Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction/Seeing the Need

Salt is an amazing thing.

Just a little bit goes a long way to transform an otherwise bland, one-dimensional dish into one that suddenly seems full of subtlety and yummy goodness.

I am not sure how, but salt seems to have a way of bringing out flavor that was already present rather than introducing a foreign flavor that overwhelms and hides.

Jesus said the church should be like salt.

This is a metaphor that doesn’t pit the church over against the world, as if one were good and the other inherently evil.

No. God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them and called it all good.

Sure, sin and disobedience have spoiled a lot of that original goodness, but God, the Master Cook, has a solution.

With a pinch of salty love here, savory forgiveness there, and a few dollops of mercy and peace on the side, the world might soon rediscover the original recipe for life that is a house favorite for anyone willing to risk a taste.

What is true of salt is equally true of light.

It cannot be hidden.

It is meant to help, not to hinder.

It is designed to reveal what is already present in us and in the world, truths that are often obscured by other things.

Light and salt are metaphors that Jesus used to describe how Christians are called to be a model of faith and love to those around us.

This lesson reflects on these images more deeply and how Jesus’ call to live differently is not a rejection of God’s law bu a fulfillment.

A Covenant of Salt -

In the ancient Near East, it was common for salt to be used when people were entering into contracts, agreements, and covenants.

They would partake of salt together as a sign and a symbol of faithfulness and enduring friendship and commitment, Similar practices were part of ancient Israel.

records how the Lord made a promise to Aaron, Moses’ brother, who became the high priest over all of Israel.

God gave specific instructions for how the priests and their families would be provided for in every generation.

“All the holy gift offerings that the Israelites raise to the Lord I have given to you, your sons, your sons, and your daughters.

This is a permanent regulation.

It is a covenant of salt forever in the Lord’s presence, for you and your descendants.”

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Notice the language used to describe this promise is a “covenant of salt.”

Salt implied permanence.

Salt is one of the oldest methods for curing meats and preserving food from decay.

Before the modern miracle of refrigeration and flash-freezing our food, people used salt.

Jesus stated that we are to be salt and should not lose our saltiness.

Perhaps one of the things this means for followers of Jesus is that we should have a certain enduring quality to the promises we make.

One modern way of putting it is that we should be a people who”say what we mean and mean what we say.”

Later in the same chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus put it even more bluntly: “Let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no”.

We are called to live with an integrity that can be trusted and that does not have an expiration date.

The world could use more of this kind of saltiness.

We need it in our marketplaces, our school systems, our families, our communities, and our churches.

Salt also has amazing healing qualities.

I am not sure if this is another reason Jesus used this metaphor or not, but it is a helpful one in relationship to our Christian calling.

Christians have a role to play in Jesus’ mission of healing all of creation.

Salt is a metaphor rich in meaning, which is perhaps why Jesus found it a helpful sermon illustration.

Salt provides flavor to bland food, it serves as a preservative to ward against decay, and it has healing and cleansing properties.

Of course, too much salt can quickly overwhelm food, leaving dinner guests clutching their stomachs, scrambling for water to wash away the briny aftertaste, and heading for the door.

Too much of the church’s history with evangelism is like this type of overdose on salt.

It leaves unbelievers with no taste for religion, no desire for the bread from heaven, and no awareness of what culinary wonders await those who accept the invitation to come to the Lord’s great banquet.

Spiritual saltiness is an amazing thing, but it does its best work quietly: infusing bland and purposeless lives with hints of yet discovered meaning: allowing the diverse and unique distinctiveness of every participating person, family, and community to recognize how important they are to the whole; infusing flavor into all of life so that it can be lived according to the original recipe.

Can you think of ways that Christians have lost their saltiness?

This Little Light of Mine - 5:14-16

Matthew 5:14-16

Light is another deeply meaningful metaphor in Scripture.

The psalmist described God’s Word as light that provides for all who seek to walk in righteousness and truth: “Your word is a lamp before my feet and a light for my journey.”

Light is used not only to describe God but also to describe God’s people.

The prophet Isaiah declared that Israel must return to the Lord because God desired to “appoint you as light to the nations so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

() We cannot underestimate the importance of light.

Without it, vision is not possible.

Light dispels darkness and attracts insects, animals, and humans because of its properties that can provide heat and illumination.

Jesus compared his followers to light in much the same way the prophet Isaiah did: “You are the light of the world.

A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden” ().

To emphasize the point further, Jesus turned to lamps.

Lamps were created to disperse light in the midst of darkness.

That is their purpose.

It is nonsensical to think that a person would light a lamp and then hide it or “place it under a basket.”

The point is clear.

It is equally nonsensical to think that believers might hide their words and deeds that illuminate the beauty of the gospel that can attract others to God’s truth.

Instead, Jesus exhorted his mountainside congregation to “let your light so shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven.”

Those who study Jesus’ sermon here closely may begin to wonder about how this call to be light makes sense in light of Jesus’ warning later about giving, praying, and fasting in public.

How can we shine our light by doing good things only in secret places seen only by God? That’s a good question.

Jesus’ warning in Chapter 6 seems to focus on doing things with the wrong intentions.

We do not shine our light so that we can receive praise from others.

We do not place our lamp on a lampstand so that we can bring attention to ourselves.

The work of light, like the work of salt, is not meant to be experienced like those who blow the trumpet in the synagogue to get accolades from others.

Light just does its job simply, quietly, and without fanfare.

It illuminates, shines, and provides a way for others to see more clearly.

God’s people, the church, are like light.

God’s people, the church, are like salt.

The world needs joy, peace, integrity, hope, and love sprinkled into the places where life has become bland and uninteresting.

The world needs to see an alternative way that sheds light on the truth about ourselves and our need for God.

What are concrete ways Christians can let their light shine more clearly in your community?

How can we avoid the danger of shining our light in order to impress others or seek recognition?

Go Higher and Deeper -

Jesus did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.

This truth is lost on many contemporary Christians.

In terms of the Law, Jesus was crystal clear.

Jesus did not come to get rid of it.

What he actually did was come to fulfill it, amplify it, and intensify it.

John Wesley, preaching on this particular part of Jesus’ teaching, put his finger on this intensification of God’s law.

Wesley described Jesus’ call as an invitation to go higher and deeper: “Above all, let thy righteousness exceed theirs in the purity and spirituality of it.

What Jesus is emphasizing here is our focus should move beyond external and visible signs of righteous living to interior motives and desires not visible to the human eye.

Going higher and deeper is to take the Law and the Prophets more seriously, not less.

The Pharisees and legal experts were known to follow the Law with meticulous care and precision.

Suggesting that anyone could possibly embody a righteousness that was greater than theirs would have seemed absurd and beyond the realm of possibility for ordinary people.

In what ways might you commit yourself to go higher and deeper in your commitment to follow Jesus?

Can you think of ways we sometimes just follow the letter of the Law and not the Spirit?

Conclusion

If we are to be a people with a new, heartfelt religion that strives to go deeper and higher, we must do more than recite words on a page or stand to confess a creed in our liturgy.

It is not just knowing the commands of Jesus that leads us in this new way of living and loving, it is keeping them that matters: For those who “keep them will called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

One thing is certain.

Whatever we do or say, there are plenty of people watching and learning from our example.

Let’s hope and pray that what they see is how we are striving to live and love the Jesus way.

Can you think of ways your convictions and your behaviors sometimes fail to match up?

Prayer

Lord, forgive us for the ways we fail to be faithful witnesses.

Enable us to let our light shine so that others might be brought to faith in you; in Jesus’ name we pray.