Kingdom Disciples

Intro

[Thank worship team]

Good morning Bethel Church, and good morning to our network of rural churches that are joining us live on YouTube. And if you are new here, I want to extend a special welcome to you. If you would, there are “Connect” cards in the seat in front of you. If you would fill that out there or at the Welcome Center outside of the sanctuary. We even have a free gift for you if you are new to Bethel. We would love to get in touch with you and discuss how to get connected to our church family.

Announcements:

Today we will be continuing our study of Summer On The Mount. If you are reading out of the Bibles in front of you, our passage can be found on page 824. If you do not have a Bible, please stop by the Welcome Center and take one. It is our gift to you. t is our gift to you.

TRANS: Pray

Opening Hook

Most of us have had the experience of trying to learn something from instructions alone.

Construction Newbie Illustration

Imagine a young man gets his first job in construction. On day one, he’s handed a safety manual, a list of company values, and some basic instructions. He can read all of it. He can underline it. He can even repeat it back. But at the end of the day, he’s still wondering, “Okay… but what does this actually look like on the job site?”

Then the foreman says, “Stick with Mike today.” And suddenly, everything changes.

Now he sees what it looks like to show up ready.

He sees what it looks like to work hard without cutting corners.

He sees what it looks like to treat people with respect.

He sees what it looks like to solve problems, take responsibility, and do the job well.

The principles were in the manual. But the picture came through a life.

That’s often how it is in the Christian life too. A lot of people know the language of Christianity. They know the principles. They know the right answers. But there comes a point where you ask, “What does this actually look like in real life? What does Kingdom-living look like when it hits the ground?”

Key Question

What does Kingdom-living look like?

Key Concept

Kingdom

The kingdom is not just where you go one day; it’s living under His rule today.

Matthew 5:3, 10, 19–20; 6:10, 33; 7:21

TRANS: And that’s exactly where Jesus takes us in Matthew 5:13–16. He’s not leaving His disciples with lofty ideas floating in the clouds. He is bringing Kingdom truth down to real life. He is showing us what life in His Kingdom looks like.

Reference “you are” in verse 13 and 14.

Kingdom Disciples

Disciples of Jesus live from their new identity.

Matthew 5:13-14

Jesus does not say, “you better start acting like,” he says, “you ARE.”

But this is not how most followers of Jesus live.

They trust their feelings that tell them…

“you’re not good enough,”

“You’re a fraud,”

“You’re unworthy.”

If you feel that way about a job you have, you better believe you are either going to be crushed or you are going to overcompensate. This is because we are terrified of being “found out” as a fraud. But this puts us in a cycle of not getting others get too close, for fear of being found out. But becoming more spiritually “sick” because we are isolating.

When disciples of Jesus think they have to earn their new identity, it puts us in a downward spiral, leading us to isolate and reject the calling to be salt and light. “It’s too late for me.” But this is a lie from the Enemy that is uniquely directed towards Christ-followers to take them out. But this whole tactic only has power when we take our eyes off of Jesus and what he is doing.

The plan has always to create a “nation of priests.” (Exodus 19:5-6) Jesus calls all of us to live the blessed life just like the persecuted prophets (Matthew 5:11-12). And now Jesus is making an identity claim, “You are…”

Being & Becoming

Being has to do with what you have been *declared*

Becoming has to do with learning to operate from your new self

We confuse these two, thinking that until we “become” something we cannot “be” it. We put the emphasis of our identity in Christ on our own efforts, not on who He has declared us to be.

Caterpillar DNA Illustration

Genetically, a caterpillar and a butterfly are identical. Do they look the same? But one deals with being, the other becoming. As a caterpillar enters the stages of development, its DNA does not change, but it develops and matures.

In the same way, if you are a citizen of heaven, you *are* that today, and you are becoming more mature. You live *from* your new identity, not trying to prove yourself to be worthy of a new identity.

TRANS: When you understand who you *are,* you are able to then think about what you are to *do.* And Jesus gives two clear directives about what Kingdom disciples are to do. Here’s the first one:

Matthew 5:13 ESV

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.

Disciples of Jesus preserve the world by living from His righteousness.

Matthew 5:13

Righteousness

Righteousness is a changed life flowing from a changed heart.

Matthew 5:6, 10, 20; 6:1, 33

Salt had two functions in the ancient world:

To add flavor to food

To prevent decay of food

Since the Fall of humanity where Adam and Eve rebelled against God, there is an orientation in the world towards decay. Things will get worse unless there is intervention. Justice, goodness, and truth will not prevail unless there is an intentional effort. Think about it. It takes 1 person to do something evil, but it may take 10 or 100 to prevent evil.

We are the Salt of the earth. our job is to add flavor and prevent decay. We do this by living a life of goodness modeled by Jesus. We live from His righteousness. We do good by His power, not our own.

But Jesus warns about becoming “unsalty salt.”

What is this “unsalty salt”? R.T. France

Unsalty salt is a contradiction in terms (“like water losing its wetness,” Betz); if it is not salty, it is not salt. But salt as used in the ancient world was seldom pure sodium chloride. The “salt” collected around the Dead Sea contained a mixture of other minerals, and it is possible to imagine the true salt content being washed out, leaving a useless residue. In any case, Jesus is not teaching chemistry, and the ludicrous imagery of trying to “salt” that which should itself be the source of saltiness is a powerful indictment of disciples who have lost their distinctiveness and so no longer have anything to contribute to society. The verb which I have translated “becomes tasteless” more literally means “becomes foolish.”1

1 R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publication Co., 2007), 174–175.

Unsalty salt is “Christianity” that carries the name of Jesus without displaying the character, courage, or influence of Jesus.

Here’s some examples of being unsalty salt:

Claiming Christ while excusing persistent sin. We bear Jesus’ name but refuse to repent when our choices contradict His teaching.

Claiming Christ while excusing persistent sin. Our priorities, relationships, entertainment, ambitions, and reactions look no different from the culture around us.Blending in so completely that no distinction remains

Remaining silent about our allegiance to Jesus. People may know our hobbies, politics, and opinions, but they have no idea that we follow Christ.

Speaking Christian truth without displaying Christian character. We defend biblical morality while being harsh, arrogant, dishonest, or unloving.

Favoring “worldly acceptance” over faithfulness to Jesus. We soften, hide, or abandon Christ’s teaching whenever obedience might cost us approval.

Practicing a private faith with no public consequence. Christianity becomes something we consume on Sundays rather than something that shapes how we work, spend, forgive, speak, and serve.

Pursuing comfort instead of preserving what is good. We withdraw from difficult people and broken situations rather than entering them as agents of righteousness, mercy, and truth.

Unsalty salt is “Christianity” that carries the name of Jesus without displaying the character, courage, or influence of Jesus.

Salt loses its usefulness when Christians bear Christ’s name but no longer live Christ’s way.

But Jesus did not give you a spirit of Fear! If Jesus declares that you are Salt, then He will give you all that you need in order to accomplish this.

TRANS: Preserve the world by living from Christ’s righteousness. But Jesus isn’t done. Not only are we the Salt of the world, but we are light as well.

Matthew 5:14–16 ESV

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.

Disciples of Jesus do good for God’s glory.

Matthew 5:14-16

We are to do good for God’s glory. But there are myths about doing good, especially when it comes to doing good thing and those good things are noticed by others. We can tend to shrink back and not do the good we know we ought to do because we don’t want to make it about ourselves or we are trying to be humble.

Here’s the two myths:

Myth #1: If I do a good thing in front of others it is prideful

Myth #2: True humility is shown when I do the right thing and no one sees

Here’s why these are myths: When we do good for God’s glory, that is opposed to pride and it doesn’t matter who sees.

Jesus actually uses a Lampstand to illustrate the point.

*Slide* Ancient Lampstand

Like a lamp giving light from a lampstand, the followers of Jesus are declared to be light to the world as their good deeds bring praise to God. Lampstands from the Roman period have been found that range from two to five feet in height, allowing light from a small oil lamp to shine throughout a room. This lampstand is from first-century AD Italy.1

1 Jeannine K. Brown, Matthew, ed. Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton, Teach the Text Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015), 56.

A modern lampstand is one that is likely in the corner, it’s one of many. Maybe it’s more for mood lighting or just to light a corner of a room. But the ancient lampstand was several feet tall and meant to light the whole room.

In other words, everyone noticed if the light was on or off. Everyone benefited when the light was on.

The point is not to be a light for our sake, but for His sake. To point to Jesus by our good works. And our good works are for the benefit of others and the glory of God.

The life of a Kingdom disciple is not a private one. To be a kingdom disciple is to be a public witness. The goal is not so others follow You or applaud You, but that your lifestyle points to “your Father who is in Heaven.”

Show as a slide

A disciple of the kingdom who does not live like a disciple of the kingdom (5:3–12) is worth about as much as tasteless salt or invisible light. - Craig Keener

These two, being salt and light, gives us two key words: Kingdom disciples preserve and Kingdom disciples point.

TRANS: Kingdom disciples live from their new identity, preserve the world, and do good in order to point to God.

Two Warnings

Reject “escapism Christianity”

There is an instinct that Christians have when it comes to being salt and light, and it’s one that we must resist: the instinct to withdraw.

Why would we withdraw?

We withdraw because…

The world is filled with evil, and it is difficult to be in it and not be affected by it

We have tried to help by doing good, but it’s blown up in our face

We think Jesus is going to come back soon anyway, so we are running out the clock

Some have even suggested that we strategically retreat from culture in order to form pockets of Christian communities. This is not a new idea of course. The idea is that as the world decays, it will look for hope and will come crawling to these Christian communities. But this is not the way of Christ.

Imagine if God left us alone after the Fall, when sin entered the world. Where would we be? But this is not our God. He stepped into the world. Jesus added humanity to deity and walked among us. This was not a strategy of retreat, it was a strategy of engagement. Jesus did not run from the burning building, he ran toward it.

In the same way, to be salt and light we must engage the world around us, not retreat from it. You cannot hide from culture AND be salt and light. Which means you have to get your hands dirty. Jesus was called a “friend of sinners” because of the nature of His ministry. This was, by some people, meant to be slanderous and destroy His reputation.

But thank goodness Jesus is a friend of sinners, because I’m a sinner, and so are you.

Do not withdraw, engage.

TRANS: But there is another warning. Because in engaging the world as salt and light there is a ditch that any of us can fall into:

Beware of being a glory-stealer.

Jesus says that we ought to let our light shine before others, so that by seeing our good works *they* might give glory to God the Father who is in heaven.

What does it mean to give glory to God?

Simply put, to give glory to God is to “draw attention.”

Draw attention to His greatness

Draw attention to His uniqueness

Draw attention to the Source of every good thing

But inside the heart of every person is the temptation to be a “glory-stealer.” Meaning, rather than drawing attention to God, we draw attention to ourselves. We do this in both an active and a passive way:

Active: Performing for recognition. This was the heart-level problem of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, and continues to be a heart-level problem for us all: doing good works to be seen rather than to point others to God.

Passive: Failing to acknowledge the Source. We “glory-steal” when we accept compliments for our abilities or good works without acknowledging the Source.

Here’s the secret… It’s not about you!

When you do good for God’s glory, make the intentional choice to direct the attention to God. Simply say, “praise God.” This may be more of a reminder to yourself in that moment, but it also properly orients others. We do good for God’s glory, not ourselves.

Conclusion : Kingdom-living looks like being salt and light for God’s glory. How can you live this way today? What opportunities has He given you to preserve and to point?

Pray

***Worship Song***

Announcement: Block Party

Next Sunday from 11 AM - 2 PM.

Cards as a reminder or inviting others in your bulletin

Need volunteers: Crossing guards & tear down at 2 PM - Go to the welcome center

Bring a side and a dessert, or bring two sides.

Dad’s Root Beer

For Father’s Day we are giving away Dad’s root beer in the lobby.

Grab one over by the main entrance.

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott Prayer for the Church to Be Salt and Light

Lord Jesus, you have set your church in the world as salt to hinder its decay, and light to illumine its darkness. Forgive us for our failures to be the new society you intend, and renew us by your Holy Spirit. Grant that in a world of alienation your people may offer reconciliation; in a world of oppression, righteousness; and in a world of greed—the freedom of unselfish service. Help us to bring friendship to the lonely, support to the weak, deliverance to the slaves of passion and fear; and to all those despised and rejected by men the steadfast love of God.

For then the people who walk in darkness will see a great light, You Lord Jesus, the light of this dark world, and give glory to your name. Amen.

Talk About It/Think About It

How does knowing our identity in Christ change the way we think about our purpose in the world?

What are some ways Christians can preserve what is good and resist what is evil without becoming self-righteous or harsh?

What is the difference between doing good works so that people notice us and doing good works so that people glorify God?

Where has God placed you right now to shine light through ordinary faithfulness, obedience, and love?

What are some ways Christians can be tempted to retreat from the world instead of living faithfully within it?

How can we stay distinct from the world without becoming detached from the people God has called us to love?

What helps you examine whether you are serving for God’s praise or for people’s approval?