Salt and Light
Introduction: Baby eagle in the chicken yard.
Many Christians have the same problem as that eagle. They haven’t figured out who they are. They’re grounded when they should be flying.
Mat. 5:13-16 - Jesus tells us who we are - he doesn’t say “you should be the salt of the earth… the light of the world”.
Our identity has impact. Jesus uses two of the most precious substances in the ancient world to describe that impact. Each of these substances has an impact that goes beyond itself.
Salt - precious, used for soldier’s wages: salary
1. Salt purifies.
- used to prevent decay - an antibacterial agent
- salt became a symbol of purity in the ancient world - white
- OT blood and grain sacrifices offered with salt
- pagan temple worship - a pinch of salt
- a Christian is going to have this kind of impact on his world
- positive social changes over history:
- abolition of slavery - William Wilberforce
- advances in education - Ivy League schools, Robert Raikes
- medical care - public health, hospitals, etc.
- Just as salt must come into contact with the thing that it would purify, so a Christian must come in contact with his world if he is going to make an impact on it.
- we can’t cut ourselves off from involvement with non-Christians.
- you’ve got to get the salt out of the saltshaker if it’s going to do any good.
2. Salt creates thirst.
- peanuts and pretzels on the bar.
- Christians should make non-Christians thirsty.
e.g. - Babette’s impact on her students.
3. Salt enhances flavor
- bland low sodium diets
- being a Christian should bring out the flavor in life. - Jn. 10:10
- Oliver Wendell Holmes: “I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers.”
- woman asked if she wanted to become a Christian said “Oh no, I’m sad enough as it is.”
- barbeque next door makes your mouth water
- Christians should make people’s mouth water spiritually.
Warning about Salt - v.13
Q. - How can salt lose its saltiness?
A. - If you mix it with something else.
- houses in Palestine - flat roofs waterproofed with mixture of gypsum and salt.
- when you mixed salt with gypsum, you couldn’t any longer use it as salt. It lost its saltiness. No good except to be walked on.
- a Christian who gets mixed up with the world loses his impact for the Lord. He loses his saltiness.
Light
1. Light reveals things as they really are.
- wiring job in basement
- Desert Storm - night scopes amplify light from moon and stars
- deep sea submersibles - light reveals new life forms never seen
- the world is a dark place
- Jesus said “I am the light of the world”
- here Jesus said “You are the light of the world”
The life of a Christian reveals what life is all about to a non-Christian. If you are following Jesus Christ, you are going to be a spiritual flashlight for the Christians all around you.
2. Light always conquers darkness.
- Carlsbad Cavern - turn out the lights - total darkness
- light up a safety match, the darkness would have to flee.
- Boy with toy supposed to shine at night - “If you want me to shine at night, you must keep me in the sunshine all day.”
- Have you been exposing yourself to the Son? Working on your spiritual suntan? You can’t conquer darkness unless you’re reflecting the light.
- Selenium normally a non-conductor of electricity except when exposed to light - photosensitive element. (electric eye doors, Xerox machines, etc.)
- the more light, the better it conducts electricity.
- the more we are in the light, the better we will conduct God’s love into the lives of other people.
3. Light isn’t meant to be hidden.
- cities in ancient Palestine built on hills.
- buildings made of limestone - very reflective by day or night
- a city was a landmark, a beacon to the traveler
- in their homes, people would use lamps made of pottery, olive oil, flax wick.
- kindled the flame with a fire drill.
- you wouldn’t go to all this trouble to light a lamp merely to hide it, you’d put it up on a lampstand. It’s not meant to be concealed.
When it is visible, it is doing what it is intended to do.
- Christians are meant to be visible.
“There can be no such thing as secret discipleship. Either the secrecy destroys the discipleship, or the discipleship destroys the secrecy.”
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - poet, scholar, philosopher, novelist, playwright, scientist, botanist, medicine. IQ of 250.
- dying words “More light!”
Salt and light are two substances that have an impact beyond themselves. You put a little salt in a glass of water, and the whole glass is affected. You light a tiny match in a dark room, and the whole room is affected.
God wants us to have an impact for him. He has made us to work that way if we follow the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s not up to us to do it on our own. We’ve got to depend on Him to do it. through us.