Salt & Light Matthew 5:13-20

Chuck Musselwhite

Sermon on the Mount • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

0 ratings

· 7 views

Notes

Transcript

Sermon Tone Analysis

Emotion

Language

Social

View more →

Intro:

If you were to look at my social media feeds you would determine two things

I love my family and I like to grill meat

I’ve been grilling for 25 years but the pandemic kinda upped my game

Being around home more made me post more pictures

After my bout with COVID in August, Jen’s grandparents brought us dinner

They gave us their famous Santa Maria style chicken

In my opinion no one does it better, but they are 90 years old

I’ve never been able to master chicken, Trip-tip & Ribs yes

Afterwards he told me his secret

It’s all in the seasoning

You have to use the right amount of garlic salt & pepper

But right before you pull it you baste it in a butter and beer mixture

Have you ever had BBQ without seasoning?

Some do it to reduce the sodium

It’s not the same, take a stand against unseasoned meat

Besides making you hungry why I am going on about this?

There are a lot of unseasoned Christians

They look the part but they got no flavor

Read Matthew 5:13-16

Transition

After the beatitudes Jesus transitions to how we should live in the world

In Matthew 5:13–16 Jesus talks about the influence of His people on the world for God and for good.

In Jesus’ recorded prayer in John 17 He prays for His Father to keep His followers

Help them to be in the world, but not of the world

The Apostle John states in his epistle that the love of the things of this world is at odds against with loving the Father

1 John 2:15 ESV

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Christ’s kingdom people are not to reflect the world but they are to influence the world; they are to be in it but not of it.

If we are seeing the beatitudes evident in our lives then it is going to be evident that we are much different than the world

While the Beatitudes are about our inner person, the following verses are about how we live those out in the world

Jesus wants us to be Salt and Light

Salt of the Earth vs. 13

vs. 13a Bring the Flavor

Salt is used for two reasons, preservation and flavor

Since there wasn’t refrigeration back then the way they would keep meat from expiring was to coat it with salt

Salt keeps the moisture in the meat longer

This passage isn’t about preservation

It’s about flavor, or influence

Most people use this passage to talk about how we are to preserve the Gospel in this world and while that works the verse talks about losing taste

There are a lot of lifeless Christians going through the motions

Salt is a chemical compound

It brings out the flavor in food

They didn’t have table salt like we do today

They would dig the salt out of the ground in these blocks

it would have all kinds of impurities inside

If you washed the salt to get rid of the impurities it would lose its taste but still look like salt

That’s what happens when you take the life that is in you, out

When Jesus gets shoved to the side or eliminated the life starts to go out in Christians

vs. 13b Preserve what’s Important

A lifeless Christian is useless

Jesus is looking for people who are full of Him to bring flavor to the world

He needs disciples full of love, joy, peace, patience, and truth intermingling with the natives

When we withdraw from the world and form our holy huddles the world becomes tasteless

How do you regain your saltiness?

Look to the Beatitudes

Be Humble

Be Broken

Be Meek

Be Hungry

This is what Biblical love looks like

You influence people with the Gospel by showing them the love of Jesus

That love is manifested in the beatitudes coming out of you

When you’re humble and meek it is welcoming

When you act like the sinner you are and show a hunger for more of Jesus it is a magnet

Light of the World vs. 14-16

vs. 14 City of a Hill

Jesus shifts his metaphors to the light

You are the light of the world

Picture yourself as a city on a hill or a lamp on a stand

Part of the influence you bring into your world is the light of Christ

That light naturally comes out of you as you exhibit the beatitudes

You stand out like a city and illuminate like a lamp

The more the beatitudes are evident the brighter your light shines

Some are going to welcome that light and some are going to reject it

Don’t shy away from people because you think you might offend them

You don’t know who is lost and looking to be shown the way or those who are hiding in the shadows on purpose

vs. 15 Hidden Light

The key is not to hide the light

When Jesus talks about putting a lamp under a basket everyone listening got it

Candles and lamps were open flames and putting it under a basket would make the light go out or catch the basket on fire

Was reading somewhere the other day a mother saying that her young daughter thinks reading after bedtime with a flashlight under her covers will get her in big trouble

Yet the daughter never thinks why the batteries never go out in her flashlight

Many Christians are hiding their faith under covers and wonder why their light never goes out

It’t because Jesus is the light and He will never go out

You will never love people into the kingdom without putting Jesus at the center

vs. 16 Let Your Light Shine

Let you light shine before others

It is the only way they are going to see your good works

What good works are they talking about?

It includes social issues like hunger and poverty, but it also includes your attitudes

Do they see you being humble, broken, and meek?

Do they see something different about you than they see in the rest of the world

Do they see you forgiving bosses and not trash talking them behind their backs even though you don’t agree with how they operate?

Do they see you extending grace?

That is what those lost in this dark world are searching for

Are people going to accept me for who I am, scars and all?

Keep the Commandments vs. 17-20

vs. 17-18 Christ Fulfilled the Law

We can seek to destroy the Law (v. 17a).

The Pharisees thought Jesus was doing this.

To begin with, His authority did not come from any of the recognized leaders or schools.

Instead of teaching “from authorities” as did the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus taught with authority.

Not only in His authority, but also in His activity, Jesus seemed to defy the Law.

He deliberately healed people on the Sabbath Day and paid no attention to the traditions of the Pharisees.

Our Lord’s associations also seemed contrary to the Law, for He was the friend of publicans and sinners.

It was the Pharisees who were destroying the Law!

By their traditions, they robbed the people of the Word of God; and by their hypocritical lives, they disobeyed the very Law that they claimed to protect.

The Pharisees thought they were conserving God’s Word, when in reality they were preserving God’s Word: embalming it so that it no longer had life!