TAKING THE SWEET TO THE STREET
Matthew 5:13-16
Any of you who have been to my house know that I live in a sandbox. There is sand everywhere. It’s kinda tough growing grass in sand sometimes. Several years ago, my dad and I thought we stumbled upon the solution for his pasture and the yards at my house. We went to the sewer treatment plant in Sanford, and got, probably 10 to 15 tons of treated sewage or sludge, truckloads of the stuff. We took that and spread it across my parents’ pastures and across my yard. Then we plowed it into the ground the best we could. Now, may I tell you what that smelt like? The lady who lives next door to my mom sent her husband outside after a couple of days of that to make sure their septic tank wasn’t backing up. The sun would hit that stuff and dry it up so it wouldn’t smell, and just about the time you couldn’t smell it anymore, it would rain and you’d start all over again.
My friends, I want you to know that there is a stench in this world, a stench in our neighborhoods, and a stench in many of our homes that is worse than anything I ever spread in my yard. It is a stench that smells to high heaven, a stench so strong that it brings tears to our Father’s eyes. It is a stench that many of us have become accustomed to. It is the smell of death. It the smell of a sick and dying world and I want you to know my friends that God is sick to death of it and that He has sent you and me to stem that flow and in it’s place to share a holy, heavenly perfume.
- Matthew 5:13-16
If you remember, just a while back, we studied together the beginning part of the Sermon on the Mount. In the beginning portion, chapter 5 verses 1-12 of Matthew, we find the Beatitudes. 10 attitudes Christ’s followers are to have that are different for the attitudes of the world.
OK, Jesus has said that when He becomes our Lord, we become citizens of a new kingdom. We have new hearts and new attitudes. Notice here, in the verses we just read, what Jesus says we are to do with these new hearts and attitudes.
First, in verse 13, you and I as salt in the world are stemming the bad.
I. WHAT WE’RE CALLED TO DO
1. Stem the bad – Bernice, Mr. Leon and some of you may remember the days before refrigeration was all that common. In the old days, often people would have to salt their meat in order to preserve it. They still do that to this day with hams. Why? because salt helps prevent the spread of decay. It helps stem the bad.
My friends, that is what you and I are called to do. We are called to help stem the bad. It often appears these days that our country is heading to hell in a hand basket. I am afraid that it is too often because Christians are not taking a stand and refusing to go along with the nastiness.
When you hear people gossiping, or when you hear them putting others down at work or school and you say something good about that person or walk away, refusing to listen or repeat that kind of stuff, you are stemming the bad. When you refuse to listen to off-color jokes; when you refuse to go along with racism and injustice; when you teach your children that there is an absolute standard of right and wrong; when you return a kind word for an angry one; you are playing the part of salt. When you take a stand for right, even if it costs you; when you refuse to compromise when your friends are doing wrong; when you refuse to listen to what the world listens to and watch what the world watches, and buy what the world buys, and say what the world says, when you shine the light of Jesus Christ on the deeds of darkness around you, you are helping to stem the bad.
Sir, mam, young person, if you and I, blood-bought believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you and I do not take a stand; if we don’t take a stand against rationalism, and materialism, who will? We gotta take the sweet to the street and that starts by stemming the bad.
But not only are we called to stem the bad; we are also called to share the good.
2. Share the good
Salt is not only a preservative; it is also a seasoning, a flavor enhancer. It can make or break a meal.
Now some of you folks, not originally from the South, may not understand why we southerners like grits so much. I tell you, I have traveled in places where grits were scarcer than hen’s teeth. But if you’ve ever eaten them, you understand that there is a secret to fixing grits. If fix them plain, with no seasoning, eating a bowl of grits is about as appetizing as eating a bowl of wallpaper paste. But, if you get the seasoning just right, with an egg cut up in there, and some butter, and the right amount of salt, those grits make an amazing transformation. The salt is the difference.
Well my friends, Jesus says that you and I, as followers of His, are to season the world as well. We are showing the world how good life can be, when it’s lived in a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
- 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 But thanks be to God, who always puts us on display in Christ, and spreads through us in every place the scent of knowing Him. For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing (HCSB).
Do you realize that you smell to the world, some of you more than others? The Bible says that you and I spread the smell of knowing God. Can you imagine?
When you go to work, when you go to school, when you go to the store, after just having spent time with your heavenly Father; when you live a life ruled and filled by the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ permeates your pores.
When people curse you and you bless them in return, you’re pouring perfume on them. When you pause to let that person in front of you, when you take the time to get to know people’s names and pray with them about the concerns in their lives; when you love the unlovely; when you care, you are spreading the aroma of Jesus Christ.
Jesus says, “You people are different, you’re representing Me, take the sweet to the street.” I praise God when I hear how you have shared your testimony with someone. I get excited when I see you carrying crackers to the hospital. I love to hear how you pray with the hurting. Don’t you know Jesus gets excited when He sees you loving His children, and talking about how He has changed your life? My friends, we have to take the sweet to the street. Honey does no good in the bottle, and Christianity does no good if it’s confined within a church building. We need to stem the bad, we need to share the good, and 3rdly we need to spotlight the Father.
- v16
3. Spotlight the Father
Let your light shine in such a way that men may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Imagine, everything you and I do is a reflection on our Heavenly Father. My friends, God is Good. God is good all the time. He is the giver of good gifts. He is our protector. He is our Redeemer. He is our Creator. He loved us when we were at our worst and continues to love us today, when we slip and fall. Everything good we have, and anything good we’ve accomplished is a gift from Him. We need to point others to Him.
Live your life without compromise and when people ask how, give the glory to God. Give to those in need; serve the sick, feed the hungry; turn the other cheek and when people ask why, tell them your heavenly Father who gives you that strength.
Minister in the community, live a life of holiness, spend time with your family, accept responsibility for your mistakes, and when people ask, tell them it’s because God changed you. Compliment your wife, build up your husband, love and discipline your children, curb your spending, get out of debt; and when people ask about why you’re different than they, point to your heavenly Father and tell about the difference He’s made in your life.
Oh my friends, you and I are called to stem the bad, spread the good and to spotlight the Father; but notice in this passage that we are also told where to live this life of difference.
- Read Matthew 5:14-15
II. WHERE WE’RE CALLED TO DO IT
Three places Jesus lists in this passage, where you and I are
to be salt and light. The first He lists is in the world.
1. World - We are to make a difference in the world. We are to be good citizens. We are to support godly organizations, and godly causes around the world. You and I are called to be and support missions and missionaries. Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world and make disciples.”
2. Neighborhood – The city on a hill. We are to make a difference in our neighborhoods and towns as well. Serving well, living lives that bring glory to God in our words and actions.
3. Home – Thirdly, we are called to be that salt and light in our homes. Truthfully, this is where the rubber meets the road. If you are not living in such a way that you glorify God in your home, then too often what is lived in the world’s eye is at best smoke and mirrors, and at worst hypocrisy. . . .
My friends, you are called to carry the aroma of the knowledge of God everywhere you go. Now the question comes, how can we do it? I believe there are 4 necessary steps to carrying the sweet to the street.
III. HOW WE’RE CALLED TO DO IT
1. Refuse conformation
- Matthew 5:13
- Romans 12:1-2
Refuse to compromise. Refuse to allow sin and compromise into your life. Refuse to be conformed into the likeness of the world, with their standards and their values.
2. Reject stagnation –
In 1 Corinthians 3:2 Paul complains of the Christians there,
> 1 Corinthians 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
My friends, not only are you to refuse conformation but you must also reject stagnation. Never settle for where you are now, but always be striving to grow and mature. Paul described life as a race and you and I are to be constantly running it.
3. Embrace transformation – Romans 12:2 says that you and I are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Let me ask you, are you being transformed? What are you feeding your mind? What are studying, reading, watching, learning, that is being used by God to further transform you into the image of His Son?
4. Elect illumination – Choose those things that will bring glory and not disgrace to your heavenly Father.
CONCLUSION
Tomorrow, probably while performing your morning routine, but hopefully before you walk out your door, you’re going to grab a can of Right Guard, you’re going to grab some Secret, you’re going to grab some deodorant and put it on, trying to keep from stinking.
I want you to know that when you face the world tomorrow, you’re going to smell. You’re going to either smell like the rest of the world or you’re going to carry with you the sweet cologne of the Lord Jesus
