FULFILLING THE LAW
Text: Matthew 5:13 - 20
Mat 5:13-20 "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. (14) "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. (15) No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. (16) In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (17) "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. (18) For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. (19) Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (20) For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (NRSV).
A man walked into a little grocery store and asked, “Do you sell salt?”
“Ha!” said Pop, the proprietor. “Do we sell salt? Just look!” Pop showed the customer an entire wall of shelves stocked with nothing but salt: Morton salt, iodized salt, kosher salt, sea salt, rock salt, garlic salt — every kind of salt imaginable.
“Wow!” said the customer.
“You think that’s something?” asked Pop. “That’s nothing! Come look.” And Pop led the customer to a back room filled with shelves and bins and cartons and barrels and boxes of salt. “Do we sell salt!” he said.
“Unbelievable!” said the customer.
“You think that’s something?” said Pop. “I’ll show you salt!” And Pop led the customer down steps into a huge basement, five times as large as the back room. It was filled, floor to ceiling, with every imaginable form of salt — even ten-pound salt licks for cows.
“Incredible!” said the customer. “You really do sell salt.”
“That’s just the problem!” Pop said. “We never sell salt. But that salt salesman — hoo-boy, does he sell salt!”
Salt that stays on the shelf doesn’t do any good at all. (Craig Brian Larson , Phyllis Ten Elshoff. Eds. 1001 Illustrations That Connect. [source:D. James Kennedy, Led by the Carpenter (Nelson, 1999)]. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008, p. 77). How do we compare with the sales of this salt store?
Are we effective or defective? That might seem like a probing question that makes us uncomfortable. But, it is a question that we need to ask ourselves. Another way to put it is to ask what difference we as Christians make in the world around us. When Jesus uses the metaphors of salt and light, He is talking to us about our covenant, our calling and how they relate to our righteousness.
COVENANT
Did you know that both salt and light are symbolic of a covenant relationship? As someone (Eugene Boring & Fred B. Craddock) put it, 1) “Salt had many connotations in Matthew's tradition and context, including sacrifice (Leviticus 2:13, Ezekiel43:24); loyalty and covenant fidelity (Ezra 4:14; Numbers 18:19; eating together was called “sharing salt,” and expressed a binding relationship); purification (2 Kings2:19-22); seasoning (Job 6:6; Colossians 4:5); preservative”. (Eugene Boring & Fred B. Craddock. The People's New Testament Commentary. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster Joh Knox Press,2009, p. 29).
2) Isaiah 42:6 -7 emphasizes light like this: “I the Lord have called you for a good reason. I will grasp your hand and guard you, and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to lead prisoners from prison and those who sit in darkness from the dungeon” (CEB).
3) Getting others out of their dungeons can be a difficult task! But, God will give us what we need to be liberators!
How many people do we know that are in a prison of their own making?
1) An actual prisoner can see the bars that contain him or her that keep him or her confined. But, we all know people who are in a prison of their own making because of bad choices.
2) There is the story of a bear that was captured and caged for so long that when they got him to the chosen zoo that was going to be his new home that they opened his cage. The bear had moved where space allowed him to move, pacing back and forth. But, he never went beyond the threshold. Even though the cage had been opened, he never went beyond the threshold. Even though he was physically free, in his mind he was still confined.
3) There are some people who feel a lot like that bear. God have set them free by His awesome gift of grace but they do not feel that they can move beyond the threshold.
God wants us to share with the people who feel like they are stuck in the prisons of their own making.
1) God is not willing for anyone to be stuck in a rut---a prison of their own making. God is not willing that anyone should have to die in the prisons of their own making.
2) Through Jesus Christ God has conquered sin death and the fear of death and has made us conquerors as the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
3) Remember the third verse the hymn, “Up From the Grace He Arose? “Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Savior He tore the bars away!” It is because of God's grace that we can all cross the threshold of these things that once held us as prisoners!
Does our covenant have an expiration date? How many times have you checked the expiration dates of something before you buy it or open it? The other day I was driving down the road and opened a snack size packet of peanuts. I was expecting them to taste good. After all, we bought them on sale. I wanted to pull over and spit them out because they had a stale taste to them but I couldn't because I was in motion. So the next time I came to a stop light I looked at the expiration date. They were expired by six months. So even though we might buy things that have a shelf life, our covenant with God does not expire! How effective can we be when we have treated our mission n to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world like it has reached its expiration date?
CALLING
Were we called for the purpose of self-preservation? Of course not!
1) How can we bring the changes that we are called to make if we focus only on our own goals, our own future and our own progress?
2) The covenant part of being the salt of the earth and the light of the world means that we embrace our responsibility.
3) Light is meant to be seen!
4) Salt is meant to savor and flavor every environment that it encounters it. Helmut Thielick once said “Christian should be salt not honey”. “There is an honest tang about wholesome Christian integrity: salt is clean rather cosy, whereas honey coats everything, however sour and rough the flavor, with the same artificial film of sweetness, which can leave a sticky taste behind”. (John Proctor. Daily Bible Commentary: Matthew. Peabody: Massachusetts, 2001, p. 42).
5) A big part of what it means to pick up our crosses and follow Jesus means that changes have taken place within that are evident without! How can light hide in the dark? How can salt hide itself in the environment it encounters?
How many of you have ever heard of a mix master? What does a mix master have to do with our calling? Dr. Tony Evans explains it this way: “A Mix Master is where a series of highways intersect. Normally, you can find a mix master in the downtown area of a city. At the point where the highways connect, you will find their purpose.
In a Christian' s life there are also highways that lead to the center of their lives and their purpose. The highways of experience, opportunities, passions, and abilities are all designed to lead us to the intersection of our purposes in God and our calling for our lives here on earth. Where these four things intersect---experience, opportunities, passions, and abilities---our purposes begin.” (Tony Evans. Tony Evans' Book Of Illustrations. Chicago: Moody Press, 2009, p. 51). It is my belief that God often has divine appointments and meetings between us and those that God has placed in our mission field!
How do we rank in our righteousness? Is our righteousness good in character but lacking in attractiveness? There are two Greek words for good. Agathos is a Greek word that means good in character. The Other Greek, kalos, word for good means good in attractiveness. (Vine's Expository Dictionary Of New Test ament Words. McLean: MacDonald Publishing Co., p. 503, 504). Matthew 5:16 explains this perfectly: "... let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (NIV). Jesus tells us that our righteousness must pass the righteousness of the Pharisees because they obviously had the goodness in character, but not in attractiveness. What they did in keeping the law was for outward observance while they remained unchanged inwardly within their hearts.
There is the story of a fellow from Long Beach who went to get some chicken. However, instead of getting a box of chicken. He got a box of the day's financial proceeds. The manager's mistake was that he was trying to camouflage the deposit that he was soon to make at the bank.
The fellow, having arrived at his pick nick destination, being good at heart took the box back, when he realized the mistake that the manager had made. The manager was relieved and pleased at the same time. In fact, the manager asked him to stick around so that the newspaper could put his picture in the paper. "You're the most honest guy in town," the manager complemented. But, this gentleman did not want the recognition. And his reason for declining the publicity of his heroism might surprise you. The young man said, "Oh no, please don't do that. I'm married, but she's not my wife." (Charles R. Swindoll. Strengthening Your Grip: Essentials In An Aimless World. New York: Bantam Books, 1986, pp. 77-78). We all see the contradiction between in this here don't we? His heart was not right with God. What did he have in common with the Pharisees? He was “good at heart“ but not “pure in heart”!
The Pharisees had inconsistencies between doing the right things outwardly and right with God in their hearts, when it came to obeying the law. Their hearts were not changed. They were covenant breakers who failed to be the example---the salt and light that they should have been. There was a time in history when soldiers in Rome when Caesar's soldier got got paid in salt. Hence the Latin word that describes it---“salaria” which is where the word salary comes from. (Billie Friel. Citizens Of the Kingdom. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992, p. 77). Are we worth our salt as disciples that we have been called to be? Do we let our light shine before others in such a way that others will want to thank God and praise Him? In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, AMEN.
