being so incredibly rude to the poor guy at the counter.

She was impatient. She was demanding. And at one point — while he's bringing her order up to the front — he misread the label and called her by the wrong name.

And she unloaded on him. Berating this kid for what she called "poor customer service." Just — laying into him.

He was incredibly kind. Very apologetic. He hands her the order, tells her to have a great day.

And as she's about to turn and walk away — she reaches into her purse — pulls out a gospel tract — slides it across the counter — and says:

"Here. You need this."

…and then just walked away.

Now — I want you to sit with that image for a second. Because there is a lot happening in that moment. That woman, in the space of about two minutes, had just demonstrated for this kid exactly what a Christian looks like up close.

And I'd love to tell you that I stepped up.

That I walked to that counter and said — "Hey, I am so sorry. That was not okay, and she does not represent Jesus." I'd love to tell you I had some kind of redemptive moment that turned the whole thing around.

But I didn't.

I said nothing.

He was clearly rattled — clearly hurt — and I told myself I didn't want to make it more awkward. That bringing it up would just make him more uncomfortable. That the kindest thing I could do was just... let it go.

The kid took the tract. Didn't open it. Dropped it right in the trash.

And I watched that happen. And I just picked up my stuff and walked out.

Here's what I've thought about ever since that day: that woman was visible. I'll give her that much. She was salt and light — just the wrong kind. Salt thrown in an open wound. Light that blinds instead of guides.

But me? I wasn't the good guy in that story just because I was polite. I was invisible.

And invisible — Jesus is going to tell us today — is its own kind of problem.

We

Here’s what I think is actually happening with a lot of us. We watched people like that woman growing up — or we were that person at some point — and somewhere along the way — we made a deal with ourselves. We said, “I’m never going to be that. I’m never going to be the person who makes faith feel like a weapon.”

And that’s a good instinct. It comes from a real place. But somewhere between “I don’t want to be obnoxious about Jesus,” and where a lot of us actually landed — we didn’t just dial it back… we went quiet. Completely quiet. And we’ve been there ever since.

And here’s the thing — we have really good reasons. We’ve been in the conversations that went sideways. We’ve watched relationships get weird. We’ve seen what happens when faith gets politicized and weaponized and turned into a culture war — and we shouldn’t want anything to do with that.

We’re tired. Some of us have been hurt by the church. Some of us have been guilty of hurting people in the name of the church — and we carry that. So we made a choice — maybe not consciously — but we still made it: the safest version of faith is a private one.

“WE’VE CONFUSED” GRAPHIC

Here’s the thing, church. We’ve confused humility with invisibility.

Humility says: “I don’t need to be the loudest person in the room.”

But invisibility says: “I will make sure nobody knows I’m in the room at all.”

Humility is a virtue. Invisibility — frankly — is a cop-out. And what we’re going to see today is that:

“YOU WERE NOT SAVED” GRAPHIC

You were not saved to blend in. You were saved to shine out.

Think about the people in your world right now:

Your co-workers.

Your neighbors.

The people you see at school pickup.

The people you live your life with every week.

How many of them follow Jesus?

Not — how many have you heard quote a Bible verse?

Not — how many of them know you go to church on Sunday?

I mean — how many of them have seen something in your life that made them want what you have?

How many of them have watched the way you handle a hard season and thought, “Man, whatever they’ve got — I need.”

Because here’s what I’ve come to believe: most people around us aren’t hostile to Jesus. They’re just not seeing Jesus. Not in a way that’s real. Not in a way that’s close enough to touch.

God

SALT & LIGHT MAIN TITLE GRAPHIC

This morning — we’re in the Gospel of Matthew — Chapter 5. We’re picking up right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount — and what’s important to know before we read this — is that Jesus has just finished what’s called the “Beatitudes”. He’s just described what His people look like on the inside — the hunger — the mercy — the mourning — and the peacemaking. And now — He turns to what that looks like on the outside.

Take a look with me — Matthew Chapter 5 — verses 13 through 16.

Matthew 5:13–16 CSB

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are 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 in heaven.

v. 13

Go back with me to the beginning of this passage for a second. Look at the first two words of verse 13:

Matthew 5:13 CSB

13 “You are the salt of the earth…

YOU ARE. Not you should be. Not try to become. Not one day, if you get it together. You. Are.

Jesus isn’t giving His people a project. He’s announcing an identity. The Beatitudes describe what Kingdom people look like on the inside — and salt and light is what that looks like when it walks out the door. This isn’t a goal to work toward. It’s a description of what’s already true about anybody who has been genuinely transformed by Jesus.

Which means — the problem — for most of us — isn’t that we need to become something different… it’s that we’ve been hiding who we already are.

Now — when Jesus says salt of the earth — he’s not just talking about seasoning. We just think of it as something that makes popcorn better — but He says it’s something that makes life better.

In the first century — salt was survival. Before refrigeration — salt was how you kept meat from rotting. You packed it in salt. You preserved it. Salt was the thing that stood between food and decay. It was so valuable — that sometimes Roman soldier were paid in salt — and in fact — it’s actually where we get the word salary.

So when Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth,” — He’s not saying you make life a little more flavorful — He’s saying, “You are a preserving force. You are the thing that slows the rot.”

Think about that in the context of your workplace. Your neighborhood. Your family. The world has a decay problem — loneliness — and bitterness… despair — and division. Take a scroll through your Facebook feed and it’s not hard to see it.

And Jesus says His people are the preserving agent in the middle of it.

But then He asks an uncomfortable question:

Matthew 5:13 CSB

13 But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty?

See — in the ancient world — impure salt — mixed with other minerals — could lose its potency over time. And Jesus says it plainly:

Matthew 5:13 CSB

13 It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

He says you throw it out! He’s not talking about losing your salvation. He’s talking about losing your function.

A follower of Jesus who has so fully blended into the culture around them — who can’t be distinguished in their values — or their priorities — or their presence — that person has lost what makes them useful to the Kingdom. Not bad… not condemned… just — ineffective. Flavorless.

Church we weren’t saved to blend in.

v. 14-15

Then — Jesus shifts the image. Verse 14:

Matthew 5:14 CSB

14 “You are the light of the world.

And He does something interesting here. He doesn’t say you should shine. He says:

Matthew 5:14 CSB

14 A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.

A city lit up at night on top of a hill — you can see that from miles away. You don’t have to try to see it… it’s just there, right?

The He gives us the image that I think should make us a little uncomfortable:

Matthew 5:15 CSB

15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house.

Take a second and really picture that. You light a candle — and then you cover it with a basket. Why would we do that? Nobody does that. That’s also a fire hazard — so don’t do that! The whole point of a lamp — or a candle — is that it gives life. Covering it defeats the whole purpose of lighting it in the first place, right?

Jesus is saying a Christian in hiding is that basket-covered lamp.

And here’s the thing about darkness that I think is worth sitting with for a a second: Darkness isn’t actually a thing. It has no substance. It has no power of its own. It’s simply the absence of light. You can’t push darkness out of a room. You can’t argue with it. You can’t organize against it. You just turn on a light… and it’s gone.

Your presence — your actual presence — in the dark places of your world isn’t an argument. It’s not a program. It’s not a strategy. It’s an arrival. And when you arrive — something changes. Not because of you — but because of what you were carrying.

We are saved to shine that light to others.

v. 16

And here’s where this connects directly to who we are as a church. At the beginning of the year — I shared that our vision for this year is to grow in discipleship. And I want us to really think about that word for a second — because I think sometimes we picture discipleship as something that happens primarily in this room. Or a class. Or a small group. And those things are not for nothing — they’re incredibly important in the life of the believer.

But look at how Jesus made disciples. He didn’t pull twelve men into a room and say, “Let’s keep working on you.” He didn’t come up with a 12-week growth plan and then follow it with a good old-fashioned Methodist casserole. He simply said, “Follow me.” — and then He walked straight into the middle of broken — and messy — and complicated people — and He invited His disciples to watch — and then do the same.

Discipleship in the Bible always moves outward. It’s never just internal renovation. It’s always internal renovation for the sake of external mission. You grow so that you can go. You are filled so you can pour out. You are salted so that you can season. You are lit so that you can illuminate.

Discipleship that never moves outward isn’t discipleship at all — it’s just self-improvement with better vocabulary.

And look at Verse 16 — because this is where Jesus lands the whole thing:

Matthew 5:16 CSB

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 in heaven.

The end goal isn’t our reputation. It’s not our platform. It’s not about a “spiritual impact score”. The end goal is that people see our lives — and it points them somewhere. It makes them curious. It raises a question in them that only God can answer.

We aren’t the destination — we’re the sign that points to the destination.

But here’s the thing — we’re not responsible for manufacturing this saltiness. It’s not up to us to have our lives figured out to impress other people. Otherwise — this just becomes another thing on our checklist. We can’t become salty on our own — and we can’t generate light on our own.

Left to ourselves — we default to comfort. We default to self-protection. That’s just the human condition. And no amount of trying harder is ever going to fix it.

The only reason any of this is possible is because of what Jesus did.

The Cross is where God’s light entered the darkest place that had ever existed. Jesus didn’t stay in Heaven when the world was broken. He came. He stepped into the rot and became the preserving force. He walked into the darkness — and became light.

The Apostle John says it this way:

John 1:4–5 CSB

4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

And because He rose — and because He lives — and because His Spirit now lives in everyone who has said yes to Him — we’re not trying to generate something from scratch. We get to carry something that is already alive inside of us.

We weren’t saved to blend in. We were saved to shine out.

You

So here’s how we put this into practice. Because “go be salty this week” isn’t an action — it’s just a sentiment.

Here’s the assignment:

Earlier this year — our church launched a campaign called “Who’s Your One?” where we identified one person we could pray for — earnestly and honestly — who doesn’t know Christ and doesn’t have a relationship with Him.

If you haven’t named your One — today is a great day to do that. And then this week — I want you to do one visible, intentional thing in that person’s direction. Not a Gospel presentation — not a conversation you’ve been rehearsing in your head for three years. Just… one move. One intentional act of presence.

Maybe it’s a meal.

Maybe it’s a text that says, “I’ve been thinking about you.”

Maybe it’s showing up somewhere that you normally wouldn’t — because they need somebody — and you’re that somebody.

Salt doesn’t have to be dramatic to be effective. And light doesn’t have to be blinding to be real. It just has to show up.

Now — I know some you are already talking yourself out of it. Maybe you’re saying, “I’m not qualified enough. I don’t want to be preachy or pushy. I’m afraid of rejection.”

Here’s what I want to encourage you with: the people in your life are already watching you. You didn’t start that. They’re paying attention to how you handle pressure — how you treat people when you’re tired — how you responded to that hard thing that happened in your life.

We’re already being a witness to something in our life. We have to decide if it’s worth following.

And maybe for some of you — the assignment is different. You might be sitting here today and you’re not far from Jesus because you walked away — maybe you’ve just never accepted the invitation to come close.

Maybe you’ve been in church your whole life — and you know the vocabulary — and the songs — or maybe this is your first time in church and this weirdo is up here telling you to get salty and lit.

I want you to hear this: the gospel is not a membership. It’s not a tradition you inherit. It’s a Person — and He is alive. And He’s close to you — right now.

You don’t have to figure out how to be salt and light today — you just have to say yes to the One who already is — and let Him start making you into something you can’t make yourself. Being a Christian isn’t about being perfect — it’s about saying yes to a relationship with the One who is.

We

I want to paint you a picture. It’s something that can happen this week — if we take this call seriously.

We have people in the room who work in hospitals. Who sit at bedsides with people. We have teachers — who stand in front of rooms full of kids who are desperate for a stable adult — somebody who’s genuinely for them.

We have people here who work in construction — and office suites — and stores — and restaurants… who spend 40 hours a week with people who are lonely — and anxious — and exhausted — and who’ve never once seen what it looks like to have peace that doesn’t make sense.

There are people who live within a half-mile of somebody who hasn’t been inside a church in 20 years — and who would come if somebody they actually trusted invited them.

That’s not a program. It’s not an outreach strategy. It’s just you. Showing up. Being present. Letting what’s real become visible out there.

And that’s important — because discipleship grows in here — but it goes out there. And we all have the opportunity to shine that light in the darkness.

You know — that kid at the Best Buy counter — I’ve thought about him a lot since that day. I don’t know his name. I don’t know his story. I don’t know if anybody ever went back and showed him something real.

But I do know this: he deserved better than what he got that day. He deserved to truly see Jesus. He deserved to have somebody stand next to Him with presence. With something as simple as, “Hey, I’m sorry that happened. That wasn’t okay. And that’s not who Jesus is.”

He deserved salt and light. And I walked out.

And I don’t share this story to beat myself up. I’ve made my peace about that moment. But I’m telling you this because I think a lot of us have a version of that story — a moment where we had a chance to show up and we chose to stay invisible instead.

But church — today is not that day.

We have the opportunity to be salt and light to a world that desperately needs it.

We weren’t saved to blend in. We were saved to shine out. The only thing we have left to do — is go.

Prayer

Communion