Series: The Sermon on The Mount

“Where Would The World Be

Without Christ and The Followers of Christ”

Matthew 5:13-16

Pastor Mark Tankersley

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Matthew 5

13 You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its

taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer

good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled

under people's feet.

14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill

cannot be hidden.

15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket,

but on a stand, and it gives light to all 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 who is in heaven.

The Context Of This Passage

• The Beatitudes that preceded it describe the

character of the Christian

• This passage and those that follow show the

works that will reflect the true character of

the follower of Christ.

What do the metaphors of salt and light communicate to us?

SALT provides preservation, seasoning, and enhancement to

the overall taste and experience of eating. It takes what is

good, and makes it better. Followers of Christ are meant to

bring grace and edification to the world.

The Christian has been transformed, in order to be

transformational.

LIGHT assumes both the presence of darkness and the removal

of darkness. The light in this case is the light of Christ

demonstrated in us through good words and good works and a

good attitude.

• Related Passages:

LIGHT

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be

blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a

crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the

world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may

be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Philippians 2:14-16

SALT

5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the

time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that

you may know how you ought to answer each person. Colossians 4:5

• As we look at Easter in the rear view window,

Let us contemplate the Grace and Light that a resurrected Christ

and a Resurrected Church bring to the world:

Video: DAVID CAMERON, Prime Minister of Britain

Christian are meant to make a difference,

that is the nature of SALT & LIGHT

From: MINISTRIES OF MERCY: The Call of the Jericho Road by Tim Keller

• “When God gave the law to Moses, he was constructing a believing

community in which social righteousness was as required as personal

righteousness and morality. Individual Israelites were forbidden to

harvest all their produce, so the poor could glean from the fields for free”

(Exodus 23:10, 11).

• “These laws given to Moses were the basis for the thundering of the

later prophets, who denounced Israel’s insensitivity to the poor as

breaking covenant with God. They taught that materialism and the

ignoring of the poor’s plight are sins as repugnant as idolatry and

adultery (Amos 2:6,7).

• “Christians are charged to remember the poor (Gal. 2:10) and widows

and orphans (James 1:27), to practice hospitality to strangers (Heb.

13:2), and to denounce materialism (1 Tim. 6:17,18) …

“Not only do all believers have these responsibilities,

but a special class of officers – deacons – is

established to coordinate the church’s ministry of

mercy. This shows that mercy is a mandated work of

the church, just as are the ministry of the Word and

discipline.” Tim Keller

This is one thing our Deacons are working on now … how to

help us as a church go “out there” and bring SALT and LIGHT to

help meet the needs of people in our community and equip them

to help others as well.

The true Church is a group of followers of Jesus who have

been saved and sanctified in order to bring:

Seasoning and Light to a world

depraved and darkened by sin

Is it working?

You Really Want Us to Keep Our Faith to Ourselves?

PRIVATE RELIGION WOULD HURT PUBLIC LIFE

Just like George Bailey was stunned to discover what Bedford Falls

would look like had he “never been born,” I think it may be similarly

shocking to see what the world would look like today without

Christianity’s influence.

For one thing, we wouldn’t have thousands of volunteers working in prisons

to help incarcerated men and women return to their communities as

productive citizens. We’d certainly see fewer hospitals and free clinics. After

all, I’ve seen a lot of Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, and Catholic hospitals,

but I can’t remember any … atheist, or New Age ones, or for that matter

food kitchens, or rescue missions, or adoption agencies, or disaster relief

organizations, or entrepreneurial training programs. And good luck

sustaining free, public education to the millions of students once religious

schools shut their doors. When Christians “keep it to ourselves,” everybody

loses.

Though many in the media don’t get that point, New York Times

columnist Nicholas Kristof does, and good for him. “In liberal

circles,” Kristof recently wrote, “evangelicals constitute one of the

few groups that it’s safe to mock openly. And yet the liberal

caricature of evangelicals,” he continues, “is incomplete and unfair.

But I’ve been truly awed by those I’ve seen in so many remote

places, combating illiteracy and warlords, famine and disease,

humbly struggling to do the Lord’s work as they see it, and it is

offensive to see good people derided.”

by: John Stonestreet

Breakpoint

A Ministry of Chuck Colson

To make his point, Kristof points to just one example. On a recent

trip to the war-torn nation of Angola, he met medical missionary Dr.

Stephen Foster, who has been working there—without the world’s

acclaim—for 37 years. The white-haired doctor, who is now 65, has

stood firm against six-foot cobras, enraged Marxist soldiers, and

horrible health and working conditions. One of his sons contracted

polio; a daughter survived a cerebral hemorrhage. As Kristof relates,

his son Rob says, “For a while I blamed my dad and his high-risk

dedication to others. Today . . . I am no longer bitter or resentful. If

me getting polio meant that thousands of lives were either saved or

immeasurably improved by my father’s work, then so be it.”

• Or consider those like Dr. Kent Brantley or other Christian medical

professionals, who courageously fought and are fighting Ebola at

great personal risk. Should they leave the public square and stop

acting on the basis of their beliefs? Are the guardians of so-called

“civil rights” willing to go in their place?

• Now it’s true that sometimes we Christians undermine our witness

by wrong words and deeds, but it’s also true that we’ve brought a lot

more to our neighbors and communities than many folks realize.

“So like Bedford Falls and George Bailey, our society really will

miss us if we are cowed into a privatized faith that keeps religion

safely inside the four walls of our own churches. Christianity is not

only to be believed; it must be lived—and not just for our own

benefit, but for the good of our neighbors. And now of all times, we

must increase our work of restoration in our communities. But that

doesn’t mean be silent. Like Jesus, let’s be about the business of

sharing it, both in word and in deed. Even when others tell us to

keep it to ourselves.”

by: John Stonestreet

Breakpoint

A Ministry of Chuck Colson

Matthew 5

13 You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its

taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer

good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled

under people's feet.

14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill

cannot be hidden.

15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket,

but on a stand, and it gives light to all 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 who is in heaven.

Is the Gospel working?

Is the Gospel working … in you?

How do we know? How do others know?

Two Events from this past week for me:

~ Visiting some churches to see their facilities

~ On my way to lunch after church on Easter Sundays

~ The Parable of the Good Samaritan ~

Luke 10:25-37

But there is more … the rest of the Sermon on the Mount is coming

What it means to be salt and light in this world

•Dealing with Anger

•Dealing with Lust

•Marriage and Divorce issues

•Keeping promises, avoiding retaliation, loving enemies

•Giving to the needy; prayer and fasting; avoiding materialism

•Overcoming anxiety; not judging people (what this really means)

•The Golden Rule; Heart condition; The real you; Spiritual foundations for the home

•Where would we be without the Resurrected Christ?

•Where would the world be without the Church?

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they

may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is

in heaven.” v. 16

~ So, the gospel is working and the world is a better place with Salt-

Seasoning and Light-bearing followers of Jesus SO,

what are we going to do? ~

~ May it be said of us: “You’re not from around here are you?”