Bright and Salty

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 by men.

You are the light of the world. A city 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 men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Who remembers the old Mission Impossible show? One recurring theme was the mission: “Your mission, should you choose to accept it…”

Over the past couple of months, we’ve been studying Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, more specifically, the Beatitudes, where Jesus pronounces the blessings of his Kingdom. He has been teaching his disciples a radically different way to live. There is a paragraph break here, and Jesus goes on from his “blessed are” formula but this is really part of the same sermon. Jesus has just stated the rewards for obedience, culminating with: “great is your reward in heaven.” But none of them is in heaven yet, and now Jesus goes on from the blessings and tells his disciples: your mission, should you choose to accept it…

You are the salt of the earth. In today’s culture of Christian celebrities, TV ministries and megachurches, and following Jesus’ talk of heavenly rewards, Jesus brings his disciples eyes back to the here and now. There are plenty of evangelicals whose sole aim is to get to heaven, but Jesus reminds his disciples that they have a job to do here and now. They are salt.

Salt was a precious commodity in Jesus’ time. We think of salt as a flavoring agent; if we don’t like the way something tastes, especially if it is bland, we add salt. Face it; French fries without salt are pretty nasty. And egg whites without salt are tasteless. An unfortunate stereotype is that Christians in our culture are the ones who are bland and tasteless. We’re characterized by what we’re against instead of what we stand for. But what might the church look like if we concentrated on flavoring the world? What if the church once again cultivated the best art and music? What if Christian movies weren’t cheesy? (OK, I know that some are getting better, but there are still a whole lot of them that aren’t).

In Jesus’ time, the preciousness of salt was because of its function. Salt not only flavors, but it preserves. When people of Jesus’ time butchered an animal, they had a couple of choices of what to do with it. Cook it and eat it now, preserve it with salt, or let it spoil. And Jesus calls us, as Christians, to be salt in a decaying world.

Decay follows death, and death is all around us. The Bible says that everyone apart from Jesus is dead in their sins. We live in a world, where, like in the movie, the Sixth Sense, the little boy says, “I see dead people. Walking around like regular people. They don't see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don't know they're dead.” When things die, they begin to decay, and decaying things begin to fall apart. So if you want to know why families fall apart, why marriages fall apart, why law and order fall apart, it is because of death and decay. And the root of this death and decay is sin.

But salt hinders corruption and staves off decay. Honestly, there is only one cure for sin, and that cure is Jesus Christ – and Jesus commissions his followers as salt, to preserve a decaying world. However… salt that is still in the shaker cannot preserve anything. Can you imagine having a big hunk of meat sitting on the floor, next to the freezer, rotting? Likewise, the salt isn’t any good if it’s not in contact with the meat. In college I read the book Out of the Salt Shaker by Rebecca Manley Pippert, a book on lifestyle evangelism. One of the keys to effective evangelism is getting the salt out of the shaker, actually being with people who aren’t Christians. If we spend all our time with other Christians, we eventually won’t even know anyone who isn’t a Christian. Then we can bemoan our dwindling church size and how Sunday School used to be crowded and how we used to have young families and youth and who could possibly be our next generation of leaders, but if we’re not in the world, who are we reaching out to?

This is a reminder that we are called to be in this world. We aren’t of this world; the Bible says we belong elsewhere and describes us as strangers and aliens here, but while we are here, our lives are meant to be a witness. We can look around and think that our society is going to hell in a handbasket, and that may be right, but take a hint from Jeremiah, who was exiled in an enemy land, to whom God said, “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:7). Instead of looking at “those people” and shaking our heads about their bad choices or their tattoos or their lifestyles, what might happen if we would seek their peace and prosperity?

This isn’t to say that we have to accept their lifestyles as normative. Nor do we have to adopt their customs. But if we are not close enough to touch them, we cannot hope to have any effect on them. Jesus calls us to bring salt to them, salt which will make them thirsty for the Living Water that only Jesus can provide.

Please remember, however, that salt stings when it touches an open wound. Don’t expect the world to just accept it – that’s often where the persecution I spoke about last week comes in.

Jesus then doubles the metaphor by calling his followers the light of the world. Now if you are confused, thinking it was Jesus who is the Light of the World, you can look back in Matthew 4:16, where we read (from Isaiah) the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” you will see that you’re right. Jesus is the light of the world.

But Jesus is commissioning his followers to bring His light into the world. Much like the moon doesn’t create its own light but reflects the light of the sun, as Christians, we don’t make our own light, but we shine Jesus’ light into darkness. We live in the land of the shadow of death, a land of decay and of darkness.

This is a world shrouded in darkness. There is so much knowledge available – it’s like an all-you-can-eat buffet at your fingertips. We don’t even have to go anywhere anymore; you have more information available on your phone than most libraries have ever had. But all this knowledge hasn’t translated into wisdom. We have knowledge but we are in the dark and don’t know how to use it. Moreover, we don’t know our way out of the darkness. If you’ve ever been in pitch darkness, you know that a little light goes a long way.

Jesus goes on to define this light. He says we bring his light to the world by doing good deeds. I want to make sure you realize what he’s saying here. Jesus is not just saying “be nice to one another.” He isn’t just saying “do nice things for people.” He isn’t advocating so-called “random acts of kindness.” These good deeds that Jesus calls for are works motivated by love, energized by the Holy Spirit, and done to the glory of God. Remember that our good deeds, no matter how good they are, are not the light, they are merely the reflection of the light. The result of this light is that outsiders begin to praise God. They go from being outsiders to true worshipers of God! This is, in Jewish terms, the whole purpose of doing good deeds.

Now, there are important differences between salt and light. If I were to stir salt into a glass of hot water, you wouldn’t necessarily know by looking which glass had salt water in it and which was fresh. One commentary I read said that “salt is hidden and works secretly and slowly.” I wouldn’t necessarily say we are to be “hidden” but salt is so much a part of our lives that there is no way to separate it. We can’t help but make a difference in the world around us, because we’re so salty. Being salt is having the integrity of solid Christian character. The influence of our Christian character is quiet and penetrating. People see a difference, though they might not be able to put a finger on what it is. That’s what salt is like.

Where salt works quietly, however, light is seen and works openly and quickly. People see the result of light. This isn’t to say that we do our good deeds for everyone to see; we don’t. But being light is living out solid Christian conduct, which people end up seeing. The influence of Christian conduct is obvious and attracting. People want to be around it.

Salt and light balance one another. They go together and reinforce one another. And they are both absolutely necessary. If you have light but do not have salt, you have Christian conduct without Christian character. The word for someone like this is hypocrite. But on the other hand, if you have salt but no light, you supposedly have Christian character but you don’t have Christian conduct – the result is disobedience. The book of James would even contest your Christian character; our Christian conduct is the way our Christian character is revealed.

Jesus calls us to be salt and light. But along with this commission, he also issues strong warnings. “A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.” and “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 by men.”

Both salt and light must make contact if they are to do any good. If our worship doesn’t move us to action, it’s not doing what it’s supposed to do. If we go to Bible study, Sunday School, church, if we sing in the choir, but if we aren’t bringing salt and light to the world, Jesus says we’re a waste. There are times when we get a complex – we’re so much better than “those people” but Jesus is essentially saying if we become dull salt, we will get thrown out into the street outside where the people walk over it and trample it down, until it is like all the other dirt of the street. There is nothing sadder than a former Christian, one who used to be on fire, one who used to be salty, but is now no different from the world. A hidden light is no light at all.

In some ways, I think we risk becoming dull salt and hidden light. If you think about it, most of what we do is specific to us. While most of our activities except for our community lunches and dinners are not “members only” they are not necessarily marketed toward outsiders. While it’s great to fellowship with other Christians, do we routinely interact positively with non-Christians? Are we presenting the Gospel to them in word and deed? Do people know what we are for as opposed to just what we’re against? Is our character consistent with the Bible? Does our conduct reflect Christ? And furthermore, are we only salt and light when we are expected to be? Are we only salt and light when it’s a part of a Church program? Or is it who we are in our inmost being?


Jesus calls us to be salt and light in a decaying and dark world that needs Him. Will you answer that call?

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