For Feb 15

 

Sermon Notes: Being Salt and Light

Intro:Two weeks ago, we cancelled our Church service. Snow was covering the roads, making them icy, perhaps impassible at places like driveways. The low temperatures made it even more dangerous to be on the roads, especially if anyone got stuck or slid off the road and were exposed to the frigid temperatures. But within a day or two, the roads were somewhat drivable again because snowplows had removed heavy accumulations, and put down layers of rock salt to melt ice from the roads. Rock salt is also very useful during winter on sidewalks, drives, and parking lots. But there are other types of salt that are also useful, which we will be talking about today.

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I. Matthew 5:13-20: Salt

A. Our Gospel Lesson from Matthew 5, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount .follows the Beatitudes, which serve as a spiritual roadmap for our inner growth: such as those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled, the merciful will receive mercy, and the pure in heart shall see God. Then in our reading, Jesus begins, by telling His audience, “You are the salt of the earth.”  Notice He’s telling His followers that we are the salt of the earth. This is clearly a metaphor of what we should be, so let’s dig deeper into what being the salt of the earth means for us.

B. We’ve already talked about salt on the earth, the usefulness of rock salt to clear paths through dangerous ice, preparing our way forward on roads, and paths. John the Baptist was called to be a voice calling out to prepare the way for the Lord. From that perspective, we, as salt of the earth, are to be preparing His paths forward for others to follow Jesus. Warning others of the dangers of sin ahead, and offering safe passage by His salvation. We do that with the Word of God and our personal testimony, with the power of the Holy Spirit.

C. Jesus, of course, in Israel’s warmer climate and culture, would have been talking about other useful purposes of salt. In the OT, salt was a valuable commodity serving many useful purposes. In general, it symbolized purity, loyalty, and permanence. God had even mandated its inclusion in all grain and animal sacrifices, as a “covenant of salt” to represent an enduring, incorruptible bond between God and Israel. So, in this application, Jesus is saying we are the salt of the earth, His ‘covenant of salt’ with us, living sacrifices, representing an enduring, incorruptible bond between God and all His people.

D. Because of salt’s association with purity and divine power, salt was further seen as protection against evil with its purifying and cleansing powers. Elisha used salt to purify the toxic water supply of Jericho. Salt was even important to prevent decay, or at least slow down the decaying process. People heavily salted fish so that it could kept edible for longer periods in the hot climate. Like the two fish the boy brought to Jesus that He then used to feed the 5000. Ancient Egyptians used natron salt, a naturally occurring salt found in saline beds, for embalming, further

reinforcing this link of preventing decay. So, as ‘salt of the earth, Jesus is showing our role as an influence for spiritual growth and purity in Christian living, as well as showing Jesus’ power to prevent spiritual decay.

E. We’re most familiar with salt being used to flavor foods. Sugar is never mentioned in the Bible. In ancient times, salt was the ultimate seasoning that gave food its taste. So, as salt of the earth, we are called to give life its ultimate flavor. Salt back then was not made by boiling clean sea water, nor was it quarried from mines, like it is today. In eastern countries like Israel, salt was impure, mingled with vegetable or earthly substances, so that in a physical context, when salt lost its saltiness, a considerable quantity of earthly matter would remain, which was no longer good for anything except to be placed in paths, or walks, like we use gravel. Salt common to this area, even today, is found in the earth in veins or layers, and when exposed to sun and rain, it loses its saltiness entirely. In a spiritual context, losing our saltiness, our flavor, would mean aligning ourselves with worldly values and goals contrary to God’s Kingdom. God would then consider such consequential remains as useless.

F. The manner in which salt is gathered in some areas results in including dirts and other impurities that make it so impure it can’t be used at all, and even as it dries out and turns to dust, it’s not only not good for anything, but actually destroys fertility where it’s thrown, and the reason it’s thrown into the streets. We might compare this salt to those who claim to be salt of the earth, but are so impure as to be destructive, useless to God.

G. So then Jesus asks, if salt loses it saltiness, how can it be made salty again? We’ve seen the answer: It can’t, and it’s no longer good for anything except to be trampled underfoot, and may even be harmful. His teaching intent for us is then, if we don’t perform as we’re called to as His disciples, we become subject to His consequent judgement.

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II. Matthew 5: 13-20: Light

A. Continuing in our Gospel Lesson, Jesus then tells us, as His disciples that we are the light of the world. As we lit our Advent wreath, we said Jesus was the light shining in the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome it. Light by its nature drives out darkness, but darkness cannot overcome the light. Jesus uses the metaphor of a town built on a hill that cannot be hidden. Its light will shine out to the surrounding areas through the darkness.

B. Likewise, if people lit a lamp, they would hold it high to light as much area around it as possible. In that same perspective, we should let our light from Christ shine so that it can be widely seen. Letting our good deeds, our faith in God, be seen by others, glorifying our Father in heaven. "Good deeds" refer to acts of kindness, charity, and righteousness that are a natural outflow from a transformed life in Christ. In the historical context

of first-century Judaism, good deeds were often associated with adherence to the Law. However, Jesus redefines them as actions stemming from a heart aligned with God's will. This agrees with James 2:17, saying “faith without works is dead”, emphasizing the importance of living one's faith through actions.

C. The ultimate purpose of letting one's light shine and performing good deeds is to bring glory to God. This reflects the Biblical principle that all actions should point back to God, as seen in 1 Cor 10:31 which instructs believers to do everything for the glory of God. Jesus wanted His light to shine to all, for people to see His deeds that glorified God.

D. People began thinking Jesus had come to establish a new law, that the greatly esteemed Law of Moses and the writings of the Prophets were being set aside. But to the glory of Almighty and Eternal God, Jesus was telling them that He had not come to abolish even the smallest letter of the Law, but to fulfill them all. His light was the light of God. And that is how our light is to shine before all people, letting the light of Christ glorifying God shine from us to all people, while practicing and teaching God’s Law. Showing others the way to God will be considered great in His Kingdom.

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III. Isaiah 59:1-11

A. One of the very effective ways Jesus used Scripture was to interpret other Scriptures. When Satan tried to tempt Jesus by quoting Scripture, Jesus used other Scripture to correct Satan’s corruption of Scripture. For example, when Satan tried to tempt the fasting Jesus to command stones be turned to bread, Jesus corrected him by quoting from Deut 8:3 that ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ So, we can help interpret our OT reading from Isaiah 59 using Jesus’ teaching on salt and light.

B. In our reading that passage, God tells Isaiah to declare to His people loudly, raising his voice like a trumpet, to declare their sin and rebellion to them. Using the imagery of our Gospel lesson, as salt of the earth, called to give life its ultimate flavor, God’s people had lost their saltiness, their flavor of life with God. They had aligned themselves with worldly values and goals, contrary to God’s Kingdom. Their shining light no longer glorified God, and was in effect, hidden. Oh, the actions were there, but they were full of hypocrisy and lies.

C. They seemed to seek God day after day, citing their persistent religious activity of prayer, fasting, and temple worship. However, the sincerity of their seeking was being questioned by God, with their activities having become more ritualistic than heartfelt. They seemed to take delight in His ways, at least expressing a desire to understand God's laws and commandments. But to God, their delight was intellectual, a superficial interest rather than a deep, transformative commitment. The Torah, particularly the books of Moses, outlines God's ways, and the Israelites were expected to live by these statutes. However, their actions often contradicted their professed delight, as seen in their ongoing social injustices. The people appealed to God that despite their fasting and humbling themselves, God hadn’t seemed to take notice. God answers their appeal by saying that they did fast, yet on the very day they fasted, they did as they pleased and continued to exploit their workers, while their quarreling and unjust behaviors persisted. They couldn’t continue those behaviors and expect God to hear their words. God even questions if only a day of fasting, lying in sackcloth and ashes, bowing their heads in an act of humility, is what they thought He expected of them, then telling them what He did consider acceptable. He expected them to loosen the chains of injustice and set the oppressed free. Share their food with the hungry, provide shelter for the wandering poor, and clothing for the needy. That sounds just like Jesus’ teaching  in Matthew 25, telling us that what we do, or don’t do for the needy, is like doing it, or not doing it to Him.

D. But if they were to let their light shine, and we might also add, become the salt of the earth, then healing would occur, righteousness would go before them, and the Lord would surround them with His glory. They would call out to Him, and He would answer by His presence. If they would loosen the yoke of oppression, and instead care for the needy and the hungry, their light would shine in the darkness, and He would satisfy their needs. They would be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

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Conclusion: As I was preparing this message, it struck me that this was the appropriate prequel to the approaching season of Lent. Not necessarily singling out any particular church, or pointing fingers at “them” instead of at us, but many will come on Ash Wednesday, in apparent spiritual sack cloth and ashes, and wear the ashes on their foreheads to show their apparent repentance. In our church we will be bringing our sins, and the sins against us, to the Cross to be forgiven, symbolized by seeing them dissolve at the Cross. We will then receive the imposed ashes, symbolizing our repentance, our being sorry enough to turn back from our sins. From there, some will even make commitments to give up something, like the fasting Isaiah talked about, or do something, as the salt of the earth, to provide flavor to the lives of others. Being Salt and Light to the world.

    But the important question we must ask ourselves is why am I doing this? Is it being transformative for me?  If it’s to be transformative, changing me, such a change would show a positive result. As His light to the world, will what I do result in His light shining from me to display the good deeds that benefit the lives of others and glorify God, or merely a righteous ritual for the day, or even just during Lent?

   Jesus tells us we are the salt of the earth. Will what I am doing add flavor to the lives of others, clearing a path for others to follow Jesus?  Will my life be a covenant of salt, representative of an enduring bond with God, or impure, only to remain and be thrown out. But above all, we will be beginning a journey to the Cross, where our Savior’s broken body and shed blood, and His Easter Resurrection were meant to transform us. There we may receive His transforming power and motivation to be His Light and Ultimate Flavor for this world. May it be so. Amen