Introduction
Last
time, we began a study on the most well-known teaching Jesus ever gave--the
so-called "sermon on the mount" because he gave it to a very large group
of people from the top of a hill next to the Sea of Galilee.
I noted that
its theme is the kingdom of heaven (a synonym for the "kingdom of God")--see
5:3,10,19-20; 7:21. As God's King, he invites his hearers into God's kingdom and
explains how life lived under God's loving rule is radically different than life
lived under the assumptions of both religious and secular power structures.
Last
time, we looked at Jesus' instruction on how his followers can have the kind of
true happiness God wants us to have. Now he turns to instruction on the kind of
impact God wants us to have on the world of human society. It is another famous
passage--many of you are probably familiar with it--but read it carefully (read
5:13-16).
General Observations
Before we look more closely at what
it means to be salt and light, we need to make sure we understand what Jesus is
saying here.
By describing his followers as salt and light,
Jesus is saying that we possess the essential spiritual resources for the rest
of human society ("earth" and "world" clearly refer to the
"people" of 5:16). And we have these resources, not because we are so
good or intrinsically spiritual--but simply because we belong to him who is the
source of spiritual life. Jesus said Jn. 8:12 (read). We who have followed
Jesus are the light of the world because he is the true light of the world who
shines through us.
By describing the rest of human society as lacking salt
and light, Jesus is saying that they are spiritually dead and lost. In spite of
their greatness in many ways, they are in dire spiritual straits. They are like
meat that is tasteless and subject to decay; they live in the confusion and deception
of spiritual darkness. Only when they "glorify your Father" (get reconciled
to God by following Jesus) will they be spiritually alive and found. Yet God loves
them and wants to be reconciled with them, which is why he reaches out to them
through Jesus and his followers.
By calling his followers to be salt and
light, Jesus discloses his basic strategy for reaching out to a lost humanity:
involvement and distinctiveness. Elsewhere, Jesus calls this being "in"
the world but not "of" it (Jn. 17:15-17).
INVOLVEMENT
vs. ISOLATION: We are to be in close contact with and personally involved with
people who don't know Christ. Just as salt is useless unless it is in contact
with meat, just as a lantern is useless unless it is in the presence of darkness--so
we are useless to Jesus' mission unless we are in regular, personal contact with
lost people. This means that all attempts to isolate ourselves from the world
are fundamentally wrong-headed (MONASTIC MOVEMENT; CHRISTIAN CULTURAL "GHETTO").
DISTINCTIVENESS
vs. ACCOMODATION: We are to be distinct from people who don't know Christ. Salt
can't help meat by becoming unsalty; light can't help darkness by covering itself.
So we cannot help the lost people of this world unless we exhibit an alternative.
This
is why Jesus' main concern is not how horrible the world is being (what do you
expect it to be?), but with whether his people are being what they are supposed
to be.
What
then does it mean to be salt and light? Is it proclamation or demonstration?
Certainly,
it involves talking with people about Christ, sharing the good news of God's grace
and how Jesus has changed your life, and inviting people to receive Christ and
follow him. Jesus commands us to do this (Lk. 24:47), and this is a key part
of the ethos of every healthy church.
Having said this, though, this is
not what Jesus is emphasizing when he says we should be salt and light. Rather,
he is emphasizing that we should exhibit a way of life that attracts rather than
repels people from this message, a way of life that confirms it rather than denies
it. Let me show you why this is so:
In context, the salt and
light refer to the qualities of 5:3-12--which are primarily character, lifestyle
qualities. In other words, Jesus' original audience would have understood the
salt and light in this way.
When Jesus uses these same metaphors (as we
will see shortly), he refers primarily to lifestyle and character issues.
When
the apostles use these same metaphors and elaborate on this passage (as we will
see shortly), they refer primarily to lifestyle and character issues.
I
think this is a very encouraging passage. Very few of us are powerful speakers,
or charismatic conversationalists, or persuasive intellectuals. But Jesus says
that we can still have great spiritual impact on people who may never respond
to one of the above. If you are willing to get involved with people and show them
the life of Christ, you will find many becoming open to the message of Christ
that you share in your own personal way. Let's take a closer look at what this
kind of life looks like . . .
Be salty: Exhibit a
flavorful life
Salt in the ancient world had two main uses: seasoning and
preservation. Meat without salt is both bland in taste and prone to rapid decay.
Jesus seems to be drawing attention to salt as a seasoning (5:13 "tasteless;"
explain how Dead Sea salt could become unsalty). Life apart from a vital love
relationship with God is ultimately tasteless, insipid. Even God's good gifts
ultimately lose their flavor when you put them in God's place. Jesus' followers
are to exemplify a flavorful life--but they are often insipidity personified.
What does it look like to be salty in this sense? Three other passages provide
answers to this question . . .
LOVE RELATIONSHIPS
WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS: Read Mark 9:50. Jesus uses the same language about
unsalty salt--and links being salty with being at peace with one another.
As
we saw two weeks ago, peace means more than the absence of conflict. It means
the presence of relational closeness and harmony. Being salty, then, involves
having close love relationships with other Christians. Read Jn. 13:34-35;
17:21,23 and note the connection between love relationships between Christians
and people in the world being drawn to God.
Why? Because everyone desires
healthy close relationships. When they don't have this, but see others who do,
they become open and curious about how we can have this (HOME CHURCH TESTIMONIES).
Do
you have this? If not, the place to begin is by joining a home group. And if you
are in a home group, you need to work at building some through-the-week, Christ-centered
close friendships.
RADICAL COMMITMENT TO CHRIST: Read Lk. 14:33-35.
Jesus uses the same language again--this time linking it to radical, costly commitment
to himself. You may ask, "Is he saying I have to give my possessions to a
commune and take a vow of poverty?" No, the rest of the New Testament affirms
the validity of private property. But he means something far more radical. He
means that everything you possess--not just your money and material possessions,
but also your time, your talents, your relationships, your plans, etc.--you should
voluntarily give over to him to used as he sees fit for the advancement of his
purposes (OWNER vs. STEWARD).
What is unsalty is nominalism.
When I was a kid, that's what I saw--people who obviously lived for tribalism
and materialism like everyone else. Who needs the excess religious baggage?
But
when people see that your commitment to Christ actually changes you in these areas,
they take him more seriously (ESPECIALLY FAMILY MEMBERS & LONG-STANDING FRIENDS)
because they see you have found a cause worth living for. This explains the popular
appeal of movies that center around living for a cause greater than yourself ("BRAVEHEART;"
"THE PATRIOT;" "GLADIATOR"). Have you done this?
LOVE
& ACCEPTANCE OF NON-CHRISTIANS: Read Col. 4:5-6. Paul uses this same
image of salt as seasoning--this time referring to the way we speak to people
who don't know God. While we may disagree with many of their beliefs and behaviors,
we have to communicate an attitude of grace--that they are precious in God's eyes,
that he loves them and is prepared to accept them as they are if only they will
come to him through Christ. This is what opens doors to sharing the good news
with people (4:6b).
Jesus was great at this. No one was more
righteous than he was, no one lamented the destructive effects of sin more than
he did, no one was more straightforward that God wants to change our moral lives--but
his love for them came across so clearly that he became known as "the friend
of sinners." They were attracted to him as strongly as they were repelled
by the Pharisees, who are the antithesis of this salt.
Unfortunately, American
Christianity has a lot of unsalty Pharisees. People who not only condemn homosexuality,
but hate homosexuals. People who not only condemn abortion, but shout epithets
at those entering abortion clinics. People who put up insensitive posters and
bumper stickers like "WHAT PART OF 'THOU SHALT NOT . . .'
DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND? ." This is why the biggest single barrier to winning
people to Christ in this culture is other Christians!
Would your non-Christian
neighbors, work associates, etc.--regardless of how much they may disagree with
your beliefs--say that you genuinely love and accept them?
Let
your light shine: Exhibit a morally illuminating life
Remember the total
darkness in the ancient world. When you are in total darkness, you get lost and
damaged . . . That's how it is living without God--you don't really
know how to live, relate, etc. You get confused, lost, and damaged. What is needed
is light--someone who exemplifies how to live life in a way that works. Paul and
Peter develop this in two ways . . .
SEXUAL
PURITY & MATERIAL GENEROSITY: Read Eph. 5:3,4,8-11. When Paul says we
should "expose" the unfruitful deeds of darkness, he means we should
expose by positive contrast the emptiness of this way of life. Notice the two
areas he zeroes in on.
We are to exhibit a high view of human
sexuality, so we don't relate to others or talk about them as sexual objects.
We
are to reject materialistic greed, so we practice material generosity by living
below our means and giving to the poor and needy (MORE ON THIS LATER).
EXCELLENCE
IN SOCIAL ROLES: In 1 Pet. 2:12, Peter clearly echoes Jesus without
using the metaphor of light (read). In the following verses, he connects this
to excellence in our social roles (2:13-3:7). Paul does the same thing in Titus
2,3; Col. 3:17-4:1; Eph. 5:22-6:9.
AS A CITIZEN
& NEIGHBOR (Titus 3:1,2): Are you respectful and cooperative to the governing
authorities? Or do you mock them and make their jobs difficult? Are you a friendly
and helpful neighbor?
ON THE JOB: Are you hard-working, respectful, and
honest on the job, or are you known as a pilfering, contentious goof-off (Titus 2:9,10)?
Does your boss wish he/she had more employees like you, or do you make life miserable
for him/her? Do you treat your employees/associates with dignity and fairness,
or do you use them (Eph. 6:9)?
WITH YOUR FAMILY: Are you committed
to love and invest in your non-Christian spouse and children (1 Pet. 3:1,2,7)?
Conclusion
SUMMARIZE:
The issue is not perfection, but direction. I wonder how many of you came to Christ
largely through the influence of Christians who were salt and light to you. I
want you to listen to the story of a friend of mine who was very far from God
when someone in this church was salt and light to her (VIDEO TESTIMONY).
GOSPEL:
If you're tasting the flavor, like the light--why not come to the Source?
Footnotes
"When society does go bad, we Christians tend to throw up our hands in pious
horror and reproach the non-Christian world; but should we not reproach ourselves?
One can hardly blame unsalted meat for going bad. It cannot do anything else.
The real question to ask is: where is the salt?" John R. W. Stott, The
Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1978),
p. 65.