Kingdom Citizens are Salt and Light

We finished our look at Jesus’ beatitudes last week, and we transition into the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. It is important to think about that in the right way, however. It can be easy to compartmentalize these teachings into their little sections, especially when we are only seeing and hearing a verse, a couple verses, a few verses per week.

I hope that you see the value of giving small chunks of Jesus’ teachings a good amount of time and appreciation, but also remember that this is a unified teaching of the Lord. This is a sermon, a challenge and a plea. He is teaching, building, illustrating, expanding, revealing truth all at one time in this extended discourse.

So while we are moving out of the Beatitudes, we are not moving away from them so much as we are moving forward from them. The beatitudes place a grace foundation for the rest of the teachings in these three chapters, and really the rest of Jesus’ teachings in general.

Now, we spent a lot of time discussing the beatitudes, what it means to be blessed, what these individual characteristics look like and what the good news is for the people who reflect them. There is so much that could still be said, but we eventually need to get to the rest of what Jesus said.

But one major point that is made in the beatitudes, stated or unstated, is the fact that these people, the blessed ones, are quite distinct from those around them. Now, Its obvious when you read them together. It is obvious that the poor in spirit are distinct from those who believe themselves to be spiritually rich. It is obvious that those who mourn sin and unrighteousness are distinct from those who celebrate it. It is obvious that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are distinct from those who repudiate it. It is obvious that those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake are distinct from those who are not.

There is a reason that I didn’t place much emphasis on the matter of distinction, and it is this. It is possible to think of being distinct, as in, Christ-followers being distinct from the world, and take it in a way of, “well we are clearly better, holier than, superior to, elevated above other people.”

In other words, it would be possible to even take the beatitudes, having them worked as fruit of the new creation in you, and use them as a means of comparison like the Jewish Leader who prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not like these other men, and even this tax collector.”

It is far too easy to make distinctiveness a legalistic term - that we are to be different for the sake of being better. But while there is that danger, the distinctiveness and difference of Christ’s disciples, from the world around them, even the religious world, is a major part of Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount.

Another reason why I didn’t make the emphasis on distinctiveness is that Jesus makes it quite clearly in the verses that we are going to look at today.

Matthew 5:13–16 ESV

“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 your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Jesus is the master teacher. In any teaching class there is some emphasis on the use of similes, metaphors, comparisons, illustrations, word pictures, etc. These are all tools to bring color and clarity to a concept, and nobody does it better than Jesus.

In this section, we come to the familiar sayings of Jesus that His followers are Salt and they are light. After giving them the beatitudes, giving them a progressive picture of a disciple, a follower, someone who has taken the path and way of Jesus for their self, Jesus then illustrates the distinctiveness and the usefulness of the blessed person.

As we will see, Salt and Light are common, potent, and evident elements. They have a positive and influential effect on their surroundings, and they also share the common theme of being ineffective if they are not used properly. They are distinct and noticeable, but in a positive sense.

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

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.

Peter there says that we are a “people for His own possession.” Some translations say, “a peculiar people.” Peculiar, not in the sense of being strange or outlandish, but peculiar in the sense of being distinct. Christ’s followers should be different, and they should be seen as different. And what is the purpose of that? What is the purpose of our being distinct, different, peculiar, a people for God’s possession? That we might proclaim the praises of God who called us from darkness to light.

Kingdom Citizens are salt and light, so we must be salt and light for the glory of God.

1. What we are

“You are the salt of the earth.”

“You are the light of the world.”

Salt and light are incredibly ubiquitous features in our common world. Just note the fact that you can see me and I can see you right now, and you’ll appreciate (or maybe not appreciate) the effects of light.

Just look at any nutritional label on any food with any flavor at all and you are almost sure to see “sodium” or some salty substance in pretty big quantities. Not always to metaphors carry well from first century Palestine to 21st century western culture, but Salt and Light are still around, aren’t they?

So what did Jesus mean when He called His followers, those who were listening to His teaching, salt and light?

Salt, in the first place, was used as a preservative and a flavoring.

In days before refrigeration, deep freezers, coolers, salt was the primary means of preserving things like meat. We all know what happens to a nice steak that sits out in room temperature for too long - decay. The meat is dead, but there are plenty of little microscopic living organisms that would like to have a heyday with your London Broil. We typically remedy that by refrigerating and freezing, but in Jesus Day, Salt was the answer. Properly salted and cured meat could last almost indefinitely. Imagine the economic and day-to-day impacts of salt, and you’ll begin to see some of what Jesus is saying.

As followers of Jesus, then, in a sense we are preservatives in a decaying world. There is no question about the decay of the world, and I’m not speaking of soil erosion or global warming. In terms of righteousness, the world is dead and dying. The world is rotting, to speak vividly, because of sin and unrighteousness, but Christ’s disciples were and are to have a preserving effect, and a purifying effect.

Salt also was, and is, a flavoring. That is wrapped up in Jesus use of the term “saltiness” or literally, “salt-ness.” As Christ’s teachings come to life in His followers, there is a sense in which we add a taste of those teachings to the world. And perhaps, like salt does, it will incite some sense of thirst. All the vices and pleasures of the world are, to stick with the metaphor, artificially flavored. One commentator said they are like Chinese food - you have a sense of filling and satisfaction for a few hours, then suddenly you are left hungry again as if you hadn’t eaten.

In a world of empty thrills and empty promises, Christians are to be the saltiness that a world apart from God lacks.

What about light?

Light is such a marvelous illustration - yet it is also taken for granted. The lights are on in this room now, but we hardly notice them because it is daytime. Yet, if you come back to this room at 8:00 tonight and flip the lights on, the contrast will be vivid.

Jesus’ calling the disciples “light” assumes the other half of the metaphor, which is darkness. The whole world is in darkness.

John 3:19 ESV

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

Darkness illustrates blindness, it illustrates lack of understanding, it illustrates evil, it illustrates ignorance - and all these things really flow together in describing the world apart from God.

Light in darkness is about a stark a contrast as we can imagine. Light is an annoyance for those who don’t desire it. Have you been woken in the darkest hours of the night by someone flipping the light switch on? Then you know what I’m talking about. Yet we quickly realize the importance of the light as we go about our day.

So it is with Christ’s followers. We are light in a dark, dark world. Light has come into the world through Jesus, and like a moon or a reflector, we shine that light of Jesus as we have come to know and walk with Him.

Salt in a decaying, tasteless world. Light in a dark, blinded world. Such wonderful pictures, such vivid illustrations - but the picture itself is not enough, for each of these declarations (you are the salt, you are the light) are worthless apart from their application.

2. How we are to be.

James Boice, in commenting on this passage, brings out the difference between an abstract definition of a word, and an experienced definition of a word.

For instance, we can describe darkness, as Webster’s dictionary does, as “a total or near-total absence of light.” But that definition doesn’t come to life until you are in total darkness. The experienced definition of darkness is much more potent than an abstract definition.

In the same way, we can define salt and light, but they don’t do any good at all as abstract definitions.

As Jesus declares, states, “you are the salt of the earth.” “you are the light of the world.” He is stating something about the nature of His followers. There is a sense in which, as Christians, we are the salt and the light of the world. We are designed and designated to be that way. That is how God in His wisdom chose to operate, that His people would effect and illuminate the world in that way.

But, as Jesus so clearly points out, salt that isn’t salty and light that isn’t lighting something is no good at all.

What is salt-less salt? Now, in our day, we may have a tough time imagining salt losing its saltiness, but in Jesus day that was a real occurence. The salt that was harvested from places like the dead sea was a mixture of sodium chloride and other minerals. So while it was still very salty, it was possible to get a mixture so filled with other substances, or for the salt itself to dissolve and dilute so that the “salt” became un-salty.

And what good is it? It was good for nothing but to be cast out. If a jar of salt in the kitchen was not salty, then you dump it out. Now, we need not take the metaphor any further than Jesus did, but if Christ’s followers, or a group of Christ’s followers, become so infested with other elements other than the salt of Christ’s truth, then we lost our saltiness. We are no longer distinct, we are no longer effective as preservative, purifying, flavoring elements in the world around us.

And light, what about light? Well, Jesus’ description here gives us the same idea. If you have a lamp, but hide it under a basket, what good does the lamp do?

When I was a boy, I had this strange tendency where I would purchase something, something good and something useful, but not want to use it for fear of damaging it or wasting it.

I remember as a 12 or 13 year old buying a big flashlight, one that took 5 or 6 D batteries. I took that flashlight to summer camp that year, knowing that it was common for the boys to carry lights with them at night.

Well, this big light was a pretty attractive thing to the other 12 and 13 year old boys in my cabin, and they all couldn’t wait to see it in action. I remember distinctly one evening, carrying my flashlight around in the dark, on a trail that was rocky and riddled with roots and hazards, and my friend next to me said, “why don’t you turn on your flashlight?” And I said to Him, “I don’t want to waste the batteries.” He said to me, “well why did you even bring the stupid thing then?”

My stubbornness as a young teenager is maybe illustrative of the general stubbornness or propensity of us as Christ’s followers to squander what Christ has worked in us.

If you are a child of God, you are light. You are salt. Your saltiness and brightness comes from Christ Himself. He is, after all, the light of the world - we reflect His light. But we do no good if our salt and light are kept to ourselves.

Look at the way Jesus speaks, he says “you are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.” Jesus anticipates that His disciples throughout the ages would have enough saltiness and brightness that they would have a noticeable effect on the world.

There are really two ditches we can fall into here. The first is to say, “The world is good, it just needs the help of Christian social action to complete it.” This goes against the very illustrations. The world is not basically good, the world is decaying and in darkness - just as we were apart from Christ. We all need something apart from ourselves to do what we can never do. As we reflect salt and light, we reflect the true remedy - Christ Himself.

The other ditch is to say, “the world is too far gone! There is no hope! What can I do?”

We say, “the world is going to hell in a handbasket, and I want nothing to do with it!” Well how fatalistic and depressing is that attitude. Jesus declares and anticipates that His followers would have a positive, real effect on the world around them.

You may also say, “well, I am just one person. I can’t do much on my own. I don’t have much effect on anyone around me.” But Jesus isn’t just speaking to one person, He is speaking to His disciples.

It’s a small detail, but important to note, that Jesus says “you (plural) are the salt (singular) of the earth.” “You (plural) are the light (singular) of the world.” We are not intended to, individually, change the world - we are intended, designed, and anticipated, as the whole of Christ’s Church, to have this effect.

A single grain of salt in a recipe would have almost no effect, but put a couple good teaspoons in there and you will have something.

A single light bulb in the distant darkness is curious, a couple is more significant, but a whole city of lights illuminated in a dark night is transformative and remarkable. Have you ever looked at a picture of the globe on a clear night? From satellites in orbit, there are photos of the earth in the darkness, and what sticks out? The light of the cities.

Jesus uses that illustration - a city on a hill. That is Christ’s Kingdom. That is Christ’s church. That is what we, as a local church, are in a small but true sense - a city of lights, and a shaker of salt - individually, we have little effect. But imagine if every light in the city said, “I can’t do much, I think I’ll stop lighting.” or imagine if ever salt in the salt shaker said, “i am just a little grain, I think I’ll stop being salty.” So it is with Christ’s followers - if we are say, “I am not much by myself” then we will collectively lose our saltiness, but as a whole, we are the salt of the earth, we are the light of the world. We ought to be what we are. We ought to be what Christ said we are.

3. Why we are to be that way.

So Jesus says that we are salt and light, Jesus says that we are to be salty and be bright, but why?

Again, this goes back to the discussion of distinction. Are we to be distinct and different so we can boast in our saltiness and our brightness? Are we to reflect the beatitudes, the new nature that Christ is working in His followers, for the purpose of saying “I am holier than you?”

No, rather Jesus gives us a purpose statement.

Matthew 5:16 ESV

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.

I think we could say, also, “let your salt be salty before others...”

Jesus tells us there is a purpose in our distinctiveness, and that purpose is Godward focus and glory. That is, just as the moon has no light of its own but reflects the sun, we, too, are reflectors of the goodness, the glory, and the truth of Christ.

Our aim ought never to be the praise of man on our behalf. If you ever catch yourself thinking, “I hope someone sees me doing this good deed, that will show them who I really am” then we have missed it. We ought rather to always say, “I hope that someone might see a glimpse of God in this, and glorify Him.”

Think about this in terms of the beatitudes, then. Why mourn? Why hunger and thirst? Why display mercy? Why be pure in heart? Why make peace? We know we are blessed in those things, but why does God desire and bless them? Because they point back and bring glory to Him. The most powerful testimony we can have is the testimony that says, “it’s not me, it’s Christ in me.” “it’s not because of me, it’s because God desires for you to see Him.”

This brings up a question. What about good works? Sometimes we bristle when we even hear the term “good works” because our minds jump to a negative connotation, that is, works salvation. But Jesus spends a lot of time speaking of practical righteousness and good works in this sermon, so we better be prepared to hear much about it.

Yes, we want to avoid the legalism of works salvation, works regeneration. But we don’t want to avoid good works.

Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Do you see the whole-orbed picture? We are saved by Grace through faith, and all that is a marvelous gift of God’s grace. Our works do not save us, or else we could boast in them. But boasting is not the point, as Jesus said, of our works. Rather, God has ordained that we, his people, would walk in good works s a result of His grace.

Romans 3:20 ESV

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Now, we read Paul’s words there, which are absolutely true, and they are a breath of fresh air against any works salvation. We cannot be justified by the works of the law, at least in the sense that Paul is speaking here.

Someone might say, then, well what about James? James says that we are justified by works, and not by faith alone? And someone might say something silly like, are you a James Christian or a Paul Christian? Well, we want to be Bible Christians. And we want to know what they mean.

I think the apparent tension between Paul and James there illustrates what Jesus says very well. Paul makes it clear what He is talking about - by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight. That is, in God’s accounting, our good works do not justify us, in a legal sense. Our good works do not atone for our sin, they do not make us right with God.

James say, on the other hand. “Someone says, show me your faith apart from works, I’ll show you my faith by my works.”

James 2:18 ESV

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

In God’s sight, we are not justified by works. But in the sight of man, our faith is shown in our works. The reality of our belief comes out in our action. Our faith is “justified” or “vindicated” before men when we let our light shine. Faith without works is like unsalty-salt and light under a basket - it is useless. But faith with works displays the truth behind our actions, and it points to Jesus, it points back to the father, and seeing that, men may glorify Him. Experiencing our saltiness, men may by chance taste and see that He is Good.

So, Christ follower, you are salt and light, so be salt and light. Embrace your distinction and difference, not for occasion to boast or glory in yourself, but only to point back to God, for His glory.