What it means to be the ¡§Salt of the Earth.¡¨
Matthew 5:13
August 8, 2004
Introduction
Last week we finished our look at the Beatitudes as we continue to work our way through the Gospel according to Matthew.
We spent the last five weeks looking at what Jesus had to say about being blessed by God.
Today we move on to the next section of the Sermon on the Mount, which begins in Matthew chapter five.
Our focus for the message today is just one verse, but I think you will see that it has huge implications for our relationship with Christ and how it impacts our society around us.
I want to warn you up front that some of today¡¦s message is a review of a message I gave about 2 years ago on this passage, so if you recognize something familiar, you¡¦ll know why.
But let¡¦s begin our time together by reading aloud Matthew 5:13, which is printed for you in the note-taking guide:
"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.¡¨
These words of Jesus are words that we need to take to heart, just like all the other words of Jesus. This isn¡¦t just a transitional statement, it¡¦s a direct teaching about living for Christ.
My intention today is to help us become people who would be called by Jesus and others, ¡§the salt of the earth.¡¨
In doing that I want to point out three actions we need to take in order to make this teaching of Jesus a real part of our everyday living.
Let¡¦s get started, shall we? The first action we need to take in becoming the salt of the earth is to¡K
1. Recognize the functions of salt.
What do you mean, PB? Well, if you don¡¦t know what salt is good for, then how can you strive to become like it? I want to point out just three of the thousands of functions of salt that are available.
The first use of salt is that it¡K
„h Enhances taste.
Other than those of you who may be on a salt-free diet, most of us use salt occasionally to help the taste of their food.
How many of you are the type that if it doesn¡¦t have salt it isn¡¦t really food? My wife¡¦s kinda like that. Salt on everything, almost. But hey, that¡¦s her. She¡¦s good about not putting it in everything while she¡¦s cooking, so I can add my own if I want.
I personally like salt on my French fries and popcorn. I don¡¦t eat them together, of course. That is, French fries and popcorn. I think you know what I¡¦m trying to say¡K
The point is that we don¡¦t add salt because it makes the food look good. It doesn¡¦t make the food smell good, at least that¡¦s not the main function of it. And we don¡¦t add salt so the food feels good.
We add it to make the food taste better.
When we apply this to how we should live for Jesus, the idea is that when people get a taste of who we are, and our love for Jesus, it should leave a good taste in their mouth.
Too often people who claim to be Christians leave a bad taste in people¡¦s mouth and it hurts the credibility of the person and the good news of Jesus.
The second function of salt is that it¡K
„h Aids in preservation.
This isn¡¦t news for most people, but salt has long been used to keep meats from spoiling, particularly before the advent of modern refrigeration.
Christians who are more than just Christians in name only, those for whom following Jesus is the real deal and not just a hobby on Sundays, those who actually believe what Jesus said and make it part of their lives are the keys to keeping the gospel alive through all these centuries as a vital force for everyday living.
Salt aids in preservation of food, and salty Christians aid in the preservation of the life-changing news of Christ.
The third function of salt is that it¡K
„h Creates thirst.
You¡¦ve heard the saying that you can lead horse to water, but you can¡¦t make him drink. Well, you can if you put salt in his oats.
Ever eaten a bag of chips or popcorn and then realized you¡¦d forgotten something to drink?
Some of you are getting thirsty just at the thought of eating salty chips. (drink a glass of water) But you¡¦ll just have to wait until after the message. I¡¦ve only got about an hour left!
Here¡¦s the application: when people interact with you, do they gain a thirst for the things of God?
Do they begin to thirst to know the relationship with God that brings forgiveness of sins, a home in heaven, and the full and abundant life that Jesus promises to all who follow Him, not to mention the access to God we gain when we place our trust in Christ?
Or do they sour on the experience with you? I say to my regret that there have been times when I have done just the opposite of creating thirst.
And while I may still have some work to do, I am determined that I will be as ¡§salty¡¨ as possible.
But there is another application here. Just as we can be helpful in helping people become followers of Christ, we can also be helpful to others, as we give them a thirst for renewing or deepening their relationship with Christ.
Salt enhances taste, it aids in preservation, and creates thirst. So what¡¦s point of this first section? Simply this:
We need to be positive examples of what it means to live for Christ.
It¡¦s just that simple. So in light of that, we need to look at our next section, and that is to¡K
2. Determine to become ¡§salty.¡¨
And I don¡¦t mean in your language!
Being salty takes determined, intentional effort. It doesn¡¦t happen automatically, by chance, or by default.
General principles for becoming salty:
„Y Make time for the Bible and prayer.
I can¡¦t seem to get past the idea that the Bible is our best guide for life. It tells us all we need to know about God, all we need to know about relationships, all we need to know about work and business ethics, all we need to know about a successful life in general and in particular.
Listen to 2 Peter 1:3-4 ¡V
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
When we use the Bible as a tool to help us know God better and love Him more, it becomes more than just a book ¡V it becomes life-changing.
One of the best ways for that to happen is to pray while you¡¦re reading. Ask God to help you understand what¡¦s on the page so you can make it part of your life.
Ask Him the tough questions that come up as we read the Bible. There¡¦s nothing wrong with that. God¡¦s not afraid of your questions. In fact, I think there are probably some things that you will never understand unless you keep asking God to help you until He does.
Make time for the Bible and prayer. The second principle for becoming salty is to¡K
„Y Make family a priority over career.
This models Jesus¡¦ priority for His ¡§bride¡¨ and the children of God.
In the book of Ephesians Paul tells us that Jesus gave up everything for His bride, the church.
We need to put aside selfish desires for the sake of our families.
We should all want to do what we can to provide well for our families, and that is a Biblical priority. But when financial gain or career advancement gets in the way of our family relationships, we are in danger of losing both.
Did you know that when many companies interview high-level executives, they also interview the spouse, separately from the one being hired? They do it to see the strength of the relationship because they know that healthy family relationships generally mean a more productive and satisfied employee.
This goes for ministers as well. And so I have been making more time for my family. It¡¦s not easy, because I¡¦ve got a lot on my plate. But I don¡¦t want to risk losing my family for the sake of the ministry any more than any of you want to risk losing your family for the sake of your career.
Provide for your family. But it has to be more than money and possessions and status.
The Mormons are a cult ¡V they deny a lot of the Bible and they are in error about many things that will have eternal consequences for their followers.
But they¡¦ve got one thing right. There is no substitute for time with your family.
The third principle for becoming salty is to¡K
„Y Put Biblical principle over personal convenience or material gain.
I¡¦ve mentioned this a few times over the course of the last four years, but it bears repeating.
When we put aside Biblical principle for the sake of making extra money or career prestige, or whatever, we become unsalty.
When we risk extra money and prestige, and whatever for the sake of Biblical principle, we become salty.
It¡¦s not always popular by any means, but it¡¦s the right thing to do. And while it may count against us in light of monetary gain or prestige, it will certainly count in your favor in the eyes of God. And after all, who will be our final judge of all this in the end?
Here¡¦s another way to say this:
Live a life of integrity.
Be honest with your customers, co-workers, boss, employees, stock-holders, whatever.
Live up to your promises or exceed them.
This helps us become people who make a relationship with Jesus attractive.
Let¡¦s take a look now at the fourth and last principle we will look at this morning regarding how to become salty, and that is to¡K
„Y Seek opportunities to share the good news of Jesus.
You don¡¦t have to be a minister or an evangelist to be able to tell someone how they can have a relationship with Jesus and a home in heaven.
You can hand out tracts, those little booklets that explain it, or invite them church, or point them to a web site that has all that information on it.
But take opportunities to introduce people to Jesus.
Okay, we¡¦ve looked at what salt does, we¡¦ve looked at how to become salty, and now let¡¦s take a look at how to¡K
3. Avoid becoming ¡§unsalty.¡¨
It¡¦s kind of interesting to me that Jesus spends more time talking about being ¡§unsalty¡¨ than He does about being salty.
I wonder why that is. It might be that sometimes we need to hear the ¡§do that/don¡¦t do that¡¨ thing.
Sometimes we need to hear ¡§don¡¦ts¡¨ to help us get a better grasp of the ¡§do¡¦s.¡¨
In any case, Jesus makes a point of telling us that being ¡§unsalty¡¨ is not a good thing.
And unlike becoming salty, which takes intentional, decisive effort, becoming unsalty happens by doing nothing. It happens when we live our lives by default rather than by decision.
If you want to become unsalty, then just ignore everything I¡¦ve talked about today, and worse yet, just ignore everything Jesus says.
Let¡¦s look at some¡K
Dangers of becoming unsalty:
„Ï We gain a damaged reputation.
We all know people who claim to be Christians yet don¡¦t live like it right? We all know people who tout how religious they are, yet they¡¦re mean, have bad attitudes, are cheaters, etc.
A rather pompous-looking deacon was endeavoring to impress upon a class of boys the importance of living the Christian life. "Why do people call me a Christian?" the man asked. After a moment¡¦s pause, one youngster said, "Maybe it¡¦s because they don¡¦t know you." (SermonCentral.com)
When we make the effort to live for Christ at home and in the workplace, we make a difference and gain a positive reputation.
Second, in becoming unsalty¡K
„Ï We tarnish the image of the church.
Related to the first danger of becoming unsalty, this expands to the church.
The reasoning goes like this: if you are unsalty, then the church you go to gains the same reputation, whether it deserves it or not.
¡§If everyone at that church is like this guy, I don¡¦t want anything to do with them.¡¨
And so they may miss the opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus. Yes, they should see beyond one person to see for themselves what¡¦s up at a particular church, but we put up barriers when don¡¦t live lives that are consistent with our talk about Jesus.
Third¡K
„Ï Ministry is hampered.
Why would anyone take us seriously when our personal life doesn¡¦t match what we say?
We become unsalty, and become worthless for use in the kingdom. We lose credibility and become ineffective.
The gospel becomes nothing more than a religious platitude that no one takes seriously.
And when it comes time for the church to stand in the face of public opinion regarding social and political issues, the church becomes an empty wind bag, with no chance of impacting our community with the hope of Christ.
This leads to the last danger I want to point out this morning, and that is that¡K
„Ï People refuse to take Jesus and His teachings seriously.
This kinda goes without saying after everything else I¡¦ve mentioned this morning, but let me stress it again now.
When we pretend to love Jesus, and don¡¦t live lives that are consistent with His teachings, we become unsalty, and people refuse to look at Jesus.
I¡¦ve heard countless stories of people who were turned off to Jesus not because of Jesus, but because someone who claimed to be a Christian cheated someone, hurt someone, or otherwise did or said something.
And if you¡¦re one of those who have been turned off, let me just say that one person or even a group of people may not live for Jesus, but that doesn¡¦t make what Jesus had to say wrong. Jesus words are right, regardless of individual obedience to them.
Here¡¦s the bottom line in everything we¡¦ve talked about today, and this is very¡K
Important: Remember who you represent!
It¡¦s not just Aberdeen Wesleyan Church, nor even Aberdeen, SD, or the USA.
You represent Jesus. No matter where you are, no matter what you do.
And if you call yourself a follower of Christ, then you have a responsibility to represent Him in a way that honors Him, and that creates a desire to know Him better.
Conclusion
Let¡¦s bring this in for a landing, shall we?
I want to encourage you to leave this morning with something positive, so let me just end with some positive direction from what I¡¦ve talked about today.
First, let me encourage you to become salty. Make the effort, asking God to use His Word to make you more like Jesus.
Second, if you have become unsalty, I want to tell you that God is big enough to help you become salty again.
Maybe not AS salty as before, but God can mend the broken person as well as the broken witness for Christ.
If you have done something to damage your reputation for Christ, you can ask for forgiveness and start again.
And if you are here and others have stood in the way of your taking Jesus seriously, then let me invite you to check Him out for yourself.
Here at Aberdeen Wesleyan, we are constantly working to be the best examples we can be of people who truly love Jesus.
We¡¦re not perfect, and we make mistakes sometimes, but we strive to be as salty as possible, with God¡¦s help.
Let¡¦s pray.
