YOU ARE SALT – SEASON THE WORLD

The 5th Sunday after Epiphany – February 6th, 2011

Matthew 5:13-16

“You are blessed!” That was the truth that Jesus impressed upon our hearts in the introduction to
his Sermon of all sermons. “Blessed” is the condition that all of Christ’s disciples stand in, in our
recognition of spiritual poverty and powerlessness, even as we face harassment for our relationship with
Jesus Christ – we are blessed, because in Christ Jesus we are saved. And that blessedness is not
something Jesus tell us to be or asks us to achieve. It is what we are as his disciples.
Closely connected to those opening statements of blessing are the illustrations that Jesus uses to
describe the calling of each and every one of his disciples. Just as you are blessed for being a disciple of
Christ, now you function as “salt.” You are blessed for having received the light of the gospel and the
benefits of Christ’s atoning sacrifice; thus now, “you are light.” Jesus doesn’t ask us to be these things. He
doesn’t urge us to “become” these things. He’s telling us today that we ARE these things. We are salt and
light, created anew in Christ to stand out in a bland world of dark unbelief.
As we continue examining the Sermon on the Mount today, Jesus begins the main body of the
sermon by connecting our blessed status with our chief calling as his disciples. Your status is one of being
“blessed.” Your calling is “salt,” for you, as a disciple of Christ, will have an impact on the world with your
distinct Christian identity which stands out in this world like savory seasoning in bland food, like blazing
light in deep darkness.
Jesus begins the body of the sermon with these themes for his disciples: 13 “You are the salt of the
earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, by what manner will it (the earth) be salted? It is no longer good
for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”
Now, we’re left with an important question. There are no less than 11 uses of salt mentioned in
the Old Testament. Each one could illustrate a unique spiritual truth. So how do we know what Jesus
means when he calls us “salt of the earth”? The 2nd illustration will clarify.
“14 “You are the light of the world. A city 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.”
You are salt. You are light...not things that you strive to be, you ARE salt and light as Christ’s
disciples. Consider this the “THEME” of the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes are the doorway, this
is the theme, and what follows in the next couple of chapters, specific applications of Christian
discipleship, will all fall under this one theme.
The point is, you are created in Christ Jesus to be different from the world, to stand out, to have a
distinct identity as a disciple of Christ that is upheld by both outward confession and accompanying
deeds. Only then can we be different and not just blend in with the blandness of a world gone wrong
because of sin.
Deeds without accompanying confession do not serve the purpose for which God has given them
to us to do, and that is to bring others to praise our Father in heaven in saving faith...because deeds
themselves are not a means of grace, and cannot replace the gospel which “is the power of God for the
salvation of everyone who believes.” At the same time, Christian confession without deeds will not be
taken seriously, and is evidence of hypocrisy...leaving the question, “If we don’t take our faith seriously,
why would anyone else?” That’s why James tells his readers in his epistle, “Faith without deeds is dead.”
 We are salt. We are meant to stand out in a bland world, so that through our deeds of kindness,
which are born of faith, our confession of faith is heard, people have cause to take it seriously, and
through that confession of faith, others have the opportunity to “praise our Father in heaven” in saving
faith.
Be careful, though, because Jesus himself tells us, we can lose our saltiness. When Christians
allows themselves to be both in the world and of the world, the saltiness goes away. When it becomes
okay in our minds and hearts to do doing things exactly like the non-Christian – to treat marriage as if it
were dispensable and the blessings of marriage as things that we’re entitled to whether we’re married or
not, to treat our lives as something we gave ourselves rather than a gift from God, to view our enemies
not as people that need our love and care, but instead as people that we need to suppress and hurt –
when it becomes okay to live like the non-Christian, then we lose our saltiness – and that brings with it an
even worse consequence – a ruined relationship with Jesus, for to not be “salt” or “light” is equivalent to
being an unbeliever.
We are not ordinary by any means. And thus, we are not to live ordinary lives in ordinary
“worldly” ways. That’s what Jesus was impressing upon his disciples. Jesus himself was extraordinary,
remarkable in love and compassion, generosity and faithfulness. How remarkable he was in carrying the
sins of the world upon his shoulders. How generous he was in securing for every one of us a place in
heaven through the cross – taking our sins and washing them away in holy blood. That’s not something
to be taken lightly. Jesus stood out both in life and in death, being in the world but not of the world, and
in every way that was necessary, he was faithful, in life and death in order to open the door to eternal life
for us and all who believe.
That’s the driving force for us to stand out and be distinct in our callings. We are not just to be
ordinary husbands and wives, we are to be extraordinary husbands and wives, so that the light of our
faith shines in our homes and husband and wife assist each other in preparing for eternity. We are not
just to be fathers and mothers. We are to be remarkable fathers and mothers so that our children have
every example and reason to take their life of faith seriously, and one day may extend the light of the
gospel to their children and from generation to generation. This isn’t just about shining the light of faith
at the grocery store, or at your place of employment. It starts in your homes! It starts with your spouse,
with your children, your grandchildren – ordinary relationships that we are called to treat
extraordinarily, in which the light of your faith, accompanied by remarkable love, piety, faithfulness,
compassion and purity will have the most profound impact.
That is what separates Christians from the rest of the world. We are salt, we are light, blessed
because of the merits of Jesus for our salvation, and called to stand out like light in deep darkness, called
to make our faith known in word and deed, so that our lives highlight the reason for the hope we have in
Christ. And finally that IS the primary purpose of our good deeds as Christians, to convert people to the
true worship of God, and to lead them to see the face of God in Christ Jesus, and to see the salvation of
God in Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross.
You are blessed. That’s your status as Christ’s disciples. You are salt. That’s your calling as
Christ’s disciples. In that order, blessing and calling, the Lord Jesus has prepared us for his exposition on
the commandments in the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. May every believing man, woman and child,
who stands as a blessed disciple of Christ, and who receives this call to be salt, season the world with
extraordinary Christian living, so that, accompanied with our overarching confession of faith, “16 they may
see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”