Different On Purpose
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· 3 viewsPreserving what is good... Showing them something better...
Notes
Transcript
Doxology:
This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart, that I might not sin against God. Amen!
Scripture Reference: Matthew 5:13-16
Good morning, Church! It’s so good to be gathered together as the family of God, Amen!
And visitors, we’re so glad you’re here! Thank you for joining us here at Allons Baptist Church. We’d love to get to know you better so be sure to fill out one of the cards in the back of the pew there and stop by our welcome center on your way out.
Who’s ready to hear a word from the Lord? Who’s ready to be challenged? Amen!
Well… let’s go to work!!!
Context
Context
A few weeks ago, we started a new series titled, “Strangers”. And that is the thesis of the whole series. Because we belong to Christ, we no longer belong to this world. We are strangers here. We are foreigners. As Peter puts it, we are sojourners and pilgrims in this land. We’re just passing through.
In our first message, we looked at how this world is not our home. We’ve been transformed by the grace of God and adopted into the family of God, so this world should feel a little foreign to us now. We belong to a different kingdom; we live under a different authority; our home is not in this world.
And last week we looked at how even though that is true, we are as of now still here. We are in this world, but we are not of this world. Jesus actually prayed in John 17 that God would NOT take us out of the world, but would keep us from the evil one while we remain. We looked at how we are not to be fortresses, but lighthouses. The fortress says, “Everyone inside. Lock the doors. Keep the world out.” But the Lighthouse says, “Danger! You’re going the wrong way! But there is a way home! There is a safe route!” The fortress shuts the world out while the lighthouse shines into it, hoping to make a difference.
Today, we want to continue that thought by answering the question, “What does a lighthouse actually look like Monday through Saturday?” “What does it look like to shine brightly into a dark world?”
Jesus gives us two illustrations to help answer that question: Salt & Light.
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Let’s Pray!
Jesus was a phenomenal teacher. He had a knack for taking everyday items or scenarios that his listeners would have immediately been able to understand and turn those things into spiritual lessons. We call this a parable. Jesus spoke in parables.
Now the question that we have to ask today is this. What was it about salt in the ancient world that made Jesus reach for that image? What was it about light, at least in the way they would have understood light, that made this the picture He chose? And then, what does it look like practically for us - for you, for me, for ABC - to actually be salt and light in the world God has placed us in?
So that’s where we are headed today. We want to unpack these questions so that we can learn what it means to live for the Lord and impact others lives for the kingdom of God.
Content
Content
13 “You are the salt of the earth…
When we hear the word "salt," what do we think of? We think of a little shaker on the kitchen table. We think of french fries. We think, maybe, of watching our sodium intake because the doctor told us to! Right?!
But in the ancient world, salt was not a minor seasoning you passed around the table. Salt was precious. Salt was valuable. In some places in the ancient world, salt was so valuable that Roman soldiers were literally paid in it — that's actually where we get our English word "salary." It comes from the Latin word "salarium," which means "salt money." Can we say Amen to that? Your paycheck, believe it or not, has a linguistic connection all the way back to salt!
So why was salt so valuable? I want to give you three uses of salt in the ancient world, because I believe all three of them are wrapped up in what Jesus means here.
Salt Was A Preservative
This is the big one. Listen — they didn't have refrigerators. They didn't have freezers. If you caught a fish, or slaughtered a lamb, and you didn't eat all of it that day, what happened to the rest of it? It rotted. It decayed. Unless — unless you packed it in salt. Salt drew the moisture out of meat and fish and slowed down the process of decay, sometimes for months at a time. Salt was the thing that stood between food and rot. Salt held back corruption.
Now, hold that thought — because I think that's exactly what Jesus is saying about us. He looks at His disciples and says, "You are the salt of the earth." Not "you will be." Not "try to be." "You are." Present tense. This is your identity, this is your function, in a world that is decaying.
And listen, this world is decaying. I don't think I have to convince anybody in this room of that this morning. Sin is a corrupting agent. It rots relationships. It rots families. It rots institutions. It rots hearts. And God, in His wisdom, has placed His people, like salt, throughout this decaying world to hold back — to slow down — the process of corruption. We are a preserving influence. Where the church is present, where believers live out their faith with integrity, sin doesn't get to run its full, unchecked course. We hold something back. We're a restraint on decay.
Salt Was Used For Flavor
It still is right? Salt makes food taste like something.
6 Can flavorless food be eaten without salt?
And the answer is obviously no. Nobody wants to eat a meal with no salt in it. It’s bland. It’s tasteless. It doesn’t satisfy.
And we can say that’s true of a life, too. A life without the influence of Godliness in it is a flat life. It’s tasteless. But when believers are genuinely, authentically present in a workplace, a family, a friendship, or a school, something changes. There’s a flavor to it. Joy shows up where there wasn’t any before. Hope shows up where there wasn’t any before. That’s salt doing what salt does...adding flavor.
Salt Represented Covenant
19 “All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as an ordinance forever; it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord with you and your descendants with you.”
5 Should you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt?
In the ancient Near East, salt was sometimes used to seal an agreement - a covenant - because salt doesn’t easily break down. It’s stable. It’s enduring. When you sealed something with salt, you were saying, “This is permanent. This holds.”
So when Jesus says "you are the salt of the earth," I believe He's saying all three things at once. You are a preserving influence against decay. You bring flavor — richness, savor — into a bland and hopeless world. And you represent the covenant of God — you are the visible reminder that God has made a lasting agreement with His people, and through you, He's inviting others in.
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
Now here's something interesting. Pure sodium chloride doesn't actually lose its saltiness — chemically that's not really possible. But the salt available in Jesus' day, especially salt harvested from the Dead Sea region, was often impure. It was mixed with gypsum and other minerals. And over time, exposure to moisture and the elements could leach the actual sodium chloride out of the mixture, leaving behind a white, salt-looking residue that had absolutely no preserving or flavoring power left in it at all. It looked like salt. It just didn't do what salt does anymore.
And listen — I don't think we need to work very hard to find the application here. There is a version of Christianity that looks like salt, that sits on the shelf and gets labeled "salt," but has lost the very thing that made it salt in the first place. No preserving power. No flavor. No influence. And Jesus says that kind of salt is good for nothing — it gets thrown out, trampled underfoot.
That should sober us up a little bit this morning, shouldn't it? Because the question isn't "are we called to be salt?" We are. The question is — are we still salty? Is there still something in our lives that pushes back decay/corruption, that adds flavor, that reflects the covenant of God? Or have we become so absorbed into the culture around us — so diluted, so compromised — that we look like believers but we don't season anything anymore?
And I think this illustration works best when you work these three applications backwards. Because we have been saved by the grace of God and brought under a new covenant, we are to be different. We are to be distinct. We are to add flavor to the situation at hand. We are to make a difference. And how do we do that? We preserve what is good:
When everybody else is gossiping, don't participate—and speak well of the person.
When everybody else is dishonest, tell the truth even when it costs you.
When someone is being mistreated, stand beside them.
When your workplace is filled with complaining, practice gratitude.
When someone needs help, serve them.
When conflict erupts, be a peacemaker.
When sexual immorality is normalized, practice purity without self-righteousness.
When everybody is angry, be gentle.
You might ask, “Well how do you know that’s exactly what this means?” That’s a great question. Look at your Bibles. We are currently in verse 13, but back up to the beginning of the chapter. This section of Scripture is known as the Sermon on the Mount. We actually preached through this entire Sermon a few years ago.
Jesus starts the Sermon on the Mount with what is called “The Beatitudes”. And what do those teach?
You are to be poor in spirit, mourn over sin and wickedness, be meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, be merciful, be pure in heart, be a peacemaker, be willing to be persecuted for righteousness’ sake.
And then immediately after finishing those Beatitudes, Jesus says, “YOU are the salt of the earth.” So to be salt is to live out these beatitudes in your lives. That is how we stay salty.
Let’s look at another verse:
50 Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”
We see this same illustration being used by Jesus in another context. Right before Jesus says this, the disciples had been arguing about who was the greatest among them. There was rivalry. There was division. There was a lack of peace in the camp.
Whatever the precise nuance of salt in Mark 9:50, notice where Jesus takes it: ‘Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.’ Kingdom influence isn't merely about how we behave toward the world. It includes how Christ's people behave toward one another
God has scattered His people throughout the world like salt—not to become like the world, but to exert a godly influence upon it.
Now, let’s go back to Matthew 5, because right after Jesus talks about salt, He pivots - in the same breath - to a second image.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
So we are the salt of the earth, and now we are also the light of the world.
Everybody listening to Jesus understood the picture. Put a city high on a hill, and it becomes visible from a great distance—especially when its lamps begin burning after dark.
"A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." It's not a suggestion. It's not a command, even. It's a statement of fact. If you're a city on a hill, people are going to see you whether you like it or not! That's just what happens when something is placed up high and lit.
15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
When a lamp is lit, its purpose is to shine. You put it on a lampstand so that it puts off light for everyone in the house. To cover it up would defeat the purpose of lighting it in the first place.
I think Jesus is describing what some of His followers do with their faith. They have the light — they've been made light, by grace, through Christ — and then they cover it. Out of fear. Out of embarrassment. Out of a desire to blend in rather than stand out. And Jesus says, that's not what light is for.
There is an absurdity built into the picture. Nobody lights a lamp and immediately covers it up. A hidden Christian is a contradiction of purpose.
Your Christianity shouldn't only be visible at church, around Christians, during worship, when the preacher is watching, or when Christianity is socially convenient. It should be visible at the restaurant, ballfield, workplace, school, neighborhood, family gathering, grocery store, and online.
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
We aren’t independently luminous. We shine because we belong to Christ!
Verse 16 brings this thought home for us:
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Notice what light is not for, according to this verse. Light is not for drawing attention to yourself. Light is not a spotlight you put on your own goodness so people say, "Wow, look how good that person is." No. No. Look at the purpose clause right there at the end — "that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." The light shines so that God gets the glory. Our good works are the light — but the light points past us, to Him.
Salt preserves what is good.
Light reveals what is good.
Salt works quietly, hidden, mixed into the thing it's preserving. Light works visibly, out in the open, impossible to hide. Jesus gives us both pictures because we need both. We need a hidden, internal, preserving influence, and we need a visible, external, undeniable witness. Salt and light. Together.
Now let’s get practical. What are good works? He says that we are to let our light shine before men, that they may see our good works...
Well, throughout the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, He spells out what these good works are:
Forgive people who wrong them — Matthew 5:23–24; 6:14–15
Keep their word — Matthew 5:37
Refuse retaliation — Matthew 5:38–42
Love their enemies — Matthew 5:44
Give generously — Matthew 6:1–4
Pray genuinely — Matthew 6:5–13
Prioritize God's kingdom over possessions — Matthew 6:19–34
Treat others graciously — Matthew 7:1–5, 12
Actually obey Jesus — Matthew 7:24–27
Jesus Himself spells out for us what good works we are to have before others, so we don’t have to guess. And here’s the best part, as we do these good works, He says that others will see them and glorify Him. So if we truly want to shine brightly, and bring God glory by how we live our lives, this is where we should start.
Let me show you one other Scripture:
14 Do all things without complaining and disputing,
15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
Now isn’t that interesting? Paul uses the exact same imagery that Jesus used. And notice the context he uses it in. He doesn’t say “go do some spectacular thing so that you might shine before men.” He simply says, “do whatever you do without complaining and disputing.” And if you do that, “you will shine as lights in the world.”
Doesn’t that hit home? I mean it’s so simple… yet it’s not. Once again, we are being challenged by the Word of God to look at ourselves in the mirror through the lens of truth and honestly evaluate whether we like what we see or not. Here’s a hint… if it doesn’t align with his word, you shouldn’t like it. Better yet, you shouldn’t accept it.
Next Steps
Next Steps
And maybe that's where all of this needs to land this morning.
Because when we hear Jesus say, “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world,” we can make that sound like something reserved for missionaries, preachers, evangelists, or people doing something extraordinary for God.
But that's not what Jesus said.
He looked at ordinary people who belonged to Him and said, “YOU are the salt of the earth. YOU are the light of the world.”
Church, God has made us different on purpose.
He hasn't made us different so that we can look down on everybody else.
He hasn't made us different so that we can hide from everybody else.
And He hasn't made us different simply so that everybody will notice how different we are.
He has made us different so that wherever He places us, our lives can make a difference.
Salt doesn't do any good sitting in the shaker.
Light doesn't do any good hidden under a basket.
Salt has to get into what is decaying.
Light has to shine into what is dark.
And that's exactly where God has put us.
He's put some of you in workplaces where people desperately need to see what integrity looks like.
He's put some of you in families where people need to see what forgiveness looks like.
He's put some of you around people consumed by anger who need to see what gentleness looks like.
He's put some of you around people without hope who need to see what hope looks like.
He's put some of you in relationships with people who may never open a Bible—but every single day, they're watching you.
So here's the question:
What difference does it make that you're there?
If you are the salt of the earth, what are you preserving?
If you are the light of the world, what are you illuminating?
If somebody watched the way you worked, talked, responded, forgave, spent, served, loved, handled conflict, treated your spouse, raised your children, or interacted with people online—would they see something different?
And more importantly:
Would that difference eventually point them toward Jesus?
Because that's the goal.
Jesus didn't say, “Let your light shine before men so they'll see your good works and tell everybody how wonderful you are.”
He said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
The salt isn't the meal.
The light isn't the destination.
And we aren't the Savior.
Our job is simply to live such distinctly Christ-shaped lives that when people encounter us, they catch a glimpse of Him.
That's what it means to be a stranger.
This world isn't our home—but God has intentionally left us here.
We're not supposed to become like the world.
We're not supposed to hide from the world.
We're supposed to influence the world.
So tomorrow morning, when you walk into that workplace—be salt.
When you sit down in that classroom—be light.
When you walk onto that ballfield—be salt.
When you get on social media—be light.
When conflict erupts in your family—be salt.
When somebody around you is walking through darkness—be light.
Preserve what is good.
Reveal what is good.
Live out the character of Christ right in the middle of a world that desperately needs to see Him.
Church, we are strangers here.
But we are different on purpose.
And maybe the prayer we need to pray this morning is simply this:
“Father, wherever You have placed me, help me make Jesus visible there.”
