The Sermon...Matthew 5:13-16

The Sermon…Part 2
I really like shows on TV like “Criminal Minds”, “CSI”, “N.C.I.S.” ”Bones”, “Without a Trace”… the list goes on. I think there is something on every night that has some kind of mix of crime solving and investigation. 5 of the top 10 top rated shows last week were shows like these. And these types of shows have been popular for a while, we can go back to lawyer and police shows for about as long as we have had TV. What are some of them? “Law and Order” has been on for years. “Matlock”, “Columbo”, “Perry Mason” It scares me to think that there are really people out there who are like those on the show, but I like to see how they figure it out. The Popularity of these shows is evidence that in most of us we have this desire to see the bad guy caught and punished for his diabolical actions, we want to see the good guy win, and we want to know that we can make a difference in the world we live in. but before you think I am not a super genius who knows how to red people like a book, you should know that we all can make a difference. And that is why we are here. We are here to make a difference for good. Jesus said “You are the Salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the World.” Both of these statements in the Sermon on the Mount are there to tell us of our purpose here which is to point people to a relationship with Jesus.
Matthew 5: 13"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. 14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither 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. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (NIV)
Salt is one of the oldest traded commodities and most wanted products in history. More wars fought over salt than gold. One philosopher has said that human life is not possible without salt. The Latin word “salarium” is the word that we get our English word “salt” from. Roman soldiers were paid in salt and we get our phrase “worth his salt” from this practice. Salt has primarily come from two sources: It is mined out of the ground, and it is harvested through evaporation of saltwater. And the processes of getting salt have not changed in thousands of years. I went to Romania last year and while we were there we visited a salt mine that dates back to the Roman Empire. We got to the mine, got into a truck and rode down hundreds of feet into the ground. Our tour guide told us that salt mining has changed very little. We are not able to just beam it ut of the ground, somebody still has to go down there and get it. It is the same way with salt from the sea. Joy and I were watching a program Sunday morning about salt. It was very interesting. I learned some things about salt that I did not know. Did you know salt comes in different colors? Did you know that it comes from all over the world? We heard on the show that many elite restaurants are now offering specific salts to be enjoyed as part of the meal. As a part of this program they discussed the process of making sea salt. Saltwater is gathered into shallow ponds, then dried by the sun and the salt is scooped up off the top. Salt has been so valuable because of its many uses. It has been used historically for medicinal uses, a herbicide, money, a preservative for meat, and as a flavoring for food. Jesus made use of this important product and its use to illustrate the importance that his followers have to make a difference in the world. We can “flavor” our world and help to “preserve” it. But there is a danger. Jesus told his followers then, and tells us now that salt that is not salty is not good for much. In those days salt might be intentionally or accidently combined with other things that would take away from its effectiveness as a preservative or a flavor enhancer. And once that has happened it serves only one purpose, to spread on paths to keep them free of vegetation.
“13…if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”
It is not spelled out for us right here specifically what to watch out for so that our saltiness is not compromised, but Scripture is pretty clear in other places. Paul was writing to Timothy in I Timothy 6 and he was telling him some things to watch out for. On the list of things that might have made Timothy un-salty are: False doctrines, controversies, quarrels, evil suspicions, and the love of money. There are other places in that address other things, but here is the idea: getting “mixed” up with the wrong things can be detrimental to our saltiness.
Jesus follows with the next part of his illustration, not only are we salt, we are light. “14You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.” Some scholars think that as Jesus was saying this he looked into the distance and saw a city which was built on a hill. The followers looked and were able to see that city from miles around. People in any direction could look up and see that city. You and I should be like that city. We need not be afraid or timid about the light that we have. Don’t cover it up or “put it under a bushel”, but take the light you have and really put it out there for people to see. Put it on a lamp stand. “16Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” We talked about this passage a little bit a few weeks ago. We read here to be salt and be light so that men will see our works, but we read a little further and we see in verse 1 of Chapter 6 “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them.” We have to understand here that Jesus is not changing his story as he goes. We understand Jesus to mean that our motive for service should be “16that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” and not “to be seen by men” Jesus is talking of motive. If we do it to gain the praise of men, that will be our reward, but if we do it so others can know and follow Jesus, God is glorified. This is the reason we were made. Ephesians 3:10 tells us “We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” In other words to shine the light. I like the Fee song we sing in church to Jesus “you are the light, and we shine you”. We measure the power of light in candlepower. 1 candle puts out 1 candlepower. We can buy flashlights that have 10 to 20 million candlepower. We are very dim on our own, but we have the Son who shines with a brightness greater than the s u n. I just have 2 questions. Are you salty? Are you shiny? We linve in a Dark and tasteless world. A world that can come up with some pretty gruesome things. We see it portrayed in the shows we watch In all of these shows the battle is to find the person who is guilty of the murder, the rape, or the theft and arrest them, and keep them from doing it again to someone else. But the wonderful thing about us being used by God to make a difference is that we can use our powers for good to make a difference in people’s lives that might prevent much of the headlines that we see today. If we all salted those around us, if we shinned the light of Jesus maybe the front page newspaper headline would read instead of “6th body found in Florence” to “Pollen count low” or “Pumpkin Sales up 25%” or maybe the News anchor would report “No one is Hungry tonight” “Divorce rate falls 90%” or maybe even “There is peace on Earth tonight”