Taste and see the real thing
Matthew 5:13-16
When I was 12 years old my best friend invited me over to his new home to have dinner with his family. As a child, I had lived a very private life. I was 17 before I had ever spent the night away from home. As a child, I never went over to other kid’s houses to play, and I had never eaten a meal with another family, so this was a real treat. Because this was my first time, I was extremely nervous. Which fork do I use? Do I serve myself, or wait to be served? So, I sat very still at the dinner table, hoping to get some clues on what to do next. Because I was their guest, they wanted me to go first. My friend’s mother had put on the table a huge bowl of spaghetti and meatballs, enough for the entire family. But when I reached over to grab the spoon I accidentally knocked over a container of table salt into the bowl. The lid was not on the container properly and the entire contents of the salt container poured out into the bowl of spaghetti ruining the meal for the entire family.
Salt is a wonderful ingredient of life. It brings flavor to life and to food. It preserves foods so they can be eaten without fear of disease. It heals wounds, and melts ice. But too much salt or salt that is not pure enough can ruin things. It can make a good meal inedible. It can ruin crops and make water undrinkable.
Jesus called us the ‘salt of the earth’, but He warned that if not administered properly that salt can become useless to the Kingdom. Some people leave a good taste in your mouth. Other people leave a bad taste in your mouth.
This imagery of taste and sight is used often in the scriptures.
Psalm 34:18
“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”
I John 1:1
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.”
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has begun to help his disciples see that their character is of utmost importance. It will be important one day what they say about the Lord. The message of the gospel must be preached. But before it is preached, the messengers must lead by example. Their lives must be characterized by meekness and humility and mercy and purity of heart. They must be peacemakers who willingly suffer for the truth of the Gospel.
And after giving these Be-attitudes he challenges them with a new perspective of life in the world. They are to be different. They are to stand out. They are to have a strong influence on the world around them.
Listen to His words again in Matthew 5:13-16
“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.”
I have a question for you today. “What taste do you leave and what do people see when they look at you?
1. Authentic Christians leave the flavor of Christ in others.
Jesus said: “You are the salt of the earth.” Jesus never said: “I am the salt of the earth.” He did say: “I am the light of the world and so are you.” But he never called himself ‘salt’.
Salt in Palestine was very different from the Morton’s Salt we find on our tables. That salt is pure and does not spoil. It never loses its saltiness.
The salt of Palestine was not mined from the earth or sea water, it was collected along the inland lakes (like the Dead Sea) and along the marshy ground around the ocean. Because of this when it was collected it was not completely pure, but was often mixed in with granules of sand and dirt. Sometimes this sand and dirt would rub away the saltiness of the salt. At other times rain waters would come and wash away the salt leaving only the grains of dirt and sand. So Palestinian salt could lose its flavor!
Salt is an amazing commodity. Over 40 million tons a year are required to fill our needs. In Ancient Greece, the trading of slaves sometimes involved the exchange of salt for a slave. This gave rise to the phrase “He is not worth his weight in salt.” Special salt rations were given to Roman soldiers and were known as “Solarium Argentums”. This Latin phrase was the forerunner of our English phrase ‘salary”, an anglicized version of the Latin word for salt. Without salt, our muscles won’t contract, our blood won’t circulate, our food won’t digest, and the heart won’t beat. You need salt to live.
Salt does many amazing things. Remember long before there was refrigeration, the only way that you could preserve meat from going bad was to rub salt into it. Salt preserves!
Salt adds flavor! Now for us in the modern western world we can’t appreciate what flavor did for a society that had very little choice when it came to food. Some of the poorer nations on earth today would understand. Imagine if you had rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner each day with only a few ingredients added from time to time to break up the monotony and lack of taste. You would crave salt and the flavor it could bring to food.
Salt heals wounds. Thousands of Napoleon’s troops died during their retreat from Moscow because they didn’t have enough salt to treat the wounds of the solders and to help in the healing process. One of the bloodiest battles in the American Civil War occurred on October 2, 1864. The soldiers weren’t fighting so fiercely for some mountain ridge, or strategic waterway. The battled to the death for salt from the salt mine of Saltville, Virginia.
Salt is meant to be used and to permeate the world around it. Salt does no good stored up in some warehouse. It is meant to be sprinkled on food, or spread on an icy highway, or added to an open wound to help it heal. Once salt is spread out in this way, it dissolves and becomes invisible. Salt does not serve itself, but others.
Jesus said: “YOU are the salt of the earth. It is interesting that he uses the word ‘earth’. He is speaking of the material world around us. He is speaking of what we can see and touch and feel. This planet needs us. We provide the salt.
Now in Palestine when they would collect the salt, if over time the saltiness had been lost, this salt (which no longer really was salt, just the rocks and pebbles left over) was thrown out into the highway. It was useless.
A person would taste this salt, and discover that it was tasteless. It had a bad taste. It did not taste like salt. It wasn’t the real deal! And so it was discarded.
Christians are to have a profound impact on the world around them. We are to permeate society and provide the needed ingredient of salt. We are to bring the flavor of Christ with us, wherever we go. We are to create a thirst and a hunger for the things of God. We are to preserve the society around us from decay.
When so-called Christian people no longer do these things, they cease being salt in the society. When you can’t distinguish a Christian from a non-Christian, when the immorality and decay of the non-Christian world looks no different that the lives of so-called believers, when the church leaves a bad taste in the mouth of others and repels them from Christ – then they have ceased being useful to the kingdom.
As I look around the society today, sadly I think the church has lost its saltiness in America. We are no different. We offer no solutions. We divorce and sleep around and get addicted just like everyone else. The taste is almost completely gone.
When Jesus confronted the Laodicean Church he said to them: you aren’t hot and you aren’t cold. You are lukewarm, and tasteless, and I am about to spew you out of my mouth.
Brothers and sisters we must do everything we can to maintain our saltiness. Notice Jesus says: “You are the salt of the earth!” It is understood. It isn’t something to strive for. It isn’t something to create. As children of God and believers in Jesus Christ, His flavor permeates our bodies and we carry it with us wherever we go. Like last weeks aroma illustration given by Jack, we carry with us this smell, this taste of Jesus. We don’t have to strive for it. We must simply submit our lives to it and walk surrendered to the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
So what kind of flavor do followers of Jesus leave behind?
A. Christians (and churches) that are salty are men and women of sacrifice!
Ron Bronski was a member of a street gang in Chicago. One night he and his gang members got in a fight with another rival gang from town. During this fight Ronnie chased down Gary and shot him in the back. Then after Gary had fallen he walked up to him, turned him over, put the gun to Gary’s head and fired again. But this time the gun failed to fire. In a panic, Ronnie dropped the gun and ran.
For years he ran. He ran away to Portland, got married, had a couple of children and became a settled member of society. But one night Ronnie’s life changed forever. He found himself in a church, and he went forward to give his life to Christ.
After becoming a believer, Ronnie’s past started to gnaw away at his heart. For months he tried to ignore the prompting of the Holy Spirit, but eventually he knew that he needed to make things right. Though he was now married and a father and a model citizen of Portland, he knew that in Chicago there was an unsolved crime that needed justice. And so he kissed his family goodbye, hopped on a train and turned himself in to the Chicago Police with the possibility of 20 years in jail.
Lee Strobel, author of many Christian books, still an atheist at the time was assigned to cover the courts for the Chicago Tribune. He had heard every excuse in the book and had become very cynical of society and our justice system. He covered the courts the day Ronnie testified. He recorded Ronnie’s plea:
“Your honor, I am guilty. Not only did I shoot him, but I was also trying to kill him. But I have become a Christian since, and now I realize what I did was wrong. I am sorry for what I did.”
Ronnie’s sacrifice for the sake of Christ, and his authentic walk of faith so impressed Strobel that he started to search the scriptures for himself, and of course later became a believer.
Ronnie left the taste of Christ in Lee Stobel’s mouth.
B. They are men and women of compassion!
Over the centuries Christianity has had an amazing impact and positive effect on the world. The most dramatic impact of Christianity has been the emphasis on the value of each and every human life. Prior to Christianity, the killing of infants and the abandonment of children was a common practice. You can see it in societies where Christianity has not touched the society.
The Red Cross was begun by evangelical Christians. Almost every one of the first 123 colleges and universities started in the United States were started by Christians and Christian Churches, founded on Christian principles and for Christian purposes including all the Ivy League schools. You could say the same thing about most orphanages, adoption agencies, hospitals and crises centers.
It was the Christian community that rallied to those impacted by 911 with the Salvation Army leading the way, and to those devastated in the recent hurricanes.
Our own denomination began with ministries and care centers established for the poorest of the poor and those who had no where else to turn for help.
Compassion and Christianity are to go hand in hand and serve as one of the primary ways we as salt leave the taste of Christ in the mouths of others.
But have we lost our compassion? Today our influence seems to be waning. We are known more today for the things we are against than for the compassionate way we minister to those who have been ravaged by sin. That is why I believe as a church and as individuals we must more and more participate in ministries of compassion. Chester County Women’s Services, Homosexuals Anonymous, Samaritan’s Purse, Compassion International, and our own CAMA Services are ministering mercy to those in need, educated and caring for those who desperately need the grace of Christ in their lives.
C. They are men and women of integrity and authenticity!
There was a business owner who over the years employed many Christians in his company. He watched them like a hawk. He writes: “I was naturally drawn to God by observing Christian workers who were conscientious and kind and thorough and hard working. But what really impressed me was when one of my workers, a guy who I knew was a recent convert to Christianity, asked to meet with me after work. I agreed, but as the day went on I started to worry that this young zealot was going to try and push Christianity down my throat, and I wasn’t buying.
I was surprised when he came into my office with his head hanging low and said to me, ‘Sir, I’ll only take a few minutes. I’m here to ask your forgiveness. Over the years I’ve worked for you I’ve done what a lot of other employees do, like borrowing a few company products here and there. I’ve taken some extra supplies. I’ve abused telephone privileges. I’ve cheated the time clock now and then.
But I became a Christian a few months ago and it’s real – not the smoke and mirror stuff. In gratitude for what Christ has done for me and in obedience to Him, I want to make amends to you and the company for the wrongs I’ve done. So could we figure out a way to do that? If you have to fire me for what I’ve done, I’ll understand. I deserve it. Or, if you want to dock my pay, dock it, whatever you think is appropriate. If you want to give me some extra work to do on my own time, that would be okay, too. I just want to make things right with God and with you.’”
The business owner went on to say that the encounter he had with this young man had more of an impact on him than anything he had ever heard in church. It was the single most impressive demonstration of true Christianity he had ever witnessed.
What taste do you leave in the mouths of others? Is it the flavor of Christ? If you are losing your saltiness – it is time to stop. Turn around. Take inventory of your life, and let Christ’s flavor permeate your whole being once again.
Authentic Christians leave the flavor of Christ in the world around them.
2. Available Christians reflect the light of Christ for the world to see.
Now unlike the salt, which Jesus never claimed for Himself, He did say that He was the Light of the World.
John 8:12
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Psalm 27:1
“The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?”
Light gives life. Without light life would not be possible on this planet. In this way, only God is the light! He alone is the giver of life. Like the sun, He is the source of light. The moon gives off a light as well, but the light does not generate from the moon, but is only a reflection of the sun’s light.
So when Jesus declares: ‘You are the light of the world.” He is declaring that we are a reflection or a mirror of His light shining in a dark world.
The main point Jesus is making in these short verses is this: We are meant to reflect the light of Christ in a dark world. Therefore, start shining!
Where salt is often hidden and unseen, permeating and preserving life around it. Light is meant to be seen. It attracts. Have you ever tried to stop looking at a light in a dark room? It takes discipline when you drive at night not to look straight into the opposing car’s headlights, because it is natural for us to stare at light.
Our bodies and souls crave light. We need it to live. Without light we would grope about in darkness and fear, totally lost and unable to find our way.
I remember one time when I was on the road with a music group we spent the night in a church basement that had absolutely no windows, no emergency exit signs, no night lights – nothing. I woke up in the middle of the night in this strange place trying to find the bathroom, and literally I could not see a thing. I strained my eyes and opened them as wide as I possible could and it was pitch black in that room. For the first time in my life, I experienced what it must be like to be totally and completely blind, and I was terrified. It took me forever to find the light switch, and not without a great deal of pain as I kept stubbing my toe against objects in the dark. When the light finally was turned on, it took my eyes awhile to adjust to the brightness.
Light is meant to be seen. Light is useful to all of life.
Jesus says “Think of a city. How can you possibly hide a whole city, especially one on top of a hill? And what of the lights you have in your homes? You wouldn’t light a light and then put it under a bowl? Would you?”
In Palestine the homes did not have many windows. Sometimes they would only have one window in the whole house. And so they could be very dark even in full daylight. Every home commonly had a plate of oil with a wick floating in it. When you lit the wick, you wouldn’t put it below the bed or underneath a table or a bowl, because eventually its purpose was to bring light to a dark room and it couldn’t do that hidden away. Also putting that lamp under a bowl would eventually cause the light to go out from lack of oxygen.
Jesus says ‘let your light shine before men”. He defines light for us as our ‘good deeds”. And when we let those good deeds shine for others to see, they will give praise to our heavenly Father.
Now you may be saying, “Woe! Wait a minute. I thought we weren’t supposed to do things for ‘show’. When we give we aren’t supposed to even let our left hand know what our right hand is doing. And when we pray we shouldn’t stand on the street corner and pray loudly for everyone to look at us and think we are some holy roller or something.”
Jesus never contradicts Himself, so what kind of ‘show’ is He talking about here?
I think we need to ask ourselves a couple of questions?
- Why am I doing the good deeds? Is it to get browny points in some celestial contest, or is it out of a heart overflowing with love and gratitude?
- Am I concentrating on whether or not others are seeing me do these good deeds? In other words, are my thoughts and motives pure, or am I thinking way too much about how ‘I look’ to others?
- Or is my focus and thought purely to praise and give thanks to God? If My motive and heart is to honor and glorify God, then a visible good deed will bring God greater honor than one that is never discovered or known. But I must constantly be checking my heart!
Light is an amazing thing. Light exposes and chases away the darkness. As Christians, we do a tremendous service to society and honor our heavenly Father when we expose and chase away the works of the devil. When Christians sit by and do nothing, the natural order of this fallen world is to decay and rot. We must get busy changing lives and the world around us.
Light also serves as a guide. As reflectors of Christ’s light we point people to Jesus. But if we never glorify God or let it be known that we do good deeds because of Jesus then we have not pointed people to Him. They may just think we are a nice person or we are having a good day.
Light also heals and gives sight. Laser technology has taught us so much of the power of light to heal. But if you don’t point the laser at the area needing healing it can also wound and scar. It must be used by a master technician. We must live our lives yielded and surrendered to the direction of the Holy Spirit who can direct the Light of Christ to shine through us in just the right way to bring healing.
Recently a new show started called “Miracle Workers”. I don’t know if you saw the first episode, but it was about a man who had been blind for more than 20 years. He had never seen his wife or children. He couldn’t see the beauty of the ocean or the wonder of flower. The doctors said that looking through his cornea was like living your life looking through a potato chip.
But under the skilled hand of the surgeon, sight was restored to this man. The Holy Spirit’s job is to open the eyes of people to Christ. Our job is to shine, so the Holy Spirit can show them Christ in us.
Let your light shine for Christ. Get busy with good deeds. Check your motives and make sure your heart is right before God. Honor Him in all that you do.
In a Peanuts Cartoon, Peppermint Patty came up to Charlie Brown after a difficult day of school. She said, “Guess what, Chuck. The first day of school and I got sent to the principal’s office. It was your fault, Chuck.”
‘My fault?” said Charlie Brown. “How could it be my fault? Why you say everything is my fault?”
Peppermint Patty replied: “You’re my friend aren’t you, Chuck? You should have been a better influence on me.”
We chuckle at Patty’s attempt to pass the buck. We all know she was responsible for her own actions. But I wonder what words Jesus may have one day:
“You were supposed to be the salt of the earth. You were meant to be the light of the world. Why did you lose your taste? Why did you hide under a bowl? You did not glorify the Father.”
May we work to make sure we never hear tho
