I Am Salt And Light Series

Who do you think you are?

• You are an ambassador of Christ, You are God’s masterpiece, and you are an overcomer, through Christ who loves you.

• Today, we want to hear what Jesus says in Matt 5:13-16.

Jesus says that you are the salt of the earth and you are the light of the world.

• Not you may be salt and light, or you can become salt or light, but you ARE salt and light. That is, if you are a Christian.

• No philosopher said that, no motivation speaker said that. Jesus said it.

It is a CALLING. You did not asked to be one; you are called to be one.

• As Christians, we have an IDENTITY that cannot be ignored, and an INFLUENCE that cannot be neglected, and therefore we need to be INTENTIONAL about it.

• Jesus did not give us an option here. You ARE the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

(1) We have an IDENTITY that cannot be ignored.

This is God’s given role. Our present in our family and friends’ lives, our present in this community, is of vital importance to God.

• Jesus uses 2 images that were most significant and valued in His times – salt and light.

• We don’t find them as important today. To us, salt is just something we put in a small bottle tucked away in our cupboard. Light has to do with switches.

But in Jesus’ time, salt was the only preservative there is; they have no fridge.

• Salt was what would give them a decent meal on the table. Salt preserves the food, it purifies, it kills germs, it heals and it provides flavour.

• In ancient Rome, they paid their soldiers in a ration of salt, called Salarium (Latin), from which we derived the English word Salary. If a soldier did not perform well, we say "He’s not worth his salt."

• That’s how precious salt was. A good life depends on it.

Light was even more so, because they did not have electricity or light bulbs.

• Their light comes from a bowl filled with oil with a burning wick.

• The most difficult thing about such a light is that you have to light it and they do not have matches or lighters in those days. So they will try to keep the flame burning and not let it goes out. If they need to leave the house, they will cover it with a bowl to prevent the wind from blowing it off, with a hole to let the wick burns on.

• In a typical Palestinian home, that’s the only source of light they have for the house. You see how important it is to them. That’s all the light you’ve got.

Salt and light makes a great difference in their lives.

• And Jesus uses that to tell us how important we are today, to a world corrupted by sin and living in darkness.

• This is who we are. When you know who you are, you will know what to do.

A man works as a signalman by the sea, giving important signals to the ships as they move into the narrow harbour. On one stormy night, a ship crashed because they couldn’t see his signals.

He was taken to court because they wanted to know how the accident happened. The judge asked, “Were you on duty that night?”

“Yes, I was.”

“Did you have your lamps with you?” Yes, and he showed them the lamps.

“Did you give them the right warnings? Did you wave the lamps?” Yes.

After a few more questions, the man left the courtroom.

When he reached home, he told his friend, “I am glad that the judge did not ask me if my lamp was lighted.”

His lamps were not lighted. It serves no purpose whatever you do.

• But that’s not our case. Jesus says we are the light of the world, because He is the light who dwells in us today.

• Jesus says in John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

• This little light of mine will never go out. We have a significant role to play in the lives around us.

In May 1970, Diana Ross sang the gospel-influenced waltz, "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)". It goes like this:

Reach out and touch somebody’s hand

Make this world a better place if you can

Reach out and touch somebody’s hand

Make this world a better place if you can

(Just try)

Take a little time out of your busy day

To give encouragement

To someone who’s lost the way

(Just try)