Church on a Hill

Introduction: Salt vs. Sugar prank

We all know what what salt tastes like.

We should know what a Christian looks like when we see them. But our world seems to want to decide what a Christian is based on whatever is convenient at the time.

As we shift focus in our changing of the world from inward to outward, we realize that the best way to change the world is just to be ourselves.

Transition to the Text: Turn in your Bibles to .

Jesus said a lot about who He is. But very rarely did He say what His followers would be. He would say what they would do, but rarely did He tell them what they were to be.

Be perfect.

These are with respect to our

But in the very beginning of the Sermon on the mount after the beatitudes Jesus sets the stage for everything that will come after by telling them what His followers would be: Salt and Light

Read:

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.

Transition to the Big Idea:

Now this is where English is often confusing because you can be singular or plural. But in the original Greek, we can see that Jesus isn’t speaking only to one person, but to a group. What Jesus is saying is that all of you who would follow after me, are the light of the world. So really the church which is the body of believers who are following Jesus

Big Idea: We must be Salt and Light in a Tastelessly Dark World.

Transition to the Points:

Main Point #1 - Be Salty (Matthew 5:13)

Explanation: Today, if you were to say someone is salty, that’s a good thing. It means that you are upset by something fairly meaningless....which maybe is kind of fitting seeing as how so many Christians seem to be upset all the time. But that’s not how it was back then. Salt was a precious commodity. It’s hard for us today to comprehend just how valuable salt was since it’s so common today. And of course, our doctors tell us to use it sparingly. But back then it was incredibly important and valuable because it was so useful in so many different ways.

Salt is a seasoning that brings out the flavor in food.

It’s a preservative that kept foot from going bad in the age before refrigerators.

You add it to water to maintain electrolyte balance in your body.

It has medical properties in cleaning wounds and even new born babies.

In some instances it was even a currency.

But the truth is that salt had so many uses in the ancient world, it’s hard to pinpoint one use.

There were so many uses for salt because it did so many things. In the same way, Christians should do so many things in the world around us. We should make the world around us better. We should act as a preservative pushing back moral decay. We should be generous and loving.

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Illustration: Salt is one of the world’s most plentiful resources. It’s found all over the world and even in unlikely places. There is salt in Antarctica. In the sierra navada mountains 8,000 ft. above sea level is the great Mono Lake. 500 miles from the ocean it’s a mountain salt water lake. What’ amazing is that mono lake is entirely fed by fresh water streams from melting snow, yet it never loses it’s saltiness. That sounds like a Christian metaphor. Christians are found all over the world so the world should be salty. In almost every nation on the planet, the name of Christ is represented, even in places where it is illegal to be a Christians. Christians are everywhere and no matter how hard satan tries to dilute their witness, it only fuels the gospel.

Gospel Application: Christians should be salty

1. By being useful. Just like all the uses of salt, we should have many uses as well. Some people I feel need permission to not be a pastor or a church leader to feel useful to the kingdom of God. If you work in an office, be useful. Be the best worker in your office. If you are an electrician, let no one be able to slander Jesus because of your lack of work. It doesn’t matter if you are a doctor, lawyer, teacher car mechanic, accountant, teacher, realtor or Whatever you do, work as though your boss is Jesus....even if your boss is more like Satan. Don’t cut corner, don’t cheat steal or lie and be thought highly of. People are watching.

The gospel should make us the hardest works, the most loving friends, the most patient parents, the most honest salespeople, the most caring and generous people. As Followers of Jesus, we have the gospel of Jesus, but people might not care if they don’t see us as useful in other areas of our lives. There are of course exceptions. But heaven forbid that its our lives get in the way of someone coming to Jesus.

2. We should never lose our saltiness. When it comes to changing the world around us, the first things Jesus wants us to do, is to look at our lives. Because if you have lost your saltiness because of life’s circumstances, you won’t be much good to anyone.

Bitterness, resentment, disappointment, discouragement, people, politics all have the danger to dilute your saltiness. But they only have power over us if we let them. The gospel reminds us that God is in control of everything.

So just like mono lake, no matter how much the world throws at us, in Jesus, we will never lose our saltiness no matter how tasteless the world gets.

Main Point #2 - Be Light (Matthew 5:14-16)

Explanation: The second thing that Jesus says is that His people are the light of the world. What’s interesting is that Jesus also said that “He is the light of the world.” You might think this is a contradiction, but it’s not. You see, we don’t shine on our own, we only shine when we reflect Jesus as He shines on us.

Illustration: We’re like the moon. The mooon has no light in itself. It only shines when it is reflecting the light of the sun.

We too only shine when we reflect the light of the son....of God.

There is no darkness that can withstand even the smallest light.

Illustration: In almost every movie where people are lost in the wilderness and it is getting dark, they are saved because they see light in the distance. Sometimes its on a hill, but in the darkness they are drawn to the light.

But the funny things about light is that you aren’t drawn to it until the darkness begins to set in.

People may ask, if God is loving, why does He allow the darkness. So that people will be drawn to the light.

And Jesus says that you are that light. You as the church are the light that draws people out of the darkness.

I love 1 Peter 2:9

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

When we first become Christians it is the light of Jesus that attracts us. My guess is that it was that light reflected off of a person who modeled for you what it means to follow Jesus.

Gospel Application: To shine means that we simply reflect Jesus into the world. We are a people who have been saved by the grace of God. We walked in darkness apart from a relationship with God. We were lost in our sin (even if we were only 6). And then the marvelous light of Jesus overcame us and we turned from that life to a life of following Jesus. Our sins have been forgiven by what Jesus did on the cross. Now we walk in freedom in the light of God’s grace. And we become the models for others.

Transition to Response: Now, not everyone loves the light…at least not at first. Like when we sleep too long in the morning and someone comes and throws the curtains open and we are shocked. Salt is good, but don’t put too much in at once or it will overwhelm the meal.

Let us be gentle, patient and kind with an unbelieving world. We are salt and light in the world before we do anything. The first step in changing the world through the power of Jesus is to know that we are salt and light.

So be salty in the way you do your job as though it were for Jesus.

In the way your treat your friends and neighbors.

In the way you are willing to sacrifice for others even at the expense of your own rights.

In the way you face adversity and hardship.

In the way you handle loss.

And most of all don’t be critical and don’t complain.

Christians are apt to throw out and say God is in control, but can you live that out?

Because when people see how we live, they’ll wonder about the hope that is in us. And when we open our mouth to speak, we’ll have something worth listening to.

Response: This week, I can be salt and light in Vallejo by....

Conclusion