“How useful are you?”
Gladstone Baptist Church – 6/5/07 pm
1. What are the characteristics in people that we respect? Are we respected by the way we live our life?
Have you ever noticed that some people come up with some really stupid ideas. Like freezers for Eskimos, like Battery powered battery charger, Camcorder with braille-encoded buttons, Ejector seats for helicopters, Fireproof matches, Inflatable darts-board, Sundial with glow in the dark markings or Waterproof teabags
I have a collection of pictures I want to show you of some crazy inventions.
Some things that people dream up are totally impractical that they become useless. They will never work and are only fit for laughing at.
Tonight, I want to ask you the question – how useful are you?
When we think of people being useful, what sort of skills or characteristics do we think of?
It is somewhat difficult to answer that question – isn’t it – because you have to know what purpose a person is to be used for before you can decide whether they are useful or not. If I said, that a person was to be used to build a bridge – you would give me a different set of skills or characteristics to someone who was going to cut my hair.
What If I asked – what would make a person useful to God? What sort of skills or characteristics would you give me?
2. Last week we found out that the really fortunate people are those that live according to God’s standards. But there is another reason why we are to live according to God’s standards – that is to bring praise to God. (vs 16) People only praise God if they recognise his lordship.
Last week we began a series on the Sermon on the Mount and we said that this was one of the most famous speeches ever given. It has been remembered down through history because it laid out God’s standard for living. It was a guide to how to live as counterculture Christians.
See God wants us to be fortunate or blessed people and that comes about by living lives that are different to others – lives that are useful for him. Some of the attitudes and actions that he desires in us we covered last week are these … to
• Humbly rely on Jesus
• Look up for comfort
• Be gentle
• Be committed disciples
• Show merciful
• Live with integrity
• Be peacemakers and
• To Endure persecution.
And Jesus said, when we have these attitudes and actions, we are truly fortunate because we will find God and be welcomed into his family. We are fortunate when we have these characteristics – when we live according to God’s standards, but there is another reason why He desires us to live according to His standards – If you have your Bibles there, open them up with me to Matt 5. This is no doubt a passage that you have heard many times before. But I think it is worth looking again.
. 13 “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.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 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. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Jesus wants us to be useful – like salt or light. Why? See verse 16 – so that men may see our good deeds and praise God.
Have you ever felt as though you were being watched? Well you are. Maybe, you’ve been walking down a dark street and felt that someone else was there. Maybe you were in a shopping centre or a restaurant and felt someone was watching you. In most stores and banks now a days – you are being watched – there are hidden cameras everywhere – recording and watching. We’ve even got some in our church …
But it is not just cameras that are watching you – those around you are watching you. Whether we like it or not, people around us are observing how we behave and their behaviour is often based on the cues we give them. I’ll give you an example – When I went to highschool – I hung around in a group of guys – I went to an all boys school – so there were no girls around and as you can imagine, the language and the jokes often got a sordid. However, my circle of friends knew that I and another friend didn’t approve of their joking and carrying on and so they would control their language and their stories when we were within earshot. If I had laughed along, things would have been different – so our standards can have an impact on others.
God wants us to be like salt and light so that people will look at you and be drawn to Him as a result. People who don’t believe God or aren’t interested in God aren’t going to praise him are they? They might ridicule or scorn him. Or even reject his existence or relevance. But they won’t praise him. Only people whose lives are touched by God and who are drawn to him will praise Him.
So God wants us to be salt and light so that people can come to know him. He wants us to be useful people – people who are contributing to his eternal purpose of reaching out to the world. The question that we need to ask is how useful are we being to God in being a witness and reaching out? And the other question is – how can we grow to be more useful?
And the two analogies Jesus uses gives us some clues about how we can develop our usefulness.
3. Our lives are to be like salt. What are the benefits of salt? - tasty, makes thirsty, preserves things
The first analogy Jesus uses is salt. Salt is a very useful thing. Jesus says to us we are to be useful – like salt – we are to be the salt of the world. On your pews, there is a salt shaker – I want you to take that salt shaker and put a bit of salt into your hand and then pass it on to the next person. As I talk – I want you to be tasting that salt and thinking about what it’s benefits are.
So while you get your salt … there are 3 main effects or purposes of salt – can anyone guess what they are?
A) It provides flavour
One of my favourite foods in the world is roast potatoes closely followed by fried chips. I love them with the soft insides and those crispy outsides covered in a bit of salt. But you know what – they are not nearly as appetising if there is no salt – in fact they are just plain and boring – even disgusting. It is the salt that makes my roast potatoes and fries perfect for any dining experience.
Salt is renowned as a flavouring and it is used as such in most cooking. In using this analogy, Jesus is saying that we need to be like salt – giving flavour to a pretty disgusting world. There are many people in our world who go through some pretty horrible stuff. We have families disintegrating all around us. We have the effects of drugs, alcohol, gambling addictions. Sexual, physical and emotional abuse are getting more and more common. Young people – it is in your schools. Older people –it is in your work places and neighbourhoods. Sometimes it is not obvious, but as Tim Muller found out a couple of weeks ago, many people put on masks – they look fine on the outside, but it is only when you stop to talk to them, that you realise their lives are a mess and there is great pain and disappointment there. Satan has a firm grip on this world and is wreaking havoc. But God wants us to be like salt.
He wants us to make their lives not as bitter or tasteless. How do we do this? By being a friend, by offering a kind word or a helping hand. By asking after their mother that has been sick or taking an interest in their struggles. One of jobs is to go into unpleasant situations and season the situation so that it tastes better. We are to help make good homes, good families, good marriages, good churches.
Notice that just as you don’t need a lot of salt comparatively to make roast potatoes taste great, it doesn’t need much Christian salt to make people be encouraged, but trust me, it will be appreciated by them. Christians who are flavoursome to those around about them are useful to God.
B) It preserves things
The second thing salt does is act as a preservative. Before the days of refrigeration or ice, salt was used to preserve things – especially meat. It would prevent it from decaying and rotting. And as salt we are charged with this same task of preventing our world or our society from going to the gutter.
As I was saying earlier, as Christians, just our presence in a group can change the course of the conversation. It can prevent it from degenerating. When we hear people gossiping, or putting others down or backstabbing them, we have a choice in how we behave. We can either hang around and act like it is okay and that we don’t mind it. Or we can refuse to listen to it – we could challenge our friends, or stand up for the person being picked on or just walk away. Every time we stand up against injustice or abuse or racism or bullying – we are acting as salt and preserving our world.
We can be salt in our marriages and in our families when we are quick to forgive others instead of carrying grudges against people who have hurt us.
Our world needs to see that Christians seek to preserve the good in our society and in other people. Christians who do this are useful to God.
C) It induces thirst.
The third thing salt does is to make people thirsty. People can die of thirst in the middle of the ocean, why – because Salty water doesn’t quench their thirst. Publicans know that. That is why they put free salted peanuts on the bar (so I’m told). People like me who love peanuts would fall for this every time – gorge ourselves on peanuts and then have to order another drink to satisfy our thirst.
Christians are to be salt to those around them and to stimulate them to thirst for something more. We as salt, can’t save people, but we can help them develop a thirst for the one who can – Jesus. People who are dissatisfied with their life and wanting something else to quench their thirst are more likely to look and find God. When people see in our attitudes and actions something counter cultural - something that is remarkably flavoursome and positive, they will want more. They will want their thirst quenched and God can do this. Remember the woman at the well. Jesus offered her streams of water that would quench her thirst forever. This is what he said in John 4:13
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Jesus is the answer to the world’s thirst and we need to be salt that stimulates their thirst. If we do, we will be useful to God.
4. Our lives are to be like lights. What are the benefits of light? – warmth, comforting, inviting, secure
So that is the first analogy Jesus used – to be salt – flavoursome, stopping the rot and inducing thirst for God. The second analogy Jesus uses is that we are to be like a light.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 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. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven
Lights like salt are very useful things – most of the time. And Jesus’ desire for us is to be useful like light.
Let me tell you some things Light can do …
A) Light brings security & protection…
When you walk down a dark alley, all of a sudden, you are looking around to make sure no one is going to jump out and get you. But walk down a well lit street in the middle of the day and you aren’t so fearful are you. That is because light provides security by revealing danger.
You start to relax when you step from a dark alley into a well lit space – why – because Light provides security. It is inviting isn’t it.
When you are driving along and you see some flashing lights – you know that there is an accident or a hazard on the road ahead. The lights provide warning of that. That is what the function of a light house is – warning the sailors of impending doom.
In our lives, we are called to provide a warning to those around about us by revealing the danger that threatens them. I’m not talking about a mugger with a balaclava hiding behind a wheelie bin. I’m talking about the judgment that awaits them if they die in rebellion against God. When we live our lives in stark contrast to the way others live, we uphold God’s standards. Many people may have thought – I’m alright – God will accept me. But when they look at us – living a life according to Christ’s standards – they ought to quickly come to recognise that in comparison to God’s standard, they aren’t as good as they thought. Do people cringe when they compare their lives to yours? Living a Godly life should give us the opportunity to explain that we can’t even impress God with our godliness – we need more – forgiveness that comes from Jesus. That fact alone really shocks them.
B) Light brings comfort and hope
Light also brings with it comfort. When I was at University, a two of my mates and I went on a Road trip to North Queensland and we stayed one night in the Daintree in a backpacker accommodation. As uni students we were too scungy to pay to go on an organised wildlife spotting tour and so we decided to go on our own tour. The problem was, that we only had a single little MAG lite torch. Well we headed off down these rainforest tracks and after walking for 15 - 20 minutes or so - wouldn’t you know it, my friend who was carrying the torch dropped it and the bulb must have blown. Well we were left in the dark in the middle of the rainforest. The dense canopy above meant that not even the light of the moon or stars could get in and we thought – how are we going to find our way back – because it was pitch black.
We knew there was a spare bulb in the torch, but if you know MAG lite torches – they bulbs are tiny and fairly fiddly to install and we were in pitch black. We all had watches and so we ended up crouching around this torch, putting on our watch lights to get just a glimmer of light to help us see what we were doing. We managed to change the bulb and we switched the torch on again and to our relief – light was restored.
No matter how small the light. If there is light, there is hope. With our torch back in action, we began to trace our steps back to our backpacker accommodation, we began to see some lights glimmering through the trees. These little glimmers gave us hope that there was a greater light & safety ahead. As these glimmers became brighter the closer we came to them, the more comfortable we became.
When you are in darkness without any glimmer of hope, even the smallest light provides comfort and hope. Many people in our world are living in darkness. The Bible actually says that Satan has blinded them to God’s truth. We, however, are the lights which can provide that small glimmer of hope and comfort to them. Our little glimmering lights can guide them to Jesus.
Our calling is to be useful & visible to those around us so that they can see our lives and praise God in heaven.
Jesus calls us to be useful people. To be salt that is flavoursome, preserving and thirst inducing. And Light that provides security, protection and hope.
Unfortunately, many Christians aren’t useful. They are meant to be salt, but they’ve lost their saltiness. That seems impossible, doesn’t it – Salt is Sodium Chloride – and it is salty because of that combination of chemicals. It can’t lose its saltiness without changing composition. But in Jesus’ day, the salt that they gathered from the dead sea and from rock salt, had a lot of impurities in it. So much that it was often that the salt collected was mostly dirt and the actual salt - NaCl had been leached out of it completely – leaving just other compounds and dirt. It was supposed to be salt, but had no saltiness and so was thrown out on the ground. If Christians aren’t exhibiting the life that God calls them to, they are useless to God and should justifiably be disposed of.
Some Christians are like lights that are hidden. Instead of being the ray of hope in a dark world, they hide their lights. Jesus uses the illustration of a bushel – which was a container of about 9 liters. If a light was put under this container, it would in time go out all together and it was then totally useless.
There was once a man who worked on the railways and his job was to warn the trains with his light of upcoming troubles for the trains. This was before the days of radio. One night a bridge was damaged. So as the train approached, the man showed his lamp but the train went right on by and crashed into the ditch. The man was taken to court because they wanted to know why the train did not pay attention to the warning of danger for the train. The man was cross examined: “Were you on duty on the night that the train had the accident.” The man replied to the Judge – Yes. The Judge then asked did you have your lamp with you? The man replied, Yes Sir – So the Judge asked one more question; “Did you wave your lamp to show the train? The man once again, said yes. The judge deemed that the railway worker was not held responsible and dismissed. Later the man went home and told his friend, “I am glad the judge did not ask me if my Lamp was on.”
It is no use having a lamp if it is not on – it is useless. When Christians try to hide their light – they become useless to God. They are one way around one group of people and another way altogether around other Christians. Most times, people like this drift away from God altogether and any spark of witness is completely extinguished. You can’t have one foot in both camps and expect to maintain a healthy flame.
Jesus is looking for Christians who are useful – they are salty and visible. And as they live their lives as salt and light in this world, people see and taste them. They see the positive effects and their good deeds and as a result they are drawn to God. They develop a faith in God and they praise Him. This is one of our key purposes here on earth – to reach people for Christ.
How useful are you in this work of reaching others for Christ. Are you like good salty salt? Are you flavoursome – do people like what they see when they look at you? Are you preserving God’s standards by your attitudes, your actions and words. Will you let the standards degenerate to the gutter level, or stand up for God’s standards. When people rub shoulders with you – do they become thirsty for more of God?
And are you like a clear glimmering light? That provides protection and security. You show people how they can make their eternity secure. You provide them with hope that there is something better than the trouble that pervades our lives in this current world.
Young people, old people … Jesus wants to use you in his world wide mission to reach people for Christ. We’ve heard tonight about opportunities to do that overseas and you have opportunities to do that every day in this city of Gladstone. Be salt and never lose your saltiness. Be light and don’t hide it or let it go out. Be useful for God and see how he uses you to his glory.
