The following is the manuscript of the sermon preached yesterday morning by Pastor John Richards. 

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You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:13-16 ESV

We have spent the last couple of months studying the Beatitudes. In doing so, we have discovered that they are not merely a checklist for Christians but an explanation of the believer’s character. Not only does Jesus describe this character, but he also reassures them that they are blessed! Blessed in a way that brings fulfilling happiness, experienced both here and now, and in a completeness that we will only know when we are in God’s presence.

As we have studied these beatitudes, we have looked at how these characteristics are not always what society and culture would deem as being blessed. As a matter of fact, it is quite the opposite. The life of a Christ follower is one that stands out so differently and opposed to that of the world that those who are of the Kingdom of God will be reviled, persecuted, and slandered. Given this information, we might think that, as believers, must be careful in how we live out our lives following Jesus. That, due to how unlike the world we are and the possible or probable persecution that will come our way, we should live a life segregated or perhaps hidden from the world. But that is not the case at all! It is the opposite. We are to continue living out are walk with the Lord in plain view for all to see.

This brings us to the next verses of Jesus’ sermon here on the mount. And while these verses have their own section heading, I think we can understand these as being a continuation or a further explanation of what a citizen of the Kingdom of God looks like. We are moving from the explanation of the characteristics of the believer to Jesus telling the believer how they are to function and what their purpose in the world is. Jesus makes his point by using two metaphors to describe the believer: salt and light. In our time this morning, we will break down these two metaphors and see just what the Christian’s relationship with the world should be.

SALT // VERSE 13

When we started our study of the first part of the Sermon on the Mount, we noted who Jesus was preaching to. We have these crowds of people who were following Jesus to be healed or bring people to be healed, those who just wanted to see who everyone was talking about, who wanted to hear him and his disciples. We know that in teaching on the beatitudes, Jesus was describing believers, but note that in all but the last one, Jesus refers to them in the beatitudes in the third person. However, in verse 11, He shifts to the more personal “you”. We also see this more personal noun usage in verses 13 and 14, when He says, You are the salt of the earth and You are the light of the world.

The you whom Jesus is speaking to is not the crowds, it’s to his disciples, and to all who would follow him. Notice the verb that follows. The word are is present tense. You see, Jesus was making a declaration of what the believer is. Not who they are going to be after time. No, this is him stating that as a citizen of the kingdom of God, you are the salt of the earth. How are we to understand this declaration? What are we to make of the statement that we are the salt of the earth?

 Today, just as in Jesus’ day, there are many uses for salt. For us, salt is cheap, easy to obtain, and very commonplace to have in our household and on hand. Not only that, if you look at the spice section in the grocery store, there are a lot of different kinds of salt! From table salt, sea salt, kosher salt, flake salt, Himalayan salt, and Himalayan pink salt, just to name a few.

In Jesus’ day, salt was a highly valued commodity. As a matter of fact, our word for salary originates from the Latin word “salarium,” which translates to “salt money”. This comes from the Romans who gave soldiers an allowance to buy salt. One reason salt was so highly valued was its use for preserving food. This brings us back to what Jesus means by calling Christians the salt of the earth.

While Jesus does not explicitly say what specific use of salt he is relating to believers, I believe there are three that fit the context here in Matthew. Those uses are preserving, flavor, and sacrifice.

Preserving

We are not unaccustomed to using salt as a preservative. Just take a look at the salt content in the foods we buy off the shelf, but don’t look at spam, bad idea. While we do use it a lot for preserving food, we have the benefit of refrigeration to help keep certain foods from spoiling, such as meat and vegetables. As we all know, refrigeration was not a luxury afforded to those in Jesus’ day, so they needed something else to help preserve food, salt. How salt preserves meat is interesting. Salt, when applied to meat, will act as a preservative by reducing the amount of available water in the food, making it inhospitable for bacteria, thereby slowing down the decay and extending the period in which the food can be safely eaten.

Decaying and putrefying have been the state of this world since Genesis chapter 3. Because when sin entered the world, so did death. The world and everything in it, which God had exclaimed to be good, were not so anymore because of the sin of man. But God made a way for man to be saved from death, through his Son, Christ Jesus. Jesus says in John 5:12, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” Paul in Ephesians 2:4-6 says,

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

For those who put their faith in Jesus, we have been made alive. While we are still in a world that is decaying and dying, it has no claim on us. And just as vital as salt was in the ancient world for preserving, Jesus says we are to be as well; we are the salt of the earth. Sinclair Ferguson puts it this way,

Christians whose lives exhibit the qualities of the “blessed” will have a preserving impact upon a society that, if left to itself, will rot and deteriorate. Without the influence of the gospel, society will suffer moral decay and become putrid, unfit for the consumption of good men and women.

The believer does this first and foremost by sharing the gospel with others, and in doing so, praying that the Holy Spirit will do a work in that person’s heart and bring them from death into life. But also, through living out the gospel in their lives. When we live are lives in light of God’s truth, when we take a stand for God, we are staving off the ungodly influences. Have you ever seen a show or movie where a preacher or priest walks up to a person or group and suddenly whatever crude or nefarious thing that was going on suddenly stops because of the preacher’s presence? Or maybe that has happened to you as well. Your coworkers talk differently around you; they don’t tell vulgar jokes when you’re around simply because they know that is not who you are, nor is it part of your character, because you are a Christian. I think that sometimes we see this as maybe only happening on a larger societal scale. We work to see certain legislation passed that keeps unborn babies from being murdered, that protects the sanctity of marriage, and that keeps children from being allowed to go against their God given gender. But this is also lived out in your day-in and day-out interactions with the world around you.

Flavor

The next use of salt is one that we are familiar with, and that is flavor. Remember, Jesus says that we are the salt of the earth, not that we are salty. As in having a bad attitude. It should be the exact opposite! We should bring flavor and zest to this world. The joy that we have should be attractive to the non-believing world. If we are living a life in obedience to God’s word, we will influence the world for the good, just as salt has an influence on the taste of food for the good. How we have this kind of influence is seen in the verses we have recently studied. We are meek, merciful, peacemakers, and our actions are pure with no ulterior motives. Colossians 4:6 says that even our speech should be seasoned with salt. Our lives should bring out the flavor of Jesus to those around us.

Sacrifice

Our last use of salt is not as expected, and that is, salt was used as part of the daily sacrifices. We will get a chance to study further in Cole’s upcoming series on Leviticus, but Leviticus 4:12 says with regards to the grain offering, “You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt”. On this, Sinclair Ferguson says, “This salt of the covenant was a symbol of faithfulness. The fact that God commanded his people to include it probably means that it was intended as a symbol of their response, as saying that the sacrifices were offered with hearts set on knowing and serving the Lord”. This reminds me of also Romans 12:1, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” The Christian is one who is faithful to the Lord with all of their lives.  

Warning

So, Jesus declares that you are the salt of the earth, but he doesn’t stop there. Next, we see that there is a warning to those who are the salt. Look at the second part of verse 13. You might not know this, but salt is actually a stable compound. It doesn’t just stop being salt. So what does Jesus mean here in saying that salt can lose its saltiness? One way is for the salt to be diluted. Think about putting some salt in water and having a drink. You will be able to taste the salt. But if you were to pour that cup into a large cooking pot and add more water, then take a drink, the salt taste would not be as strong. Another way that salt loses its saltiness and by being mingled with other substances. If you take some salt and add some sand, you have rendered that salt useless for flavor or preserving. You see, Jesus’ point with proclaiming us as salt and light is that we are to stand out as different from the world. Our witness to the world is that our lives have changed, and we no longer long for the things the world longs for, we no longer seek to find our joy in the things of this world, we don’t look to the world for our identity.

If we then, as believers, began to look like the world, our effectiveness as witnesses for Jesus is going to be hindered. If we allow our walk with Christ to be diluted by caring more for the things of the world than following Him, our witness is going to be hindered. Ask yourself, is the life you lead on Sunday at church the same as when you are at home or at work? Is the way you interact with people you go to church with the same as when you are with your coworkers or nonbelieving friends? If a nonbeliever knows that you are a Christian and they don’t see much of a difference between your life and theirs, you are losing your saltiness!

If we, as salt, have the potential to lose our salt, what must we do to stay salty? Quite simply, we must keep our eyes on Jesus. In John 15:5, Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing”. We must not let ourselves loosen our connection with Jesus. We must abide in him. And thankfully, Jesus prayed for us on this matter:

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. (John 17:15–19)

Jesus has sent us into this world knowing that it will not be easy for his followers. But we have the Word of God to keep us on the right path, not straying to the left or to the right. We have his words to study and obey so that we are seen in this world, but live lives that are not of this world.

LIGHT // VERSES 14-16

 Jesus’ second declaration for Christians is in verse 14: You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Now this is a biggie! Because, just as familiar this verse is, so is John 8:12, where Jesus makes one of his “I am” statements, when he says, “I am the light of the world”. So, if Jesus said that he is the light of the world, how can he say that we are the light of the world? Well, the second part of John 8:12, he goes on to say, “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Also, if you remember Paul’s words from Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” You see, when you come to a saving faith in Jesus, you are brought out of the darkness and into the light, and we also have the light of the Lord. Note here in verse 14, that we are the light of the world, just as we are the salt of the earth. The world and the earth again let us know where we are to be these things in our present life, and that is wherever you are. With regards to salt, we talked about its different uses. I think that it’s pretty obvious what the main purpose of light is… to keep out darkness!

I think that while we understand and know how light helps us to see in the dark, it can get lost on us a little because of our easy access to light. Light is so accessible that we have what they call light pollution. But that is not the case in Jesus’ day. When it got dark, it got dark. They didn’t have streetlights on every corner or multiple 100-watt bulbs on the outside of their houses. So, with such darkness, a single light makes a huge difference!

That is what Jesus is telling his disciples: they are the light that pierces the darkness! And the darkness that they shine so bright in is this world. I think it’s easy for us to see that our world is dark. This goes back to the decay and purification of our world. They cannot see clearly, and grab hold of the things of this world to find comfort, only to find that they bring no comfort at all.

This is why Jesus calls us the light of the world. Because, as believers, our shining light is a testament to the life-giving/light-giving nature of salvation in Christ Jesus. When our light shines, it tells others that they, too, can be transformed by the good news of the gospel. And just as a city on a hill stands out, so too will the life of a believer who is following Jesus.

If you have ever been to the mountains and seen a town that is elevated, one that you could see for miles before you even got into it, you know the point Jesus is making. Because it would be utterly impossible to hide the city. Nor would you want to try and hide it because it was built to be seen. In the same way, believers are to be visible. Jesus doubles down on this point in verse 15:  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

Warning

Here, Jesus points out the absurdity of lighting a lamp, whose purpose is to give off light, and instead of using it to light up a room, you put it under a basket and hide the light. So, if we are the light, how does this apply to us? How would we hide our light under a basket? Well, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones said, “If we find in ourselves a tendency to put the under a bushel, we must begin to examine ourselves and make sure that it really is light.” But think also back to the Sermon on the Mount. Because we are light, we will attract attention, some of which is going to be persecution. So, this could be a tendency when the going gets tough, the light goes under the basket. And that is probably how the world would react, but that is not how we are to act. No, we are to keep going and rejoice and be glad. Paul and all the apostles are good examples of this. As we studied through Acts, at no point do we see that when persecution came that they hid their faith or quit sharing the gospel. If we truly are followers of Jesus, we will not try to hide the light of Jesus in us.

Which brings us to the second part of verse 15. When I read this, I always get an image in my head. It makes me think of movies and shows, when a person is in a dark place and they have a torch or a lantern, how do they hold it? Do they hold it close to the ground or down to their side? Nope, they hold it up so that it puts off a large area of light. On this subject, R.C. Sproul said, “We are the lamps, and the Householder places us strategically… The light is placed strategically so it can shine to best advantage. And God does the placing. We are simply to shine where we are placed. In fact, it is in the darker and less promising places that light has the greatest effect.”

Command

This brings us to our last verse, read verse 16: In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Here we see a command from Jesus to those who are the light of the world. We are to let our light shine before others. So, who should we shine our light to? Our family, yes. Our friends, yes. Our neighbors, yes. Our coworkers, yes. The gas station attendant, yes… I think you get the point; we are to shine our light to everyone we come into contact with. Because where we go, so goes the light in us!

Here is the great thing about verse 16: Jesus tells us our purpose for letting our light shine to everyone. That is so they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven. What are the good works that Jesus is talking about? When we hear good works, I think our minds tend to go straight to acts of kindness. This could include feeding the hungry, taking care of the homeless, or giving money to the less fortunate. And I do believe that Jesus is talking about those things. However, I also think this encompasses more than just acts of kindness. Our text here lies at just the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is just getting warmed up when it comes to teaching how we should live as believers.

When it comes to standing apart and standing out from the unsaved world, being salt and light, there is more to it than acts of kindness. Showing our good works starts back with what Jesus taught in the beatitudes and continues in the rest of his sermon. We are to be peacemakers and not someone who gets angry with his brother, we are not commit adultery or lust after others, we are to hold marriage in a high regard, we are to be people whose yes means yes and no means no, are not to retaliate against those who come against us, were to love our enemies, forgive those who sin against us, we don’t judge others, treat others how we want to be treated and ones who strive to live righteously.

Brothers and sisters, this is quite a list. One that we cannot and will not perfectly live out. But the light we have in us comes from the one person who did live this out perfectly. The one who shines his light on those who are walking in a land of deep darkness, Jesus. The one who showed his love for us in that while we were yet sinners quite died for us. The one who removes the darkness from the person who puts their faith in him and then puts his light within them. The one who forgives us when we stumble and break his commands.

Lastly, what is the purpose of our good works? We see here that the purpose of our good works is for people to see them and give glory to our Father in heaven. You see, this is another way that we stand out from the world. Those of the world long and love to receive glory for their good works. If you don’t believe that, just look through some headlines or take a scroll through social media. But for us, our good works are not to magnify ourselves, they are to magnify God. While we have talked about how being salt and light will bring persecution from the world, it will also bring other to a saving faith in Jesus.

CONCLUSION

The sting of salt in a wound lets us know we are broken and need healing. Salt adds flavor to food and makes us thirsty, and light lays bare the things that are hidden. We know that we are not the ones who save a person from being spiritually dark and dead, but called to be the salt and light that leads a person to the one who can. In studying for this sermon, I read something that really hit hard. It said Jesus never challenged us to become salt or light. He simply said that we are, and we are either fulfilling or failing that given responsibility.

As we come to the Lord’s table this morning, let us do today as we do every Sunday and examine our lives. Let us give thanks for the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, the light of the world. And as we take these elements, let us look to when we will share the great meal of the wedding feast with Him in the new Heaven and new Earth in the light that is not supplied by the sun but by the glory of God himself.