Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Matthew 5:13-20
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  February 5, 2023

Picture a world that’s covered in the deepest of darkness. The darkness covers everyone and everything. But it’s not physical darkness, but spiritual darkness. This world that you see, it’s an ugly place. It’s a world that is rotting. Just being there leaves this bad taste in your mouth because of all of the evil and suffering. The rich beat down on the poor and try to pry every last penny out of their hands. Even though there’s food all around, people are dying of hunger in the streets and the people who see them just walk on by. Lying in the byways are souls so destitute that they can’t afford clothing, but everyone who sees them, even their own family, turns a blind eye. Everywhere you look there are people who feel like God has abandoned them. Some spend their lives pleading that God would show them some kind of love. Others have given up all hope. And even though you haven’t known any other world, deep down you know that this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.

But then you see someone new walking into this world. This person looks like the other people walking around, but it doesn’t take long to notice how different this person is. You see, instead of joining the rich in abusing the poor, this person ignores the rich and sits down in the dirt next to the miserable. When the starving or the naked souls come around, this person always seems to have something to give them. The most hopeless sinners that are cast out by society and feel that God has nothing for them but anger and hatred, this person walks up to them and smiles and says, “Do not be afraid…” and tells them about a God they never knew, a God who would actually call them his sons and daughters. It seems like everywhere this person walks, the darkness of the world disappears and all that is left is the light of God. 

Do you recognize this person? It’s you. It’s the person God made you to be when he called you to faith and wrapped you in Christ’s righteousness. Isaiah talks about what happens when the faith in your heart is lived in your lives: “Then your light will break forth like dawn, and your healing will spring up quickly.” It’s what our Savior is talking about today in his sermon with those simple words: “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world.” Those whom God blesses are blessings to the world. 

We remember Jesus himself saying: “I am the light of the world.” We get that. He’s holy and perfect. He’s true God and true man. Jesus never sinned. He always showed love, always had the courage to call sin a sin and the love to forgive the penitent. Jesus is the light of the world? Of course. But now Jesus turns to his disciples, to you and to me, and he says, “You are…” What’s his point? His point is simple. Light and salt both have a purpose. Light by its very nature is seen. It shows things for what they really are, good and bad. If it didn’t do that, it wouldn’t be light. Salt’s purpose was to preserve things. It helped stop food from rotting and decaying. It preserved the good. If it didn’t do that it wouldn’t be salt. That’s what Jesus says you are for the world.

As you look at yourself, as you see yourself, does this seem accurate? Jesus says you are, that your words and actions have the purpose of preserving the good and showing the truth, but are they? Or perhaps are we sometimes living as anonymous Christians or invisible Christians? Do people see the light or have you put it under a basket? Do you call yourself a Christian, but that’s it?  Are you only a Christian with other Christians? Do we actually shine that light every moment of every day? An honest assessment says that we don’t. We don’t want the attention, we don’t want the ridicule, we don’t want to stand out, we’d much rather blend in. How sad when we don’t seem to be anything close to the salt and light that Jesus calls us to be! Doesn’t he know us?

But that’s the point. Listen again to what he says. “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world.” Jesus doesn’t say, “Try to be the salt of the earth.” Or “If you work hard enough, you will be the light of the world.” He says, You are. He doesn’t say, “Don’t you see? If you just live like this I’ll make you my people. I’ll save you.” He says, “Don’t you see? I’ve saved you. I’ve made you my people.” You are…So Be! 

Remember the world that you imagined? The darkness dispelled by the one walking through bringing light to everyone they met? Did that person look a lot more like Jesus than you? He’s the light. He’s the one who gave perfect witness to the truth and showed perfect love. He’s the one who made a difference in this world. But never forget where he went after all that perfect love. He went to the cross. He showed the world what true light was. His death showed what the price for every sin is. It showed that sin destroys and takes us away from God. His death showed us a God we never knew. A God who loves unconditionally. A God who forgives endlessly. A God who dies for me and for you.

And he’s the one who looks at you now, his forgiven people, and says: You are. And because Jesus says it, it’s true. It’s the wonderful truth Paul confessed when he wrote: “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” You are the light of the world because the light of the world lives in you. That means your life has a purpose. In the same way that salt and light change things, you make a difference in this world. You are…So Be!

Now maybe that feels impossible. The world is massive. The darkness is so widespread and deep. Do you really think you can make a difference? Jesus does. “You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket. No, they put it on a stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. In the same way let your light shine in people’s presence, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” It’s interesting to see Jesus’ illustration here. Do you see how it starts out huge but then narrows down? Maybe your light won’t wrap around the world. And maybe your life will never seem so important to others that you’re like a city lit up on a hill at night that is seen for miles and miles. But you can be a lamp on a stand, giving light to all who are in “your house,” to everyone you come in contact with. When they see you love people who can never pay you back, they’ll see Jesus. When they see your willingness to warn against sin and call people to repentance, they’ll see the truth that sin is serious, that it destroys us. When they see the way you trust in God instead of money, they’ll start to see what it means to know a God who promises to take care of us. And when they see you stumble and fall and when they see you act in a way that isn’t light or salt and isn’t the person that Jesus called you to be, what do they get to see then? They see someone who repents and trusts in God for mercy and forgiveness. And they’ll see Jesus there, too.

The story is told of a homeless man who walked into church. He didn’t look like he belonged–wild hair, ragged clothes, no shoes. On the day he went the church was packed and he couldn’t find a seat. As he got closer to the front, realizing there was no place to sit, he just sat down, right on the carpet. You could cut the tension with a knife. Finally, an older member in his 80’s, wearing a three-piece suit–a very godly man, very dignified–began walking with his cane down the aisle toward him. Everyone was thinking to themselves that you couldn’t blame him for what he was going to do. As he walked towards the man, the church was totally silent, except for the clicking of the can. It was like the whole room was holding its breath. Finally, the man reached him. He drops his cane on the floor. With great difficulty, he lowers himself and sits down next to him and worships with him so he won’t be alone. The old man was salt that day. He was light. 

When you look at the world, what do you see? Do you see the darkness of sin and unbelief? Could you imagine that God loved that world so much that he gave his Son for it, for you? Can you imagine that he loved that world so much that he now gives it to you? You are…So Be! “Let your light shine in people’s presence, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Amen.