Matthew 5:13-16
Impacting the World
Kingdom people are called to be salt and light in the world, making an impact by drawing close to others and sharing the transformative knowledge of Christ through both presence and witness.
Introduction
Last week I began with the question, “do you like people?” This week I ask this question: “do you care about people?” Before you answer, let’s take a look at what that means. I am referring primarily to people who are closest to you in terms of distance. We care about our spiritual family in Japan. We may care a lot. But most of us probably have a hard time relating to them because we don’t see them regularly. I have a very good friend in Nashville that I rarely see. Except for the emails we occasionally share there is little contact. I care about him and he cares about me. But because of distance and not having regular contact, we are not involved in the day to day activities of life.
As a rule, we are apt to care most often for those who are closest to us in terms of distance, because it is the regular interaction which allows us to express our love and concern. This is not to say anything negative. We all have friends who have come and gone in our lives but their absence now makes it hard to demonstrate the full extent of our love. It was Shakespeare who said “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” And it was a realist who said “absence makes the heart grow fonder…for someone else.” So when I ask the question “do you care about people?”, I am referring to those who you regularly see and with whom you have regular interaction. This could be family members, neighbors, coworkers, even check out clerks at the grocery store. Certainly we understand that there are levels of caring for each of those folks. But we are talking about a general attitude about other people. Do you care about people?
Even as Christians there are times when we don’t understand how we are to interact with people. We try to be pleasant. We try not to hurt anyone. We try to be compassionate. All those things are good and right. But do we care about people in our lives? Of course, we say we do, but we may not know how that is supposed to look. So tonight I want to give us some idea of what it means to care about someone. And it really boils down to understanding something about our purpose as God’s people in this world and once one catches a glimpse of our purpose, then living with intentionality about that purpose.
Salt and Light
Matthew records for us in chapters 5–7 what some say is the best sermon ever preached. Jesus is surrounded by lots of folks. They are attracted to this teacher from Galilee. So he sits down and begins to teach them about what it means to belong to God’s kingdom. What does it mean to be kingdom people? People who love God and want to follow only him. And so there are lots of things that he talks about. These things are not one of many options, but if one is serious about being in God’s kingdom, these are attitudes and actions which distinguish God’s people from those who are not followers of God.
In verses 13–16 of chapter 5 there is text which has been discussed throughout the centuries. Jesus says that kingdom people are salt and light. What do you think Jesus meant when he said that we are salt? What explanations have you heard? Salt was a precious commodity. Today it is so common that we think very little about it.
We understand salt to have the ability to flavor something and such a definition would fit into what Jesus is saying. Kingdom people flavor life. We make a difference in the lives of others. Some say Jesus was saying that salt is a preservative and that kingdom people preserve the truth about God in this world. Such a definition would fit as well. Some say that salt here is designed to create thirst. Jesus is saying that kingdom people live in such a way that they generate thirst in others who see and are touched by the salt of his people. And this too would fit.
In fact we might use all three analogies to make the point. We could quibble over the meanings, but any of them would fit and might be equally important. Kingdom people make an impact in their world by being salt. We live in such a way as to generate some sort of thirst for how we live; we try to preserve the good in this world and highlight the way God thinks about this world; we flavor life so that others are inspired to greater heights. We make life interesting and flavorful all the while honoring God. But there are two other elements which are often overlooked. The first is that salt is supposed to have some impact. Jesus says if salt loses its impact then it is worthless. Choose any of the above three reasons, but the truth is that salt makes an impact in our world. Unsalted salt makes no impact. But the second reason that is often overlooked hits hard. Salt only can make a difference when it is close to that which it is supposed to impact. Salt has little benefit away from the object which needs its salt.
If you are going to flavor food, salt left in the shaker has no impact. Salt which is unused cannot flavor. If you want to preserve meat, you have to rub it with salt and lots of it. If you want to create real thirst, you have to take in some salt. When Jesus says to us that we are salt, he is declaring that kingdom people impact their world by being close to the object which needs impacting. Ever thought, “you know I would like to help Joe or Jane know more about Christ,” and then you never talk with them? Where’s the impact of the salt? Salt has to rub up against folks. Salt has to be close to folks to make an impact.
But Jesus also said that kingdom people are the light of the world. This particular analogy is probably easier for us to understand. Light illuminates. Light dispels. Light takes away darkness. But notice the active part of light. Light isn’t passive. In 2 Corinthians 4:5–6, Paul in writing about his ministry with the folks in Corinth says about light that God shined his light into their hearts for the purpose of having the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. In other words, the light brought knowledge as seen in the life of Jesus. It is for this reason that Paul preaches as he does so that all may share in the light. Can you imagine Paul going into a city and saying “you know I want these folks to know about the light I have seen, so I am going to live the best life I can in front of them and maybe they’ll get it”? In the same way that salt can only do what it is designed to do by being close to the object, so light can only do its job when it isn’t hidden. In the same way our silence does not illuminate.
Purpose
But let’s not leave this passage feeling guilty. Let’s not leave this text thinking that we are being pushed to do something. We need to understand how Jesus states these truths about salt and light. And it is summed up in the idea of purpose. Jesus says that we are salt and that we are light. He doesn’t say “someday you will be salt and light.” He doesn’t say “kingdom people need to work toward being salt and light.” He says that we are. This is who we are. This is our purpose. This is who we are. Kingdom people are salt and light. Kingdom people make an impact because their purpose is to rub up against folks for the express purpose of sharing the light.
We flavor and illuminate life. We preserve quality and dispel darkness. We are salt and light. We have received the kiss of Christ. He has told us what we are. Now we must live like it.
Follow Jesus
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