“Christian Influence”
June 1, 2014
Matthew 5:10-16
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
“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 underfoot.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 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. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
It is interesting to me in this, Jesus’ first public sermon, that He begins with how to be blessed by God, then talks about being persecuted for living that way and then encourages and instructs God’s people to be an influence anyway. He says you will be blessed of God if you act and live and ‘be’ a certain way (the Beatitudes) but you will be persecuted by the world for living this way. Live this way anyway, He says. Let your light shine.
Jesus said,
“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” John 3:19-21
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
“As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:4-5
“Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” John 12:36
I think the Christian needs to come to a place where we understand that we are different from the world. We are children of the Light. Because of that difference we will be put down, mocked, ridiculed, and persecuted in various ways. Even in America where we were formed as a Christian nation the Child of Light will suffer persecution to a certain degree. In Sudan and many other countries you may be arrested, put in prison and executed simply for being different from the Muslim believers. We have been reading about one Christian pastor on death row right now for the crime of being a Christian. I wonder how many we never hear about who suffer the same fate. And yet in spite of such persecution these courageous believers choose to let their light shine. They know they do not belong to this world. The Christian has a citizenship not of this world.
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” Ephesians 5:8
“You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.” 1 Thessalonians 5:5
Do you ever feel like you are a round peg trying to fit in a square hole or a square peg trying to fit in a round hole? Do you feel like you are just a little different; that you don’t quite fit in? Don’t be surprised by that. You are as different from the world as light is from darkness. And you will suffer in some ways for that. I have found, though, that many people are attracted to the light. They come to the light. When we live as Children of the Light we will offend some people but we will bless many others.
Well, Jesus said that we are to be the light. We are to be salt. What does that mean? Let me suggest a couple of things to you.
First of all, Salt and light both purifies. Back in 1967 I was a young private first class in the Army, stationed in Maryland at a Nike Missile site. Even though I was a Military Policeman, I was pretty low on the totem pole so I had to do some outside yard work. In the course of my work I came in contact with some poison ivy. I HATE poison ivy! It is itchy and miserable! My legs swelled up to twice their size. I was in misery. I went to sick bay and they gave me calamine lotion. It was about as effective as using a garden hose to pole jump. I didn’t work at all. I suffered for a week or so with no relief. They one day as I was laying in my bunk in misery, one of the guys asked if I wanted to go with them to the ocean. I hesitated because I wasn’t feeling so great but I had never seen the ocean, growing up in Minnesota, so I said, “Sure!!”
When we got to the Atlantic, I was surprised at how dirty and smelly it was. Sure wasn’t like those pure lakes in Minnesota – but everyone ran into the water and seemed to be having fun. So I waded out to my knees and my legs started burning like crazy. That salt water on my poison ivy was pretty painful! But I got used to it and spent a few hours playing in the ocean.
You guessed what happened, didn’t you. That salt water purified my wounds. My poison ivy was gone in a day or two.
Many years ago I worked for a summer at Castle Rock Water Company in Dunsmuir. I got to work in the lab sometimes and test the water. I would go up to the water source for the city of Dunsmuir. They claim to have the purist water on earth – and maybe they do. Coming straight out of lava tubes beneath Mount Shasta the water is so pure they do not have to add chemicals or filter it or do anything to it. It is that pure.
But that wasn’t good enough for the water bottling company. They not only filtered it twice, but they exposed it to ion gas and to light – ultraviolet light to be specific. UV systems can destroy 99.99% of harmful microorganisms without adding chemicals or changing your water’s taste or odor. It is one of the best purifiers of water there is.
Salt and light are both purifiers. The Christian needs to be a purifier as well. We need to make wherever we are a better place. It is our calling to clean up the place. Christians have been responsible for changing society since the days of Christ – whether it is helping the poor, the widows and orphans, taking a stand against slavery, giving women equal rights or working against the evils of the day – like alcohol and drugs.
Today we Christians need to purify our world. We need to take a stand against abortion and the biblical abomination of homosexuality and legalized marijuana. I can guarantee you that if you do – you WILL be persecuted. The Bible says,
“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” 2 Timothy 3:12
Nobody likes to be persecuted – but we have to be willing to suffer the consequences for being Children of Light – and for being light in a dark world.
Another 2) characteristic of light and salt is as a preserver. In Northern Minnesota a lot of people not only hunted, but they trapped as well. My younger brother, Mark, was one of the best. My cousin, Joe, is still one of the best trappers in the world – in fact one of the networks was talking to him about doing a reality show of his life. Joe has a tremendous trap collection – some of them worth thousands of dollars. His life has been about trapping and he has done well at it. In his den you will see all kinds of traps and guns and mounted heads of game he has killed through the years. But in his shop you will see furs and beaver glands hanging all over the place. Beaver glands are used in perfume making, in case you didn’t know. But the beaver pelts and the mink, fox, wolf and other furs are often preserved with salt rubbed in them – at least until they are sent to the processor. Salt preserves.
My cousin Joe not only traps animals but he looks a lot like one of those old trappers. Those old trappers used salt, when they could find it, to preserve the hide – but they also used light. Sunlight preserved their food when they dried it. The heat and the smoke worked pretty well with the jerky but the fruit and other things were dried out in the sunlight to preserve them.
The Christian is a preserving influence in this old world. Do you remember when the Angel of God came to Abraham and said He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorra because of their wickedness? Let’s read it.
“20 Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
26 The LORD said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”
“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”
29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”
He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”
30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”
He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”
32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”
33 When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.” Genesis 18:20-33
Do you see how ten righteous people could have saved a city? Sometimes I think if all the Christians left San Francisco or Los Angeles at one time we would have the big quake and they would slide right into the sea. Maybe?
You do not know how important you are. You do not know how important your words and influence and life is – and neither does the town you live in. You are a preserver of life simply by living a righteous life. YOU matter. Your life matters.
One little side note here. This week we will be voting in the primary election. We decide who our leaders are going to be for the next few years. Shame on the Christian who doesn’t vote. Voting is one way we can make a stand for what is right. Locally we have the opportunity to get to know the people running for office. We have some good ones and some not so good ones running. I have prayed with some of these men and women. They are people of character. Others are not. And if a person is not a person of character – not a Christian – they can’t be trusted to represent our best interests. It is up to you to investigate each one and then to vote your beliefs and morals. John Adams, said,
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Founding Father, said, "…he is the best friend to American liberty, who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion, and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down profanity and immorality of every kind.
"Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I scruple not to call him an enemy of his country."
--Sermon at Princeton University, "The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men," May 17, 1776
The time has come for us to be the Light and the Salt that God means for us to be. Our nation is in peril. Never before in history have we been in greater danger than now. The reason is because we have gotten away from the Christian principles this country was founded on; The reason is because we citizens have taken our liberties and God-given rights for granted; the reason is that we have refused to become the Salt and the Light – the Purifying and Preserving influence God means for us to be.
May we take up the cross and the banner of Christian and may we be able to hear those beautiful words when our race in run, “Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant!” I fear if you lose your saltiness you won’t hear those words. Pick up your Sword (the Bible)! Pick up your pen! Let’s SHINE for Jesus!
SONG
