Salt & Light
Lake Bronson 8 Feb. 98
Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16
A recent secular survey, where 1300 senior executives across America were asked to list, in order of priority, what they thought was the most important characteristic within an organization.
- 90% listed integrity as # 1
- 90% - mostly unbelievers - thing most desired in any corporation = integrity
In Matthew 5 - Jesus has just finished the beatitudes and in verse 13 he says “You are the salt of the earth.”
- open Bibles - underline “you” YOU are the salt of the earth, but if salt no longer tastes like salt, how can it make food salty? All it is good for is to be thrown out and walked on.”
- vs 14 = You are like light for the whole world. - underline the word YOU, again. YOU are like light for the whole world. A city built on top of a hill cannot be hidden, and no one would light a lamp and put it under a clay pot. A lamp is placed on a lamp stand, where it can give light to everyone in the house. Make your light shine so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your father in heaven.”
- today want to talk to you about salt and light
- about being people of integrity and influence in our community
- those of you who read my philosophy of ministry when you were considering whether or not to call me as your pastor - will have read a quote
- “A Christians convictions are never a private matter.”
- in short - that’s what Jesus is telling us here. Salt must keep its flavor, the light must not be hidden.
- talks to us here about penetrating our society with integrity and influence
- if we have integrity, we will be influential in our society
- the goal of integrity is influence. That’s why Peter said in 1 Peter 2:9
- chosen and special people, group of royal priests, a holy nation; that God has brought us out of darkness into marvelous light. Then he says, “Now you must tell all the wonderful things God has done in your life.”
What does it mean to be salt and light. Well, first of all, what does salt do?
1. Salt adds flavor. Spices things up. Puts a little zip in your doda!
- high blood pressure - have to cut out salt - have to get used to the dull, bland taste of food
- Jesus is saying we’re the spice of life! We’re to add flavor to the dull, empty lives of the people around us
- only way to do that is to remain pure - Jesus says if the salt has lost its savor, its spiciness - it’s not good for anything but being walked on
- big message in there somewhere! (Do you ever feel like you’re being walked all over?)
- the only way to keep from being thrown out and walked on, is to keep your flavor, keep in touch with the master, learn from him, grow in his goodness and grace. How do you do that? Pray, read your Bible - talk to Him. Keep in touch.
- students at Prov. - Teri to visit me - come and go, have to keep in touch - know some better than others
- if you don’t spend time with the Lord, if you don’t nurture the relationship, he won’t force himself on you. And if you’re going to maintain a pure, healthy relationship, you have to, just like with your friends, live your life so that you don’t deliberately hurt them.
- alcoholic friend - “come on, let’s go to the bar...
- friendship won’t last very long, I’m hurting that friend
- when you watch the things you watch and read the things you read, you’re hurting your best friend.
Have to remain pure to keep our flavor - so the flavor doesn’t become distorted, mixed and eventually lost and thrown out.
So, we add flavor.
2. Salt creates thirst
- that’s why bars serve pretzels and peanuts - to get people to drink more! We want our lives to be so salty that people will want to drink at the spring of living water.
- interact with people, rub shoulders with every day. There ought to be enough flavor there from our presence that people get thirsty for what we’ve got
3. Something else salt does is preserve life
It holds back decay. - don’t think of that much anymore these days, just put it in the fridge. But it’s still true that meat packed carefully in salt will preserve it for long periods of time.
Do you ever feel like you’re not making a difference in the world? Jesus said we’re the salt of the earth. It’s followers of Christ, that keep this world from total moral decay.
- can’t stop it completely, but we hold it back
- when we live God-honoring faithful lives, we add just enough preservative to our decaying world to maybe save the life of an unborn child, push back the forces of racism, or to keep a family together to work through the struggles instead of just giving up.
Now there’s something else that salt does...
- cause pain
- gets in a wound, it hurts, it causes some pain
- our world is wounded - if we live as Christ has called us to live - we’re going to cause a little pain
- still don’t want to rub salt in the wound - and that brings me to my final point about salt - Salt has to come out of the shaker. You ARE the salt of the earth but salt in the box on the shelf won’t do anything for anybody.
- Becky Pippert wrote years ago, unless salt gets poured out of the shaker, it remains a mere table ornament
That’s salt. Integrity. We’ve been called to be salt AND light. Well, what does light do?
1. Light Shines in the darkness.
The light is stronger than the darkness - it influences it - It has an impact on it. It affects it.
- in fact, shines brightest in the darkest places
- bet you thought your light shone best when you came to church on Sunday morning. That’s wrong!
- don’t all stop comin’ to church!
- our light shines the brightest when we’re in the dark places of life.
- when we go through personal dark places - struggles & trials
- when we mingle with people who are walking around in the dark
2. - another thing light does is make things visible
- shows things up for what they really are
- like salt in the wound, may cause a little pain
See how important it is that we go INTO the world.
- said last week sinners can’t come to church because they’re lost...
- they also don’t come to church when that church is filled with salt and light. It hurts too much. It exposes the reality of their sin.
See.. Church is a hospital for believers. Salt and light happens out there, in the world.
My prayer isn’t that we’ll have the biggest church. My prayer is that we’ll have the most influence in this community. That we’ll truly be salt and light.
3. One more thing light does, it shines.
If its good light, which the light of Jesus is, it shines brightly.
Now, bright light wakes people up! That’s influence!
- have a plaque at home that says “To make your dreams come true, wake up!”
- light, when it shines brightly, out there in the world - it’ll shake people out of their sleepy stupor - it’ll get them going. Maybe even make them wince a bit..
- ever notice sometimes how unbelievers are uncomfortable around you - hope you didn’t take it personally - the discomfort comes from being in the presence of such beauty - salt and light...
Why do we need to be salt and light?
- vs 16 says “to glorify God”
- it’s our responsibility to be salt and light
- how people respond to the salt and light, painful or not, is their responsibility
- read again for you what I read last week from Jack Hayford
“The call of the church has never been to be a political analyst. We are called to be cultural catalysts, who will act as salt and light in society. But there are dangers. Salt, if you use too much, becomes embittering; but if you sprinkle it, it flavors. And light is annoying if it glares in your face.”
Folks, we have a great opportunity in this town to be salt and light. The most beautiful gift we can give to our society, is to be all that Jesus called us to be - be salt and light. Be people of integrity, people of influence.
- said at the start of message that 90% of top executives across America are looking for integrity. A colleague of mine recently asked the question, “Why all this talk about integrity, instead of, say, holiness or sanctification, if it really is Christian moral virtue you are after? Do those more biblical concepts sound too stuffy and spiritual for you? ... Is there some cultural explanation for the preoccupation with integrity in our time and place in history?
- integrity has replaced concepts of holiness and sanctification because the world at large believes they can find it apart from God - apart from being salt and light.
- I have another question - “Is it possible to be a person of genuine integrity and not be Christian?” If God has made us in His image (as we know he has). If he’s put within each one of us a desire that cannot be filled apart from Him. And if he is holy, (as we all know he is). Then is it really possible to have integrity apart from God?
- word integrity come from the Latin word “sinceros” (sincerity) - means basically “without wax” Potters fired jars in ovens. Often, they were too hasty in firing them, and the jars came out with cracks in them. It was common practice to fill in and hide these cracks with wax. But every once in a while, a vessel would come out of the oven with no cracks. It was a whole, valuable vessel, and on the bottom they would write in Latin, “sinceros.” Sincere. A vessel of integrity, with no cracks, It’s a whole vessel. That’s what God wants us to be. He doesn’t want us to be like the world. He wants us to be different. But He wants us to be beautifully different, not odd or abnormal or disgusting or pushy. He just wants us to be beautifully different.
