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)
Or would I be talking to a stone
If I asked you
To share a problem that’s not your own
We can change things if we start giving
Why don’t you…
The difference with us is you surely can make a difference, not if you can.
• Christ shines through us.
(2) We have an INFLUENCE that cannot be neglected.
Life for the Palestinians will be vastly different without salt and light.
• We are called to be a godly influence in our world.
• In Jesus’ expression, your life WILL make a difference. That’s who you are!
A Peanuts cartoon showed Peppermint Patty talking to Charlie Brown in which she said, “Guess what, Chuck? The first day of school and I got sent to the principal’s office. It was your fault, Chuck.”
Charlie Brown responds, “My fault? How could it be my fault? Why do you say everything is my fault?”
To which she declares, “You’re my friend, aren’t you, Chuck? You should have been a better influence on me.”
Patty was trying to pass the buck. But as Christians, that is our calling.
• We are called to be a better influence in people’s lives, to touch lives because we have been transformed by Christ, who now DWELLS in us.
• He works THROUGH US, if you allow Him to. Jesus’ word is emphatic; you ARE salt of the earth and light of the world.
Every night, we have a visible lesson of this truth when we see the moon.
• The moon reflects the light produced by the sun. It shines bright and round as long as it is not obstructed by the earth.
• The only time when we cannot see the moon, or only a crescent moon, is when the earth gets in the way.
If the world is in the way, the moon will not reflect the light of the sun fully, because the world veils the light of the sun. The world veils the light.
• Each time the world gets in the way, the people will not be able to see the light of the Son in our lives.
• Don’t let the world gets in the way. Don’t let the values of this world gets in the way. You lost your Christian testimony the moment it happens.
Is this possible? Actually, salt or sodium chloride is a very stable chemical compound. It never really "loses its flavour."
• However, when it gets contaminated with dust, sand or other impurities, then you cannot taste it. When that happens, Jesus says, it is "good for nothing".
• We don’t want to be “good for nothing” Christians.
Watch your testimony. Don’t blend in so much we can’t tell the difference.
• It starts with compromise, then legitimize, and finally assimilation. You identify yourselves with the world.
• If we are not behaving like a Christian, we need to watch out. If people see little difference in us, being followers of Christ, then we need to take heed.
• We cannot just be good friends; we have to be good Christians. We cannot just be good colleagues; you’ve got to be good Christians.
• Jesus: “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Matt 3:8)
Suppose your friends were using foul languages and talking filthy subjects, and you steps in. You did not say a word, but they begin to change their language and behaviour, because a Christian has just entered that group. Then you have just acted as salt and light. Your presence halted the corruption that was going on. You have become the controlling agent in this context.
We are called to be the controlling agent in every situation in life. “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven”, Jesus says.
You have Christ-empowered influence, wherever God places you.
• You may say, “I don’t feel like it!” It doesn’t matter what you feel, that’s what you are because of Christ.
• What kind of an influence do you have today? If people are watching you, what do they see?
A pastor was in the garden making a wooden rack to support a climbing vine. As he was pounding away, he noticed that a little boy was watching him. The youngster didn’t say a word, so the preacher kept on working, thinking the boy would leave. But he didn’t.
Pleased at the thought that his work was being admired, the pastor finally said, “Are you trying to pick up some pointers on gardening?”
“No,” he replied. “I’m just waiting to hear what a pastor says when he hits his thumb with a hammer.”
We are being watched. And Jesus says, let them see… Let them see your good deeds and PRAISE your Father in heaven.
• That’s our testimony. Let our words and behaviours draw people to God, not to drive them from God.
• If your words and actions aren’t doing that, we are not being the salt and light that Jesus expects.
(3) We need to be INTENTIONAL about it.
Get the world out of the way, and to do that, face the Son!
This is a choice we make. It is not the problem with the salt or light. The salt is contaminated; the light is blocked.
• Some of us may insist on covering the light under a bowl. We choose to hide it, in sin, in disobedience, in doing things our way, and not God’s way.
• Something has gotten in between us and the Son. Our salt is not longer pure. Our light is hidden. We have chosen to compromise.
Would you really want to touch someone’s life? Then you need to be touched by Jesus Christ first.
• If you are not transformed on the inside, you have nothing to give others. If Christ has not touched you, you have no pure salt to offer, no light to shine.
• You shine because He first shines His light in you. You are salt because all contaminants have been removed by Christ.
• You have to spend time with God. Moses’ face shines each time he met God and was in His presence. The only way to reflect God’s glory is to meet up with Him and see His glory.
• The moon shines best when it faces the sun fully, unhindered, unobstructed.
FACE the Son, and you will REFLECT His light.
Conclusion:
A man has a precious stone, a priceless jewel. On the way home, he met a traveller, who said he was hungry and asked if he could share some of his food. The man opened his bag to take out some food and the traveller saw the precious stone. On impulse, he asked the man if he could have it. Amazingly the man gave him the jewel.
The traveller departed quickly, overjoyed with his new possession. He walked on for a distance but not for long. Suddenly he turned around, ran back to the man and made the request: “Please give me something more valuable, more precious than this jewel. Please give me that which enabled you to give me this precious stone!"
... James W. Moore, Some Things Are Too Good Not to Be True, Dimensions, 1994, p.101.
Will people see that SOMETHING in our lives, that something that they are missing, that precious SOMEONE that makes all the difference in our lives?
• If they can, if they are influenced by what they see in us, then we can say we are truly the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
