Salt and Light
Notes
Transcript
What do I want them to know? They are Salt and Light
Why? Salt and light bring healing, good news, persevers the values of the kingdom, flavors the world
What do I want them to do? Live into their indentity as salt and light
Why? Salt and light bring healing, good news, persevers the values of the kingdom, flavors the world
ME/WE
One of the questions ask as Christians, believers and followers of God is
“How can we bring heaven down to earth?” “We see heaven and read about in the scriptures and we are taught to pray
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
One of them ways we bring heaven to earth is pray for it.
God we pray for your will to be done on EARTH as it is heaven.
But is that it
We just pray and pray and pray and pray
Is that all we do? Is that God’s plan to help bring heaven to earth?
Or is it just that Jesus talks to the priests, Pharisees, Sadducess, the religious leaders of the day
the PROFESSIONALS of the Day
You guys you are the ones who are the experts, have your masters, and Ph.D in my Word and about the Messiah
You are the ones I am going to use
No, sadley though they knew the written Word they were blind to see the LIVING WORD
God I pray that is not me at times that my human mind blinds me from God
TENSION
What is Jesus plan to bring the Good News of the Kingdom of God and and bring Heaven to Earth?
Yes it is to pray for it but there is more
This is what Jesus communicates His first sermon He preaches and what he says is astonishing and wonderful at the same time
Let’s read
“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.
(has become foolish by losing it saltiness not just it taste, but losing all of its salty properties)
One purpose and it’s purpose and it’s purpose is to be salty
Jesus says to this group of people who are following him.
He says not that you become SALT or LIGHT, but that YOU are SALT and YOU ARE LIGHT
You are SALT and LIGHT and by being SALT and Light you will bring GOOD NEWS and HEAVEN TO the whole world
What Jesus says is astonishing, shocking
Why?
Several reasons
Jesus says to this crowd consisting of common folks you are SALT and YOU are LIGHT
The religious leaders would have said no they are not and the people of thought no we are not.
See in that the great rabbis they were called LIGHT, they were the great religious rabbi so and so....the reiligous leaders were special they were light
Jesus says no those who in CHRIST JESUS they are light it is for all people
the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Not only is light valuable SALT is valuable
How?
Salt in that day was a valuable and rare commodity, so valuable that Roman soldiers were paid their wages in salt at times, It originates from the Latin ‘salarium argentum’, the quota of salt given to Roman soldiers....from this transaction we get the word SALARY.
SALT was valuable
Salt was a valuable substaince that it is used in
You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.
What Jesus is saying they are valuable, this common folks, his disciples
this group of people who were overlooked, thought less of you are SALT and YOU are LIGHT
And it is your SALTINESS and your LIGHTNESS that you have because of Jesus that is going to bring
Heaven to earth and many to Jesus
How? How is SALT and light going to bring the Good News of the Kingdom?
-Light Jesus spells out for us in more detail, people will see our Good Works/God Works, us representing Jesus in the flesh
But what about SALT
What does it mean to be SALT of SALTY??
I am a snow melter???
I am to be SALTY as we define it which means rude or resentful or bitter
What does it mean when Jesus says He wants us to be SALTY
one of the things people have to try to figure out is what is SALT mean?
Boil it down to one point
We in are America mindset like to boil something down to one point
Ruach, the word for Spirit, wind, breath of God, what do yo mean by ruach, which definition is it?
Yes, all
So often in the Hebrew culture you would say a word and it meant both words, they play off each help each other.
In Jesus’ day SALT had three primary uses
3 things
1. SALT BRINGS ENHANCES FLAVOR TO THINGS (we will go to one we know)
We know this,
How does steak taste without SALT?
How does fries taste without SALT?
How does chocolate or chocolate chip cookies taste when you put a little SALT on it??? Amazing
I watching a video on chocolate and a pastry chef said add salt to it
In a similar way we are to be SALT by enhancing the places with Jesus we are at because WE are SALT, we have Jesus inside of us we are going to make the place a little more salty
Some of us have down this or seen this
WORK PLACE
Our work places are to be enhanced because we are there, because Jesus inside of us
Some of has experienced this, a new employee, that employee because they are SALT the whole atomspehere has changed
When Joy comes to work she brings the JOY of God, we saw that from the video we watched of my Michele at the hospital she works at
Because Jesus is in her and she desires to let the SALT out, to be SALTY her work place is changed and people ask here about it
And her boss wants her there
We have seen this in the Neighborhood, when the church not just the building , the body moves into the neighborhood
the neighborhood got a little better or a lot better because SALT of Jesus moved into the neighborhood
There is more JOY, community, love
We are going to know our neighbors, love our neighbors, serve our neighbors, be Jesus to our neighbors
Have gatehrings with our
Goodness
Friendships
Our friendships are better because SALT is here
Some of us have people who are really SALTY and it is there SALTY that enhances our life, it seems like every time I am with so and so my Spirit lifts
Some of us have that friend when they are there it enhances the relationships
Our friendships are closer to Jesus because of BEN
He comes and shows us Jesus
SALT COMES IN AND ENHANCES
2. Salt was preserver of meat, back in the day they didn’t have refridgerators or freezers and who you would preserve meat was by putting SALT on the meat and the meat would last. to stop the decay
DECAY is DESTRUCTION
We are to stop the DECAY of LIES
Bring the TRUTH
With GRACE and LOVE
What Jesus is saying to us YOU as SALT, you are to be the persevers of all things good of kingdom of God.
You are to perserve in the surronding areas the values of the kingdom of God.
How do we prevent or stop the decay??? Standing up for the TRUTH of GOD…We are not to be silent or agree with the kingdom of this world and it standards, and yes you will be perscued but the reason we are doing it is for LIFE to be hear ZOE life.
How do we do it
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
You to preserve the values of justice for all people, no matter the color of skin or the size of your wallet.
You are to preserve the value of life, that all life matters from the womb to the tomb
You are to preserve that there are two genders....we know this whenever TRUTH is distorted it always leads to chaos and destruction, We are telling them the way that God created them is wrong, you can be whatever you want
In the process too we are watching woman get crushed in women’s sports and as a result we are devaluing woman
This is because God created man to have more muscle
We see this if you would take the fastest woman in high school fastest time last year, guess what place she would be in if she competed against boys?
About 3000th place
We perserve John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
We preserve God’s truth
Where TRUTH reigns there is LIFE. ZOE life TO BE ALIVE
3. SALT WAS USED FOR HEALING
When Jesus says that they are SALT the are to be HEALERS
What kind of healers? 3 Types
Physical healers
We to pray for the sick and ask God to heal
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
this happen to me when I was going through a medical issue 4 years ago, the elders of the church of the prayed over me and I was healed.
We are to pray for the sick
If anyone has the gift of healing we heal people
2. We are to help heal relationships our brothers keep, we are to seek to bring healing between relationships
When we see relationships between brothers and sisters that are broken we come and heal
We don’t say that’s there issue
3. We are healers by helping having their relationship with God that was broken by sin be healed.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
We have the ministry of reconilation to bring people to Jesus, to heal that relationship.
This is why we are in the family of God.
We to be people who are SALTY who preach the God News of Jesus
4. Let your light shine by doing good
“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.
Let YOUR LIFHT SHINE of the Jesus by doing Good Works
Let you your light shine by doing GOOD WORKS
Serving our neighbors and neighborhoods
Counseling our friends and family member
We show our light by not grumbling
Do all things without grumbling or disputing,
that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
Why do we want our light to shine so we can get praise? No so they will see our Good deeds.
This is some come to know Jesus, I see you and you are different and I want whatever you have.
US
Friends, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus has enlisted all who believe in Him to be the SALT and LIGHT to world.
Go be SALTY and LIGHT
God is saying to us the way we are THE SALT of the WORLD, We are the LIGHT of the WORLD to lead others to Jesus
Rejoice
the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.