SALT & LIGHT
Part 2 - Matthew 5:13-16
So, who are the followers of Christ?
First of all, they are the blessed ones. They are those who enjoy God's
blessing. They follow The Blessed One, Christ Himself. Their blessing is seen
here on earth in their poverty of spirit, mourning over sin, evil, and death,
aching for righteousness, seeking to bring about shalom, looking for how God is
connected to all that is around them, being merciful, etc. As we have seen,
this is also how we see Christ's blessedness, for all these characteristics are
first true of Him. Second, though, the followers of Christ are the persecuted
ones, following The Persecuted One. By God they are blessed, by the world they
are resisted. Even though the
The world doesn't feel like home to
those in God's kingdom. Jesus tells them that is
because they are not a part of the world. Rather as members of His kingdom,
they have a special relationship with the world. They are salt. Salt is not the
food. It is put on the food for the purpose of flavoring or preserving. It
benefits the food by its presence. In some way then, our presence in the world
is for its benefit, regardless of the way the world may treat us. We have not
been taken out of this broken world because our presence here makes a
difference for the better. God's kingdom through us is preserving and bringing
out the best of this fallen, sinful world.
"You are the light of the
world," Jesus tells His followers. This image, like the previous one,
tells us that this world is not our home. This world is darkness. We are light.
We can shine into the darkness, but we are not the darkness. Light provides a
way to see in darkness, a way to come out of the darkness. Without light, there
is no way to turn from the darkness, to consider any alternative to it. So our
being the light of the world means that we are still here, enduring resistance
and often great persecution, because we point to a way out of the darkness.
These are amazing statements Jesus
is making to His followers. First of all, He is telling them that this world is
not their home. Actually, He has been telling them this all along. No wonder
the characteristics of the blessed are not what we would immediately expect! Because these are the blessed of God, not the blessed of or by this
world. And all these characteristics, as we have seen, are about longing
for what cannot be found readily on this fallen earth. Now with these images of
salt and light, Jesus helps His followers to see more clearly their real
relationship to the world around them. No wonder I don't feel like I fit
here--I don't. I can't find my peace, identity and life in the world because I
am not of the world. But somehow my being in the world has a benefit to the
world. In my blessedness, I am a blessing to the world even if it resists!
Does the world recognize me as a
blessing? No. As we have already seen, the world will often react in a defensive
or hostile manner. But the world's response does not tell me the truth of who I am and why I am here. We are salt and light already.
We are not salt and light only when the world recognizes us as such.
After both of these images Jesus
makes some comments about being ineffective as salt and light. He tells His
followers that salt that has lost its taste is no longer any good. It has lost
its whole purpose as salt. Without its taste, salt is unable to be salt. In the
section after telling them they are the light of the world, Jesus speaks of the
uselessness of hiding one's light. You might as well not have a light if you
are going to cover it up because then it cannot function as it ought.
What is Jesus saying here? In order
to understand how we might loose our saltiness or hide our light it would be
helpful to consider how it is that we are salt and light. Since this
immediately follows the beatitudes, it seems clear that we are salt and light
in our blessedness. That is, we are salt and light when we are poor in spirit,
mourning, meek, hungering after righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, making
peace, and being persecuted for Jesus' sake. When we live in our poverty of
spirit, etc. we point to the truth that we are created to find our real comfort,
home, peace, and life in God. And we are salt and light to the world in our
blessedness because they too were not created to find their identity and life
here in this fallen world. We are all created to find our true joy, the
fulfillment of our deepest longings in knowing our Creator. (to
be continued)
David Jones with excerpts from CD