Impact Your City (Matthew 5:13-16)

Dr. David Crim

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Introduction

To begin, let’s review what we’ve learned so far about impact.

First of all, we’ve learned the meaning of the word impact: “to have a strong effect on someone or something; the force or impression of one thing on another : a significant or major effect.” This is exactly what Jesus has called us be and has actually empowered us to be. In Acts 1:8, Jesus commanded, “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.” You will receive power. You will be my witnesses. Your will engage your city, your region, your enemies, and the whole world in the power of the Spirit. That is awesome.

What that means is, I am not left to a humdrum life, void of meaning and purpose. We have life, eternal life. And since that eternal life starts the second we are saved, the rest of our lives have meaning and purpose and power. We’re part of something big: God’s global enterprise to redeem lost people. And as far as we’re concerned, as far as our part in God’s global mission, it starts right here in our city.

Along this journey of discovering where and how and who we can make gospel impacts, we focused on impacting our families. God intends every family to be a microcosm of His kingdom on earth. We grow together, serve together, and worship together. We do so by loving the Lord with all of our heart, mind, and soul, and making God’s Word the language of our home life.

We focused on impacting our friends. We are built for relationships. Some of God’s greatest gifts in life are friends. And if we really and truly love and respect our friends, we will have the bold courage to do everything possible to bring our friends to Jesus. We do that, first of all, by our example of humble obedience to God’s Word, but also by clearly sharing the gospel with them.

Then we focused on impacting our neighbors. We remembered that our neighbors are not just those living next door, but they are anyone, anywhere who are nearby us. The parable of the Good Samaritan reminded us that a good neighbor possesses vision, compassion, and generosity, that are all demonstrated by a servant heart.

Next, we focused on impacting our marketplace. Jesus redeems us and then sends us into the world. We cannot reach the world with the gospel if we’re not in it. And once in it, we cannot look down our noses at sinners. We see them through the love of Jesus, who came to seek and save the lost.

Now, today, we take a look at our city, and consider how God can use us to make an impact right here in Petal … or Richton, Sunrise, New Augusta, Glendale, Hattiesburg, or wherever you live and work in this small cluster of towns in the Pine Belt of Mississippi. We’re going to do that by taking a new look at a familiar word from Jesus, excerpted from his famous Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5:13-16.

Who We Are

The first thing I want us to acknowledge is that our attitudes and actions flow naturally from who we are. Jesus understands this, but we often miss that point.

For example, when we see our children and teenagers act out, usually our first reaction is to punish them in some way in order to change their behavior. Now, certainly, we do want their behavior to change, but we go about it the wrong way. If you want your child’s behavior to change, start with their character. This is exactly what Jesus had in mind when he said, “If you love me, you will keep my commands.” In other words, disobedience is a love problem more than it is a behavior problem. Yes, behavior is a problem, but it’s actually a symptom of a greater problem: a love problem.

Notice Jesus’ first two words in verses 13 and 14: “You are.” Take note that Jesus did NOT say, “Be the salt of the earth,” nor did he say, “Be the light of the world.” No. What did he say? “You ARE the salt of the earth … You ARE the light of the world.” He is describing WHO WE ARE. That is our character: we are salty and we are brilliant. I like that, don’t you; especially the brilliant part. I don’t recall that anyone has ever called me brilliant; but Jesus does.

Is there any element on earth makes more of an impact than salt and light? Maybe. But the point is, salt and light were made for impact. And since Jesus has described who we are as salt and light, that means we are made for impact too. And there’s nothing we need to do to BECOME salt and light. Salt doesn’t do anything to be salt, it just is salt. God put sodium and chloride together to be salt. When we receive Jesus as Savior, he makes us salty.

What about light? It’s just light. It is what it is. But don’t miss this. How did Jesus describe his character in 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.” Jesus is “the light of the world.” Now, what did Jesus say about us in verse 14? YOU are the light of the world.” Do you see where I’m going with this? When we are redeemed from sin and begin following Jesus, we receive Jesus’ character. Now, because Jesus lives in us through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, we are light. Check out 2 Peter 1:4

2 Peter 1:4 (CSB)

By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.

So, that’s who we are: salt and light, sharing the nature and character of Christ Jesus. THAT is why we can make an impact. Without Jesus, there’s no way we can do that. John 15:5

John 15:5 (CSB)

I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.

Gospel impact, wherever it happens and with whomever it happens, is possible because Jesus has transformed our character and nature to look like, to be like, his. And salt and light are great metaphors for the kind of impact Jesus wants to make through us in our city.

How We Function

Now that we’re clear about our character and nature, which equips us for impact, let’s talk about how we function. These two metaphors, salt and light, are interesting choices. What do they teach us?

Salt

Jesus defined us as “salt of the earth.” I think the earth represents the world of people; people who inhabit the earth. That points us away from ourselves and out into the world of people. As we discussed last week, there is often a huge gap between Sunday Noon and Monday morning. We leave our worship service on Sunday, hopefully inspired, encouraged, and empowered to storm the gates of hell and be bold witnesses. Unfortunately, all too often the “inspiration” has “worn off” by Monday morning … maybe sometimes it lasts until Wednesday. Our society has become so hostile these days, that we fall into the trap of choosing sides and demonizing those on the other side. What happens is we grow critical and demeaning of the lost world. We remembered last week that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. We remembered that he was criticized for spending time with sinners.

Years ago, Rebecca Pippert wrote a book that really convicted me, in which she challenges Christians to “get out of the salt shaker” (the church) “and get into the world.” In fact, that’s the title of the book. Jesus tells us, “You are the salt of the earth.” That implies that we need to have lost people on our radar. Jesus is pointing us away from ourselves and toward a lost world. And how we function in this lost world is symbolized by salt.

How does salt function?

Well, in our day, we tend to focus on flavor. We use salt to melt ice in the ice cream maker. Sometimes we use it in warm water to rinse our throats when we have a soar throat. And in some parts of the world salt is used to melt snow and ice on the roadways. But primarily, we think of salt as a spice for cooking and flavoring food. But that wasn’t the function of salt in Jesus’ day. The primary function of salt then was as a preservative.

Without refrigeration or ice (unless you traveled way up in the mountains in the winter and brought back huge chunks of ice, which was actually done for royalty, by the way), there had to be some way of fighting the natural decay and rot in meat and other foods. Voila! Salt. Salt fights against decay. Salt is a natural preservative. Salt was rubbed in to meat and mixed with other foods to preserve them from decay and rot.

What is Jesus saying about our function?

We are a preservative mixed in and rubbed into a lost world. Again, salt has to get out of the shaker before it does its work. It has to mixed and and rubbed in. When Jesus redeems us and changes our character and nature to “salt”, he wants to mix us and rub us into the lives of lost people. But what does it mean to be a preservative?

Let’s ask ourselves: Do we see any corruption and decay, any rotten, stinking stuff in our world, and in the lives of lost people? Of course we do. And as we talked last week, like Paul in Athens, it is infuriating. But rather than isolate ourselves in the “salt shaker”, Jesus wants us in the world, living a holy and pure life as an example to those watching of the “salt” of Jesus’ Spirit that preserves us from moral and spiritual decay.

That’s why Jesus made the point in verse 14 of salt remaining salty.

Matthew 5:13(CSB)

“ … 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. “

What’s interesting here is that, scientifically, it is impossible for salt to lose it’s flavor. But Jesus was not teaching a chemistry class. In fact, I think Jesus purposely presented a counter to what is natural about salt to make His point about us. Just as it is unnatural for salt to lose its flavor, it is unnatural for us to lose our salty impact in our world. It is a reminder of who we are and God’s call to live a holy life. 1 Peter 1:16 “for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.” God’s holiness is the preservative from spiritual decay and rot in our own lives. And our salty presence in the world serves as an irritant to the world’s decay, so that when people see our holy lives, the impact draws them to their own need for salvation. When they repent and trust in Jesus, we have served as a preservative in their life.

Light

Jesus defined us as “the light of the world.” This implies that the world is full of darkness, in need of light. That we are the light of the world sends us into the darkness with the light of Jesus. Remember, it is the light of Jesus that shines in and through us, not our own light. We have no light of our own apart from the Light of the World, who is Jesus.

Let’s put Jesus metaphor of light in context. In our day, light is everywhere and is easily accessible. Go to a large city at night, and you won’t be able to see the stars in the sky for all of the light down here: billboards, street lights, lights in big buildings and homes. It’s everywhere. And all we have to do is flip a switch. We take light for granted in our day, but when we have a blackout or power failure, we certainly miss the significance of light.

In Jesus day, though, light was a vulnerable flame that required constant care. There were no electric wires, batteries, or switches. In homes, light was produced in an oil lamp. To keep the flame burning, the oil had to be refilled and the wicks had to be trimmed. Light required attention. I want to go back to that theme in a moment, but first, let’s remember the spiritual significance of light in Scripture.

Reflect back to the burning bush that caught Moses’ attention while he was herding sheep and goats on the backside of the wilderness. That flame in the bush was the presence of God calling Moses to be a deliverer for His people.

Think about the pillar of light that prevented the Egyptian army from chasing down the Israelites. Think about the glorious light that filled the wilderness tabernacle. When it ascended from the tabernacle and started moving, that was God’s signal for the Israelites to break camp and move. That was God’s presence among them, protecting them, drawing them to worship, and guiding them toward Canaan.

Think about the bright star that led the magi to the newborn King. God’s light leading the world to a Savior.

More than these, go all the way back to the beginning of all time, when God said, “Let there be light!” God created light. He placed it into existence. And without light, there is only darkness. Light pointed Israel to the presence of God.

He is everywhere. There is no switch to turn Him on. He just simply is. “I am the light of the world,” Jesus declared. Jesus’ point in this metaphor was the visibility of light. Light shines in the darkness. It’s not to be covered up or hidden. The visibility of God’s light is like a large city on a hilltop. It cannot be hidden, but is visible from miles around.

So what is Jesus saying about us?

Jesus has created and called us to be the visible reflections of Himself in the world around us.

Now, let’s go back to that theme of tending the light. Jesus is the light. We are the lamp. And that lamp must be tended. The oil represents the Holy Spirit. The lamp represents our body, our whole person. The wick is the way our lives, saturated by the oil of God’s Spirit, produce a flame of Jesus’ light to illuminate the world. In order for us to make the greatest impact, we need to tend to our life in Christ: prayer, the Word, confession, repentance, and like salt, purity and holiness. We shine brightest when we are giving proper attention to our relationship with Jesus.

Our Purpose

Jesus made our purpose in the world very clear in these metaphors of salt and light. Salt teaches us to live a pure and holy life so as to preserve against the decay and rot in this world. Light teaches us to live as a visible reflection of Jesus: His grace and mercy.

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.”

We are Christ’s visible light when we do good in our city. And when we do good, God is praised, not us. What we do is for His glory, not ours; so that people can see and resond and receive Jesus.

Our Challenge

So our challenge today is to find places to be mixed and rubbed into the life of our city, like salt is rubbed into meat and mixed in other foods as a preservative. To live a holy and pure life so that others can see the difference that God makes.

Our challenge today is to find places to be a visible reflection of Jesus in our city, ministering and serving, doing good to others, so that they can experience the good grace of our Lord.

So let’s get very practical. Here are a few ideas:

Children’s Task Force

Meal on Wheels

Nursing Homes

Join the Y or a fitness center

Petal Elementary School: become a Petal Pal, be a surrugate grandparent; voluteer to read stoies in a classroom.

There are a variet of places and ways that Jesus can rub us into the lives of people, places where He can set our holy and humble lives of service on a stand where others will see Him in us.

The question is: What is your response? Now that you know that Jesus has defined you and your life as salt and light, what is your next step? When and where will you engage in our city. Where will you shine?

Throughout this sermon series God has convicted and called each of us to be a gospel impact among our families, friends, neighbors, marketplace, and city. If Calvary Baptist Church is to make an impact in 2024 it requires every one of us to find our place in ministry, both here in the church and outside the church. As Rebecca Pippert put it, we MUST get out of the salt shaker — our comfort and convenience zones — and get into this world, where there is decay and rot and darkness.

Let’s be His salt. Let’s be His light. That’s what we’re made for. That is who we are, how we are to function, our purpose as followers of Jesus.