Salt & Light

Text: Matthew 5:13-16

Core Idea: Christians are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We are called to preserve the social decay by actively working against injustice and evil in this world but also to illuminate the truth of the gospel wherever we go for God’s glory.

INTRODUCTION

When God led us to start a church, we wanted to have a clear understanding of our identity and mission knowing that this would set the course of how we think and how we live as a community. So, we prayerfully wrestled with questions like, “Why do we exist as a church? What are we seeking to be? What are the values we want to hold? What’s the culture we want to cultivate here? And what would be the name that best represents what we want be?” And that’s how God led us to Matthew 5:13-16. This passage was crucial in forming our mission and vision, and ultimately, the name of our church, Lighthouse. So, I thought that it would be fitting for us to start our first Sunday here. As many of you know, this passage is part of the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus gave as He was envisioning and creating a new community for Himself. His aim was to teach His disciples what it meant to be the citizens of God’s Kingdom – or to put it differently, how the church should live in this world. As we wrestle with this passage more closely, my prayer is that this truth will clearly teach and direct us to be the kind of community that God desires us to be – what it means for us to be a lighthouse to the people in our city. So, if you have your Bibles, please turn to Matthew 5:13-16. Let me read it for us.

13 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 underfoot. 14 You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 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. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Amen. This is the Word of God for you.

Notice that Jesus begins verses 13 and 14 with these words: “You are.” Here, Jesus wasn’t talking to the general population; He was specifically addressing His followers. And to them, He doesn’t say, “You ought to be” (like a command), “You will going to be” (like a promise), or “you need to be” (like a plea). No, He says, “You are.” Jesus was making a statement – He was defining and describing who they were, their identity. He was saying, “This is who you are because you now belong to me.” You see, we live in a culture where people define who they are for themselves, or they let others determine who they are, which is why their value and significance are often closely tied with their wealth, career, relationship, education, or status in the society because the world sees these things as the currency of our worth. Now, let me ask you this: Whose words matter more? Who is defining you today? Are you tuning in to the words of this world or the truth of God? I invite you to hear the words of Jesus – let Him define you today. 

Three things from this passage:

• IDENTITY 

• GOAL

• POWER

1) IDENTITY (WHO WE ARE) 

Jesus tells us that this is our identity: verse 13, “You are the salt of the earth,” and verse 14, “You are the light of the world.” What does this mean? Let’s look at it, one at a time. First, salt. Salt in the ancient world was primarily used as preservative. These were the days before refrigeration – so, salt was a vital resource to keep meat or fish from spoiling by drawing water out of food. As we know, all living things like bacteria need water to survive; so, the dehydration caused by salt would effectively create an environment that prevents any microbes from growing. The implication is this: that this world we’re living in is rotting and decaying. It’s corrupt, fallen, and sinful. Of course, this doesn’t mean that nothing good happens. By God’s grace, we believe that the good is also visible and sustained. Yet generally speaking, the world is constantly decaying. Then when Jesus says to the Christians, “You are the salt of the earth,” He’s essentially saying that to follow Jesus means that you’re working actively against the social decay that you see all around you. It could be something that you see at work in the way people treat each other, in their work ethics, or in their way of handling money. It could be something that you see at school, in your neighborhood, wherever you are – God is calling us to be awakened to expose the social decay and intentionally work against it in this city.

But salt in the ancient world wasn’t just used as preservative; it was also used as seasoning which is how we use it today. By applying the salt to food that’s somewhat blend, it would bring out the rich flavors of the food and make it more delightful to eat. So, when Jesus says that His disciples are the salt of the earth, it wasn’t just for the purpose of preserving, but it was also a call to enhance and draw out the good in the culture around us. A few of us had the opportunity to tour through Gibson Centre, where we worship right now. For those of you who don’t know, this is a community centre started by Toronto Christian Community Church with a desire to make this place a platform for holistic outreach for this neighborhood. Inspired by Micah 6:8, which says, “Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God,” they seek to serve the locals and those in need with the compassion and hope of Jesus Christ – and what they do is amazing. They have ministries for the youths in the neighborhood, where they can get free tutoring, volunteer opportunities, free dinner, a safe place to hang out, play games, play basketball. They run a food bank to provide for those who are struggling financially. They have various health services like counseling, medical consultation, or rehab. In January to March, they have something called Out of the Cold ministry where they invite the homeless every Sunday to feed them and offer services like haircut for free. They partner with a non-profit organization called Joy Beyond Vision Community that serves the visually impaired people, by creating opportunities to work at the café here. And I could go on and on, but why do they do this? Because they want to bless the community. It actually says on their website that they want to be the salt of the earth. They want to enhance and bring out the good in this neighborhood. And this really is the call that Jesus has for all of us. Notice that Jesus didn’t use metaphors that reflect military values. God doesn’t send His people into the world to take over, lord it over, or take control. He sends us to serve, to be a blessing to the people. Through our love, we’ll attract people to our heavenly Father. And this is my prayer for Lighthouse, that we would do just that. 

Second, light. We may take light for granted because we can have it with the flick of a switch, but in the ancient world, it was a precious commodity. Without light, your normal and ordinary tasks become either impossible or much more difficult simply because you just can’t see. Pastor Tim Keller said, “In darkness, you don’t know where you’re going (which means you have no direction), you don’t know what you look like (which means you have no identity), and you don’t know who’s around you – friend or foe (which means you’re isolated).” Imagine that you’re travelling in the dark. You don’t know where you’re headed; you don’t know how far you’re from your destination. You’re getting exhausted. You’re scared. You feel like giving up. You feel hopeless – then you see a glimmer of light appearing from afar. You see a town built on a hill. Wouldn’t you regain strength and be filled with hope? Wouldn’t you want to run directly to it? It’s amazing how light not only brings visibility and clarity, but also joy, hope, safety, and confidence. 

In the Bible, light is regularly associated with God and His Word, His truth. It’s the truth of God that illuminates. It’s the truth of the gospel that dispels the darkness. Then when Jesus says, “You are the light of the world,” He’s essentially saying that you must embody, live out, speak the truth of the gospel wherever you go and in every relationship you’re engaged in. And we do this because we want to show them the way to life; we want to show them who they are and who they were created to be; we want to show them that Jesus alone is worth living for. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “In your hearts, revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” We must live in a way that will attract the people to see this hope that we have in Jesus Christ. This too is my prayer for our community – that we would live to make that hope visible through our lives.

Now, what’s the greatest danger that Jesus is warning His disciples about? Look at verses 13 and 15. The danger is that if the salt loses its saltiness, it becomes useless and it’s good only to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. Or if a lamp gets lit, but because of the fear of going out into the darkness, or the fear of disrupting the darkness, the lamp gets covered up. In both cases, Jesus is warning His disciples not to abandon their entire reason for being – the reason being to be salty and to shine the light of Christ. Then there are two very important things that we must remember if we don’t want to lose our saltiness or remain a lamp put under a bowl. First, we must be in the world. You can’t just put a chunk of salt beside the meat – hoping that the meat wouldn’t spoil. The salt needs to get embedded into the meat if it’s going to have any preserving effect. In the same way, we must get in. We need to have deep relationships with the people in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces, in our schools, in all the various areas that we occupy. Think about the impact we can make in this society as a teacher, as an accountant, or a nurse; think about how we can bring changes at home as a parent, a spouse, or a child; think about how we can bless our teachers or friends at school. We must get in to be intentional about actively working against injustice and passionately helping the city to flourish. 

Second, we must be different from the world. “The tragedy of the church is its tendency to conform to the culture instead of creating a Christian counterculture,” according to Pastor John Stott. Christians are constantly tempted to be just like everyone else, to fit into this culture. But the salt and light can only be a benefit to the environment around them if they’re willing to retain a certain depth of difference. Then what does it mean to be different for Christians? That’s what Jesus is teaching throughout the Sermon on the Mount. Of course, we won’t have the time to go through it today. But we can see a glimpse of Jesus’ core message just in the Beatitudes, the verses that lead up to our passage. If you read Matthew 5:1-12, Jesus presents a new culture, a new life for the citizens of the Kingdom of God – and it’s radically different from the world. Just to name a few: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” – it’s a community where pain, suffering, and sorrow are not silenced, hidden. People don’t keep this to themselves out of fear or shame, but they make themselves vulnerable by sharing the load with others – and what they receive isn’t judgment but comfort, help, encouragement, and love. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” – it’s a community of people who are devoted not to advance themselves but to advocate for the needs of others by serving humbly with their time, money, and energy. “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” – it’s a community that learns to joyfully suffer for the Lord, not shy away, not run away when following Jesus becomes difficult. This difference from the world can only be generated when Jesus’ followers are conformed to the rhythm of the life in the Kingdom of God. This is why spiritual disciplines are crucial to our faith journeys. In gathering together, in reading and meditating of the Word, in prayer, in keeping Sabbath, in practicing hospitality, in keeping each other accountable, we’re reorienting ourselves, we’re tuning ourselves to the rhythm of the Kingdom of God. Brothers and sisters, are you dancing to the rhythm of God’s Kingdom or of this world? 

We must be in the world, but we must also be different from the world. We will be ineffective if we only embrace one. For example, if we’re totally engaged but we compromise in our holiness, we can’t offer the light of God’s hope; we have nothing to offer because we’re just like them. On the other hand, if we vigorously maintain our holiness, but we’re not engaged or involved, we can’t preserve or enhance anything because we’re just not in proximity to make any impact. We must be both engaged and distinct in the world. This is our identity.

2) GOAL (WHY WE SHOULD DO THIS)

For what purpose do we live this way? We know that this is not easy. We didn’t read it but in verse 12, Jesus says, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” People are going to persecute you possibly physically, or by insulting you or mocking you. It’s going to cost you money, energy, time, and possibly your career or school grade by living this way. Then why should we live this way? For what reason should we risk it all? It’s all for His glory. Verse 16 says, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” It’s not for us. We don’t live this way for our name’s sake. It’s not so that we could be recognized; so that we as a church could grow bigger; so that we would have a good reputation, a good standing in the city. No, everything we do is solely for Him. It’s because we want to see Him glorified and we want others to do the same. Brothers and sisters, do you truly believe that God alone deserves all the glory? If you do, then let us be committed to actively working against the injustice and evil from this world; let us be committed to declaring this wonderful truth of the gospel to the world, because His truth alone will dispel the darkness that people are living in. As one pastor says, “let us live beautifully and suffer joyfully” for we know that Jesus alone is the source of true life and true comfort to those who are still lost in the dark. 

3) POWER (HOW WE CAN DO THIS)

We know it’s not natural for us to care about this world, the city we live in, the people around us more than our own comfort and convenience. Then where do we get the power to live as the salt and light of the world? We’re made possible to do this only when we’re transformed by someone else being present in our lives to preserve us from decaying, and to illuminate that life-giving truth in our darkness, brokenness, and shame. Until that happens, we’ll always run out of energy and motivation to live this way. But that’s exactly what Christ did for us. Jesus Christ moved out of His Kingdom and got into the darkest part of our world that’s filled with brokenness and sin. Jesus didn’t hold anything back as He gave up everything for you and me. The true salt of the earth was thrown out to be trampled underfoot by the very ones He came to save. The true light of the world was extinguished on that cross for you and me, in our place. Have you experienced this gracious love in Jesus Christ? Because when you see this light, your life will light up, your heart set ablaze by His unconditional, sacrificial love. This is how we become the light of the world. Friends, do you know the love that He has for you? He’s offering that to you right now. I invite you to meditate on it; and I pray that you’ll receive and experience it because His light alone can illuminate our dark world – and in turn, will empower us to be the salt and light of the world. 

Now, there’s another power source that Jesus provides. It’s the community. This call to be the salt and light of the world would’ve sounded absolutely foolish, nonsensical to the original audience because they were likely a small group of marginal, insignificant people. Those who were listening to this sermon were not a group of influential people. They were the people from the outskirts of the empire that no one cared about, which means that there must have been those who thought to themselves, “What difference can I make by myself?” But Jesus never called them to do this on their own. It’s difficult to see it in English, but all the second personal pronouns that Jesus uses in this passage (like “you” or “your”) are all plural in Greek. Jesus was saying, “A single grain of salt can never preserve the whole meat by itself; it can never bring out the flavor by itself; but together, it can bring a powerful impact. In the same way, together, help each other to shine wherever they are. Encourage each other. Challenge each other. Depend on each other. Teach each other. Model for each other. Do this together as a church.” One commentary said, “It’s the Christian communities and not primarily individuals that are Jesus’ greatest missionary means.” Brothers and sisters, this is the call that’s given to all Christians no matter how ordinary they may feel. If you’re saying to yourself, “I’m not a very good Christian. My life is a wreck. I’m not sure where my life is headed,” Jesus is saying to you, “No, you are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. I’ve placed you in this community called Lighthouse to be empowered to live this way. And I’m sending you out to your home, school, and workplace. And together, restrain that decay, increase the joy, and bring hope through the truth of the gospel.” Just look around. You’re not alone. You’re never called to do this alone. We’re called to do this together. 

APPLICATION

Our church name, Lighthouse Toronto, comes from our desire to do exactly that. As we know, the two main purposes of a lighthouse are:

      • To serve as a navigational aid (illuminating waterways)

      • To warn the boats of dangerous areas (serving as a reference)

Then my prayer is that our church will illuminate the hearts of the people to see the truth of God – to serve as a safe place for people to rest, but also to warn and show the world the way to our ultimate Lighthouse, Jesus Christ, who will lead us to our heavenly Father. And we will achieve this together which is why our vision statement says, “Lighthouse seeks to be a gospel-shaped community sent out by God to glorify and enjoy Him forever.”

CONCLUSION

Brothers and sisters, we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Then let us guard our hearts so that we’re not conformed to the rhythm of this world but to the rhythm of His truth. And as we look to Christ, together, let us point people to our ultimate Lighthouse, Jesus Christ, who alone is worthy to be praised. Let us, as a church, exist for this reason.