INTRODUCTION
• Today we begin a four-week series examining four sayings of Jesus from his Sermon on the Mount.
• We will unpack Jesus on ________ influence, sin, sharing, and wealth.
• How did you come to faith in Jesus?
• What brought you to the place where you decided that you needed Jesus and then be baptized into Him?
• Did the process begin with a revelation on your own, or was there someone who helped you see the need?
• Was there someone in your life that showed you what it looked like to follow Jesus?
• Did someone in your life INFLUENCE you to follow Jesus?
• Popular thought in our society is that faith is a personal thing and that one’s faith must be kept to oneself.
• Do you feel that pressure?
• We must ask ourselves how we will live out our faith in a dying world.
• Are we to go to the hills and hide?
• Are we to lock the church doors and hope we do not get stained by the world?
• Are we supposed to blend in with the world during the week and then put on a “church face” for Sunday?
• Imagine if the early Church had taken that stance concerning faith that you should keep it to yourself.
• Where would we be today?
• LOST!
• In the final beatitude, Jesus described the attitude the world would often display towards the citizens of the kingdom in verses 10-12.
• Now Jesus describes the opposite, the influence of the kingdom upon the world.
• One word sums up how we live our lives as citizens in a foreign land.
• That word is INFLUENCE.
• We see INFLUENCERS, as they are called on social media, who, for whatever reason, sometimes have millions of followers.
• These folks make a lot of money, and companies and organizations run to them, hoping they will promote their products because if an Influencer uses the product, I better use it also!
• Let’s turn to Matthew 5:13-16 so we can see that Jesus calls us to be influencers in this world.
• Let’s begin with verse 13.
Matthew 5:13 (NET 2nd ed.)
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people!
SERMON
I. Influence by flavoring.
• Jesus begins verse 13 by telling the crowd that they are to be the salt of the earth!
• Who wants to be salt, and why would anyone want to be salt?
• I do not think Lot’s wife in the Old Testament found that appealing!
• Why did Jesus use this as one of His metaphors to highlight the importance of influence?
• In the ancient world and modern times, salt had four basic functions: preservation, seasoning, fertilizer, and as an antiseptic.
• When you break down these uses, it becomes clear what Jesus meant when He used the metaphor!
• First, when you look at salt as a preservative.
• In ancient times, salt was used to keep food from going rancid.
• Even today, it is still used in that manner in parts of the world where there is not much refrigeration available.
• When things are dead or dying, they are in a state of decay.
• Salt was used to slow down or stop the decay.
• The salt could not take something already in a state of decay and reverse it; the salt could keep it from worsening.
• We are living in a world that is in a state of decay because it is dying.
• Christians are to be the agent that keeps the world from decaying.
• We are to be the preservative for the dying world.
• Christians are responsible for preserving morality, justice, and social conscience.
• God has also instituted the state and the home for these purposes, but without the Church, even these lack salt and light.
• Historically, the Church can be credited for many of the advances in science, medicine, prison reform, orphanages, abolition of slavery and child labor, education, and literacy.
• The kingdom of God has flavored this world in significant ways.
• Can you imagine a world with NO morality, no boundaries, and no standards of decency?
• Some better be careful about what they wish for.
• Christians are called to influence society so that it does not smell bad.
• For salt to work, it must be mixed in with what it tries to preserve.
• As Christians, we are called to be in the world but not of the world.
• We are to be involved in all aspects of life, and we are to be the preserving agent of the world.
• We are to get out of the saltshaker and into the world.
• Salt was also used as fertilizer.
• Fertilizer supplements something the ground lacks so plants and crops can grow better.
• Followers of Jesus are called to bring nutrients to a world that is missing a lot of nutrients.
• For salt to be effective as fertilizer, it has to be mixed into the ground.
• Salt was used as an antiseptic to keep wounds from getting infected.
• Open wounds are open to infection.
• So many wounded people need some antiseptic poured into their wounds to keep them from letting the scars of life infect the whole person.
• Have you ever eaten something that needed some flavor added to it?
• Mashed potatoes without some salt are bland.
• Many other foods need a little salt lift to have good flavor.
• When Jesus calls us the salt of the earth, He says we are to bring flavor and spice to life.
• The tragedy is that people have often connected Christianity with precisely the opposite.
• They have connected Christianity with that which takes the flavor out of life.
• Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers.”
• In the past, the Church has been against so many things that it looked like all Christians were about was making sure that everyone lived a miserable life.
• That was the impression I had about Christians until I started hanging out with Robyn’s friends when we were dating.
• I saw that it was all right for a Christian to enjoy life.
• Christians should be the ones who add flavor to life that make life worth living.
• We should be having the most fun of anyone.
• I guarantee you one thing.
• When you love Jesus, your life will have flavor, which needs to be spread to other people.
• Many people are living a bland life, and they need us to add the flavor of Jesus to their lives!
• Jesus speaks of salt losing its flavor, and He says when that happens, it is good for nothing except to be thrown out and walked on.
• Technically, salt (i.e., sodium chloride) cannot lose its saltiness.
• Therefore, it is a highly resilient chemical.
• The word Jesus uses would be more literally translated as “is defiled.”
• Although salt cannot become unsalty, it can be mixed with other substances.
• If you take a glass of water and add a cup of salt to it, you can taste it, take that cup of salt, and add it to 100 gallons of water and you will no longer taste it.
• The salt of Jesus' day came from salt marshes.
• If the salt had too many impurities in it, it was useless.
• When the salt was stored, the salt close to the ground would become useless because it would get wet and combine with the ground.
• Christians lose their saltiness when they become too mixed in the world.
• They become so much like the world that they lose their flavoring capability.
• The word FLAVOR is also translated FOOLS OR FOOLISH.
Romans 1:22 (NET 2nd ed.)
22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
1 Corinthians 1:20 (NET 2nd ed.)
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish?
• The word FOOL and FOOLISH are the same phrase as LOSE ITS FLAVOR.
• Salt must be mixed in just the right proportions to be effective.
• Too much salt can ruin a great dinner, and too little can make it tasteless.
Matthew 5:14–15 (NET 2nd ed.)
14 You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.
II. Influence by courage.
• Jesus calls His followers the light of the world.
• Light does several things, exposes flaws, and illuminates the path.
• People are uncomfortable when they stand in the light or when things are brought to light that they seek to hide.
• We often get upset at how people act, but we must remember that they do not always have the light of Jesus to tell them what is right and wrong and why.
• The light of the gospel will reveal what is truth and what is masquerading as truth.
• Light also illuminates a path.
• Have you ever walked around in the dark, stubbed your toe, or run into something?
• In our house, we have small night lights that pierce the darkness so that we can see.
• We are to help guide people with the light of the gospel.
• So, then a Christian must make the way clear to others.
• A Christian must, of necessity, be an example.
• One of the things, which this world needs more than anything else, is people who are prepared to focus on goodness.
• We need people who will shine in the light of truth and who will shine the light of truth.
• Here is what I want us to see in these two verses.
• It takes courage to influence others for Jesus.
• When you are a Christian, it is scary to put yourself out there because you are not perfect.
• Do not let fear of imperfection keep you from shining your light!
• When you are the light of the world, you have to be visible, and visibility takes courage.
• Jesus says a city on a hill cannot be hidden, and no one lights a lamp and then hides it.
• The light is intended to illuminate the entire room!
• Christians are called to stand out in the crowd.
• When we light a candle or shine a flashlight, we do not try to keep all the light for ourselves; it is also meant to benefit others by shedding light where they need to see.
• Christianity is something that is meant to be seen.
• As someone said, “There can be no such thing as secret discipleship, for either the secrecy destroys the discipleship, or the discipleship destroys the secrecy.”
• One’s faith should be perfectly visible to all people!
• Further, our faith should not be visible only within the Church.
• A faith whose effects stop at the church door is useless to anyone.
• It should be even more visible in the ordinary activities of the world.
• Our faith should be visible in how we treat a shop assistant across the counter and order a meal in a restaurant.
• We are called to the light of the world, not only the Church.
• Let’s look at verse 16 for a final thought.
Matthew 5:16 (NET 2nd ed.)
16 In the same way, let your light shine before people so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.
III. Influence by directing.
• Here is where the Pharisees went off the path.
• The Pharisees did good deeds, but they did them to glorify themselves.
• Jesus said let your light shine before people so they can see your good deeds AND GIVE HONOR TO THE FATHER!
• Our light, our life should point others to Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit!
1 Peter 2:11–12 (NET 2nd ed.)
11 Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul,
12 and maintain good conduct among the non-Christians, so that though they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears.
• To God be the glory.
• When people see what we are doing, we must make sure they know we are doing it in the name of Jesus.
• When people know we care, they will care about what we know.
• The Pharisees acted to be seen by people.
• True Christians act to glorify God and care little what people may think of them, except as by their conduct others may be brought to honor God, yet they should so live that people may see from their conduct what is the proper nature of their faith in Jesus!
CONCLUSION
• Who are you influencing?
• Are you shining the light of Jesus for others?
• Are you the salt of the earth for Jesus?
• Who are you influencing?
• Do you want to have a lasting impact way beyond your years?
• Influence others to come to Jesus!
› In 1969, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. His footprints are still there. They will be there a thousand years from now! Your influence may last as long!
Being an influence requires purposeful living!
