The Sermon on the Mount – Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13-16

Today, we are celebrating our 9^th anniversary – On Thursday night, I ran up to the church, and the parking lot was full – Women’s Bible Study had about 100 people here, and Young Adults added another 120 – so, 240 people here on Thursday night – I started thinking that Sunday night, there were close to 200 5^th through 12^th graders here for Mix 56 and students – On Monday, over 100 were here for Regen – On Tuesday, over 100 here for ReEngage – On First Wednesday, there were close to 400 – these are just numbers, but every number represents a person, and an opportunity for life transformation

Looking back over 9 years, even from the early days meeting in a school cafeteria, the focus has been on experiencing the presence of God and learning how to live the way of Jesus – since 2015:

• We have baptized over 700 people of all ages
• Hosted 4 years of Destiny Sports Camp with annual attendance of 300 kids and 150 volunteers
• Zoe Mazi for students has run concurrent with Destiny with 100 kids annually
• Over 1000 elementary-age kids have attended Peak Week, our pre-teen summer camp
• Every age group has experienced generational impact  
• 70 have finished 12-steps of Regen, and over 100 in Regen process now
• 250 couples who have completed ReEngage, and 39 couples in this semester
• over 400 in one of our 33 life groups
• Over 1000 women have gone through a semester women’s Bible study
• 400 at Men’s Advance, and somewhere between 15-30 men’s groups that meet all over the area
• in all, we are currently actively, intentionally discipling over 800 adults 
• We have given hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless man hours actively serving our 12 outside the walls ministry partners 

What is the point? A common question is tossed around in church leadership and conferences: If your church closed its doors tomorrow, would anyone in the community care? I couldn’t be more excited about the impact we have had, but I believe we’ve only scratched the surface of how God wants to use Restoration. 

We land on the perfect passage in the SOM today – Over last two weeks looked at Beatitudes – 8 characteristics of who we are to be in the KOG - Today, look at how we interact with the world – Jesus uses two metaphors  - SALT and LIGHT – let’s read through passage – Matthew 5:13-16

Illus - When Kate was about 3 – Fudds – there late on a Mon. night – not paying attention, she gathered saltshakers from several tables, unscrewed caps and emptied them onto table – huge mound, and all over the floor

Salt is commonplace and overused today, but in context of the passage salt was a precious commodity in their time – in fact, often how Roman soldiers were paid – phrase “worth their salt” came from that - used for a couple of things – seasoned food, but more often as a preservative. Pure salt, when rubbed on meat, would preserve it indefinitely – stopped the decaying process – salt purified, cleansed, healed

But think about this: According to Harvard Health Publishing, the human body has the equivalent of about 4 saltshakers of salt – it is the major mineral in plasma, the fluid component of blood, and in the fluids that bathe the body's cells. Without enough sodium, all these fluids would lose their water, causing dehydration, low blood pressure, and death. Salt is essential to every individual – you need it for life

V13 – “You are the salt of the earth…” – Jesus is saying, “You preserve the earth. You stop the decaying process. You season the earth. You bring an essential element for life.” So, Jesus is using this metaphor to impress on us the importance of being an agent of redemption and life to the culture – what does that look like?

It looks like verses 3-12: humility (spiritually bankrupt), repentant, meekness, hungry for righteousness, merciful, pure, peaceful, resolve to the point of persecution – our “saltiness” is what separates us from the world – and when we are in the middle of moral decay, we reveal and slow down the decay of our culture, and bring an essential element to life itself – To be salt in the world is to bring the truth of the gospel to people – but it’s not just speaking it, but LIVING IT

Jesus shows great example to woman caught in adultery in John 8 – caught red-handed, deserving of death – every right to exact justice on her – I mean, that stops the moral decay, right? And what did Jesus do? He stood between woman and accusers, took attention off her - placed it on himself – showed mercy, grace, love – literally preserved her life – “where accusers now? No condemnation – go and sin no more.”

The KOG is counter-intuitive – as “salt”, we are called to preserve the earth, to slow the decay by the way we interact – through the ministry of Restoration, we are slowing the decay as people are encountering, embracing and embodying the way of Jesus – Two weekends ago, men were set free as they brought their secrets into the light – many confessed things to people/spouses they had lied to or kept things from, and while the natural consequence may be tension or disruption in the relationship, but the freedom found in Jesus is worth it – no condemnation – GO AND SIN NO MORE

“if salt loses its saltiness, it is no longer good for anything…”  - sodium chloride - strong chemical compound, so losing saltiness unheard of – however in those days, sometimes salt mixed with white dust, like road dirt, that looked like salt, and made it ineffective – goes back to 8 characteristics – It’s not about me, but hunger and thirsting for more of him and less of me, living pure in heart, not one foot in and one foot out, or I’ll be useless to him for the Kingdom – Jesus is the essential element in me, so I can bring that essential element to the world – 

V14-15 - “You are the light of the world…” – what is the definition of light? The absence of darkness – wherever there is light, there cannot be darkness – this is even stronger language than the salt analogy – if we are light, we are EXPELLING darkness wherever we go – “Wherever we go, Kingdom goes with us”

Look at what he says about it: “a city on a hill CANNOT be hidden” and “you DON’T put light under a bowl.” (Hide it under a bushel – NO) Light, by definition is made to shine. And light exposes darkness – so, in your world, as a follower of the Way, your light reveals gossip, it reveals dishonesty in business, it reveals racism and hatred, it reveals promiscuity – your life should look different than that of the world –  AND, Light is revealed by the way you handle pressure, the way you take criticism, the way you treat those underneath you, the way you live FROM Jesus – Jesus is Light (John 8:12), so you are light

Ultimately, you never shine brighter than when you are fully living in your E210 calling – it is the way God made you to shine in the world

V16 – “Let your light shine before men so they see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven.” - It’s important to note that “your” light is actually the sum total of verses 3-12 – Jesus is saying that when your are that kind of person, the light of Christ will naturally come from you – how do you know if the light you are shining is Jesus or you? What does your “light” illuminate? Your righteousness or God’s righteousness in you? This is a tough one, but I know that when I am pure in heart, I point people to Jesus – however, when I am full of me, I want the credit for anything good. I have been both.

Illus – Contrast Ashley Furniture w Mary at Suburbs

So, individually and collectively, we are called to be SALT, slow the decay in the world and bring the essential element of Jesus to the world, and because Jesus is LIGHT, and he is in you, you are now the light of Jesus to the world around you: every neighborhood, grocery store, gym, place of business, every school – WHEREVER YOU GO 

This is how Restoration would be missed by community if it ceased to exist - By not insulating ourselves within these walls, but GOING,  offering Jesus as the essential element that makes life make sense, and stoking the fire of Jesus in the SECRET PLACE to the point that the fire of Jesus sets you on fire, and the light of that fire shines as a beacon of LOVE, PEACE and HOPE to the world – His LIGHT cannot be contained by these walls –

THE BEST IS YET TO COME