Sermon Transcript
Matthew chapter 5, verses 13 through 16. 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.
That was my fault. At one point in human history, literary authors envisioned a utopian future for our society. They wrote books like The Blazing World by Margaret Cavendish or literally Utopia by Thomas More. And those are still around, of course, right? And many of us had to read them in school.
Cool. But then there was a turn, or at least an alternative to utopia developed in the type of future envisioned by our literary authors, and they started writing dystopian novels where future society was not all rosy, right? 1984, Brave New World, Minority Report, maybe you had to read those in school too. And then ever since then, both types of literature have existed. We’ve continued to write both, and there’s been debate about what kind of future awaits us.
Today, like our current cultural moment in terms of what people believe about the future, I don’t think the majority of people really seem to be either firmly utopian or firmly dystopian. I would say, and I’ll try to make the case, our current cultural moment is conflicted, is uncertain about the type of future that awaits us, but is hopeful. You can think about the Marvel movies— this is my case— and the spin-offs of the Marvel movies. So you have Iron Man, Ant-Man, Avengers. Many of those superheroes, we will say, have a complicated moral record.
They aren’t exactly shining ethical examples of what we would want our kids to grow up and emulate, right? When we first meet Tony Stark, Iron Man 1, he’s a womanizer and he’ll do just about anything to make a profit. Hulk, of course, he’s a brilliant scientist, but his character represents like a form of chaos, right? A loose cannon, never sure what he’s going to do next. The only one who seems honest and fair in all his dealings is Captain America, who happens to be my favorite superhero, now you know.
But if you were overanalyzing it, Captain America really serves as like a foil to all the other characters because even though he has his act together, the rest of the Avengers really have issues that they really need to work out, right? They’re quite flawed as heroes go, and that is realistic, isn’t it? Our fiction mirrors our understanding of our own moral character, which makes me think as a culture that we currently embrace that humanity as a whole is not what it ought to be and neither are individual humans. Individual humans are not what they ought to be, but we can picture what an ideal human might be, maybe Captain America, but we all seem in process of getting there, right? So, here’s the question, will we get there?
That’s what people want to know. That’s what future novels are about a lot of times. Will either humanity as a whole or us as individual persons, will we arrive at the ideal of what we should be? I think our culture is conflicted but hopeful about that future. Tony Stark makes a lot of progress by the end of the movies, right?
So that shows we are hopeful. But then Marvel makes a spinoff show and what’s one of the characters that gets a spinoff? Off? Loki, right? Loki gets a series, and Loki is the most flawed character of them all, right?
He is supposedly the god of mischief. And if you have watched the Loki series, it is certainly not a utopian future, right? But is it dystopian? I mean, it is to start with, but then there is this uncertainty, right? I don’t think we can say it is exclusively dystopian either.
We don’t know what is going to happen. And even though we follow a very uncertain character through that very uncertain future, we’re always hoping that it turns around and that Loki turns around, right? So, that’s— I think that’s where we are as a culture. We admit we have issues and serious ones, but we have hope eventually we’ll come out the other side. The idea that humanity is basically good We might be letting go of that some because we gravitate toward flawed heroes, right?
And if we envision our heroes as flawed, what does that say about our understanding of ourselves? It says that we’re flawed. I think we’re starting to make that turn as a culture, all right? But at the same time, even though we’re flawed, we have hope somehow we will pull it together in the end. That’s my synopsis of where where I think we are as a culture.
Jesus in our text today shows us how we arrive. Our hope for the future and for ourselves doesn’t need to be uncertain. We can have a confidence that our destination is goodness and there’s a resolution both in the world and in ourselves. Jesus says, you are the salt of the earth. Earth.
You are the light of the world. You cannot be hidden. Just like a city at night that’s on top of a hill and all sparkly, just like that can’t be hidden, you can’t be hidden. Jesus says you are the answer to bring goodness to the world. So as we look at this passage today, we’re going to look at the need for salt and light, The actions of salt and light, in other words, these people who are salt and light, what is it that they actually do?
Then we’ll look at the danger of being salt and light, and finally we’ll look at the goal of salt and light. So first, the need for salt and light. Nearly every commentator on this passage points out that salt has 2 purposes, preservation and enhancement, preservation and enhancement. First and foremost, in that time period and in that culture, salt was a preservative. They didn’t have refrigeration, of course, so if you killed some meat, it would rot very quickly.
You’d get maggots in a hurry if you didn’t load it up with salt, right? So salt adds a certain stability. It adds structural integrity to that which would otherwise fall apart. And light, we may not think about light in this way very often, but light is similar in that it creates stability. In the first chapter of the Bible, light is juxtaposed with chaos and disorder.
At the beginning of creation, the earth was formless and void. Like, the earth is this picture of chaos, right? It’s Hulk until God says, let there be light, and he begins to reorder the chaos into structure. And in our world today, think about how much of our energy ultimately goes back to the sun. It’s not just solar power, right?
All the plants that grow from photosynthesis, then all the animals that eat those plants. I mean, how many calories— and calories are energy, right? How many calories are in the world because of the sun? And then even when we drill for oil, what is oil? Or what was it?
It’s dead dinosaurs, right? Where did those dinosaurs get their energy? The sun light is just a huge percentage of our energy, right? And energy helps us create structure out of chaos. You actually have to have energy to have structure out of chaos, right?
Remember the 2nd law of thermodynamics, physics class? Entropy. Matter is most stable in its most chaotic form. Do you remember this? Like, a building is much more stable as a pile of rubble than it ever was as a building because you can’t knock over a pile of rubble, right?
It’s already knocked over, so it’s stable. It’s difficult. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to change the pile of rubble into anything else, whereas it takes very little energy to turn the building into a pile of rubble. So it’s more stable as a pile of rubble than it was as a building. You didn’t know you were going to get a physics lesson today.
That was for free. But the idea is that it takes energy to keep a system stable. Right? If you want to create order or even if you want to maintain order in a system, it takes energy. And light, even today, is our primary source of energy.
So, salt and light are both stabilizing forces. They add order into chaos. They are preservatives. And the world needs that. Relationships need stability.
Governments need stability. Corporate leadership needs stability. All the systems in which we live, relationships and jobs and government and friends and kids and marriages, they all have a kind of social entropy. It’s easy for them to fall apart, isn’t it? It takes much less energy for them to spiral into chaos than it takes to keep them together.
They need something to stabilize them. Them. They need salt and light. Okay, so salt and light are preservatives. Salt and light also enhance existing beauty.
Salt as a flavoring isn’t usually used to make something salty because usually if something tastes salty, it’s probably oversalted, right? Salt as a flavoring, what it’s supposed to do is bring out the natural flavors of the food, really be the star of the show itself. So when I was in college, it’s the first time I learned this, some of my friends still make fun of me about it when they think about it, but in college my friends and I were preparing food for some kind of get-together and we were going to make guacamole, which I’d never done. They had all the ingredients for it, but it wasn’t made and they asked me to do it. And I’m like, sure, but I’ve never made guac before, so you’ve got to tell me what to do.
And they were like, well, mash up the avocado start adding salt, then we’ll add in other stuff later. And I’m like, all right, great. I start doing that, and somebody who knows what he’s doing occasionally comes over and tastes it, and he tells me to add more salt. Literally never done this before, all the way in college. Um, I was deprived as a child with no guacamole.
But in the process of making this, I have some kind of culinary awakening that avocado went from being plain avocado to magic because of salt. But it didn’t taste salty, right? It just tasted better. And I was amazed. I kept asking people, I’m like, did you know you could add salt to something and it would taste different but it wouldn’t taste salty?
And they were like, yes, pretty much everybody knows that, Dan. And I was like, I thought if you added salt it would taste salty. And they were like, welcome to cooking. They made fun of me, which they should have. I received that.
The point is salt, if it’s used correctly, it takes what is there and makes it better, right? It enhances beauty and goodness. Light is the same thing. I mean, how majestic is Yosemite on a cloudy night? No stars, just darkness, you’re in Yosemite Valley, how special is that?
Not very special, right? But oh my goodness, the sun comes out and you’re like, wow, the light made it beautiful. The mountain was there already but the light changed everything about our experience and made it better. So salt and light enhance existing beauty and goodness and the world needs that, right? The world needs people who don’t play the starring role but people who make the star of the show sparkle.
No one’s eating guacamole and is like, wow, this salt is amazing, right? No one says that. You don’t go to Yosemite at noon and talk about how pretty the sun is. Nobody cares, right? You talk about Half Dome.
But at the same time, without the sun, you would never see the beauty, right? Salt and light must be present for the world to be livable and enjoyable. They take the blandness and the darkness and turn it into something that makes us astounded with wonder. And Jesus says, that’s what you do. That’s what you do.
That’s your role in the world. You’re like, how in the world do I do that? Great question. Brings us to our second point, the actions of salt and light. Or what do people do who are salt and light?
Answer, really, it’s the Beatitudes and the rest of Jesus’ sermon. Jesus already explained what salt and light look like in his introduction to his most famous sermon, which we studied for the last couple weeks before Thanksgiving, and those were called the Beatitudes. And then he expands on what salt and light do in the rest of his sermon, which we will study for the next couple of months. So here he says, says, or when he says, you guys are salt and light, it’s linked to what he just talked about in the introduction, and it’s linked to what he will talk about in the following chapters. So, as a reminder, what did he say in his introduction, in the Beatitudes?
He said, blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are the merciful, Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are those who are persecuted. Jesus largely has taken what people typically think of when they think of a blessed person and turned it on its head, right? We normally think it’s not those who mourn who are blessed, it’s those who celebrate, they’re the ones who are blessed.
It’s not the meek who are blessed, it’s the powerful, right? It’s not those who hunger and thirst for what is right who are blessed, but those who hunger and thirst for recognition, for celebrity, for status. Those are the people who are really blessed. It’s not the persecuted who are blessed, but it’s able to— it’s those who are able to like push around others and get whatever they want. I guess like, again, the powerful who are blessed.
That’s what we normally think. And Jesus says no. Not to say that there aren’t blessings other places, right? It’s certainly a blessing when we get to celebrate. It’s not like we should avoid celebration like we’ve talked about, but there are benefits you can only gain if you are mourning, when you are meek, when you defer to others through peacemaking, through persecution.
And the more you kind of embrace there are blessings in those moments that we typically try to avoid, the more you will probably be salt and light in the world, the more stability and beauty you will add to the world around you. So as a for instance, think about the best employee, the best boss, the best team member you’ve ever been around. What made that person great? Let me take some guesses. They were humble.
They were not self-absorbed. They promoted others more than they promoted themselves. They were willing to do the right thing even if it was personally costly to them. Them. They didn’t lose their cool during a crisis.
They were forgiving. They worked toward peace in a conflict, but they didn’t work toward peace in a way that like brushes issues under the rug because that wouldn’t be doing the right thing and that wouldn’t be peace either. So they worked toward genuine peace. Have you ever had a boss like that? Have you ever worked with somebody like that?
Do you have someone like that in your family? It makes a big difference, doesn’t Because have you worked with someone who’s the opposite? Do you have someone in your family who’s the opposite? Someone who’s out for themselves, wants to do the easy thing rather than the right thing, wants to do whatever it’ll take to make themselves look good to others instead of doing the right thing? Someone who loses their cool pretty quick, somebody who holds a grudge, more interested in winning an argument than in peace, wants to amass power?
Have you worked with that guy?
You live with that guy?
How much of a difference does that make in your stress? You’re living with that person. How much of a difference does it make in your stress level, in your quality of life? It’s huge, right? How that person lives changes your life.
It adds instability to your life. Versus, if you work with a guy or live with a guy who is a peacemaker, who does what is right no matter what, right? You can relax unless you are doing wrong, obviously. But that kind of person makes everything better. Jesus said that is the difference Christians make in the world.
He tells this group of people, you are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. And He says that right after He has talked about the Beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted. Those are the people who are going to hold this chaos together and make this whole thing beautiful, which we already knew that, right?
If we stopped and thought about it, we already knew that is what the world needs to be livable and beautiful. I mean, what stories captivate us the most? What characters in movies grab our attention? When Tony Stark’s making tons of money and is courting every woman he wishes, Iron Man 1, I mean, we can watch that for a minute, right? That’s a flash in the pan, kind of interesting, but it doesn’t grab us.
It doesn’t have any weight to it. We lean in way more We— way more when Tony Stark is humbled, when he is meek, when he is vulnerable, when he thirsts for what is right even though it comes at a personal cost to him, right? It’s when he gives up everything, that’s when he actually adds beauty and stability into the world. But when he’s out for himself, when he’s trying to amass power and fame, that’s when he’s actually contributing to the chaos of the world, right? Light, he makes the world less livable for others.
The means through which we bring stability and beauty into the world is by lowering ourselves, not by elevating ourselves. It’s through the Beatitudes and it’s through the rest of Jesus’ sermon. Okay, that’s the need and kind of the means of being salt and light. What about the danger of being salt and light. The danger is that we would lose our saltiness or hide our light.
That’s the danger. We may assume the danger for people who are meek and forgiving and sacrificial is that the world would just run them over, right? If we pray for those who persecute us, if we give people more than they ask for, if we respond in love to those who hurt us, if we do that, we worry people out there will exploit our kindness Right? We’ll get taken advantage of, we’ll get run over. We think that would be the danger.
Our safety, our comfort, our stability, our rights are at risk if we are salt and light. I mean, Jesus says love your enemies, right? It would make sense for him to say, but watch out or you might get burned. We might think that’s what he would say because frankly, we might get burned if we live that But that is not what Jesus warns us about. Jesus doesn’t warn us that we should be concerned for our safety or our comfort.
He’s not really concerned about that. But he is concerned that we will blend in and look like everyone else. He’s concerned that we will stop being light and that we will lose our saltiness. Jesus, in fact, never really tells us to be cautious for the sake of our safety. Or comfort.
The closest He ever gets to warning us to watch out for our safety is Matthew 10. He sends out His disciples and says, I am sending you out as sheep among the wolves. Remember that verse? Therefore, be wise as serpents and innocent as doves, for they will hand you over to courts, brother will betray brother, you will be hated for My sake. So, He does say, I concede, He does say beware and be wise.
But he goes on to say just a few sentences later, do not fear the one who can only harm your body. Don’t fear that guy. Don’t worry about him. Even though your body will be harmed, that’s not your concern. Don’t fear that guy.
Instead, Jesus says, fear the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Jesus says whoever denies him before men, maybe for the sake of their safety or comfort, Jesus says that Jesus will deny that person before the Father. Physical safety or comfort is not the issue. Losing saltiness, hiding our light, blending into those around us, that is the issue. If the salt is as bland as everything else, if the light looks exactly like the darkness, that’s the issue, that’s the concern, that’s the warning, the danger.
So let’s just take an honest appraisal here. Have we blended into the culture around us?
Do we look like everyone else? My observation is sometimes we do and sometimes we don’t. All right, in some ways some of us certainly stick out around here if we maintain a biblical view of relationships and gender and sanctity of life, for sure, for sure we stick out as different in those instances if we do that. But I’m afraid when it comes to issues like power, loving our enemies, serving those who fight against us, when it comes to finding our comfort in wealth and material security, I’m afraid we look an awful lot like everyone else around us. We’re just as worried about getting our own way as everyone else is.
We’re just as wrapped up in us versus them them as everyone else is. We charge up and fight back, we demand our rights, we try to overpower others just like they try to overpower us. But that is not the way, that is not the way, right? Blessed are the meek, the humble, the peacemakers. Blessed are the persecuted.
So, for instance, if you think your Christian beliefs are under attack, by our culture, some type of quasi-persecution. If you think that, don’t attack back. Don’t post some scathing rant on social media, right? That would be blending in. That would be doing exactly what everyone else is doing.
Instead, sing praises because you understand, blessed are the persecuted, and then serve those who are attacking you. Right, be salt and light, be different, stand out.
Okay, lastly, the goal of salt and light, to bring glory to God. Jesus says, let your light shine before men so that they may praise your Father in heaven, Matthew 5:16. That’s what we’re after, that’s what we’re going for, the glory of God. We want to see people encounter the true God in heaven through our witness and through our life, through our our light, really. That’s what we want.
And way more people will see God through meekness, humility, persecution, through our purity in our hearts and our actions than they will ever see if we are pursuing celebrity or wealth or bulldozing our own agenda, right? Sacrifice, surrender, meekness, purity, humility, facing persecution with grace— that is the That is the way of light. That’s what Jesus did. Jesus calls himself the light of the world, John 8:12, and Jesus shows us what light does. Jesus, who is God incarnate, came to earth.
Jesus, who could unquestionably bulldoze his way to any victory he wanted. Jesus, who had all the riches and celebrity of heaven, Jesus came to earth where he would be rejected, despised, betrayed, abandoned, and he would suffer for our sin and die on a cross. Jesus says that’s what light is. The suffering Son of God is light. Jesus says it’s actually for that purpose that he came into the world, to suffer.
That’s John 12. And then he says, John 12:36, believe in me and you will be lights yourself. If you want to be salt and light in the world, if you want to be part of the equation that makes this place livable and beautiful for others, you look to Jesus. You look to him to overcome your sin, you look to him to forgive your sin, you look to him to fill you with his light. Right?
He is the light of the world, and we are the children of the light to the extent that we are filled with Him.
Let’s pray. Father, thank You for sending Jesus to the world to be the light of the world. May we be filled with Him, Lord. May He be so evident in us that we would be called children of the light. Lord, we pray that we would, we would walk out in the world in meekness and humility with grace and purity, that we could represent you to others to bring glory to God.
We pray those things in Jesus’ name, amen.
