Tasty Salt & Unshaded Light

Introduction

How many of us are missing that hour of sleep that should have occurred between 2:00 & 3:00 this morning? This whole DST experiment is a testimony to the power of light.

Last Monday Ann & I both woke before the alarm because bright light was reflecting off the snow and pouring through the window.

15 years ago Pastor Rick Rusaw wrote a book titled the Externally Focused Church. In the book he asked, “If Your Church Vanished, Would Your Community Weep? Would Anyone Notice? Would Anyone Care?”

We tend to think of church as the gathering place or the group when gathered. The reality is that our congregation has one reputation when we are gathered, and a different one when we are scattered.

In the second presidential campaign that I was legally allowed to vote, George H.W. Bush made a speech introducing the concept of a thousand points of light. It was a response to the belief that institutions are the best instrument of change. Bush’s proposal was that America is at its best when individual citizens are involved in making our world better.

Bush 41’s concept was simply an expansion of what Jesus said in today’s Scripture text.

Matthew 5:13–16 ESV:2016

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. 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.

Transition: Lets look closer at the 3 word pictures painted by Jesus in these verses. The first analogy is…

We are Salt (Mt 5:13)

Jesus starts by an emphatic “you.” Some think politicians, the wealthy and celebrities are the ones who shape society. People spout “separation of Church and State” to shame Christ-followers into silence, but Jesus states that His followers are the ones who should have a voice in society, business and the arts.

We should not depend upon political party as a means to power, but proclaim Truth as representatives of the One True God.

Source of Salt

1. Salt comes from the earth, is refined/purified for human usefulness, if not useful for human flourishing it returns to the earth. Does this not sound a whole lot like Genesis 2? God forms man from the dust of the ground, breathes His Spirit into the Man. And then when man dies, his body returns to dust as stated in PS 90:3.

2. I’ve read outside of the Bible that all the salt in the world comes from evaporated sea water. As an interesting sidenote, the fact that one of the country’s largest salt mines is located 100 miles west of us in the center of Kansas, is indication that Kansas was one-time covered by seawater (Does anyone else see Noah’s flood in Genesis 9 as a possible explanation?).

Uses of Salt

1. Seasoning – Makes things more pleasant

2. Fertilizer/soil conditioner - “worthless” salt still had a purpose in balancing the PH of the soil. This would be salt that had become laced with impurities unfit for human consumption. High concentrations of salt could be applied to paths as a weed killer. Think the Round-up of the first century.

3. Preservative - Salt became a symbol of permanence.

a. Teaching (Gen 19:26) – Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt as a permanent warning about disobedience.

b. Worship (Lev 2:13) – grain offering was to include salt. Some believe this was a way of adding permanence to the seasonal crop.

c. Health (Ezek 16:4) – newborns were washed in saltwater or rubbed with salt before being wrapped in strips of cloth. Some believe this invoked God’s preservation of the vulnerable life. Some believe it had a medicinal effect on the tender skin.

d. Hospitality (Ezra 4:14) – consuming salt from one’s table obligated the diner to consider the interests of his host

4. Figuratively as wisdom (Col 4:6).

Colossians 4:6 (ESV) — Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

· In our recent study of the 10 commands we found that truth is to be communicated with wisdom. Sometimes we need courage to speak and sometimes we need wisdom to remain silent. Just as experience teaches when to add and when to restrain salt, wisdom dictates when to speak and when to remain quiet.

5. The phrase “has lost its taste” is literally the word moronic and means “to become foolish or useless”. Since NaCl (Sodium Chloride) is an ionic molecule, it is impossible for it to become tasteless. One commentator writes, “Unsalty salt is a contradiction in terms (“like water losing its wetness).”[i] However, salt can be so diluted by other impurities or materials that the salt content is insufficient to accomplish its purpose.

Value of Salt

1. Seasoning

a. The world should be a better place because we are here.

b. Our music and art should make life pleasant

c. Our involvement in the sciences should make life better

d. Our involvement in government and business should enhance the quality of life for our neighbors.

e. Over the centuries, churches have been considered contributors to society. The reason churches don’t pay taxes is because our forefathers saw the intangible value that churches provide to the neighborhood exceeds the value of taxes that could be levied against property.

Where I attended Bible college was right between one of Chicago’s poorest housing projects (Cabrini Green) and one of the wealthiest retail districts in the Country (the Magnificent Mile of Michigan Ave). Across the street from Campus was a CPD substation. The Commander of that station came to our chapel service one day and told us, “When the students come back from Summer it is like a light goes on in the River North District”.

2. Preservation

I am not a scientist nor a physicist, but my simple understanding of the 2nd law of thermodynamics is that energy only flows one-way apart from intervention. For example, a battery on the shelf may lose charge over time, but never gain voltage unless an external force is applied.

a. This is why God says that we are placed in our neighborhoods to preserve them from becoming evil or lawless.

b. Roman soldiers were compensated with a daily ration of salt – “he isn’t worth his salt”. The physical demands of a soldier would leave him dehydrated and weak, but a proper portion of salt would balance his electrolytes permitting him to avoid the pain of muscle cramps.

c. “What is good in society his followers keep wholesome. What is corrupt they oppose; they penetrate society for good and act as a kind of moral antiseptic”[ii]

Transition: Jesus goes on to say that we not only preserve society, but we also illuminate it.

We are Light (Mt 5:14-16)

Jesus repeats the emphatic “you.” “The light of the world implies that the world is in darkness (despite its continuing claims to enlightenment!)”[iii] Does culture enlighten the Church, or should the Church inform culture?

THE Light – God in Flesh (MT 4:1 & Is 9:2)

Isaiah 9 contains that great passage often referred to at Christmas – Isaiah 9:6 (ESV) — For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

1. Before the child is introduced, v.2. speaks of “a great light” that shines upon all those who dwell in darkness.

2. John 8:12, 9:5 & 12:35 all speak of Jesus as THE light as long as He was on earth.

3. When Jesus ascended He had prepared His disciples in passages like we are studying today for us to carry on the illumination that He introduced.

The City – combined lights (v.14)

1. “The combined impact of the many lights which make up a town at night illustrates more appropriately than the single lamp of v. 15 the corporate effect of the disciple community on the surrounding darkness.”[iv]

2. This is the “church gathered” as I mentioned in my introduction.

3. Some people begin to believe that they don’t benefit from the corporate body.

4. Which has more brilliance, a single candlestick on a table or a fully lit candelabra?

5. As Jesus was speak to His disciples that were gathered on the side of the mountain, He was indicating that our gathered presence shines for the world to see, just as a city on a hill glows in the darkness.

The Lamp – individual flame (v.15)

1. While a brilliant candelabra gives more light, there are times when a dimmer, single flame is preferred.

2. This is the “church scattered” or the 1,000 points of light that I mentioned earlier.

There is one point where electricity comes from through the meter into your house. Just downline from that meter is a fuse box or breaker panel where that power is divided into individual circuits that deliver power to your fixtures and outlets in the various rooms of your home.

3. When Jesus says, “I am the light of the World”, He is saying ‘I’m the power station’. When He says, “You are the light of the world”, He means ‘You are the outlets that distribute my power into individual neighborhoods, businesses, and homes’.

Transition: Jesus was an application-based preacher, so He moves from the 3 word pictures to 2 specific instructions

Two Mandates (v.16)

Negative – Do Not Become Useless (13b)

1. Salt is most effective in the correct proportion.

2. A frequent trend in religious circles is to withdraw from society in a monastic or counter-cultural community. While these communes may very devout or pious, they have little influence on the society at large.

Many years ago I saw the Harrison Ford movie Witness. Witness is the story of an Amish lady who witnesses a crime and an Englishman detective (Ford) settles into the community to protect the woman from the perpetrators of the crime. I must confess, this was my first introduction to Amish life and the simplicity of the Amish life has many appeals. But the Amish communities have very little influence upon those who live just beyond their fences.

3. There is a danger too isolated or diluted which has no effect. And there is a danger of being too concentrated, which is repulsive and causes avoidance.

Positive – Inspire Praise (16b)

1. Others will see

· The Visitor’s bureau has put up some pretty impressive signs drawing attention to the Flint Hills, but the goal of the sign is not to say “what an impressive sign”

· The goal is to catch attention and deflect to the greater glory.

· Seen works in 5:16 is not a contradiction to seen works in 6:1 because the motive in chapter 6 is quite selfish while the one here is selfless.

2. Others will glorify God

· Several years ago a frozen pizza company pitched an ad campaign “What do you want on your Tombstone?”

· I have noticed some very elaborate headstones erected as markers on graves of people who left a rather ordinary legacy. And I have observed some rather ordinary stones indicating a significant legacy.

· I have met with families who went to great lengths to tell the story of and preserve the memory of a loved one, and I’ve consulted with individuals who have clearly said, “More than anything else, make sure the Gospel is preached to those who gather!”

· When people remanence about your life, will they remember what you did or will they recall the God you served?

· Verse 16 states that the goal of a disciple is to live in such a way SO THAT our Father receives praise.

Conclusion:

I do believe that if FHCC vanished, Chase County would weep. Chase County would notice. Chase County would care. Even more I believe if all the Christ-followers (the hundreds of points of light) disappeared from Chase County, this region would notice. This area would care.

Tim Keller tweeted this week, “When you experience God it is deeply personal, but it’s not at all private”. Today’s text reminds us that God calls us to influence. The reason God doesn’t call us home to Heaven as soon as we accept Christ, is because He saves us for a purpose—to accomplish the good works he prepared for us to do (Eph 2:10).

Just as it would be foolish to purchase a lamp and refuse to put a bulb in it or plug it in, it would not make sense for God to put His Holy Spirit in you for you to not be an influence.

2 Questions

1. Does God’s light dwell in you? Have you experienced that moment of surrender when you confessed your sin and received the forgiveness that is only possible because Jesus died, was buried and rose again for you?

2. Is your life defined by salt and light? Do the people around you admit that their life is better because you are a representative of Christ to them?

[i] 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.

[ii] Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 104.

[iii] Ibid., 104.

[iv] R. T. France, 176.