Turning on the High Beams--Sermon on the Mount Series

            A few years ago, I had a couple of questions come to mind that I thought would be helpful for me to re-visit from time-to-time throughout my ministry as a pastor. I believe I was driving around the suburbs of Kansas City where the church that I served in was located, and I thought to myself, “If our church closed its doors and folded, I wonder if anyone in the area would notice? And even if they did notice, would they care that our church no longer existed?” Those questions are just another way of asking, “What kind of impact are we making on the community?” but they really stuck with me. Would anyone notice, and would anyone care?

            So, what would the answers to those questions be for our church? If Morningside folded and closed its doors, would anyone notice, and would anyone care? That first question is pretty easy to answer—in a small town like ours, of course people would notice! People notice when we get new gravel on the parking lot! But what about that second question—would anyone care? Would some people be happy to see us go because our testimony for Christ had been a weight on their conscience? Would some people be sad because they thought that Montezuma was a better place with our church around? Would anyone notice? Would anyone care?

            I want you to keep those questions in mind as we take a look at the next section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. A few weeks ago, we concluded our study of the opening section known as the “Beatitudes,” and now we come to a very familiar set of verses that provide a powerful purpose statement for all followers of Christ. Let’s read these verses, then we’ll make sure to set them back within their context [READ Matt. 5:13-16].

            I want to remind you about two points of the context of this passage. First, Jesus had just told his audience that they could more or less expect to face persecution when they imitate him in their own lives. Whenever the subject of persecution comes up, I think it brings with it the temptation to think, “Well, maybe if we lay low and keep our heads down, we can avoid persecution. We certainly won’t give up our beliefs about God, but if we’re just a little more private about them, then maybe we can serve God without facing persecution.”

            But notice that in our passage today, laying low is precisely what Jesus says we must not do. We are the light of the world, and light is supposed to shine! I think that’s why Jesus spoke these words at this point in His sermon—to combat our temptation to lay low in light of the possibility of persecution. And notice that v. 16 gives us the hope that some people will respond positively to our witness for God. Not everyone will respond by insulting us and rejecting us—some people will accept our testimony about God and join us in honoring Him.

            Its also important for us to remember who Jesus was speaking to when he spoke these words. He wasn’t at a convention for “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!” He was speaking to a big collection of misfits—and I don’t mean that as an insult. These were simply people who literally did not fit in to the powerful and influential groups in their society.

            First of all, we had Jesus’ disciples—men who were just “Average Joe’s” who probably didn’t understand exactly what they had gotten themselves into just yet. Then, we had the larger group who had come to seek out Jesus. The end of chapter four tells us that this group was made up of sick people and those who brought the sick people to Jesus, and they came from all over the place, meaning that there may have been some Gentiles in the crowd, people whom the Jews really looked down upon.

            So Jesus was not standing before the Roman Emperor and his servants, nor was He standing before all the philosophers in Athens or even before the Jewish leaders in the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem. He was standing on a Galilean hillside surrounded by common folk, and He looked at them and said, “You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world.” And of course, its not that there was anything special about the common folk—its what God could accomplish through them that was special. God could give them a new identity that would bring glory to Him when they put it on display.

            And just what is that identity? Its described in these two metaphors—the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. Notice the assumption that lies behind these two metaphors. Both of them assume that our world, as it is today, is lacking something; it is needy. Our world is a dark place that needs light; it is a distasteful place that needs salt, and according to Jesus, God’s purpose for His children is to be that salt and light.

            These two metaphors really work together to teach us about carrying out God’s purpose for us in this world. The metaphor about salt teaches us about the importance of carrying out God’s purpose, and the metaphor about light teaches us about how to carry out that purpose.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these metaphors.

The Salt of the Earth

            Salt was a very valuable commodity at that time. In some cases, people were paid with salt, which gave rise to the phrase “he’s not worth his salt.” Just like today, salt had a variety of uses, the most common of which were preserving food and flavoring food. But notice how Jesus’ focus is on the uselessness of salt if it should somehow lose its potency. If salt can no longer perform its function, what use is it? Imagine if you picked up your salt shaker at lunch today and the salt inside had somehow lost its flavor. What would you do with it? How would you restore its flavor—would you pour salt on it?

            I think Jesus was being humorous here to remind us that its ridiculous to think about turning from our primary purpose of motivating others to give glory to our Father. Remember how these words are coming right on the heels of talk about persecution. Its not pleasant to think about facing persecution for obeying God, but the alternative is uselessness. The path of obedience most likely will bring some discomfort now, but it leads to great reward, as Jesus said in v. 12. On the other hand, the path of failing to let your light shine produces nothing of any value. In your life today it will produce a lack of purpose, a lack of passion, and a feeling of being distant from God, and on the Day of Judgment when you stand before Christ, you’ll watch whatever it was you chose to value instead go up in smoke!

            God forbid that I ever portray obedience as pain-free, but may God also forbid that I would fail to tell you its worth it! Just as salt was highly valued, you have a valuable role to play in this world. You can help make life more palatable for the people around you. You can help stem the tide of ungodliness that is rising all around us. The Lord gives us more of an idea of how we can do this through the next metaphor.

The Light of the World

            When Jesus looks at his followers and says, “You are the light of the world,” it is truly an incredible statement. Later in His ministry, Jesus said to the Pharisees, “I am the light of the world (John 8:12).” This idea of giving light to the world was part of Jesus’ identity, and because we are united with Him by faith, it is part of our identity as well. This connection is also a good reminder for us that the light we shine through our good works doesn’t come from us—it comes from the Lord. As Philippians 2:13 reminds us, “it is God who works in [us], both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

            So we provide light to the world in the same way that the moon provides light at night—we reflect the light that comes from somewhere else. Our role, as Christ puts it here, is to light that shine. Don’t hide it! Don’t conceal it! That would be like the salt that loses its potency—it would be useless. Rather, we are to put our light on display, and how do we do that? By doing good works, according to v. 16. That’s how we shine our light—by putting the character of Jesus on display through the way that we live.

            Now, if you’re familiar with the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, you may have a question coming to mind at this point. This verse seems to contradict what Jesus says later in 6:1—“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.” What’s going on here? In chapter 5, Jesus clearly tells us to let others see our good works, but then He warns us about doing things to be seen by others. How do we make sense of this?

            First, we need to understand that Jesus is talking about different motivations. In our passage for today, our motivation is supposed to be that God would receive honor and praise through our good works, but in chapter 6, Jesus is warning us about doing things with the motive that we would receive honor and praise. So there’s a difference in motivation between the commands in these two verses.

            Second, I think Jesus has different activities in mind in these passages. In chapter 6 when He says, “beware of practicing your righteousness,” He goes on to talk about giving money to the poor, praying, and fasting—actions that were all standard religious activities for the Jews. Our equivalent today might be praying, singing hymns, and putting money in the offering plate.

            But in chapter 5, Jesus mentions doing good works, and I think He has different activities in mind. 1 Timothy 5:10 provides a helpful list that describes what kind of activities fall into this category of good works. The Apostle Paul is writing about widows, and he mentions some good works which they may have performed: “having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work.”

            Let me illustrate what I mean. To let your light shine, the best choice would not be to hold a prayer meeting in front of Eva’s so that everyone could see you as they walk in. The better choice would be to call up someone who needs a friend and invite them for a meal at Eva’s (or invite them to your house or serve them in some personal way). Or, instead of simply putting a fish symbol on your car, let someone who needs it borrow your car, or give them a ride somewhere yourself.

            Of course, in order to praise God for these things, people must realize you’re doing these things to honor God. That’s where we find the value of talking about your faith—or putting the fish symbol on your car or wearing your Christian t-shirt or praying when other people are around. This is where a truly powerful witness is found, in the combination of the testimony about your faith AND the display of your faith through good works.

            Let us remember what Jesus said: He is the true light of the world, but while He is now away in Heaven, we carry on that mission by reflecting the light of His character in the way that we live.

            Let’s return briefly to the two questions that I mentioned at the beginning of the sermon today. If our church were to close its doors, would anyone notice and would anyone care? Are people seeing the light of Christ through us, or are we hiding His light through disobedience or fear? Are we letting our light shine in such a way that there would be a noticeable difference in our community if we were not here?

            It is true that as we shine the light of Christ, some people will find it to be an annoying glare from which they want to turn away. As Jesus said, they may insult us and slander us, hoping that we will turn off the light. But some people will find the light of Christ warm and inviting. They will be glad that they have seen the light and they will praise God for sending His light into the world. And we will know that we have played our part—we have let our light shine, we have helped another person taste and see that the Lord is good, and we will look forward to Christ’s approval.