Seasoning And Illumination
Preaching
Preaching the Parables
Series II, Cycle A
Object:
"You are the salt of the earth; 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 under foot. 14"You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16In 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. 17"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18For 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. 19Therefore, 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. 20For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
Salt is very important to life. If a person lacks salt, the hunger for it is one of the strongest desires we have. Any farmer knows how cattle will find a salt block and lick it to maintain the proper balance in its body. Salt is so valuable that in some societies it has been used as a medium of exchange, a substitute for money.
In the scripture, light is often used as a symbol for the existence of God. It is frequently used in a variety of ways throughout the Bible. In some cultures the sun was worshiped as a source of life and became a symbol for deity.
Salt and light are universal symbols and so these two brief statements in the Sermon on the Mount have a powerful effect. While Jesus reinterprets the commandments of the Old Testament in the light of his higher understanding, he affirms them and asserts that they will not pass away.
Context
Context of the Church Year
The parable comes early in Jesus' ministry as part of the Sermon on the Mount. The Sunday for this reading is fairly early between Christmas as the celebration of Jesus' birth and Easter as the celebration of his resurrection.
Context of Matthew 5
The passage in Matthew 5:13-16 follows immediately after the Beatitudes as part of the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes are not individual characteristics of Christians. They are a composite of those who are citizens of the kingdom of heaven. The composite is a good description of the person of Jesus himself. Jesus uses the symbols of salt and light to summarize the effect which persons who exhibit the characteristics of the beatitudes have in society.
Context of the Lectionary
The First Lesson. (Isaiah 58:1-9a) The text has as one part the proclamation, "Then your light shall break forth like the dawn" (Isaiah 58:8). Isaiah 58:10 also says, "Then your light shall rise in the darkness." Jesus has echoes of the passage in saying that those who enter the kingdom are the light of the world. In Isaiah the light depends on doing justice, feeding the hungry and meeting the needs of the afflicted.
The Second Lesson. (1 Corinthians 2:1-12) Paul asserts that when he came to the Corinthians he sought to preach nothing but Christ crucified. That is the wisdom that comes from the mystery of God. It is revealed through the spirit of God to the human spirit. It is a gift given to those receptive to hear it.
Gospel. (Matthew 5:13-20) The reading from the gospel includes the beatitudes as well as the two brief similes or parables. The parables are the consequence of those who respond to the call of the presence of the kingdom of God and manifest the characteristics given in the beatitudes.
The Psalm. (Psalm 112:1-9) The theme of light is also found in this passage, "They rise in darkness as a light for the upright, they are gracious, merciful, and righteous." Mercy and righteousness are part of the Beatitudes and such characteristics become light in the believer.
Context of the Scriptures
In Genesis 1:1-3 separating light from darkness is the first activity of God in creation. Jesus in John 8:12 makes the claim, "I am the light of the world." In Isaiah 42:6 Israel is given the challenge, "I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations." In Luke 2:30-32, Simeon sees Jesus as the fulfillment of this demand, "For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for the glory to your people Israel."
Job 6:6 -- Job asks the question, "Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt?
Psalm 119:105 -- The word is described as a lamp to guide.
Jeremiah 25:10 -- The lamp will be banished.
Mark 9:49-50 -- A somewhat parallel passage to Matthew about the salt losing its saltiness.
John 1:4-5 -- Life and light related with light overcoming darkness.
John 8:12 -- "I am the light of the world."
Ephesians 5:8-9 -- Ephesians admonished to be children of light.
1 Thessalonians 5:5 -- Thessalonians called children of light.
2 Peter 1:19 -- The Christians to be as a lamp shining in a dark place.
Context of the Pericope
Both the images of salt and light are not simply consequences for the believers as citizens of the kingdom of heaven. They are the function the citizens have in a world living outside of obedience to God, in darkness. They are the ways in which citizens of the kingdom serve to redeem the world.
Thesis. Citizens of the kingdom of heaven are to be representatives of that kingdom to the world as salt and light.
Theme. Give glory to God by witnessing to the society around us about the kingdom of heaven.
Key Words in the Parable
1. "Salt." (v. 13) Two major functions salt has for the hearers of the parable can be noted. The first was as a flavor. It is one of the four primary tastes. The others are sweet, sour, and bitter. Thus it was a seasoning. The second was as a preservative. In an age which did not have refrigeration it was especially important in keeping food from spoiling.
2. "Earth." (v. 13) It is not to be taken as the physical world, but the entire inhabited world.
3. "Lost its taste." (v. 13) It has to be understood in terms of salt that was not pure sodium chloride. Other impurities were mixed with the salt commonly used. At times the real salt would be so diluted in the mixture that what was left no longer seasoned food. It had the appearance of salt but had lost its saltiness.
4. "Thrown out." (v. 13) That which no longer had enough salt to season or preserve food was discarded. It no longer had the value it was intended to serve.
5. "Trampled under foot." (v. 13) What did you do with the residue that is no longer useful? You had to exercise care in disposing it. It might still have enough chemical reaction to spoil the land used for growing food. It was frequently thrown onto a road or path where it would do no harm and would provide a smooth surface to walk upon.
6. "Light." (vv. 14-15) Light is an elemental need. Without it life would be impossible. All life on earth depends either directly or indirectly on light. The biologists tell us that even the organisms which live so deeply in the ocean that no sunlight penetrates still depend for nourishment on chemical substances that settle down from above. These materials were formed by reactions with light. The ability to store energy from light through photosynthesis is characteristic of all plants and is basic to all living matter on earth. Light was often used in the Bible as contrasted to darkness and as life as opposed to death.
7. "A city built on a hill." (v. 14) This reference suggests the communal nature of the kingdom. It is not "points of light" that matter, but the accumulative nature of the light that is visible to the world and cannot be hid. Christianity is not just a private and inward experience. It is by its nature visible and public in a community with others. The hearers at the time would probably have thought immediately of Jerusalem, the sacred city, in all its splendor.
8. "Lamp." (v. 15) A lamp was the main source of light other than daylight in a Jewish household. It dispelled the darkness and provided illumination. We may be so accustomed to living with lighted streets and houses that it may be hard to realize how central a small lamp might be.
9. "Lampstand." (v. 15) A typical lamp in Jesus' time would be a clay container filled with oil and a wick in it. It would not cast a great amount of light. People placed it on a lampstand so that it would light the whole room, usually only one room for the household. They had to conserve resources so a lamp had to provide maximum usefulness.
10. "Good works." (v. 16) Citizens of the kingdom of heaven are presumed to do good works. They are evidence of the character of the kingdom's members. Good works should be self-evident signs of kingdom citizenship. The beatitudes are not just nice ideals; they should become operational in good works.
11. "Glory." (v. 16) The good works are not an occasion of pride or self-glorification. They reflect to the glory of the head of the kingdom who is the source of the light.
Contemplation
1. Diverse colors. Light has a diversity to it. In its fullness it is seen as white. In a variety of ways it may be broken into its component parts, filtered, or absorbed in part. That gives the wide array of color that we enjoy. In the same way, members of the Christian community in their diversity may offer a variety of color. It is when they are merged into the church that they shine forth in full brilliance of white light.
2. Christians shine. Christians may shine forth in the world in many ways. They may be called to serve the needs of the hungry. They may find that they must bring the good news of the kingdom in opposing injustice or in meeting the needs of the afflicted or the oppressed. They may be called to shed light into lives darkened by enslaving habits of various addictions. They may bear the burdens of those who live in fear, in sickness, in the threat of death.
3. The church in the world. The church may set up institutions and organizations which meet needs and offer alternatives to the usual ways of the world. Churches have been salt and light in establishing hospitals, schools, orphanages, homes for the aged, and other such service institutions. The saltiness often leads the world to adopt and extend these institutions once they are enlightened by the models which the church has provided.
4. Contemporary light and salt. Do the church and its members need to ask in every age how it can be light and salt? How do they provide models of God's intention for the way people ought to live in community and in society? By responding to needs with the guidance of the Holy Spirit the church continues to be salt and light today. With the breakdown of the family, the church needs to demonstrate what a family should be. By its care and support for each other it can illuminate what the family should provide. Where families have broken down, the church can help support those persons who do not find the light in the home.
Homily Hints
1. Salt of the World. (v. 13)
A. Salt as Seasoning. How do members of the kingdom of heaven add taste to the life of the larger society in which they live?
B. Salt as Preservative. The world would fall into total chaos and life would be impossible if people live only for themselves. A society is preserved by those who are willing to serve the interests of the society.
C. From whence Saltiness? People need to have the impurities of life removed to have the full measure of saltiness. It is by submitting life to the cleansing by the sovereign head of the kingdom that full saltiness is possible.
2. Light. (vv.14-16) Light has many functions and characteristics. People need to combine all of them for the fullness of light.
A. Light as warmth and radiance.
B. Light as illumination. It overcomes the darkness around us.
C. Light as color. It is beautiful and lends pleasure to life.
3. Light of the World. (vv. 14-16) We receive the light from a source beyond ourselves, just as the world depends on the light of the sun.
A. The Source of Energy. It is beyond ourselves in Jesus Christ as the light of the world. Just as sunlight provides the source of all our food for the physical body, the light of Christ feeds our spiritual body.
B. Reflected Glory. We are more like the moon than the sun in that its light is only a reflection of the sun. Our light is a reflection of the light we receive from God.
C. Overcoming Darkness. Light dispels the darkness of ignorance, selfishness, and other evils in the world.
4. What Kind of Light. (vv. 14-16) Light shines in different ways. Christians may also have different callings in letting their lights shine.
A. Spotlights. They focus on narrow issues and concentrate the light.
B. Floodlights. They diffuse their light and spread it over a broad area of illumination.
C. Searchlights. They give direction to safe havens as lighthouses or searchlights at airports do.
5. A City on a Hill. (v. 14) The image is of a society. The church is the collective of the individual lights that compose it. Together they shine in a way that individual lights do not.
A. The Darkness of the World
B. The Light of the Church
C. The Light Shining in the World
Contact
Points of Contact
1. No one wants to be discarded. How often people complain that no one pays any attention to them. Or they complain that a spouse never listens to them. People want to be valued. They sometimes express the way they are used as being like a doormat. People walk over them and leave their dirt on them. The question arises as to whether such people have not demonstrated their worth. They do not have self-esteem and do not assert their own value. They are like salt that has lost its tastiness. They need to return to the source of saltiness. They need to realize their worth as children of God and manifest the saltiness that comes as they are empowered by the Holy Spirit to show forth their value to themselves, to others and to God.
2. Light usually indicates the presence of God in the scriptures. People need guidance and understanding to make sense of life. Children are afraid in the dark. They want a light left on to chase away the monsters of their imagination. God's light illuminates the darkness of the world. It makes sense of the chaos around us. Without light people stumble and bump into objects. In a real way, without the light of God people stumble and fall in a world of darkness. They need the light to find their way to life and to avoid the death of the soul. Light makes visible God's will so that they may know and follow it.
3. A lamp was put on a lampstand in a Palestinian home. It was raised up so that it could better illuminate a room. People who have a false sense of modesty hide their light under a bushel. They do not let people know what abilities they have for fear they will have to accept more responsibilities. They may also be afraid to let people know that they are Christians. They risk giving offense or being given a hard time by those who are not Christian. Thereby they let their light be hidden. People need to be encouraged to put their lamps on a lampstand and let the light shine to the glory of God.
Points to Ponder
1. Salt when supplied in excess is not a good seasoning. If you put too much salt in food, it is no longer tasty. Try eating a tablespoon of salt alone. Or if you put salt in a fertile field, it is no longer fertile. The allies broke the dikes and let in the sea on the Island of Walchern in the Netherlands when they invaded the mainland of Europe in World War II. After the war the Dutch repaired the dikes and pumped out the salty water from the sea. It took several years of flushing the land with fresh water before it could be cultivated again.
When do Christians by use of wrong methods and self-righteous attitudes no longer serve as the salt of the earth? When do they become obnoxious and repulsive? Do they lose their saltiness when they impose standards of behavior on people by force because the people do not have the motivation and empowerment of the Holy Spirit to do what is demanded?
2. When does the light no longer illuminate? The story is told of a certain teacher who used brilliance not to enlighten but to dazzle. When you drive at night, you are advised not to look into the headlights of oncoming cars. If you do you will be blinded. You should look at the right side of the road and watch the oncoming car with peripheral vision.
It is a temptation when we use truth without love to dazzle people with the display of our light. Our truth should be tempered with love so as to enlighten those coming out of darkness.
Illustrative Materials
1. Living in Darkness. Not often do we experience total darkness. In the depth of the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky you can experience total darkness. Fish who live in the waters in total darkness never develop eyes, so they have no sight. Persons who live in moral darkness do not develop sight and insight.
2. Sight while Blind. Helen Keller once was traveling through Connecticut. She commented that someone was using yellow paint. At first those traveling with her did not believe that, since she was blind, she could know that someone was painting with yellow paint. Then suddenly they realized that the strip in the center of the highway had recently been painted. She could "see" while blind!
3. Excess saltiness. Several fellows were living together while working on a job. They had made an agreement among themselves that they would take turns cooking. Anyone who complained about the food would next be the cook. The fellow who first started got tired of cooking and no one was making any complaints. He decided to force a complaint. In cooking rice he added a whole cup of salt to make it too salty. As they ate, one of the fellows could no longer keep silent. Finally he said, "This rice is sure salty," and then after a moment's hesitation added, "but that's the way I like it!"
4. Light in the Dark. Some fellows were at a camp in the mountains. One Sunday when they had free time four of them decided to go hiking. They took longer than expected and got off the trail as it turned dark. They got to the crest of a mountain and could see the light of the camp off in the distance, still two or three miles away. They decided to stay for the night since they could not see their way ahead and were not on a trail. In the morning they awoke and moved toward the camp. Just a short distance ahead of them in line with the camp, they suddenly saw a cliff over which they would probably have stumbled if they had continued without daylight to show the way.
5. Salt of the Earth. When the Roman Empire was collapsing under the assault from the migrating tribes sweeping down from eastern Europe, some blamed the Christians for their troubles. They claimed that the Christians had offended the gods of Rome. Augustine of Hippo contended instead, and in fact it was, that the church preserved civilization and eventually brought the invading tribes into it.
6. Artificial Light. In Tucson, Arizona, the city has regulations against light pollution. The street lights are covered so that the light does not go into the sky. It is quite a contrast with Phoenix with all its garish neon signs along business areas. Tucson has regulations against light pollution because a major telescope is located on a nearby mountain. If all the artificial light of the city brightened the sky, it would obscure the natural lights from the stars. Do the artificial lights of the cities of the world obscure the brightness and glory of the natural light proceeding from God through Christ?
Salt is very important to life. If a person lacks salt, the hunger for it is one of the strongest desires we have. Any farmer knows how cattle will find a salt block and lick it to maintain the proper balance in its body. Salt is so valuable that in some societies it has been used as a medium of exchange, a substitute for money.
In the scripture, light is often used as a symbol for the existence of God. It is frequently used in a variety of ways throughout the Bible. In some cultures the sun was worshiped as a source of life and became a symbol for deity.
Salt and light are universal symbols and so these two brief statements in the Sermon on the Mount have a powerful effect. While Jesus reinterprets the commandments of the Old Testament in the light of his higher understanding, he affirms them and asserts that they will not pass away.
Context
Context of the Church Year
The parable comes early in Jesus' ministry as part of the Sermon on the Mount. The Sunday for this reading is fairly early between Christmas as the celebration of Jesus' birth and Easter as the celebration of his resurrection.
Context of Matthew 5
The passage in Matthew 5:13-16 follows immediately after the Beatitudes as part of the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes are not individual characteristics of Christians. They are a composite of those who are citizens of the kingdom of heaven. The composite is a good description of the person of Jesus himself. Jesus uses the symbols of salt and light to summarize the effect which persons who exhibit the characteristics of the beatitudes have in society.
Context of the Lectionary
The First Lesson. (Isaiah 58:1-9a) The text has as one part the proclamation, "Then your light shall break forth like the dawn" (Isaiah 58:8). Isaiah 58:10 also says, "Then your light shall rise in the darkness." Jesus has echoes of the passage in saying that those who enter the kingdom are the light of the world. In Isaiah the light depends on doing justice, feeding the hungry and meeting the needs of the afflicted.
The Second Lesson. (1 Corinthians 2:1-12) Paul asserts that when he came to the Corinthians he sought to preach nothing but Christ crucified. That is the wisdom that comes from the mystery of God. It is revealed through the spirit of God to the human spirit. It is a gift given to those receptive to hear it.
Gospel. (Matthew 5:13-20) The reading from the gospel includes the beatitudes as well as the two brief similes or parables. The parables are the consequence of those who respond to the call of the presence of the kingdom of God and manifest the characteristics given in the beatitudes.
The Psalm. (Psalm 112:1-9) The theme of light is also found in this passage, "They rise in darkness as a light for the upright, they are gracious, merciful, and righteous." Mercy and righteousness are part of the Beatitudes and such characteristics become light in the believer.
Context of the Scriptures
In Genesis 1:1-3 separating light from darkness is the first activity of God in creation. Jesus in John 8:12 makes the claim, "I am the light of the world." In Isaiah 42:6 Israel is given the challenge, "I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations." In Luke 2:30-32, Simeon sees Jesus as the fulfillment of this demand, "For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for the glory to your people Israel."
Job 6:6 -- Job asks the question, "Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt?
Psalm 119:105 -- The word is described as a lamp to guide.
Jeremiah 25:10 -- The lamp will be banished.
Mark 9:49-50 -- A somewhat parallel passage to Matthew about the salt losing its saltiness.
John 1:4-5 -- Life and light related with light overcoming darkness.
John 8:12 -- "I am the light of the world."
Ephesians 5:8-9 -- Ephesians admonished to be children of light.
1 Thessalonians 5:5 -- Thessalonians called children of light.
2 Peter 1:19 -- The Christians to be as a lamp shining in a dark place.
Context of the Pericope
Both the images of salt and light are not simply consequences for the believers as citizens of the kingdom of heaven. They are the function the citizens have in a world living outside of obedience to God, in darkness. They are the ways in which citizens of the kingdom serve to redeem the world.
Thesis. Citizens of the kingdom of heaven are to be representatives of that kingdom to the world as salt and light.
Theme. Give glory to God by witnessing to the society around us about the kingdom of heaven.
Key Words in the Parable
1. "Salt." (v. 13) Two major functions salt has for the hearers of the parable can be noted. The first was as a flavor. It is one of the four primary tastes. The others are sweet, sour, and bitter. Thus it was a seasoning. The second was as a preservative. In an age which did not have refrigeration it was especially important in keeping food from spoiling.
2. "Earth." (v. 13) It is not to be taken as the physical world, but the entire inhabited world.
3. "Lost its taste." (v. 13) It has to be understood in terms of salt that was not pure sodium chloride. Other impurities were mixed with the salt commonly used. At times the real salt would be so diluted in the mixture that what was left no longer seasoned food. It had the appearance of salt but had lost its saltiness.
4. "Thrown out." (v. 13) That which no longer had enough salt to season or preserve food was discarded. It no longer had the value it was intended to serve.
5. "Trampled under foot." (v. 13) What did you do with the residue that is no longer useful? You had to exercise care in disposing it. It might still have enough chemical reaction to spoil the land used for growing food. It was frequently thrown onto a road or path where it would do no harm and would provide a smooth surface to walk upon.
6. "Light." (vv. 14-15) Light is an elemental need. Without it life would be impossible. All life on earth depends either directly or indirectly on light. The biologists tell us that even the organisms which live so deeply in the ocean that no sunlight penetrates still depend for nourishment on chemical substances that settle down from above. These materials were formed by reactions with light. The ability to store energy from light through photosynthesis is characteristic of all plants and is basic to all living matter on earth. Light was often used in the Bible as contrasted to darkness and as life as opposed to death.
7. "A city built on a hill." (v. 14) This reference suggests the communal nature of the kingdom. It is not "points of light" that matter, but the accumulative nature of the light that is visible to the world and cannot be hid. Christianity is not just a private and inward experience. It is by its nature visible and public in a community with others. The hearers at the time would probably have thought immediately of Jerusalem, the sacred city, in all its splendor.
8. "Lamp." (v. 15) A lamp was the main source of light other than daylight in a Jewish household. It dispelled the darkness and provided illumination. We may be so accustomed to living with lighted streets and houses that it may be hard to realize how central a small lamp might be.
9. "Lampstand." (v. 15) A typical lamp in Jesus' time would be a clay container filled with oil and a wick in it. It would not cast a great amount of light. People placed it on a lampstand so that it would light the whole room, usually only one room for the household. They had to conserve resources so a lamp had to provide maximum usefulness.
10. "Good works." (v. 16) Citizens of the kingdom of heaven are presumed to do good works. They are evidence of the character of the kingdom's members. Good works should be self-evident signs of kingdom citizenship. The beatitudes are not just nice ideals; they should become operational in good works.
11. "Glory." (v. 16) The good works are not an occasion of pride or self-glorification. They reflect to the glory of the head of the kingdom who is the source of the light.
Contemplation
1. Diverse colors. Light has a diversity to it. In its fullness it is seen as white. In a variety of ways it may be broken into its component parts, filtered, or absorbed in part. That gives the wide array of color that we enjoy. In the same way, members of the Christian community in their diversity may offer a variety of color. It is when they are merged into the church that they shine forth in full brilliance of white light.
2. Christians shine. Christians may shine forth in the world in many ways. They may be called to serve the needs of the hungry. They may find that they must bring the good news of the kingdom in opposing injustice or in meeting the needs of the afflicted or the oppressed. They may be called to shed light into lives darkened by enslaving habits of various addictions. They may bear the burdens of those who live in fear, in sickness, in the threat of death.
3. The church in the world. The church may set up institutions and organizations which meet needs and offer alternatives to the usual ways of the world. Churches have been salt and light in establishing hospitals, schools, orphanages, homes for the aged, and other such service institutions. The saltiness often leads the world to adopt and extend these institutions once they are enlightened by the models which the church has provided.
4. Contemporary light and salt. Do the church and its members need to ask in every age how it can be light and salt? How do they provide models of God's intention for the way people ought to live in community and in society? By responding to needs with the guidance of the Holy Spirit the church continues to be salt and light today. With the breakdown of the family, the church needs to demonstrate what a family should be. By its care and support for each other it can illuminate what the family should provide. Where families have broken down, the church can help support those persons who do not find the light in the home.
Homily Hints
1. Salt of the World. (v. 13)
A. Salt as Seasoning. How do members of the kingdom of heaven add taste to the life of the larger society in which they live?
B. Salt as Preservative. The world would fall into total chaos and life would be impossible if people live only for themselves. A society is preserved by those who are willing to serve the interests of the society.
C. From whence Saltiness? People need to have the impurities of life removed to have the full measure of saltiness. It is by submitting life to the cleansing by the sovereign head of the kingdom that full saltiness is possible.
2. Light. (vv.14-16) Light has many functions and characteristics. People need to combine all of them for the fullness of light.
A. Light as warmth and radiance.
B. Light as illumination. It overcomes the darkness around us.
C. Light as color. It is beautiful and lends pleasure to life.
3. Light of the World. (vv. 14-16) We receive the light from a source beyond ourselves, just as the world depends on the light of the sun.
A. The Source of Energy. It is beyond ourselves in Jesus Christ as the light of the world. Just as sunlight provides the source of all our food for the physical body, the light of Christ feeds our spiritual body.
B. Reflected Glory. We are more like the moon than the sun in that its light is only a reflection of the sun. Our light is a reflection of the light we receive from God.
C. Overcoming Darkness. Light dispels the darkness of ignorance, selfishness, and other evils in the world.
4. What Kind of Light. (vv. 14-16) Light shines in different ways. Christians may also have different callings in letting their lights shine.
A. Spotlights. They focus on narrow issues and concentrate the light.
B. Floodlights. They diffuse their light and spread it over a broad area of illumination.
C. Searchlights. They give direction to safe havens as lighthouses or searchlights at airports do.
5. A City on a Hill. (v. 14) The image is of a society. The church is the collective of the individual lights that compose it. Together they shine in a way that individual lights do not.
A. The Darkness of the World
B. The Light of the Church
C. The Light Shining in the World
Contact
Points of Contact
1. No one wants to be discarded. How often people complain that no one pays any attention to them. Or they complain that a spouse never listens to them. People want to be valued. They sometimes express the way they are used as being like a doormat. People walk over them and leave their dirt on them. The question arises as to whether such people have not demonstrated their worth. They do not have self-esteem and do not assert their own value. They are like salt that has lost its tastiness. They need to return to the source of saltiness. They need to realize their worth as children of God and manifest the saltiness that comes as they are empowered by the Holy Spirit to show forth their value to themselves, to others and to God.
2. Light usually indicates the presence of God in the scriptures. People need guidance and understanding to make sense of life. Children are afraid in the dark. They want a light left on to chase away the monsters of their imagination. God's light illuminates the darkness of the world. It makes sense of the chaos around us. Without light people stumble and bump into objects. In a real way, without the light of God people stumble and fall in a world of darkness. They need the light to find their way to life and to avoid the death of the soul. Light makes visible God's will so that they may know and follow it.
3. A lamp was put on a lampstand in a Palestinian home. It was raised up so that it could better illuminate a room. People who have a false sense of modesty hide their light under a bushel. They do not let people know what abilities they have for fear they will have to accept more responsibilities. They may also be afraid to let people know that they are Christians. They risk giving offense or being given a hard time by those who are not Christian. Thereby they let their light be hidden. People need to be encouraged to put their lamps on a lampstand and let the light shine to the glory of God.
Points to Ponder
1. Salt when supplied in excess is not a good seasoning. If you put too much salt in food, it is no longer tasty. Try eating a tablespoon of salt alone. Or if you put salt in a fertile field, it is no longer fertile. The allies broke the dikes and let in the sea on the Island of Walchern in the Netherlands when they invaded the mainland of Europe in World War II. After the war the Dutch repaired the dikes and pumped out the salty water from the sea. It took several years of flushing the land with fresh water before it could be cultivated again.
When do Christians by use of wrong methods and self-righteous attitudes no longer serve as the salt of the earth? When do they become obnoxious and repulsive? Do they lose their saltiness when they impose standards of behavior on people by force because the people do not have the motivation and empowerment of the Holy Spirit to do what is demanded?
2. When does the light no longer illuminate? The story is told of a certain teacher who used brilliance not to enlighten but to dazzle. When you drive at night, you are advised not to look into the headlights of oncoming cars. If you do you will be blinded. You should look at the right side of the road and watch the oncoming car with peripheral vision.
It is a temptation when we use truth without love to dazzle people with the display of our light. Our truth should be tempered with love so as to enlighten those coming out of darkness.
Illustrative Materials
1. Living in Darkness. Not often do we experience total darkness. In the depth of the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky you can experience total darkness. Fish who live in the waters in total darkness never develop eyes, so they have no sight. Persons who live in moral darkness do not develop sight and insight.
2. Sight while Blind. Helen Keller once was traveling through Connecticut. She commented that someone was using yellow paint. At first those traveling with her did not believe that, since she was blind, she could know that someone was painting with yellow paint. Then suddenly they realized that the strip in the center of the highway had recently been painted. She could "see" while blind!
3. Excess saltiness. Several fellows were living together while working on a job. They had made an agreement among themselves that they would take turns cooking. Anyone who complained about the food would next be the cook. The fellow who first started got tired of cooking and no one was making any complaints. He decided to force a complaint. In cooking rice he added a whole cup of salt to make it too salty. As they ate, one of the fellows could no longer keep silent. Finally he said, "This rice is sure salty," and then after a moment's hesitation added, "but that's the way I like it!"
4. Light in the Dark. Some fellows were at a camp in the mountains. One Sunday when they had free time four of them decided to go hiking. They took longer than expected and got off the trail as it turned dark. They got to the crest of a mountain and could see the light of the camp off in the distance, still two or three miles away. They decided to stay for the night since they could not see their way ahead and were not on a trail. In the morning they awoke and moved toward the camp. Just a short distance ahead of them in line with the camp, they suddenly saw a cliff over which they would probably have stumbled if they had continued without daylight to show the way.
5. Salt of the Earth. When the Roman Empire was collapsing under the assault from the migrating tribes sweeping down from eastern Europe, some blamed the Christians for their troubles. They claimed that the Christians had offended the gods of Rome. Augustine of Hippo contended instead, and in fact it was, that the church preserved civilization and eventually brought the invading tribes into it.
6. Artificial Light. In Tucson, Arizona, the city has regulations against light pollution. The street lights are covered so that the light does not go into the sky. It is quite a contrast with Phoenix with all its garish neon signs along business areas. Tucson has regulations against light pollution because a major telescope is located on a nearby mountain. If all the artificial light of the city brightened the sky, it would obscure the natural lights from the stars. Do the artificial lights of the cities of the world obscure the brightness and glory of the natural light proceeding from God through Christ?
