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People Who Are Salt and Light
- Greg Waybright
- Matthew 5:13-16
- Jesus Christ, Storyteller
- 47 mins 26 secs
- Views: 310
Questions from the Pastor
Questions from Pastor Greg 7/3/16
Probably near the end of his life, in Ecclesiastes,
Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 1:2, 14:
“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless…”
I have seen all the things that are done under the
sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after
the wind.
1. Read Ecclesiastes 1:2 and 12:8 and notice how Solomon begins and ends the book in the same way. What thoughts do you have as you read his words? Do you agree with him?
Near the beginning of his ministry, Jesus said in
Matthew 5:13-16:
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its
saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no
longer good for anything, except to be thrown out
and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
2. In Matthew 5:13 and 14, Jesus suggests the world needs salt and light. Why would he say that? In what ways do Jesus and Solomon share a view of the condition of the world? Why does the world need salt and light?
3. Who are the people Jesus calls salt and light? Do you think his words have relevance to his followers today?
4. Jesus says that his followers “are” salt and light – not that we are to become salt and light. Do you see any significance in that? How might salt lose its saltiness? How concerned should we be about losing saltiness?
5. When salt is placed on deteriorating food, it helps keep the food from deteriorating more. If you are Jesus’ salt in the world, how should you view your role as salt in your family, school, workplace and community?
6. According to 5:14-15, how might light be ineffective? How might you both be light in the world and, at the same time, fail to bring light to the world?
7. According to v.16, how does Jesus mean for you live each day in the world?
Study Notes
People Who Are Salt & Light
Jesus Christ, Story Teller: Reality Hidden in Plain Sight
People Who Are Salt and Light
Matthew 5:13-16
Today, after three months of learning from Solomon in Ecclesiastes, we move to the Gospel of Matthew in order to learn directly from Jesus. Even though the title of this series is “Jesus Christ, Storyteller”, we begin not so much with a story as with metaphors Jesus used early in his ministry. I’ll start with those metaphors found in Mt 5:13-16 because they set the stage for all the stories we will be hearing from Jesus in the rest of Matthew.
In today’s text, Jesus says the world is in need of salt and light. In saying that, he was drawing upon an understanding of our world that we have been considering for these many weeks that we have been studying Ecclesiastes, i.e., that our world is in trouble and there is no hope if what is “under the sun” is all there is. With that in mind, let us stand for the reading of God’s Word found first in Eccl. 1:2,14 and then in Mt 5:13-16:
Probably near the end of his life, in Ecclesiastes, Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 1:2,14:
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless…”
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Near the beginning of his ministry, Jesus said in Matthew 5:13-16:
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
I draw your attention to the subtitle of this new sermon series, i.e., Reality Hidden in Plain Sight. The reality I will focus on today is what Jesus says about you and me. Jesus, in these verses, declares that, although the world’ people may not see it with their physical eyes, if we are living in any way consistent with Jesus’ teaching, all Jesus-followers will be God’s salt and light in this world.
How will that be? Let me show you the main points of Jesus’ message in Mt 5:13-16:
#1: The Condition: This world “under the sun” is falling apart.
#2: The Rescue Effort: Jesus came to rescue a falling-apart world.
#3: The Strategy: Jesus does his rescuing work in and through his followers.
#4: The Agents: All Jesus-followers are sent into the world to bring together what is falling apart.
#1: The Condition: This world “under the sun” is falling apart.
Salt of the earth… light of the world (Mt 5:13, 14).
The two metaphors Jesus used shout out to us how Jesus sees a world in which people have walked away from God. What he says is not different at all from what Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, i.e., that apart from God, everything in this world is deteriorating – that it needs salt. It is in darkness and needs light.
The enormous import of Jesus’ words may be lost on us in our world because most of us live in a world with refrigeration and electric power. But imagine how important salt was in a country where there was no refrigeration? Salt was used for many things in the ancient world – but the main one was to keep food from rotting. Salt must have had a value beyond anything we might imagine in the 21st C world.
And can you imagine how important light is in a world with no streetlights or electrically generated illumination at all? I was in a small village in India in 1976 when all the power went out and there was no light at all radiating from the stars on that overcast night. I had never before been in a setting as dark as that village suddenly became. Most places in our country – and especially in more urban areas like our own -- have headlights of cars, and streetlights, and floodlights... But, that night in India, the neighborhood didn’t have any of those. I could not see my hand three inches in front of my eyes. I remember thinking, “It sure would be a great thing to have a candle or flashlight here!" Any light would have transformed that place.
By use of these metaphors, Jesus is indicating how God sees our world. He sees it as one that, left to itself, is deteriorating and cannot see its way out of the darkness. In physics classes, we are taught the second law of thermodynamics, i.e., when it comes to energy there is a natural tendency of any isolated system to degenerate from a more ordered state into a more disordered state. Energy doesn’t naturally go from disorder to order.
The same kind of deterioration seems to happen in many areas of our lives. As a student, I was often astounded at how much I had forgotten between the end of the spring semester and the beginning of the next fall. Business people tell me about how they have to stay current with new developments of the business stagnates and soon becomes irrelevant and unproductive. In our human relationships, we constantly see how, if we do not give the time and attention to the people in the relationships, things begin to fall apart.
Jesus loves the world he made – and, although he loves it, he also says clearly that it is a world in need of salt and light. On its own, this world is not getting better and better. “Under the sun”, things fall apart.
#2: The Rescue Effort: Jesus came to rescue a falling-apart world.
…shall not perish but… (Jn 3:16).
This is 4th of July weekend. Let me do a brief American history lesson. When you read US history you find people have swung back and forth between optimism and pessimism at different times in our nation. There was a time, before the 2nd World War, when people in America generally said everything is getting better and better in our world. President Franklin Roosevelt instituted his “New Deal” in which relief for the unemployed and poor, recovery of the economy to heighted levels, and reform of the financial and educational systems promised to eventually eradicate evils such as poverty, war and crime in our country.
Optimism in human ability ran high those days. Listen to the words of author HG Wells in 1937:
Can we doubt that presently our race will more than realize our boldest imaginations, that it will achieve unity and peace, and that our children will live in a world made more splendid and lovely than any palace or garden that we know, going on from strength to strength in an ever-widening circle of achievement? What man has done… form but the prelude to the things that man has yet to do. (from A Short History of the World, 1937).
Then came World War 2. The kind of human cruelty that came to light was beyond anything anyone could imagine. Then, Wells was no longer so optimistic and wrote this:
The cold-blooded massacres of the defenseless, the return of deliberate and organized torture, mental torment, and fear to a world from which such things had seemed well nigh banished—has come near to breaking my spirit altogether… “Homo sapiens,” as he has been pleased to call himself, is played out (from A Mind at the End of Its Tether, 1946).
In this 2016 election year, I sometimes hear very pessimistic people saying how terrible things are and that we have to return to the greatness of our past if we will survive. And, in the same country, I talk with other people, often who have come to our country from very difficult places, who are as optimistic as H.G. Wells was -- saying that here in the US, they and their children believe they can help build a great people and great nation.
I find that the Bible helps us make sense out of a world in which we sometimes see people doing great things – and at other times see horrendous things. Bottom line: The Bible points us to Jesus. (You knew I would say that, didn’t you?) The Bible says human beings were made in Christ’s image so we should not be surprised when human beings sometimes do rather amazing things. At the same time, the Bible tells us that things are terribly wrong because, as the prophet Isaiah points out, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one of us — to his own way…”
So, our world is now a perishing, falling-apart world. But, Jesus came into the world made through him to turn things around -- to forgive what we have done, to cleanse us from sin, and to remake us. As Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (Jn 8:12).” As Jesus said in Jn 3:16-17, he came to the world on a mission: to rescue a perishing world!
#3: The Strategy: Jesus does his rescuing work in and through his followers.
You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world (Mt 5:13,14).
It’s clear to me that Jesus fully expects that we as his followers can make a positive difference in this world. But, one of the most shocking aspects of Mt 5:13-16 is that Jesus clearly believed that those whose lives make the biggest difference in this world might be the least likely people (in the eyes of the world). Why do I say that? -- because Jesus was talking to everyday, ordinary people when he said their lives could change the world.
To grasp the significance of Mt 5:13-16, you have to place yourself into the setting into which Jesus first spoke these words. Try to imagine being one of those disciples who pulled away from the crowds one day to listen to Jesus deliver a sermon. You must envision living in a little country dominated by an outside government. People would have thought that nothing significant could ever come out of this nation.
Then, within this little oppressed country, you belong to a persecuted minority group. People are suspicious of this Jesus you are following. You do not have large church buildings. No Christian books or celebrities.
And now we move in your imaginations to Jesus’ words that day. A festival was going on. You are mingling with the people when your leader calls you away from the crowd to meet with him. He takes you up to an elevated location just above the crowds. He stands there looking down from his hillside pulpit and sees the crowd down the hill, a crowd that seems to be oblivious to him and his group. Possibly, he lifts his eyes further and envisions to the south the city where eventually he will go, be rejected and die. And, perhaps, with eyes of faith, he even envisions the kingdoms of the world - nations to which his good news would go and people from every tribe for whom he would die.
Then he lowers his eyes to his followers and what does he see? He does not see the influential religious leaders of his own nation. He does not see people with political clout or with financial strength. He does not see the thinkers and philosophers of his day. Instead, he sees 12 unkempt, rather poorly educated people -- some fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot. Surely, he can’t expect to do much with this bunch!
But, shockingly, it is specifically to these people that Jesus declares, “You, you (it is emphatic in Greek) are the salt of the earth! You, you are the light of the world!"
Here’s what the NT teaches: Jesus is the light of the world! But, when he comes into your life, he turns you into light. Place your faith in Jesus and you become a child of the light! God’s Spirit comes into you and empowers you to do salt-preserving, light-bearing spiritual work that you never could have imagined doing.
With that in mind, Jesus proclaimed that the most powerful force that God places in this world for good is ... is ... transformed people! "You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world!" Jesus was saying that these unremarkable (in the eyes of the world) disciples are the salt of the whole earth -- the light of the entire world. These truly are “big words” that must have sounded pretentious when first spoken. How could Jesus think that this tiny, unlikely band of men in Galilee had a world mission? How could He think they were going to change the world? But clearly, he did think they would be the first agents of the kingdom of God.
Jesus still says to unlikely people, “You are God’s salt and light!" So, who is now Jesus’ salt and light?
#4: The Agents: All Jesus-followers are sent into the world to bring together what is falling apart.
Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Time does not allow me to say everything I would like about this. However, Jesus points out the very simple directives for us to be effective salt and light:
- You must be willing to be where the broken people are.
- You must be different when you are there.
First, you must be willing to be where the broken people are. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl (5:14-15).
One quality that salt and light share is that they must come into contact with the deteriorating or the darkened area or they will not have a positive effect. Both must come into direct contact with the thing they want to effect. You don't have to make salt salty. You just have to make sure it's pure and spread out. Nothing is worse than eating a barrel full of salt.
You don't have to make light shine; you have to let it shine. Get it out from under its safe places. Jesus is inside us. He wants us to go into the neighborhood in his name. Jesus here is saying, "Live for me wherever you go. Go to the hard places. Don't be afraid of letting others know what you are, that I am yours and you are mine. Be willing to talk about me and to love as I’ve loved. Then, see how I will do my eternal restorative work – and I’ll do it through you! You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world!”
Second, you must be different when you are out in the world. if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot (5:13).
In v.13, Jesus is talking about here is the danger of becoming just like the deteriorating world we live in.
So, on one side, we can fail to have an impact for Jesus if we hide away in our church settings and do not touch the lives of people in the world. But we can fail just as miserably if we are in contact with people but they see no difference from their own lives. Instead of you influencing the world, the world shapes you.
At this stage, it would be quite easy for me to move into a series of “dos and don’ts” for a Christian. Instead, I simply must say that you should examine your life carefully to make sure that there are some clearly distinguishable differences in how you live from those in the world. The presence of Christ should make a noticeable difference in all you do. If you participate in the same entertainment, utilize the same business or marketing techniques, and lead in exactly the same manner as the world that is said to be in darkness, then something is wrong.
The context of Mt 5:13-16 might help you evaluate how salty you are. In the verses that precede this text, we have the character traits of Jesus as described in the beatitudes. Read about them in Mt 5:3-12. They are the internal qualities that Jesus values and that will make you a salty person wherever you go.
How Salty Are You? – a Measurement
* are utterly dependent on God (v.3).
* weep about the sin and the suffering in the world (v.4).
* passionately seek what is good and right (v.6).
* offer forgiveness and compassion (v.7).
* are reconcilers of conflict (v.9).
This is the kind of person Jesus was. The person, then, who changes the world is one who goes into the all kinds of situations and messes in this world and, while there, reflects the ways of Jesus. When people see this, they see the difference that Jesus alone can make and, as v. 16 says, give praise to God.
To help you develop those inner Christlike qualities, I strongly recommend that you find an adult community, a small group or an adult class, and there, by God’s grace, find a group of people who will walk with you and grow with you. You might find a group like that online in our small group finder HERE.
Jesus tells us today that his chosen way to change this world is to have people, even a few people, even “less than ordinary” people, to be people of Godly character living God's way wherever God has placed us in this world. Jesus sends us into all walks of life to represent him – and we make a difference when we’re different kinds of people (Christ-like kinds of people) in those places.
I want you all to leave this gathering this morning hearing the words of Jesus transcend the years and speaking directly to you:
You – you are the salt of the earth. You – you are the light of the world.
Go and touch lives. Go and shine to his glory!
To His glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor
Chinese Translation
People Who Are Salt & Light - Chinese Translation
耶穌-- -敘事者:真實隱於市
作鹽與作光的人
馬太福音5:13-16
今天,在學習了所羅門的傳道書三個月後,我們一起來看馬太福音,以此直接從耶穌學習。盡管這個系列的題目是“耶穌-- -敘事者”,我們還是從耶穌早期事工所講的比喻開始。讓我們先看馬太福音5:13-16的比喻,因為它們為馬太福音中接下來耶穌講的所有故事搭建了一個舞臺。
在今天的經文中,耶穌談到世界需要鹽和光。如果我們理解這幾周一直學習的傳道書中“日光之下”沒有新事,就會看見,耶穌已經描繪出這個世界充滿問題、沒有希望的景象。因此,我們可以從傳道書1:2,14節開始,然後回到馬太福音5:13-16。
很可能所羅門在臨終前發出了傳道書1:2,14節的感嘆:
虛空的虛空,虛空的虛空,凡事都是虛空…… 我見日光之下所做的一切事,都是虛空,都是捕風。
在耶穌事工的開始,他在马太5:13-16節說:
“你們是地上的鹽。鹽如果失去了味道,還能用什麼來把它變成鹹的呢?它再也沒有用處,只好被丟在外面,任人踐踏。14“你們是世界的光。建在山上的城是不能隱藏的;15人點亮了油燈,也不會放在鬥底下,而會放在燈臺上,它就照亮屋子裏所有的人。16同樣,你們的光也應當照耀在人前,使他們看見你們的美好工作,就榮耀你們在天上的父。
請你們註意這個新的講道系列:真實隱於市。我今天所要強調的重點,就是耶穌指著你我所說的話。在這些經文中,耶穌宣告:盡管世人用眼看不到,只要我們活出耶穌的教導,耶穌所有的門徒都可以成為世界的鹽和光。
如何才能做到這一點呢? 讓我告訴你們太5:13-16中耶穌信息的要點:
#1: 前提:這個“日光之下”的世界是分崩離析的。
#2: 拯救的努力:耶穌的來拯救一個破碎的世界。
#3: 策略:耶穌透過他的追隨者施行拯救的工作。
#4: 執行者:所有耶穌的追隨者被差遣到世上,修復破碎的世界。
#1: 前提:這個“日光之下”的世界正分崩離析
世上的鹽和光 (太5:13,14)
在耶穌的這兩個比喻中,他大聲疾呼,他看見世上的人們已經遠離了神!他所說的正是所羅門在傳道書中所講的,因為人們遠離了神,這個世界正在敗壞,因此需要鹽;這個世界在黑暗中,因此需要光。
耶穌話語的重要意義,可能無法在我們使用冰箱和電器的世界裏體現出來。只要想想在沒有冰箱的國家,鹽有多麼重要!鹽在古代的世界有許多功用,其中重要的一個功用是防腐,此外還一定有我們今天無法想象的價值。
你能想象在一個沒有路燈和照明的世界裏,光有多麼重要嗎?1976年我在印度的一個小村莊,一天晚上停電了,天空也沒有任何星光,我突然發現自己從來沒有經歷過如此大的黑暗。我們國家的大多數地方,特別是像我們這樣的城市裏,有路燈、車燈、走道燈……但在印度的那一晚,全村根本沒有光亮,伸手不見五指,我不斷地想:“這裏要有一支手電或蠟燭該有多好!”只要有光就能改變那個地方。
耶穌用這些比喻指出,神如何看待我們的世界。神看見這個世界自身在朽壞,在黑暗中看不見自己的道路。在物理課上,我們學了熱力學第二定律,隨著能量增加,任何獨立系統都會漸漸從有序衰敗到無序狀態,能量不會自然從無序到有序。
在我們生活的許多方面也同樣發生著這樣的衰敗。我做學生時,常常在秋季開學時驚訝地發現,自己把春假後學的許多東西都忘了。商人們告訴我,他們不得不努力與時俱進,否則很快就會落伍而一事無成。在人際關系中,我們知道,如果我們沒有註重和保持與他人的關系,分崩離析就會開始。
耶穌愛祂所創造的世界,祂清楚地說,這世界需要鹽和光,因為憑自己,這世界不會越來越好,日光之下,分崩離析就會開始。
#2: 拯救的努力:耶穌的來拯救一個破碎的世界
…不致滅亡… (約 3:16)
這周是國慶節的長周末,我想簡單回顧美國的歷史。我們讀歷史的時候就會發現我們國家的不同時期,人們在樂觀與悲觀之間搖擺。二戰前的某個時期,每個人常說我們的世界正越來越好。羅斯福總統施行“新政”,減少失業、貧窮,將經濟復蘇到一個高水平;而財政與教育體系的改革應許說,我們國家將逐步消除饑餓、戰爭和犯罪。那時,人們樂觀情緒高漲。聽聽1937年作家HG 威爾士的話:
我們怎能懷疑今天我們的快速發展將遠超過我們的大膽想象,我們將實現合一與和平,我們的孩子將生活在一個比我們所知道的任何宮殿、花園更美好可愛的世界!我們將力上加力,實現各種目標。人類所做的不過是人類尚未做的事情的序曲(引自1937年“世界的短暫歷史”)。
接着就爆發了二戰。戰爭之慘烈超過任何人的想象。於是威爾士不再樂觀,他寫道:對手無寸鐵之人的冷血屠殺、有預謀有組織的折磨、精神虐待、擔心這些早該消失的事再現-- --凡此種種已經快使我精神分裂……他曾自豪稱呼自己為“智者”,而這一切卻真的發生了(引自1946年“捆綁結束時的思考)。
在2016的選舉年中,我有時會聽到悲觀的人說,事情太糟了,若是能活下來巴不得回到過去的好時光;但同樣在一個國家,我與那些歷盡艱辛來到這裏的移民談論,他們卻表現出當年HG 威爾士的樂觀,他們和他們的孩子們都相信,他們可以幫助偉大的人民建設偉大的國家。
我發現,聖經幫助我們認識到:為什麼在這個世界上,我們有時看見人們做了不起的事,有時卻做可怕的事。最終,聖經將我們帶到耶穌的面前。聖經說,人是照著神的形象創造的,因此我們對人類有時做出驚人之舉不用奇怪。同時聖經也告訴我們,事情正在變得越來越糟,就像先知以賽亞說的:“我們都如迷失的羊,各人轉向自己……任意而行……”
因此,我們的世界是一個正在滅亡、分崩離析的世界。但耶穌來到世上,藉著他帶來了轉變-- -他赦免我們的過犯,潔凈了我們的罪,重新造了我們。如耶穌所說:“就是世界的光。跟從我的人,絕不會在黑暗裏行走,卻要得到生命的光”(約8:12)。他在約翰福音3:16-17節宣告自己來到世界的使命。
#3: 策略:耶穌透過他的追隨者施行拯救的工作
你們是地上的鹽……你們是世界的光 (太5:13,14).
很清楚,耶穌非常盼望,我們這些跟從者可以讓這個世界往積極方向轉變。但在馬太福音5:13-16節中,一個令人吃驚的地方就是,耶穌清楚地表明,那些可以最大程度改變世界的人,可能是世人眼裏微不足道的人。為什麼這麼說?因為耶穌每一天都對每一個普通人說,他們的存在可以改變世界。
要把握馬太福音5:13-16節的意義,就要把自己放在耶穌第一次說這些話的語境裏。試著想象一下,你自己是門徒中的一員,有一天從人群中出來聽耶穌的教導。你需要知道,自己生活在一個被外族統治的小國,人們對這個國家早就心灰意冷。
你在這個被壓迫的小國裏又是被逼迫的一小群。人們懷疑你所跟隨的耶穌,而你們也沒有大教堂,沒有基督徒書籍或名人。
這樣,你就可以進入耶穌那天講道的場景。在一個節慶中,老師叫你離開眾人去見他。他帶你到高處,從山丘講壇俯瞰清晰可見的山下眾生。可能他擡眼望南城方向,他將最終去往那裏,被拒絕、釘死;也可能他以信心的眼睛看見了神的國度,他的福音傳遍萬邦,他以死救贖的子民歸向他。
然後他低頭看追隨他的人,他看到什麼?他沒有看見這個國家著名的宗教領袖,或是有錢有勢的大咖;也沒看見那個時代的哲人,反而看見了12個貧窮落魄的小民,漁夫、稅吏、愛沖動的人,他怎麼能期待這批人幹大事呢?
但奇怪的是,耶穌就是對這些人宣告:“你們是地上的鹽……你們是世界的光”。
這裏就是新約的教導:耶穌是世界的光!但當他進入你生命時,就把你變成了光。當你將信心放在耶穌身上,你就成了光的孩子。神的靈進入你,使你能像防腐的鹽、照亮的光一樣成就屬靈工作。
明白這點後,耶穌宣告了神賜給我們的最強力量,在世上行善,就是改變人!“你們是地上的鹽,你們是世界的光!”耶穌說,這些世人眼中籍籍無名的門徒,是整個世界的鹽,是整個世界的光。這樣的“大話”在第一次說的時候一定讓人覺得自命不凡。耶穌怎能讓這些加利利的草野村夫承擔一個世界使命?但很清楚,耶穌認為他們就是神國度的先行者。耶穌對這些小民說:“你們就是神的鹽和光”!那麼,今天誰又是耶穌的鹽和光呢?
#4: 執行者:所有耶穌的追隨者被差遣到世上,修復破碎的世界
你們的光也應當照耀在人前,使他們看見你們的美好工作,就榮耀你們在天上的父
出於時間原因我不能說太多,耶穌在此給我們非常簡單的指示,去成為有效的鹽和光。
1. 你一定要願意去到破碎的人群中
2. 你在那裏要與眾不同
首先,你一定要願意去到破碎的人群中。建在山上的城是不能隱藏的;人點亮了油燈,也不會放在鬥底下,而會放在燈臺上 (5:14-15)。
鹽和光首先要進入腐敗或黑暗之處才能發揮正能量,必須要接觸它們要影響的對象。你不用把鹽弄鹹,只要確認它是純凈的,並把鹽撒出去,因為誰也吃不消一罐鹽。
你也不用制造光亮,只要讓它去照亮,不要藏在安全窩中,耶穌在我們裏面,他要我們奉他的名去到鄰舍當中,到艱苦的地方。別害怕別人知道你是誰,要知道主在我們裏面,我們也在主裏面。要主動去向主愛的人談論福音,然後看看主如何成就他永恒的救贖之功-- -“我是藉著你而成就的!”所以,我們要成為地上的鹽和世界的光。
第二,當你進入世界時,你一定要與眾不同。鹽如果失去了味道,還能用什麼來把它變成鹹的呢?它再也沒有用處,只好被丟在外面,任人踐踏(5:13)
這裏,耶穌談到一種危險,就是我們可能會像我們身處的敗壞世界一樣。一方面,如果我們躲在教會裏,不去接觸世上的人,我們就無法為主去影響生命;另一方面,若我們去接觸世人,別人卻在我們身上看不出不同,結果不是我們影響世界,而是世界影響我們。
對我而言,現在很容易進入下一個講道系列,就是“基督徒應該做什麼與不應做什麼”。不過我一定要說,你首先要好好查驗自己的生命,確認自己在生活方式上與那些世人有明顯的不同。基督的同在必然在你所做的一切上有明顯的印記。如果你還在和他們一樣的娛樂,做一樣的生意,與黑暗的世界的生活方式別無二致,那一定是哪裏出問題了。
馬太福音5:13-16 能幫助你評估你是怎樣的鹽。在這段經文之前,“登山寶訓”中已經描述了耶穌的性情。讀一下5:3-12,這是耶穌看重的內在品質,使你無論去哪裏,都是一個“作鹽”的人。
測試你是怎樣的鹽
* 完全信靠主 (v.3).
* 為世上的罪與苦難流淚 (v.4).
* 渴慕良善與正確的事 (v.6).
* 提供寬恕和憐憫 (v.7).
* 做和平的使者 (v.9).
耶穌就是這樣的人。因此,改變世界的人,就是進入世上任何環境和破碎之處的人,並在那裏彰顯耶穌的道路。當人們看見了,就知道只有耶穌才能帶來改變,並歸榮耀給天父。
為幫助你培養基督那樣的內在品格,我強烈建議你找到一個成人團契,一個小組或一個課程;並在那裏找到一群與你同行和成長的人,你可以從這裏找到相關信息: www.lakeave.org/smallgroups.
耶穌今天告訴我們,他所選擇的改變世界的方法,就是有一群人,人數不一定多,甚至是“比普通人還不如”的人,成為有基督的樣式,在神讓我們所到之處活出神的道。耶穌差我們去代表他,當我們成為基督那樣與眾不同的人時,我們就帶來了改變。
我盼望你今天敬拜結束後能聽見耶穌的話語,穿越時空,直指人心:
你 ---- 你就是地上的鹽;你----你就是世上的光!
去觸摸生命,去彰顯神的榮耀!
祂的荣耀,
格雷格Waybright博士
主任牧師