Quick Sermons for Permanent Fixes Lesson 2
Fix Your Cape
Matthew 5:13-16
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Years ago I collected comic books and the most valuable to have was Action Comics #1. It was the story of a bumbling news reporter named Clark Kent. For those of you who are familiar with the story you know that Clark Kent was an idiot. Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen would get in a fix and they would need real help. They always cried out for Superman. And Clark Kent would loosen his tie, find a phone booth and emerge with a red and blue jumpsuit and save the day. All he had to do was fix his cape and he was bulletproof. He could throw criminals around, take knives and bend them with his bare hand, stop bullets with his teeth. Jesus says in this passage that Christians need to fix their cape. When we will reveal who we really are we are faster than a speeding sin, more powerful than public unrighteousness and able to leap evil in a single bound. Not by our power, but by His grace. We are talking about Quick Sermons for Permanent Fixes and Jesus says we need to fix our cape. Show the world who we are. That is the point of this passage, Christians are to be distinctive.
It’s important to look at what Jesus doesn’t say before we look at what he does say. Jesus makes some basic assumptions that we need to look at.
First, He assumes the church and world are different. This is obvious because he says that his disciples will bring something different to the world that it needs. If there is nothing special about the church and her people then there is no reason to take a message to the world. Salt is a preservative and light dispels darkness.
That’s the second thing Jesus assumes. It is clear by the fact that he says the world needs salt and light. He assumes the world is rotten and dark. It’s ways do not work. It needs something different. Jesus assumes the world needs to be saved. You don’t call Superman unless there is trouble.
That’s what Jesus doesn’t say, now let’s look at what he does say. Jesus tells his followers that they are the salt of the earth. In those days there were no refrigerators and the only way to preserve meat and keep it from rotting was to pack it in salt. It stopped decay. One needs only pick up a copy of the daily newspaper or watch the news on television to see that society is rotten. Our morals are eaten away and it is up to Christians to stop it. That means something very specific. We are to be involved. Christians are to be on the front lines of the battle for America’s moral conscience. I have long struggled with wondering how politically active a Christian should be. I am not naturally bent that way, but this passage says that we should be in the parts of life that show decay to stop it.
By now we are all familiar with AIDS. I am just old enough to remember when the disease was first discussed. Something strange was happening to the immune systems of gay men. For whatever reasons, their body just stopped fighting diseases. And so the normal little stuff that we normally just shrug off, a sniffle, cold, sore throat, for these people became life threatening. Folks, when I look at America I think we have a case of spiritual AIDS. The moral immune system doesn’t fight like it should. Too many Christians have circled the wagons and formed their own little communes. The world is big, bad, and ugly so we don’t go into it at all. We don’t want our children to see that stuff so we shelter them from it. We become protectionist. But when all the Christians leave society, the moral immune system is gone and every little disease that is floating around can suddenly multiply and get worse. If we want to be salt in society, we must actively fight decay.
But preacher, you say, I’ve read the end. This old world just gets worse and worse until God burns it up. You’re right. But you know what – you will die someday but you run and work out anyway. Someday something will kill you, but you still watch what you eat. When you get sick, you go see the doctor and you take the medicine he gives you. Why? I know the end and everybody dies. Why fight it? Because you can’t be passive about your life. As a Christian you can’t be passive about the world. Be salt and stop decay.
There is another option. Jesus says that if the salt loses its saltiness it become worthless. It is impossible for salt not to be salt, but it is possible for it to become so contaminated that it is useless. If I told you that your salt shaker was 75% salt and 25% beach sand, would you put it on your dinner? It would be worthless. In the same way if we allow ourselves to lose our distinctiveness, then we are worthless. It is the man with the cigarette in his hand telling you not to smoke. His credibility is shot. If we look just like the world, then why should they listen to us? If are so rotten yourself that you cannot stop the rot around you, then you aren’t much good. Guard your lives and be salt in a society that is rapidly decaying.
Jesus also says that his disciples are light. Salt has a negative role, it stops decay, but light has a positive role, it illuminates and guides. In Jesus day they didn’t use light for laser beams, they used it in lamps. And the lamps could show you just enough to take the next few steps. That’s what light was for these people.
Let me ask you a question, and please don’t be offended. What good are you? I mean really, what good are you? What good do you do? As Christians, we are to be a source of light. We are to be people who dispel gloominess and darkness. We are a unique source of light. Jesus actually says, you, you all, are the light of the world, which is to say you and you alone. No one else has the light that we have. What do we do with that light? If you feel depressed, maybe you are just empty. Fill your life up with acts of service. Too many people have filled their lives up with stuff and found they are still empty. Try this. Whenever you get down, the mully grubs I call them, do something for someone else. You won’t want to, but if you do it, your mully grubs will disappear. Get involved with serving other people. Your life will never be as full as when you serve others.
But Jesus doesn’t call us light. He calls us a city on a hill. What makes us distinctive? What do people know about Lomax Church of Christ? We cannot hide our light. God doesn’t have a secret service. Jesus says a secret disciple, one who hides his or her light, is useless.
Our problem is not that sinners sin. There are a lot of sinners out there and some of them are worse than others, but ultimately they are all sinners and they all sin. That is not our problem. Our problem is that saints sin. We don’t live up to our job description. When that happens, we look just like the world and we aren’t distinctive anymore. Our job is to stop moral decay and to spread light. We are to be front line people! We must make a difference. You know, I think one of the greatest missionary forces in the church is public school teachers. Public schools are on the front lines. Christian school teachers have an opportunity to be salt and light every day. But do you know what? Any Christian in any occupation can be salt and light. We are all to be salt and light. It’s the Christians job description. We talked last time I was with you about the Beatitudes and one thing that is noteworthy about them is that they cannot be practiced in isolation. You cannot be meek by yourself. There is no way to be merciful, alone. The beatitudes must be practiced among people. They are a witness to the change that takes place in us when we become Christian. They are a mark of distinction. The job of the church is not to impact the church, but to impact the world. It’s like a huddle in a football game. 67,000 people don’t pay $25.00 a ticket to watch the Titans huddle. What if you went to a Titans game and for 2 ½ hours you watched 11 men stand in a circle and talk? That’s not what you pay for!! 67,000 people pay $25 a ticket to see what difference the huddle makes. What they want to know is, having called the play in secret, does it work in public? The challenge for the church is not what we do when we call our Sunday morning huddle, but what we do when we break our huddle and head to our Sunday morning assignment. When Satan lines up against us, what difference does it make that we are Christians? Can we be salt and light?
Jesus says that people will see our good deeds. That’s a very broad term and for a reason. Our good deeds are not the acts of worship, although they are involved. Our good deeds are not our daily prayers and Bible readings, although that’s involved. Our good deeds include every outward manifestation of Christianity. In other words, everything good that we do. Without these good deeds, our gospel loses its credibility. People ask “Why should I listen to you”? Your life is just like mine!
Please note a one thing quickly as we close. Jesus says you ARE the salt of the earth and the light of the world, not you could be or you will be once you get it right, but you are. There is no reason to wait until later to speak up or do the right thing. We are the light of the world – we must act like it.
So ask yourself. Are you salt? Are you light? You say – this lesson has really made me want to do something, but I don’t know what to do.
Don’t laugh at an inappropriate joke – you will be salt to all those around.
Practice forgiveness at your workplace. Too many companies are poisoned by hatred, be someone who brings healing and peace.
Stand up for the little guy. The nerd who needs a friend. Make their day and be light to them as well as salt to those who would pick on that person.
Those of you in High School, either as a teacher or a student, speak out against sexual immorality.
Fathers, lead your families in prayer when they really need it. You know, in the midst of horrible family feud. Bring them to the throne room of God to find peace.
Share your faith at work, even if religion is mocked.
Refuse to gossip.
Never underestimate the power of a note of encouragement.
Thank your parents.
Surely now you can think of ways to be salt and light in your community, whether it is work, school, home or the grocery store, be salt and light and be a distinctive Christian. You don’t have to be perfect to be salt and light, just faithful. You don’t have to know exactly what to say to invite your neighbor to church. You don’t have to be financially secure with a guaranteed income for the rest of your life to give to the church. You don’t have to have the faith of a giant to pray regularly for others. You can stumble over the words, praying in your own weakness and fear and trembling. That is how I pray and how countless others pray. And when you have done it you will find, not that it was somehow miraculously perfect, but that God is right there with you every step of the way and that somehow the words you stumbled over, the awkward consolations, the wavering words of love, even the rambling, fumbling sermon, has touched a human heart. And then, when men see your good works, they will praise the God you serve for using your works to accomplish so much.
So why wait? What do you need to do to fix your cape? Don’t go for a quick fix, fix it permanently. Refuse to ever be a Clark Kent Christian – one in disguise.
