Light Shining

Introduction:

Matthew 5:13–16 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. 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.

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. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 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. In the same way, let you light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to you Father who is in heaven.

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. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 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. In the same way, let you light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to you Father who is in heaven.

Main Point: Jesus is conveying a warning: salt must be salty or it will be thrown out; light must shine.

Salt

“Loses its saltiness” reads more literally “is defiled.” This is not the scientifically impossible notion of salt becoming flavorless but rather the common problem in the ancient world of salt being mixed with various impure substances and therefore becoming worthless as a preservative.

What then did Jesus mean?

(1) One possibility is that Jesus is alluding to rock formations that contained deposits of sodium chloride. Meat and fish were packed in these rocks to preserve them. After a period of time the salt leached out of the rocks, so the rocks were not good for anything and so thrown out. As believers, we are either a preservative or a worthless rock!

(2) Jesus may also have had in mind the salt that was collected from the Dead Sea by evaporation. This salt often included crystals of another mineral, gypsum, which is formed by the precipitation of calcium sulfate from seawater. Salt and gypsum were often mixed in various saline deposits. When people went to collect salt, this impure mixture of salt and gypsum could easily be mistaken for pure salt. But the mixture was not usable for either preservation or seasoning, so was regarded as having lost its usefulness.

(3) Jesus may be alluding to the use of salt blocks by Arab bakers to line the floor of their ovens. After some time the intense heat eventually caused the blocks to crystallize and undergo a change in chemical composition, finally being thrown out as unserviceable.

Light

The lamp used in a typical Palestinian home was a partially closed reservoir made of clay. It had a hole on top to pour oil in and a spout on one end into which a wick of flax or cotton was set. It was a fairly small lamp, which gave off only a modest light; thus, to give maximum illumination it was placed on a lampstand. Since many Jewish homes were often modest one-room structures, such an elevated lamp could give light to everyone in the house. Lamps were essential for finding one’s way in enclosed areas during the night and were placed under a measuring bowl only to extinguish the light (cf. m. Šabb. 16.1).

Both metaphors of salt and light raise important questions about Christian involvement in society regarding all forms of separatism or withdrawal. We are not called to control secular power structures; neither are we promised that we can Christianize the legislation and values of the world. But we must remain active preservative agents, indeed irritants, in calling the world to heed God’s standards. We dare not form isolated Christian enclaves to which the world pays no attention.

Motives:

Ulterior means something is intentionally kept concealed. An ulterior motive is usually manipulative. It is when we do or say one thing out in the open but intend or mean another thing in private.

Ultimate means the farthest point of a journey. An ultimate goal is an eventual point or a longed-for destination. Examples are when a person begins college hoping to become a physician one day or when a kid starts playing basketball with dreams of one day playing in the NBA.

The ulterior motive in good neighboring must never be to share the gospel. But the ultimate motive is just that—to share the story of Jesus and his impact on our lives.

We don’t love our neighbors to convert them; we love our neighbors because we are converted.

Most believers want the people they know to have an authentic relationship with Jesus. But if our friends choose not to enter into that relationship, we should still desire to be friends with them.

We don’t love our neighbors so they will know Jesus; we love our neighbors because we already love Jesus and trust him. We are called to love our neighbors, even if our neighbors never show any interest in Jesus, because we have made Jesus our highest priority.

If we live out the Great Commandment, an environment is created where the Great Commission can be effectively obeyed. Loving people who live around us fosters an environment where people trust one another.

Good neighboring is not about blindly giving handouts. Rather, it means you walk alongside those in need and help them find their way.

Giving and Receiving:

Have you ever had a friendship that felt one-sided? One in which all you did was give, give, give? You were constantly helping out, going the extra mile, giving advice, and pouring your energy into someone else. At first it felt great, as though you were truly helping someone in need. This person appreciated your efforts and expressed gratitude. Over time, though, the relationship lacked genuine depth. You grew tired. You felt used. The person was a bottomless pit of needs; there was no way for your friendship to evolve into a satisfying relationship for both of you. Or maybe you were friends with a person who was always caring for you. As a result, she didn’t show any signs of need. She was available to help when you needed it but didn’t ever seem to need help in her own life. This person’s problem was a lack of vulnerability, and this made you feel like a project and not a participant in the relationship. Great neighborhoods are built on reciprocal relationships, on two-way streets.

When giving is one-sided, it robs the “needy” one of his dignity, because it makes him dependent. But when giving is two-sided, everyone feels a sense of worth. We need to understand that everyone on our block has something to bring to a relationship.

Authenticity is crucial when it comes to the art of receiving. As you begin to look for ways to receive, you might be tempted to create artificial situations so you can interact with your neighbors. You might find yourself thinking, I haven’t seen Karen in a while. I don’t really need any sugar right now but maybe I should just go over to her house and ask to borrow some.

Conflict:

What do you do when you have a neighbor you can’t seem to get along with? Regardless of who your neighbor is or how bad a human being you think he is, you’re called to love that person. You might not be called to be best friends with him. But if the person lives near you, you are called to be a good neighbor. Believe it or not, when friction exists, great opportunities exist as well.

C. S. Lewis describes the difference between excusing and forgiving very eloquently:

I find that when I think I am asking God to forgive me I am often . . . asking Him to do something quite different. I am asking Him not to forgive me but to excuse me. But there is all the difference in the world between forgiving and excusing. Forgiveness says, “Yes, you have done this thing, but I accept your apology; I will never hold it against you and everything between us will be exactly as it was before.” But excusing says, “I see that you couldn’t help it or didn’t mean it; you weren’t really to blame.” If one was not really to blame then there is nothing to forgive. . . . What we call “asking God’s forgiveness” very often really consists in asking God to accept our excuses. To excuse what can really produce good excuses is not Christian charity; it is only fairness. To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.

Steps to take when you have problems with your neighbor:

Identify the issue and assess its severityChoose to obey Jesus’s command to pray for those who are your enemiesIf you are convicted by God of wrongdoing, look for an opportunity to apologize for your part in the matterGo the extra mileFind an indirect way to bless people.