People Like You Make the World Go ‘Round
Matthew 5:13-16
Pastor Jim Luthy
Did you hear the story this week about the family of Major Hal Sellers? Major Sellers is a 13-year veteran currently assigned to the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion of the U.S. Marine Corps. About two weeks ago, Major Sellers and his battalion were deployed to an undisclosed location in the Middle East, undoubtedly preparing for war. Can you even imagine how difficult it must be to leave a wife and three young boys behind and be willing to die for your country? My wife left for two nights to visit her mother and I was in a near panic!
The situation for Major Sellers, however, was multiple times more difficult. The youngest of Major Sellers’ three sons, 4-month old Dillon, is living on borrowed time awaiting a heart transplant. His heart has a syndrome that makes it unable to pump or circulate blood. The medical center’s transplant coordinator says “every day could be an end-of-life issue for him.” His son’ condition made the prospect of heading to war especially difficult.
The Marine Corps offered Major Sellers a desk job at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center near his home, but after what his wife Betsy described as “a lot of soul searching,” Major Sellers opted to leave his son in the care of the hospital and go with his battalion to the edge of war. Betsy Sellers said, “I am doing what I have to do, and my husband is doing what he has to do. We’re doing what we need to do for our family and, hopefully, for other families.”
When I heard this story, I nearly cried. People like Hal and Betsy Sellers give me courage to do the right thing. Put aside for a moment what you think about the prospect of war in Iraq. People like this make the world go ‘round. They are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. They put the needs of others above their own needs, and in so doing they’ve preserved the hearts of men and women and have brought to light the very nature of God.
Climb with me back to the hillside where Jesus sat down and began to preach the Sermon on the Mount. He began teaching his disciples—a band of ordinary, unschooled men. By the time he finished, great crowds of all walks of life had gathered around him and were amazed at what he said.
Last week we marveled at how refreshing it must have been to hear Jesus say that the kingdom of heaven belonged to everyone, from the spiritual zeros to the spiritual heroes. He described a kingdom so contrary to the experience of the crowds that had gathered. They must have been so excited to hear such good news from a man who spoke with such authority.
Now Jesus will turn and speak directly to them about their created purpose and their own fulfillment of that purpose:
"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 by men. You are the light of the world. A city 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 men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matt 5:13-16, NIV)
Jesus is saying to the gathering crowd of “God’s grubby people,” “YOU are the salt of the earth.” “YOU are the light of the world.” He’s not saying those men in the phylacteries are the salt of the earth. He’s not saying, “These 12 men and no one but these 12 men are the light of the world.” He’s saying that the peasant by the scraggly tree over there is the salt of the earth. He’s saying that the half-blind Syrian woman who worked her way closer just to catch a blur of the Teacher who was amazing her is the light of the world.
The pastor is not the salt of the earth. The celebrity on television is not the light of the world. You are the salt! You are the light! You make the world go ‘round! You. And you. And you. All of us are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
Jesus has just announced that the kingdom of heaven belongs to all and that everyone has an important role on this planet and in his kingdom. This is great news to anyone who is dealing with shame and guilt, overloaded with the pain of an abusive past, or struggling with issues of self-worth. “Jesus includes me?” “I am the salt of the earth?” “I am the light of the world?” “Lil’ ol’ me? Oh, I’m so honored!”
You would be honored. You should be! Jesus delights in honoring you. The good news of the kingdom of heaven includes the truth that you were created for significance. But before you run too far too fast, let me point out that Jesus is basically saying, “You are the salt and the light, but you may not be fulfilling God’s plan.” Let’s consider his words carefully.
To begin with, Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth.” In our day, we think of salt primarily as a seasoning. A little salt on our pasta or in our soup makes it that much better. Too much salt, of course, is bad for us. So we can take it or leave it.
Jesus’ use of salt in this teaching on the hillside had a much more dramatic impact. In his day, salt was absolutely essential. People used salt for flavor, sure, but they also used salt to preserve their food. They didn’t have Frigidaires and walk-in coolers. Meats and other perishables were most often preserved with salt or it would quickly spoil. Salt was more than a staple. When Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth,” they didn’t hear that they added flavor to the world. They heard exactly what he meant—they were absolutely essential in the Creator’s work.
You are the salt of the earth. You are absolutely essential to the Creator. He created us to be dependent on one another and he intends to be glorified through us. Do you realize how important you are to him? You are essential.
A woman once wrote the editor of Christianity Today with this story:
“One afternoon, my four-year-old niece Paige and my six-year-old daughter Ashley started an argument, which grew louder and louder. I was about to intervene when my daughter stormed down the stairs. "Mom," she yelled, "Jesus wants us to be the salt of the earth and Paige is being the pepper!”
Are you being salt? Or are you being the pepper? Jesus was acknowledging that those people on the hill, the ordinary, everyday people like you and me were indeed the salt of the earth. But his teaching is clear that maybe some were more like the pepper.
The salt of Jesus’ day was not like our table salt. The best place to collect the salt was the Dead Sea, which was nine times saltier than the ocean. The salt collectors would dig salt pits into the ground for the water to wash over them. When the water evaporated, the salt would be collected. With this crude manner of collecting salt, it was normal for the salt to be defiled with all sorts of impurities. The salt was then shipped as is to various locations and sold in the market. It was not uncommon for the impurities to overcome the salt in the course of time if the salt dissipated at a faster rate than the impurities. In that case, the salt would lose its saltiness. The homeowner would toss the salt out on the front porch and the impurities would help to harden the pathway.
Jesus said, “But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be trampled by men.”
My friends, the good news of the kingdom is that you are wonderfully and fearfully made. You are vital to God’s redemptive plan in showing his love to all men and gathering them into his family. You are to God what salt was to every home in Palestine. But if you are overcome by impurities, you will lose your saltiness. You will lose your usefulness.
Think for a moment about the criminal who insists the system is the source of all his problems. Think of those who will not work hard and blame their boss for firing them. Think of the woman who compromised her faith and is now in a miserable marriage to a miserable man who does not believe and does not encourage her in any way. Think about those who are held accountable in the church and will not change their ways through a process of discipline, later charging that they were “burned by the church.” Everybody’s a victim. But some “victims” give real victims a bad name. It’s my observation that a lot of self-proclaimed victims never realized they are the salt of the earth. They allowed themselves to be overcome with impurity. They simply lost their saltiness and are now being trampled by men.
Is impurity working its way into your life? Are you at risk of losing your saltiness? You are the salt of the earth. Be useful. Turn away from the impurities that are crowding out your usefulness and be all God made for you to be.
Jesus then said to those on the hillside, “You are the light of the world. A city 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 men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Once again, Jesus affirms the value of his hearers. You are the light of the world. To those on the hillside and people like you and me, it’s really good news to hear that we are able to shine light in the darkness. The question is really quite simple: are you like a city on a hill that cannot be hidden, or have you lit your lamp only to hide it under a bowl and render it useless?
God made you to be light for the world. He intends for you to put your light on its stand—on display—so that it will give light to everyone in the house.
The best assessment we can gain from this text comes from the phrase, “everyone in the house.” Look at it as giving light to everyone in your sphere of influence. Do you give your light to everyone, or just a select few? A teenager, for example, who gives their light to their parents but lives quite differently at school is not giving light to everyone. If I preach here on Saturdays and curse and manipulate and isolate others when I play basketball in the morning, I am not giving light to everyone. You and I are to let our light shine unashamedly before all men, that our neighbors, co-workers, classmates and students, friends, and relatives will praise our Father in heaven.
This Sermon on the Mount is all about including people in the kingdom of heaven. It is an invitation to come into the kingdom to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. People like you make the world go ‘round. Jesus does not intend for you to lose your saltiness. He does not intend for you to put your light under a bowl. In the rest of the sermon he will talk about murder and adultery and divorce and keeping oaths and retribution and giving to the needy and so forth. He talked about these things because they are the measuring rod of whether the kingdom of heaven belongs to you, making you salt and light, or whether you have lost your saltiness and placed your light under a bowl.
In the weeks to come, you will hear of an awesome opportunity we have to be salt and light to our community. Several churches are initiating a plan to bless the schools by bringing the Christian community together to do work projects at many of our local elementary, middle school, and high school campuses. When that opportunity presents itself, you will be free to choose whether or not to participate. I know there are many who disagree with our public education system. Some may be up in arms about the number of administrator salaries that drain the budget. Others may be upset about the teaching of evolution or the absence of prayer or the policies around sex education. Regardless of what you think about the actions and policies of our schools, Jesus taught and demonstrated that there is a certain way to respond. We call it grace.
When the righteous people brought an adulterous woman to Jesus, he did not condemn her or insist she be taken from his sight. He never once commended her adultery. But when he proved that no one was without sin and able to cast stones at her, he simply told her that he would not condemn her and to go and sin no more.
There is a forum for you to disagree with school policy. There is a body called the state legislature through which you can effect meaningful change in our school system. There may be some saltiness to that. But we are being the light of the world when we can come without condemnation to our community schools and say “we love you” in the name of Jesus.
Tommy Tenney, author of The God Catchers wrote, “Sometimes I think that satisfaction may be the greatest enemy of the purposes of God in the church and in the world.” You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Don’t be satisfied with some meaningless indifference to the community around you. Jesus came to make you right with God and restore you to a life of usefulness and impact.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Later in the same letter, Paul writes how we are restored to do those good works: “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
To be salt and light, you and I need to put off our former way of life and the self-serving desires that motivate us, and be renewed in our minds under the sovereignty of a new King and a new kingdom. If our attitude is to live for others, just as Christ lived and even died for us, we are well on our way to being prepared for good works as the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
Now go and make the world go ‘round.
