You Are the Salt

How would you describe a disciple? What key words would you use? And then what mission would a disciple have in this world? We’ll come back to that.

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How would you describe a disciple? What key words would you use? And then what mission would a disciple have in this world? We’ll come back to that.

As we look at , many of you will recognize this as the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. This is the first of 5 major discourses in Matthew. Jesus thought it important to teach His disciples. He spent ample time teaching and preparing them. He wanted His disciples to have wisdom and spiritual insight and to know things of major significance - there was nothing arbitrary about what He taught. Jesus wanted His disciples to know significant truths about life, about God, about spiritual matters, about the Kingdom of God and much more. He wants His disciples to be wise and informed. How do you become wise and informed?

Matthew 5:1–2 NIV

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said:

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.

Understand, that just being around Jesus doesn’t necessarily make you a disciple. The crowds were there, but who was Jesus focused on? The ones who came to Him.

So, the first thing you got to do is hang out with Him. That’s what they did. Jesus went up there, that’s where they went. Where He went, they went. When they came to Him, Jesus did what? Began to teach them.

So here’s the question: are you hanging out with Jesus on a regular basis? Are you going to Him, every day and listening, allowing the Spirit to teach you? Or are you expecting Jesus to follow you around? There’s a big difference.

Does He want His disciples just to know stuff? No. When Jesus teaches, there was and is an expectation that they would actually put into practice what He taught.

Matthew 7:24 NIV

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

“… everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

So, How would you describe a disciple? One who follows, who listens and then practices. Those are three key words to describe a disciple. Disciples are those who learn from, follow and imitate Jesus. And to be a disciple, you got to hang out with Him, and sit under His teaching.

Now, I really believe there is a difference between just being saved or calling yourself a Christian or attending church and actually being a disciple.

A disciple of Christ will make it a point to go where Jesus is, to sit with Him and listen and learn from Him.

A disciple will make certain he or she gets away from the “crowds” – to get away from the business of life, and spend one on one time with the Lord.

So, how would you describe a disciple, and would you classify yourself as a disciple? If the answer is yes, then we’re good. IF the answer is no, then I would challenge you to make some changes – turn off the TV, get up earlier, stay up later and spend time with our Savior.

I also want you to notice something about Jesus. What did Jesus do when He saw the crowds? He went up on the mountainside. Now we know that typically Jesus has compassion on the crowds, and He’ll feed them or heal, drive out demons etc. But on this occasion, it’s as if Jesus indicated to His disciples, “Hey, it’s too crowded - let’s get alone – just us.”

So not only should we make time to be alone with Christ, but understand, He desires to be alone with us as well. Not a one-way-street. If you haven’t done so in a while, go get alone with the Lord – whether its for an hour, a day or a weekend. Get away from the “crowd” – whatever your crowd is.

So the disciples and Jesus (and the crowd, they actually followed Jesus) are on this mountainside, probably looking out over the sea of Galilee (include Pic) and He begins to teach them. We find out at the end in chapter 7, that the crowds were amazed, not because these were nice little saying, but because Jesus taught with authority. In other words, this is worth paying attention to.

So Jesus began with what we call the Beatitudes, and then jump to verses 13-16. Vision statement for all believers.

Matthew 5:13–16 NIV

“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. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 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. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 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. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Notice, there are two “You are” statements: “You are salt” and “You are light.” These were spoken and written in the indicative mood. The indicative mood is basically a statement of reality or often a statement of fact. For example, “My wife is beautiful – it’s a simple statement of reality.” And, I just earned some major points.

Now, why is that important for us to know (talking about the You are statements)? Understand that Jesus is not suggesting or hoping or even demanding that His disciples will be salt and light. Nor is He suggesting it’s a choice. It is a statement of reality - as disciples of Christ, we are salt and light - period. Like it or not, when a person carries the name of God (2nd Commandment), they become salt and light. However, by implication of what Jesus said, we can either be good salt, or bad salt. We can be a visible light, or a useless light.

I will cut to the chase on this one – salt that loses its saltiness and a light that refuses to shine is useless. Seriously, what good is a flashlight that’s dead? You could probably throw it at something that goes bump in the night, but it’s not fulfilling its purpose – it’s useless. Same with salt – if it loses its usefulness, then what good is it. It’s not all doom and gloom – so hang with me.

Let’s talk about salt this morning.

Jesus says that His disciples are the salt of the earth. Now there are many uses for salt, but four that probably would have been familiar to the disciples: a preservative; a flavor enhancement and it has both healing and destructive properties (salt melts ice and can do some unusual things to slugs). So when Jesus said we are the salt of the earth, I believe He had all these properties in mind.

If salt has healing properties, and we are salt, then Christians and the Church community should be healers – we should be helping heal a very broken, hurt and unhealthy world. We should be the mender of souls. We should be the greatest healing organization in the world. – helping people find emotional and spiritual health so they too can reach their full potential in Christ.

If salt preserves, then Christians should be the greatest preservers of peace and truth. We should be the loudest voice for preserving life and families and morality and other things that are dear to God’s heart. The Church should be the greatest rescuer of orphans, and widows and slaves – in many cases it has, but we can do better.

By the way – would you consider being a foster parent? What a great way to help preserve someone’s life. What a great way to be salt.

If salt enhances, then Christians should enhance the community in which they live and serve. Our neighborhoods, apartment complexes, places of employment … should all be better. And that is one reason why we need to continue to pray for and discover God’s vision for this church – this community should be better because we are here.

If salt can destroy, then the Christian community should be the most vigilant and bold in fighting against and destroying the works of the devil. We should be waging war against that which is destroying our children, our families and our societies ….

Think about our world right now. This broken and chaotic world needs us to be salt more than ever. Think of the division and tension in this world. Think about the catastrophes and disasters that are increasing around the globe. Think of human slavery, addictions, abuse, divorce … it’s all increasing – becoming the norm. Think of the cultural shift when it comes to sexuality, and sexual identity and the attack on what it means to be a man or a woman. Blatant evil and wickedness and immorality is increasing, openly - while God and the Bible and prayer is being condemned.

This world is broken, it’s hurting – and it’s also deceived and confused. We cannot run and hide from our obligation to be salt. Being salt really is about being – it’s about who we are in Christ – we are forgiven, made new and we should look at life through a different worldview -

2 Corinthians 5:14 NIV

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.

2 Corinthians 5:16 NIV

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

… and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.

2 Corinthians 5:18–20 NIV

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

To be salt means to be agents of reconciliation – bridging the gap between a dying world and the One who can save them. We cannot reject the people of the world – they need us more than ever. They need us to be the healers, and the peacemakers, and the life preservers and the destroyers of evil.

Now, just because we call ourselves Christians doesn’t mean that we’re salty (effective). Jesus doesn’t beat around the bush. He said,

“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.

Matthew 5:13 NIV

“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.

People get hung up on “Can salt really lose it’s saltiness? I’ve had a little thing of Morton salt in the cupboard for 5-years and it’s still good.” No, salt does lose it’s saltiness and Jesus is not giving a science lesson. This is a metaphor. Salt cannot lose it’s property as salt. However, it can lose its flavor, and its distinctiveness and its effectiveness if it becomes contaminated or saturated with other substances. And Biblically speaking, salt can become – listen - defiled, thus making it worthless and ineffective in fulfilling its purposes.

And that is the implication here. If we, as Christians and as the Church allow ourselves to become contaminated with sin, and allow ourselves to become saturated with impurities or distractions, whether good or bad, we lose our flavor, we lose our distinctiveness and our effectiveness. We as a person do not become worthless – you are never worthless in God’s sight – however, we become worthless and ineffective in Kingdom work – ineffective in our witness.

Now, please understand this is not black and white. This is not you are either on one of two extremes - you’re either 100% pure salt without any impurities or you’re completely worthless and ineffective. That’s not the point – the point is that we should strive toward purity – purity of body, soul and spirit – purity of heart, and mind. The more we seek purity, the more effective we become in Kingdom work – the more distinctive we become in a broken world – the more we heal, and enhance and preserve and destroy darkness.

But you know what concerns me more than the fact that we do struggle with impurities in our lives? It’s when Christians don’t care. When Christians are not concerned about pursuing purity – that really concerns me. Why? Because you don’t understand what sin does and what Jesus did because of sin.

Titus 2:11–14 NIV

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

If you’re not concerned about purity, then you’re not really concerned about the cross.

Now, if being a disciple means hanging out, listening and practicing; if being a disciple means being salt – how do we do this? I think is a good place to start.

Romans 12:1–2 NIV

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

That’s where you start and it’s called surrender.

Let’s just finish with some questions:

1) What is the Holy Spirit saying to you right now?

Acknowledge it – Lord I hear you. Repent if need be.

2) What am I going to do about what the Holy Spirit just revealed to me?

Tell someone? Get rid of something? Make some changes?

3) What are 3 possible ways you can be salt this week?

See, being salt requires action. If salt just sits in a salt shaker, what good is it. Doesn’t matter how pure it is – it has a purpose. How am I going to heal, preserve, enhance, or destroy?

4) Lastly, let’s commit to asking the Lord every day, “Lord to help be salt wherever I am.”

Lord, how can I be salt here? How can I be salt there?

It really starts, however, with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.