Sermon | Matthew 5:13-16 | Be Salt and Light
INTRODUCTION
“Forest Gump” is one of my favorite movies. It’s about a man named Forest Gump, and Forest is stupid. He’s an idiot. He probably had an IQ of 69. But he was fast; so fast, that the University of Alabama recruited him to play football. In one scene, he is standing back to receive the kick-off, but he’s just staring aimlessly into the stands. It’s clear he doesn’t know why he is there or what he’s supposed to do. So his teammate catches the ball, shoves it into Forest’s gut and shouts, “Forest, run!” Forest shouts, “Okay!” and takes off. All the coaches and teammates are shouting, “Run! Run!” About half-way down the field he turns and heads straight to the sideline at full speed, so they shout, “That way! That way!” pointing toward the endzone. Then Forest turns to the endzone and runs for a touchdown. Forest was on the football team, but he didn’t know what to do with the football. There are a lot of Christians like that. They have salvation, but they don’t know what they are supposed to do with their salvation. That’s what we’re going to learn today. We’re going to learn what Jesus wants you to do with your salvation. In other words, now that you’re a Christian, what are you supposed to do about it?
Today we are going to look at two commands. They are both in the same passage, so we are going to look at them together.
Christianity is not just about believing the right things, or avoiding bad things. It’s about serving Christ, and Christ has a very important mission for us.
TEXT
Matthew 5:13-16 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
THE FIRST COMMAND: BE SALT
Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”
Isn’t this an indicative statement?
We are studying Christ’s commands, and this is not a command.
A command is an imperative statement. It would say, “Be salt of the earth.” But this is an indicative statement. It just states a fact. You are the salt of the earth. So, should we include this as one of Christ’s commands?
Yes, because Christ commands us to be salty in another place.
Mark 9:50 “Salt is good, but if the salt should lose its flavor, how can you season it? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
“Have salt among yourselves.” In other words, be salty. So, this is a command of Christ.
What did Jesus mean by “You are the salt of the earth”?
Salt had two primary purposes in the days of Jesus.
1) Salt was used as a preservative.
Back then they didn’t have refrigeration; they didn’t have deep freezers; they didn’t have ice makers and ice chests. At the same time, the climate was very hot, so raw meat, if not preserved, would decay and rot and spoil overnight.
The same thing happens in South Louisiana. When my daughter Mari came home from college last May, she brought home her mini fridge and put it in our garage, where it stayed all summer. Inside the fridge was a pack of lunch meat. Guess what happened to it? It rotted, and it smelled bad. It was fine, as long as we kept the fridge closed, but if you opened the fridge it was game over. We knew all summer long we had to take care of it, but we waited until the last minute. Finally, a week before Mari had to go back to school, we decided it was time to bite the bullet. So, we drew up a plan of action. First, we did it on a Thursday evening, because the trash truck comes on Friday. Second, Lydia was going to open the fridge and grab the meat. She covered her hands with several layers of Walmart bags, like gloves. Third, I was going to hold several layers of Walmart bags for her to drop it in and quickly tie it off. Fourth, Reiton was going to hold a double-layered trash-bag for me to drop it in, and quickly tie the bag. Finally, Elle and Andrew were to open the lid to the trash can and quickly close it, and then quickly roll the trash cans out of the garage to the end of the driveway. It was a fail-proof plan, or so we thought. Lydia quickly opened the fridge, grabbed the meat, but when she went to drop it in my bag she missed and it fell to the floor. It was like dropping a bomb of stench in the garage. But she quickly picked it up and put it in my bag, and we carried out the rest of the plan. They were all close to vomiting, but I didn’t smell a thing because I was smart enough to breathe through my mouth. The point is, without refrigeration, meat decays and goes bad.
Back then they didn’t have refrigeration, but that had salt, and salt acts as a preservative. So, they would pack the meat in salt, and it would prevent decay.
2) Salt was used for seasoning.
Salt makes food taste better.
On several occasions I’ve tasted something very delicious, and when I asked the cook why it’s so good they said, “It has a lot of salt.”
Have you tried to eat food without salt? It’s pretty bad. But salt makes everything taste better. Did you know that ice cream has salt in it? When I was growing up we used to put salt on watermelon and it was delicious.
How does this apply to Christians? Christians are to make the world a better place. The implication is that the world is decaying and rotting, and God has called Christians to be like salt. We should do this in two ways.
1) Avoid evil.
Isaiah 1:16 “Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from my sight. Stop doing evil.”
As Christians we are salty when we refuse to lie, cheat, steal, and murder. We are salty when we refuse to have sex outside of marriage, to consume pornography, to cheat on our taxes, to disobey the law. We are salty when we refuse to have children out of wedlock, to disobey our parents, to betray our marriage vows, to abuse drugs and alcohol. We are salty when we refuse to be violent, to hold on to unforgiveness, to seek revenge, to gossip, to say mean things to people, to use dirty language. We are salty when we refuse to be lazy and irresponsible employees.
2) We must pursue good.
Isaiah 1:17 “Learn to do what is good. Pursue justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Please the widow’s cause.”
As Christians we must help the needy and fight against evil and injustice and oppression wherever we find it.
We must educate the uneducated, provide food and shelter for the poor. We must fight injustices like abortion, and human trafficking, and slavery, and racism, etc.
Salt was very valuable in the time of Jesus. The Greeks said that salt was divine (theion). The Romans used to say, “There is nothing more useful than sunshine and salt.” In fact, the Romans would pay their soldiers in salt. When Jesus said you are the salt of the earth, He was giving you a huge compliment. He was saying that you have a very valuable, very important role to play in society.
Try to imagine something with me. Imagine if nobody in the world was salty. Imagine if nobody avoided evil. Imagine if nobody was pursuing good. As bad as the world is, can you imagine how bad it would be? The world would rot overnight and turn to total chaos. That’s why Christians are so important. That’s why it’s so important for Christians to be salty.
Can salt lose its taste?
Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”
The technical name for salt is sodium chloride, and technically, pure salt cannot lose its flavor. But back then they didn’t get salt from sea water or from salt mines. Instead, they got salt from the marshes near the sea, and from salt lakes that had evaporated during the summer months. And often that salt would be mixed with other minerals. It all looked like salt, but it wasn’t pure salt. When that salt was exposed to the rain, the salt would dissolve, leaving only the other minerals, and it would lose its taste. That salt was useless. Worse than that, it could kill crops. So, the only thing you could do with it was to scatter it onto the street where people would walk on it.
What did Jesus mean? Salt that loses its taste is useless. Christians who lose their saltiness are useless to God. God has put you here for a purpose – to be the salt of the earth – to avoid evil and pursue good; to make the world a better place. But if we fail to be salty Christians, then we have missed our purpose.
William Wilberforce was a politician in England in the early 1800s. The English parliament is sort of like the U.S. Congress. But eventually he got saved and became a devoted Christian. At first, he decided he could be a better Christian if he dropped out of politics. But a pastor named John Newton, the author of the song “Amazing Grace,” convinced him to remain in politics and serve Christ in parliament. For the next twenty years Wilberforce led the charge in parliament to abolish slavery in England, and he was victorious. An entire nation got rid of slavery because one Christian got serious about being the salt of the earth.
Salt does no good in the saltshaker. It needs to be sprinkled onto the food and mixed in. God doesn’t want you to just be a Christian at church. He wants you to be salty at home, at work, at school, and wherever you go. He wants you to make the world a better place.
But Christians aren’t just salt. They are also light.
THE SECOND COMMAND: BE LIGHT
Matthew 5:14-16 “14 You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
What does light do?
Light helps people see.
Christ has called you to help people see how to have a relationship with God.
This is called evangelism, or witnessing, or sharing your faith.
Christ wants every Christian to be about the task of introducing unbelievers to Jesus Christ.
Jesus was the light of the world.
John 8:12 Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”
What did Jesus come to do? He came to rescue people from spiritual darkness. Without Christ people are in the dark; they don’t have a relationship with God; they are separated from God. Jesus came to save people and reconcile them to God. When He says that we are the light of the world, He is commanding us to join Him in His mission of evangelism.
Christ uses two important illustrations.
Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.”
At night, a city on a hill cannot be hidden; you can see it for miles away.
In his commentary, Kent Hughes tells about the city of Quito, Ecuador, which is situated at 10,000 feet above sea level. You can see it seventy-five miles away.
Jesus wants you to be like a city on hill that can’t be hidden. In other words, He wants you to share your faith; not stay silent; and He wants you to share it with as many people as possible.
Matthew 5:15 “No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house.”
What is Jesus saying? Would you light a lamp just to cover it up? Of course not. When God saved you, He lit you up. He gave you the greatest news in the history of the world. You know the cure for sin. You know the way to heaven. You know the way to eternal life. You know the way to God. God didn’t light you up so that you could stay silent. He lit you up so you could be a witness for Christ.
All of us have been affected by the sting of cancer. Some of you have had it. All of us have family or friends who have died from cancer. My cousin has recently been diagnosed with cancer, and it is spreading all over her body. Imagine if I had the cure for cancer, but I didn’t tell her; I didn’t tell anyone; I just kept it to myself. That’s what it’s like when Christians don’t share with others how to be saved.
Look at verse 16, because I think it is commonly misunderstood.
Matthew 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
Notice that it says that the reason for shining your light is so that others may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Saved people glorify God. So God wants us to shine so that unbelievers will get saved and glorify God along with us.
But notice that it says we are to shine so that others may see our good works and glorify God. The common interpretation is that the way to shine is through good works; and then when people see our good works they will turn to Jesus. I don’t think it means that. Jesus already told us to live a life of good works in Matthew 5:13 by commanding us to be the salt of the earth. The point Jesus is making in verse 16 is that we need to shine, or tell people how to be saved, tell people why we do good works, tell people the source of our goodness, so that they will praise God. If we simply do good works then people will glorify us. If we are simply salt – avoiding evil and pursuing good – then people will praise us. That’s why Jesus wants us to shine. He wants us to help people see how they can have a relationship with the God who has made us salty; how they can know the source of our light. To be salt is to live a life of good works – avoiding evil and pursuing good. To be light is to verbally share the gospel so that more people will come to accept Christ and be saved.
Hear me. Jesus has called you to be light. He wants you to be a missionary, working to bring your lost friends and family to Jesus. He wants you to be light to you your unbelieving spouse, your unbelieving children, your unbelieving neighbors, your unbelieving coworkers, your unbelieving classmates, your unbelieve teammates.
Jesus didn’t light you up so you could hide your light.
There are plenty of examples of evangelism in the Bible.
After Andrew became a Christian, he went and brought his brother Peter to Jesus (John 1:40-42). When Matthew the tax collector became a Christian, he held a party at his house and invited all of his friends to come and meet Jesus (Mt 9:9-13). When the woman at the well became a Christian, she invited her entire town to meet Jesus (Jn 4:28-30). When Jesus died and rose again, right before He ascended back into heaven, He said this to His followers: Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Jesus wants you to be salt; but if all you are is salt, then people will glorify you. He wants you to be light. Tell people why you are salty so they will glorify your Father in heaven.
Let me give you four ways you can begin leading your friends to Christ:
1) Pray. Pray for your lost friends. Pray regularly for their salvation. And pray for them by name.
2) Show. Be Jesus to your friends. Show your friends the amazing difference that Christ has made in your life. Show them that Christ has helped you overcome sin, and made you a nicer, more caring person.
3) Bring. Invite your friends to church. Every Christian should be a bringer, bringing their friends to church.
4) Share. Tell your friends how to how to be saved. Tell them that Jesus died for their sins and rose again, and they can be forgiven and go to heaven if they will repent of their sins and believe in Him.
CONCLUSION
I love the story of Dwight Moody. Dwight Moody was the Billy Graham of the 1800s. He traveled all over the world preaching and leading thousands of people to Christ. He started Moody Bible College in Chicago, and he wrote many Christian books that have touched the lives of countless people. Do you know how he became a Christian? When he was eighteen years old he went to Sunday school. His Sunday school teacher, Edward Campbell, was a carpet salesman. He was especially concerned about Dwight Moody, so he went to visit the young man where he worked, at a shoe store. He asked if they could talk, so they went to a back room, and there Dwight Moody gave his life to Christ, and the rest is history. The great Dight Moody wasn’t led to Christ by a great preacher, or by reading a great book. He was led to Christ by a carpet salesman who took seriously the command to be the light of the world.
Dwight Moody had a favorite quote that went like this: “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him.” He heard that quote from another preacher in Ireland, and it motivated him to be all that he could be for God.
Jesus has a great purpose for your life. It doesn’t matter that you’re not a preacher. It doesn’t matter how old you are, or how young you are. It doesn’t matter if you go to public school, or private school, or home school, or college. It doesn’t matter if you have a college degree or didn’t graduate from high school. If you are a Christian, Jesus has commanded you to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. He has commanded you to make the world a better place, and to tell people about Jesus. And if you will be fully-devoted to that, God can do amazing things through your life.
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