LASTING IMPRESSIONS
Text : Matthew 5: 13 - 20
Someone (Bill Crowder) gives us a snapshot of history as he relates an impression that has lasted over 1,500 years. “Caerlon is a Welsh village with deep historical roots. It was one of the three sites in the United Kingdom where Roman legions were posted during Rome’s occupation of Britain. While the military presence ended some 1,500 years ago, the imprint of the occupation can still be seen today. People come from all over the world come to visit the military fort, the barracks and the amphitheatre that are reminders of the days when Rome ruled the world and occupied Wales.” (Our Daily Bread. September – November 2010. Bill Crowder. “A Lasting Imprint”. RBC Ministries, Volume 55, Numbers 6, 7, & 8, printed in USA. 2010. Devotion for November 5, 2010). There is no doubt that Rome made a lasting impression that has survived even after Rome fell as the world’s most powerful empire in the early days of Christianity.
This scripture prompts us to ask ourselves about those that will come after us. What will they say about us? Will they say that we made a lasting impression?
WE MUST BE BOTH ACTIVE AND VISIBLE.
We must be salty. 1) Salt cannot remain idle: When Jesus tells us we must be salty, He is telling us that we must be active in changing any environment that we encounter. At almost every dinner table you will see has salt and pepper shakers. Think about salt and its purpose. Salt cannot do anything if it does not leave its shaker. Salt that stays in the shaker cannot season and change the taste of food.
2) Salt has a purifying quality: Salt cannot purify an environment unless it has come in contact with that environment. To be salty means that we grow inwardly in our faith and outwardly in how we serve.
3) Salt has a infiltrating quality: One of the connotations of infiltration is that of going into the territory of an enemy. Satan targets Christians because he considers us his enemy. Salt not only infiltrates but it also permeates (spreads throughout) whatever it comes in contact with. As Christians, we are resident aliens because we are salty people in a salt-free world. We are in the world but not of the world (John 18:36). We are called change the world as salt changes the flavor of food. We are called to live pure lives and to keep ourselves from being polluted by the world (James 1:27).
4) Salt has a success quality: Someone (Ronald J. Allen) pointed out that “In Judaism, salt was a symbol of covenant”. (David L Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, eds. Feasting On The Word. Year A, Volume 1. Ronald J. Allen. “Homiletical Perspective”. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p. 333). As William Barclay put it, “ The Christian must be … the person who by his presence defeats corruption and makes it easier for others to be good.” (William Barclay. The Daily Bible Study Series: The Gospel Of Matthew. Revised Edition. Volume 1. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975, p. 120 ). If a Christian is not fulfilling his purpose as a Christian, then he is on the way to disaster.” (Barclay , p. 121) . To be the salt of the earth we must be active to succeed! Inactivity invites disaster. Inactivity makes us good for nothing but to be trampled upon (Matthew 5:13 b).
We must be a beacon. 1) Light is meant to be visible. Light cannot hide in the darkness because light dispels the darkness. “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” (John3:19 NIV).
2) We are called to shine for Jesus. When we shine for Jesus, more than likely we are demonstrating the character of the Beatitudes. Living in harmony with the principles of the Beatitudes is a way of living that leads to godly living and righteousness. As Christians, living out what we believe is sure to provoke those who would rather hide from us because our “light” makes them uncomfortable. Jesus warned us that others would oppose us as they opposed Jesus ( Matthew 10:22 paraphrased).
3) Some will respond to the light favorably. As long as people can see God’s light shining through them, it gives others hope. There are unbelievers whose lives have been changed because they have seen God’s light in the witness of His children shining through their darkness. When we let God’s light shine in us, we make it possible for people to see our good deeds and praise God for it (Matthew5:16). When they see our goodness, they can thank God because they know that God is instrumental in making those good things possible.
WE MUST REFLECT GOD’S LOVING NATURE.
The way the Pharisees practiced religion made others feel as though God was distant. 1) Tradition: The Pharisees were more concerned with tradition. According to Jesus, the Pharisees nullified the Word of God for the sake of tradition (Matthew 15:6). 2) God looks at the heart. Jesus was reminding the Pharisees that God looks at a man’s heart. Jesus bluntly called them hypocrites as he mentioned what Isaiah had prophesied about them Isaiah. They gave God lip service rather than living their lives to serve to serve God. Their worship missed the mark because they honored God with their words but their hearts were far away from God. They had rules that focused on outward behavior rather than the inner life---who they were in their hearts. Jesus went on to say that is not what goes in a man’s mouth but what comes out of it that makes him or her unclean (Matthew 15:7 -11 paraphrased). The Pharisees judged people based on their outward behavior whereas God looks at our hearts.
The Pharisees were good at keeping the law. 1) Looking at others: Pharisees were good at observing others and how they failed to measure up. Remember what Jesus said in the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee? In their prayers, the Pharisee told God how good he was at keeping the law while he looked at the Publican with contempt. On the other hand the Publican, unlike the Pharisee was truly remorseful for his sins as he begged God’s forgiveness (Luke 18:9 – 14). 2) Looking in the mirror. In Matthew 23, Jesus held up a mirror to show the Pharisees their faults. Although they observed the law, their hearts remained unchanged. Jesus used the phrase, “Woe to you …” in reference to the Pharisee seven times. There is no doubt that Jesus’s words illustrated how they would look in the mirror. Consider an excerpt from the one of Michael Jackson’s songs entitled “Man In The Mirror”. Here are some lyrics from that song …
I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways
And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place
(If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place)
Take A Look At Yourself, And Then Make A Change
3) Opposing views: Jesus and the Pharisees obviously did not see eye to eye on the law. The law was meant to make them look in the mirror to help them see the changes they needed to make. It seemed like the Pharisees saw the law as more of a window through which to look at others. While it is true that the Pharisees kept the law outwardly, it is also true that they failed to make changes within their hearts.
Are there times when we act like Pharisees in modern day? We do not mind that question so long as it is the Pharisees of old who have to answer it. Yet, when that question is asked of us, it makes us squirm. We like to think that we are looking in the mirror to see the changes that we need to make. But, there are times when we are looking through a window at other rather than looking in the mirror.
Just recently I attended a Gideon’s Banquet where a God fearing man gave his testimony. He was a former drug dealer who was serving time. But, through a series of events, God worked out the details so that he could get on to the good things that God had prepared in advance to do (Ephesians 2:10) in leading others to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Long story short, he mentioned a time in his testimony when he once went to a church that offered an invitation. It was before he became a Christian. As he responded to that invitation, he was told that he needed a haircut! What would Jesus have said to that? “But woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in” (KJV).
Does our righteousness surpass that of the Pharisees and Scribes a.k.a. teachers of the law? 1) Flaws of Pharisaical Righteousness: The righteousness of the Pharisees came from human efforts. Yet, no matter how good they were at obeying God’s law, they were not above God’s law because they were sinners. We are all sinners. Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners (Matthew 9: 13), and Jesus came in to the world to save sinners (I Timothy 1:9). 2) Insights from a former Pharisee: For as Paul said, “No one will be declared righteous in his [God’s] sight by observing the law; rather through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God apart from the law, has been made known to which the law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:20 -23 NIV). 3) Others will know us by our love: The law will show others their mistakes, but the love of God changes people! Jesus did not say that others will know us by the way we keep adherence to the law, but He did say that others will know that we are His disciples by the way love one another (John13:34). 4) Our footprints: A line from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow reminds us that we all leave “Footprints on the sands of time”. What kind of impression will our footprints leave behind? Will the footprints we leave behind leave a lasting impression of who we were ? What will those who come after us say about us? Will they say that we were the salt of the earth and the light of the world?
