MATTHEW 5:13-16
"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."
"You are the light of the world. A town
built on a hill cannot be hidden. 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. In the same way, let your
light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father
in heaven."
Jesus uses the image of salt and light to help us understand
the importance of being God’s agents of redemption to the world. Therefore,
Jesus says, “You are salt and you are light.” Jesus basically says, “If you are
my true followers, you will be salt and light.”
Salt and light make an impact. For example, SALT impacts
meats by preserving it from decay. LIGHT makes an impact by coming into the
darkness and revealing what was hidden.
The church is set in the world with a double role. Salt: we
are called to stop or slow down the process of social decay. Light: we are
called to dispel the darkness.
SALT OF THE EARTH
Jesus says, “You
are the salt of the earth.” Salt is only good if it is salty. If the salt is
not cared for properly it will lose its saltiness and therefore becomes good
for nothing. There is a warning of judgment within this particular text when it
talks about what will happen if salt becomes useless. It will be thrown out and
trampled over. Jesus is speaking to those who are faithful and encourages them
to remain faithful (remain salty).
Jesus’ followers
play a vital role in our culture, because we are called to uphold a certain
level of moral and ethical standard. This world operates by a different set of
standards. Therefore, Christians are called to live like Jesus in order to be
the salt of the earth. But, in order to do that there needs to be a difference
in our lives and the lives of those around us. The Christian in called to be
distinct from the world. The world wants to listen to authentic followers of
Jesus. The problem is that they see something else.
(1) the world sees
people who call themselves Christian, yet they look and act and talk just like
they do.
(2) the world see a
group of hypocrites that are more concerned about other people’s sins than
their own.
If Christians are
indistinguishable from non-Christians, we are useless.
LIGHT OF THE WORLD
The second metaphor that Jesus uses is light. Within this
section we are given three different images that illustrate light:
1.
A town on a hill (can be seen for miles)
2.
A small oil lamp (it gives light to the whole
house)
3.
The light as a metaphor for good deeds
Lights are designed to shine, not hidden. The light reveals
the truth. We are supposed to let others see what we are doing. Yet, in MATTHEW 6:1 Jesus says, “Be careful not
to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.” But here
we are supposed to let others see. We balance this with the fact that our light
shines in order to point people to Jesus, not ourselves.
A community of Jesus
that hides itself (doesn't shine) ceases to be a community of Jesus. When we
begin to live authentic lives for Jesus people will see our good deeds and
glorify our Father in heaven.
WHERE IS THE LIGHT?
What do we do with
this passage? We’ve probably heard the idea that Christians are called to be
the light to the world a bunch. We recognize that this world is dark and that
we are called to bear witness to Jesus. We are light bearers to the message of Jesus
that helps people to see. The problem with people in darkness is that they don't
know anything else, because nothing is revealed in the darkness. People can
only see what the darkness conceals when the light is turned on. We’re called
to be light. We expose the darkness for what it is, but we do it in ways that
point people to Jesus, not away from Jesus.
We cannot blame
people for being in darkness, if we’re not willing to shine the light. Where is
the light?
WHERE IS THE SALT?
We have been called
and challenged by Jesus to live in a secular society. We are called to go into
the world and make a difference in it. Just like salt is added to meat in order
to stop it from decaying; we are called to penetrate this world in order to
stop it from further decay. The ironic thing is that when this world or society
goes bad, Christians have a tendency to throw up our hands and damn the world
for being so evil. But shouldn't we look at ourselves?
We cannot blame an
unsalted piece of meat for going bad. If the meat doesn't have salt placed on
it, it has no other choice but to decay. Therefore, we need to take a serious
look at the world and ask ourselves: where is the salt?
What are you doing?
How’s your life shining light into the darkness? If you’re not a shining light
in this world, don't damn the world for being dark.
Are you becoming
the salt of the earth? What are you doing in order to stop the world from total
decay? If you aren’t doing anything to stop the moral decay of this world, then
stop complaining that this world is evil.
Jesus calls us to
be his agents of redemption to the world. What are you doing to fulfill that
calling?
grace and peace
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