Declared Identity

Jesus doesn’t give us a checklist — He gives us an identity. Listen as we explore what it means for Christ to declare His people the salt of the earth and the light of the world, and how that changes the way we live every day.

Transcript

To the Gospel. You know where we're going? The Gospel of what? What year are we in? We're in year A, okay.

00:00:08

Of the church, of the church calendar. So that's going to put us in the Gospel of Matthew. Exactly. So Matthew, chapter five. The gospel of Matthew, chapter five.

00:00:20

And we're going to start with verse 13. When you have found Matthew 5:13, go ahead and stand with me for the Gospel reading this morning.

00:00:36

Now remember, this is right on the heels of the Beatitudes, this, of course, being the Sermon on the Mount. And so Jesus just described to us, as we saw last week, happiness, the Beatitudes, what a happy life looks like. And now notice what he does. Notice these words as found in Matthew, chapter 5, verse 13. Jesus said, you are the salt of the earth.

00:01:06

But if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it under the bushel basket but on the lampstand.

00:01:35

And it gives light to all in the house. 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. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I've come not to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

00:02:19

Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven.

00:02:53

Lord Jesus, you know where all of us stand right now and what busies our minds and our lives. And so we pray now, Lord, that you would give us ears to hear and eyes to see this morning. You, nothing less than you, oh Lord, we pray. By the power of your spirit. Amen.

00:03:21

And you can be seated.

00:03:27

Well, of course, this is probably a very familiar passage for most any Christian, not only because it finds itself here in the Sermon on the Mount, but in Jesus teachings. He often gives us images that stick with us. This is really one of the points of a good teacher, right? It's to illustrate for us the saying, and maybe sometimes we Get a little frustrated by Jesus as a teacher, or even teachers in general being long winded, right? I mean, why not just tell us what we really should be doing, you know, why.

00:04:07

Why fiddle around with this illustration or a story that is supposed to support the point? Just give me the points. Well, first of all, that's not really what you want, honestly, because the points would be like reading a dictionary and not many people read dictionaries. In fact, one time I actually was reading a dictionary and in seminary, we were up late having a good time, and I actually came across this word that looked like horse do overs. You know, it was actually hors d'.

00:04:40

Oeuvres, right? And so everybody thought that was funny because I just was reading along the lines there. But, you know, somebody had to say, well, buddy, it's hors d'. Oeuvres. Well, it doesn't look like that if you're phonetically trying to pronounce it right.

00:04:53

And sometimes, if I could put it this way, as we read the scriptures, as we live the Christian life, sometimes things don't look like what they sound like in real life, right? You know, I mean, just like the Beatitudes were, they are a shock to the system. Almost like somebody shaking you like, hey, this is the good life. Actually, you say, I don't know. I don't know.

00:05:15

That's not what the world tells me. That's not what the advertisements on the super bowl are going to tell me tonight. They're going to try to create desire for things that I don't have.

00:05:26

But the desire, the one desire that all humanity, every human that's ever lived has, is for God simultaneously for others. Because he's the one who ties that together, isn't he? We don't even get here without others, do we? And nobody wants to live a life without others.

00:05:54

And so Jesus, after describing happiness in a life Beatitude, the blessed life, now doesn't go into a series of commands, but instead more of a declaration. He declares something over anyone who would follow him. Now think about this, declaring something. When a declaration is made, let's say, by a public figure, think for instance, of a judge, or think, for instance, in a police altercation. If all of a sudden you are now under arrest, well, you can act like that's not the case.

00:06:41

I would. Don't do that, you know, but you can act like that. Oh, it's just your words. You said something, I say something. It's all just words all the same.

00:06:51

But it's actually not in an official capacity when words are spoken over us. Things change. It's very interesting actually. And one of the positive ways this works, and I've mentioned this before, is through adoption. Through adoption I was able to witness an adoption.

00:07:12

A few actually, but one more so than others. And I paid very close attention to what the judge was saying and it was fascinating. Basically, the records of this person will be sealed and unavailable to anyone that has their previous name or their previous associations or their previous history. It will be sealed and no one can access it anymore. I thought to my.

00:07:39

I almost said amen, but I mean, you know, you're in a court, court setting, so you know, it's not really proper, I guess, for me, somebody like me to speak. But I just looked around the room like, hey, anybody else listening? Because when the judge of all Jesus Christ speaks over us, his adoption into his family, doesn't he say something similar? You won't be able to find your past. You won't be able to find those records.

00:08:11

Only I hold them now. They're as far as the east is from the west and the deepest sea.

00:08:19

Only I know him. And guess what? I'm never going to hold it against you.

00:08:26

What? A declaration.

00:08:32

As you know, entire wars have been started with words. So let's not act like words aren't powerful, especially spoken in an official capacity. Again. Well, guess what? Jesus ascends the mountain as the new Moses.

00:08:52

Moses had failed, you remember? He wasn't allowed to go into the promised land. But where Moses failed, just as Adam before him, just as Abraham before him, just as. Just as Isaac before him, just as Jacob before him, just as Joseph before him, just go down the line. He now is the greater.

00:09:17

And he ascends the mountain as the new teacher of God's law.

00:09:26

And in his official capacity, remember, sat down, let's say at the bench, if you will, sat down in power, not struggling for power, declaring it over us. And even to this day, those words said on that mountain at that particular place in time speak over us today and hold power for us today. And here's what he says.

00:10:00

Not a list for us to check off so we can just be done with it before 5 o' clock so we can relax for the rest of the day. But instead he says something about our identity. Not a checklist. I know everybody wants a checklist. And Paul gives a few, okay?

00:10:17

Jesus gives very few. And it almost always has to do with the poor and the needy. And the least of these also coupled with going to hell if you don't do those things. So we Want to certainly pay attention to those lists. Okay.

00:10:31

But those lists are things that he tells us are not going away. In other words, newsflash real quick. The poor aren't going away. So you say, well, I tried to help the poor and they didn't want it. Well, yeah, okay.

00:10:48

I don't know if you ever worked with homeless people, but I have in different capacities, actually, with the Salvation army in Jackson, Mississippi. I worked with them here on the same streets that Tommy Battle was on. Mayor and all of that, same camps. Okay. I've been to First Stop, used to give a devotion there weekly.

00:11:02

And here's the thing, many of them want to be homeless. And here's what Jesus says. The poor, you have with you always. So we think, you know, in our nice go get them kind of way, hey, if we can just solve this thing, we can be done with those folks. But here's what Jesus said.

00:11:20

Those folks are going to be with you.

00:11:25

Just like those who are poor in physical health, in mental health, they are going to be with us. It's not just, let's develop another medical procedure. Let's get another psychological evaluation. Listen, those things have their place. And we have medical professionals in here, I'm sure, psychologically minded people.

00:11:48

Okay? I'm not downcasting any of that, but I'm simply saying our need is greater. Keep looking higher. And God in his providence has left us with people in poverty. And one of the things it shows to us is that really we also are in poverty.

00:12:14

It doesn't matter how much you've got in the bank or retirement or how relaxed of a life you might be able to live for yourself. We too ought to be poor in spirit, he says, and if we are full of ourselves, always looking down our nose on others, we'll never look up.

00:12:36

And if you're full of yourself, it's obvious that you're not full of the Holy Spirit then.

00:12:46

So let's not be so quick to dismiss others.

00:12:56

You know, I've noticed and. Well, I've noticed a lot of things. Just a lot of stuff crossed my mind here. Sorry, hang on just a second.

00:13:09

Struggling here.

00:13:14

And here's the thing. We need. We need God to come in our hearts and what we spread, no matter to whoever. Like, here's the thing, just as Emily said. It's perfect.

00:13:29

What? She said we can't do everything. You're not called to get every. To get involved with everything. Man, all these different missions, they're awesome, but I can't.

00:13:38

Yeah, yeah, well, give money where you can. And then figure out some way to give of yourself, okay? Because that's what Jesus is talking about here.

00:13:53

There's lots of ways to do that. But I'm going to tell you, the best way is not politically. The best way is actually not economically, you know, handsome. I. More money.

00:14:05

Money. I don't know if you know in your own life, but money doesn't fix stuff. I don't know if you've ever read history before, but politics doesn't fix stuff. Anybody can say, anybody ever read, like over 100 years of history. It ought to be clear that there's not one political way that's going to last forever.

00:14:24

Not one. Now, some are better than others, obviously. Like, read history again, okay? But there's only one kingdom, just one. And it is the kingdom that promotes the cross.

00:14:41

Remember First Corinthians. Reading there, I won't reread it, but here's Paul, like one of the smartest people to walk the face of the earth in the first century, okay? You know, people would have wanted his autograph kind of thing. And he says, you know what? I determined only to preach Christ and him crucified.

00:15:03

Now, it's not that we can't get involved with politics. Please, let's not misunderstand. I love it like a hobby, okay? But here's the thing. There is something greater than politics.

00:15:17

And while the world tries to draw us in here, this sacred desk is too big for politics. You follow me? This sacred desk ought to relay us right up. Not just to a president or a prime minister or an emperor, gag me with a spoon kind of thing, right? No, instead to the King of kings and the Lord of Lords, who the Scripture says about him that he, yes, is in full sovereignty and yet is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

00:15:53

In other words, his very nature is to give himself for the sake of the world.

00:16:05

So we think of. You know, Jesus gives us these two declarations. You are salt. You are light. Notice what's missing there.

00:16:17

You will become. No, eventually you'll get there. No, you are. You see, it's a declaration again, it's a he. He's declaring something over us about our identity as Christ followers that then should follow in our life.

00:16:39

He's declaring it. Hear me, brothers and sisters, over the people in this room. That's my point. If we were there that day, it's the same as if we are here this day to hear these words. They are.

00:16:52

You notice. I love this because. Because Jesus obviously believes in the written word of God. Like that it's written down all the way down to jot and tittle, right? All the way down to even the little crossing the T's, dotting the I's, or if it's in Spanish, that little, you know, thing that they do.

00:17:17

And you know, I'm sure Greek has some of that as well, but, but it's like all the different variants he says, all the way down to that, even a stroke of the pen. Now think about it real quick, Nathaniel, you just heard is literally interpreting the word of God for a new, well, language that doesn't have one. They don't have a Bible. And so he said, you know, I love. And I thought this was fascinating.

00:17:43

I'd love to explore this more with him. I'm sure he wouldn't with me. But nevertheless, he said disciple means organ. Is that what he said? Orphan.

00:17:52

Oh, oh, that even I was thinking organ, body of Christ. I was like, yeah, I got you, baby, I got you one, right? No, but orphan, that's even maybe better. Adopted into his family. Yes.

00:18:05

And we are orphaned with. And then what was the other one? He said, yeah, the sun equals God. Hmm, now we can go with that, can't we? Because he is the light of the world, isn't he?

00:18:19

And he's beyond that sun. He gives a different kind of light, doesn't he? So the word of God, Jesus specifically says here is never going to pass away until all is accomplished. All is not accomplished yet. So guess what?

00:18:37

We still ground our lives right here. There's a lot of flexibility outside of what's not here, but what is here, there is no flexibility. Jesus says, you better teach what is here. So now salt. Let's just think about this for a moment.

00:18:59

What does salt do? Well, for most of us it's an enhancement, right? It's like, hey man, pass the salt. This stuff is a little bland. And just go with that.

00:19:12

What is salt doing? Is salt giving you more calories? Not necessarily. It's not a food. So it's added to food, but it is not a food.

00:19:23

Think about that instead. What it does is, draws out, doesn't it? The flavor. It actually enhances what is there.

00:19:36

If you put it on wood, it doesn't do that. If you put it on food, it does. And it's fascinating. In Leviticus, which I'm actually reading through, all the sacrifices are salted. Interesting, isn't it?

00:19:52

When you bring the meat, you sprinkle the salt, you offer it to God, it gets burned up as a sweet, smell smelling aroma to the Lord, salt, it goes on stuff. It's meant to be sprinkled on stuff to enhance it. Anybody with me yet? Following with we as disciples. If we are supposed to be the salt of the earth, then we're supposed to be sprinkled notice on others to enhance their life, not our own life.

00:20:28

Salt's not enhancing its. You don't you know? That's why he says here, if salt loses its salt, you just throw it away, right? You just discard. Because what could ever enliven it?

00:20:39

No, no, no. It's an enlivening ingredient, and so, too, are we. In other words, the world is made better because of Christianity.

00:20:55

Now, listen, let me say it this way. The world is made better because of the church. Let me say it this way. The world is a better place because of Harvest Point Methodist Church. You see how this works?

00:21:08

In other words, if we're not here, we're not salting the area. Enhancing what is there, drawing out. Think about it. Drawing out what is already good. There's already some good stuff happening in the city of Madison, Huntsville, etc.

00:21:25

We want to draw that up into the kingdom of God. You see that? Not keeping it down here, drawing it up, drawing others up to him. And so Christ is saying, where do I want to sprinkle? I want to sprinkle you over here at Boeing.

00:21:39

I want to sprinkle you over here at Northrop Grumman, over here at Huntsville Hospital, over here at. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I want to sprinkle you there because you are the salt of the earth back in the day, even today, you know, you're like, I always wondered as a kid, like, why all the meat's over here in the refrigerated section, except for that meat. And when you take. You slice that ham, you know that little thing of ham, right?

00:22:09

It's like, well, that's not refrigerated. I guess we shouldn't eat that. No, no, no, you can eat it. It's like, oh, okay, cool. And then you eat it.

00:22:15

You're like, you know, because it's all salty, right? You know what I'm talking about? Because it's preserving itself without refrigeration. Well, they knew this in the ancient world, of course. So what does that mean?

00:22:25

Yes, enhancement, but also preservation. Some parts of our world are corroding. They're actually decaying. Marriage, family, think about these. They're corrupted.

00:22:44

They are decaying. And listen, real people get hurt by that decay. So what does Christ want to do? He Wants to sprinkle us and then rub us into those situations. In other words, he wants us involved in that kind of stuff.

00:23:01

Think about that now again, you know, salt is going to something that could potentially decay. It's not necessary, you know, messing with meat. You know, like when you're doing a butt rub, right, you're just like, rubbing. It's not a great. You want to wash your hands.

00:23:17

It's messy. Yeah, that's the point. The Christian life, our mission as Christians is always going to be messy. But we're called to get our hands in there. Called to get that salt in there, Rub that salt.

00:23:31

And you know what? It might hurt at first with the wounds that we even have, but it's healing. It's for the healing of the nations. So I'm just asking you, where does Christ want to sprinkle you?

00:23:47

What situation? What relationship? What family? Maybe they're down the street. Maybe it's a co worker.

00:23:55

Rarely is it somebody across the world that we never even meet. Rarely. I'm just saying, maybe that's your calling. But I think if you were worried about people on the other side of the world and the people at home aren't even getting your love, your salt, the light of Christ, something's wrong. Now, once we get that done, then, yeah, we begin to reach out.

00:24:17

And that's why we do reach out. Right? Just like Paul did. He actually took monies from one location that was richer than the other to give it to the other side. I want you to understand, those people, you don't even know, they blessed you.

00:24:29

Well, that is a blessing. When I went to India, there's white dudes that are up on the wall. You say, well, that's terrible. You know, that shouldn't be. They didn't think so.

00:24:38

They're the ones who brought the gospel into India, which was a decaying. Still is a decaying place filled with idolatry. But somebody was willing to be sprinkled, you see? Somebody was willing to be sprinkled and rubbed into that area.

00:25:02

Okay, what about light? Well, of course, light reveals what is there. It doesn't create. You know, I mean, think about, like, you know, if this room just all of a sudden went dark, we had everything darked out. I mean, you wouldn't be able to see what's in.

00:25:16

You try to walk, you're gonna trip. People gonna get hurt. It's like, hey, where you at, buddy? You know, you can't see. You turn the light back on, all of a sudden, what is there now appears not because the light created it.

00:25:29

You see, it's the same way with the salt. Again, the salt didn't create the food, it just enhanced it. Same thing with the light. The light is meant to reveal things.

00:25:42

And sometimes by revealing things, things get exposed, don't they? And so this is the whole point with, you know, I think I told you a little bit about this, but I had an experience where I went to the dermatologist, you know, and I'm getting old. So I find myself in doctors offices more often than I'd like. And they were like, you know, I had just stuff growing on me and I'm like, I don't know what to do, I don't know what it is. And I just.

00:26:13

So they're like, all right, well just, you know, take your shirt off, whatever. And then, and then it always happens to me. And I don't know why, but they're always like, sir, you mind? We've got somebody that's. I don't think you even know this judge, but we've got somebody that's interning.

00:26:23

Like, do you mind if they come in as well? I'm like, sure, why not? You know, I mean, like, it just, it is what it is at this point. They're like, you know, so here I am, 40 something year old, got my shirt off and now three women are in this very small room with me looking at, you know, stuff on my back. And it's just weird, you know, and.

00:26:43

But here's the thing. They always have, they always have some big light. You know what I'm talking about? I don't care if it's the ENT doctor looking in your ear, you know, all of a sudden a big. Or like I remember when Jessica's giving birth, they have this massive light that comes down just like, oh, Lord, help us right now.

00:26:57

You know it is. Why? Why? Because when you're doing stuff like that, you need to see everything. Doesn't it be happening in a dark corner?

00:27:08

And you know what? It exposes stuff that shouldn't be there. They're like, hey, let me take this off of you. Yes, that's what I need, right? We want the great physician to look at us.

00:27:20

We want to come before his life fully exposed. And you know what? That hurts sometimes. Like, if most of us hide in all sorts of ways, even to ourself, we hide like, oh, yeah, now I'm a generous person, but we can't show one place where our generosity actually impacts anybody, then that's not a generous person. Generosity has to be a practice and should be something that eventually is a transformation in our life where we just.

00:27:49

It's a knee jerk reaction that doesn't start like that ever, does it? Bad attitudes, all that stuff can be transformed, sometimes in a moment, sometimes in a process. But nevertheless we're all moving to think about this again. To freedom, in other words, freedom to actually do what you want to do. And many of us find already as soon as I say that, oh man, if I could do what I actually wanted to do, it would be good for me.

00:28:19

Let me tell you, brothers and sisters, sanctification offers us God's holy transformation of, offers us a new heart, new attitudes, new mind, so we can live a life where we get to do what we want to do. Because what we want to do looks like God. It looks like the righteous way, it looks like that blessed way. It looks like the Beatitudes. You say, pastor, I'm not there, Amen.

00:28:52

Let us confess that and continue to turn to him rather than say, oh yeah, I'm going to give up on that. Because let me tell you something, he won't stop until you're made perfect.

00:29:05

And what does perfection look like? Loving God with all your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself.

00:29:16

Loving God with all your heart, above all else, and loving your neighbor as yourself.

00:29:25

That's what Christian perfection looks like. That's what the fool life looks like. The law is no longer pressing on us from the outside, making us feel shame, but now it's exuding through us from the inside. Wasn't that what the prophets were prophesied? The law will move from tablets of stone to the human heart.

00:29:49

Oh Lord, would you make us those kind of people? In with this much more we could say, let me end with this.

00:30:02

There are people in this room who have been salt and light to me.

00:30:11

You hear what I'm saying? You say, I thought Jesus was a salt and light. Well, doesn't he just say that you are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world. His mystical body is us, is the church. So what we mean when we say the body of Christ.

00:30:37

And there's been times where I've had open wounds because people hurt me. You know, people deserted me, people abandoned me, people lied to me. At least I thought they did. Maybe they did and I think they did. But have you ever noticed how relationships are just so complicated?

00:30:58

And yet we got to have them.

00:31:02

And right along with that we got to have love. And right along with love comes forgiveness. And it is never easy. In fact, People who don't deserve forgiveness are the ones we're called to forgive.

00:31:27

And, you know, I've had those open wounds. And I've had people who have been sprinkled in my life, all of my life. People who have been the light of Christ to me. When I was in a dark place. I've been in a dark place.

00:31:44

I mean, I've been in a dark place. You don't know about dark places. I probably don't know about your dark places. I know about my dark places. It was dark.

00:31:54

I've wanted to quit so many times. I thought we needed to pack up the church and just move on something else. So many times.

00:32:06

And then salt preserved. Think about that. I couldn't see away. And then all of a sudden the light started shining and it was somebody. It was a word.

00:32:19

A word from somebody like Bob Motor, where that word was spoken over me. And maybe it was just said in passing to him, but for me it was the next step.

00:32:34

It was when I was at my lowest moment, man. I mean, my absolute lowest moment where I didn't feel like I deserved live.

00:32:47

And yet three people who are in this room right now showed up in that moment and just got me out of my truck and held me and let me cry on them and saw me at a very weak, vulnerable sort of place.

00:33:10

And, you know, I hope you've had experiences like that. That's what the church looks like now we can say a bunch of bad stuff about Christ Church, and I hope you don't. Now there's the bad things that happen in the church and certainly we want to expose that and so on. But we must not talk about the bride as if she's ugly and irrelevant because Christ doesn't and it's his bride. It's time to recover the idea of the church because the church is the mystical body of Christ and whatever is not the church.

00:33:48

It's time to show the doctor and cut it off.

00:33:58

Yes. I hope you have those people in your life. You must have those people in your life who are salt, who are light. We can't do this alone, brothers and sisters. I don't know why we just all drop into this.

00:34:12

Just gonna do it our own. No, we've gotta have each other. Got to have. We're not going to heaven alone.

00:34:23

You saying you getting worked up? Yeah, I am worked up. I'm tired. I've been sick all week. Daughter's at the ER right now.

00:34:30

Passed out this morning at the house. I mean, my mind is really all kinds of places. But you know what? I love to be with my family. You say, shouldn't you be with your family?

00:34:41

I am with my family. And let me tell you, I don't know anything about medical stuff, so there's no reason for me to be over there right now. I know the great physician, however, and so do you. And so do you. Listen, it's time for us in this room to hear that declaration.

00:34:58

You are the salt of the earth. You are. You are. You are the light of the world. Please hear Jesus, not me.

00:35:11

Who am I? No. Jesus Christ, speaking that over your life. And then ask that simple question. Where do you want me to shine, Lord?

00:35:19

This week, today? Where do you want me to shine? Where do you want to sprinkle me today? You remember, your words can be seasoned with what? Salt?

00:35:33

How many of you look for just a small encouraging word? Give that to somebody else. Stop moping around life. Oh, woe is me. If you look within for help.

00:35:45

Good luck.

00:35:49

Look up, look around. There's some people that you could link in with in this room. Every one of our small groups is a way in. It's an on ramp to other people's lives who care about you.

00:36:05

If you'll let them. If you'll let them, it's never easy, but if you'll let them, it's never going to be perfect. But let them. All right. So be salt and light.

00:36:21

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.