March 14, 2009

  • The Sermon on the Mount: Salt and Light (Matthew 5:13-16)

    sermon-on-the-mount Over the last eight weeks we have been looking at probably the greatest sermon that Jesus ever preached. We started with the very basics…….the BE-ATTITUDES. Why did Jesus start with the teaching of the Beatitudes? The answer lies in their nature…….the Beatitudes are all about the inner person. Jesus is telling us that we are to BE something before we DO anything. To be happy in life….to be fulfilled in who we are…. and what we do……..we have to put our lives together from the inside out.

    As we look at this wisdom, as we look at these attitudes of the inner self that Jesus tells us make us whole…..as we start to apply these attitudes that deal with the inner person…the inner you and the inner me……we will find that regardless of our external circumstances, our lives can be meaningful…….we can find happiness and joy…..we can find fulfillment. Our lives won’t be any more enjoyable than our “inner person”. We can experience happiness and fullfillment regardless of the outward conditions in our lives, and I believe that as we apply these lessons of the inner self….that even these will improve.

    Let’s look further at what Jesus taught to the multitudes of followers on that day on a mountainside in Galillee. We are going to learn more about how we are to live out our lives in happiness, joy, and fulfillment.

    salt-and-light2Matthew 5:13-16 ( TNIV )
    13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

    In the Beatitudes, the inner attitudes of our inner being, Jesus helps us to get our lives together so that we can demonstrate His power to the world in which we live. A power which transforms lives and indeed transforms this world for the better. Both of these statements (salt and light) are positive challenges for us to do something about the world in which we live.

    salt-of-the-earth Let’s look at the qualities of being Salt of the Earth.

    Matthew 5:13 ( TNIV )
    13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

    Salt has different qualities. The first quality of Salt is that it is a preservative. It has this capability of preventing decay to whatever it is applied to. Jesus is telling us in many ways here that we are to help prevent the decay of our society. Consider what our country would be like if we removed Jesus’ influence: Look at all that is happening in Afghanistan and Pakistan…..look at how women are treated, Look at the skewed sense of justice.

    Here’s a second quality of salt: When it is applied……it enhances flavor. Food taste better when salted. The same is true of Jesus. When Jesus is in our lives, when we follow, not just simply believe, when we seek to live like Him in word and deed…it brings out the very best in life and it flavors the lives of those around us.

    apostle-paul The third qulaity of salt is that it creates thirst. When we live out the Beatitudes, we create a thirst in those around us.Every where that Paul went people developed a thirst to know Jesus. One man….by living out the Gospels….by loving others….by telling others about the Savior of this world started numerous churches…throughout the Roman world and led thousands to a different life in Christ

    It’s interesting here that Jesus tells us, “if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?” Scientifically it is impossible for salt to lose its flavor. Salt is Sodium Chloride. However, the salt in Jesus day was mixed with many impurites…so….when the sodium chloride was leached away, all that was left was the impurities….and Jesus tells us about them……..they are, “no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

    Isn’t our life like that?  If the salt, which is our “Christlikedness”, is the preservative in our lives…if it enhances the flavor of our lives….when the salt is washed away it leaves only the impurities in our lives. What is left is not worth much at all. In other words, if we become contaminated with the impurities of this world…..addiction, lust, self centeredness, and so many more….we lose our influence. What’s left is a shell of who we could be. We need to “keep that saltiness” the “Christlikedness”.

    Jesus also tells us here to be the Light of the World.

    light-of-the-world city-on-a-hill Matthew 5:14-16 ( TNIV )
    14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

    Jesus tells us to follow Him and to be the light of our world, a light that can’t be hidden. In the very beginning of the Gospel of John, The apostle and disciple, John, is telling us about Jesus:

    John 1:1-5 ( TNIV )
    1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  2 He was with God in the beginning.  3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all people.  5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

    It’s the nature of light that light drives back the darkness. When we live up to this challenge of Jesus we push back the darkness in this world. The stronger our light, the greater the amount of darkness we can penetrate.

    jesus-light-of-the-world John 8:12 ( TNIV )
    When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

    What Jesus is telling us is that through Him we can depart from the darkness in our life and have the light of life. So very often, as we follow Jesus, we are like the lights on a runway runway-lights at the airport. Guiding planes full of people to the safety of the ground. We help keep others from crashing and burning. We help keep others from experiencing the dangers of landing the wrong place. This is all a call to positive living. It starts with our inner attitudes (the Beatitudes), when we live with the Joy of Jesus in our hearts. When we do this we automatically drive back the gloom and doom of our world. As the light of the world we demonstrate that when struggles come we can find hope and help.

    Let’s look again at verse 16: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

    What are these “good deeds” Jesus is talking about? I believe strongly that Jesus is talking about a few things here: These deeds, or good works, are works of love as well as works of faith. Believing, confessing and teaching the truths that we find here in the Scriptures….the truths that we find in Jesus….are works or deeds of faith. Works and deeds that Jesus is talking about. They give evidence of what God, the Holy Spirit, indeed, Jesus, is doing in our lives. People see this and it glorifies God. Again, these good deeds, or good works, are works of love: practical, visible deeds of compassion towards others. When people see our love for others, our compassion, our “mercy” (which is grace in action), God is glorified. Because this compassion and love that we show to God and others embodies the Good News of Jesus love in our lives and this world, the love that we proclaim.

    Being salt and light to the world around us brings a happiness and fulfillment to our lives, as well as it guides others through the rocky waters of this life.So very often, as we follow Jesus, we are like a lighthouse. We are a beacon to safety. We help keep others from running aground….we help keep others from experiencing the dangers of this life.

    minots-light << –There is a lighthouse in Massachusetts called “Minot’s Light”. The light flashes a nautical code that spells “I love you”. That’s how the light of Jesus is in our lives. As we are the light…we flash… “I love you”

    As we take Jesus words to heart…as we are the Salt and the light in this world. We are not to conceal the truth we know, or the truth that we are. We aren’t to pretend to be anything other than what we are. But we must be willing to let who we are, and who we are becoming in Christ, to be the salt of this the earth…the light of the world.

    christlikedness And here’s what’s important:  To be effective in our lives…we must retain that “Christlikeness” ……we must be that salt…..by letting Christ show through in our lives. People will recognize that it is by the grace of God that we are what we are. That our light…is His light. That our works are His works done in and through us. It’s the light that we praise…it’s not the lamp that bears that light. As we understand that, and as we apply that, we become a beacon to this world…..we guide others simply by being who we are in Christ…. to a safe place…away from the dangers of this world…..the dangers of sin that separate us from God.

    My challenge to you is to be the salt of this world….to help prevent it from decaying. My challenge to you is that, as you live the Beatitudes, that you also be the light of this world. So that those who are struggling can find the way to safety….so those that have become lost in this life…can find a joy and a fullfillment that transcends understanding.

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