WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:07.520 We're going to read the Bible together from the New Testament, Matthew chapter 5, verses 00:00:07.520 --> 00:00:08.740 13 to 16. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:20.199 Matthew chapter 5, verses 13 to 16, and this is towards the beginning of the Sermon on 00:00:20.199 --> 00:00:23.960 the Mount, and this is God's holy word. 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:53.939 Jesus says, 00:00:53.960 --> 00:01:03.679 This is God's holy word. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:04.200 Let's pray. 00:01:04.840 --> 00:01:09.379 Lord, we ask that as we look at this text for a few minutes and think about it together, 00:01:10.240 --> 00:01:11.500 that you would speak. 00:01:12.420 --> 00:01:14.500 So we pray, Lord, for illumination. 00:01:14.500 --> 00:01:20.060 We ask that the Holy Spirit would come and accompany this word, this sermon, and that 00:01:20.060 --> 00:01:23.960 you would change us, you would affect us, you would not leave us as we are. 00:01:24.519 --> 00:01:30.519 So we pray that the Holy Spirit would make powerful these moments as we think about this very important 00:01:30.519 --> 00:01:30.960 passage. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:32.539 And we pray this in Jesus' name. 00:01:32.939 --> 00:01:33.159 Amen. 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:33.239 Amen. 00:01:35.039 --> 00:01:39.640 So last, a couple weeks ago actually, we started a series on the Sermon on the Mount for this 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:40.099 semester. 00:01:40.859 --> 00:01:43.739 And the past two weeks we've been looking at the Beatitudes. 00:01:43.739 --> 00:01:47.699 And just a very quick general overview of the Beatitudes. 00:01:48.619 --> 00:01:55.679 And one of the ways that we framed the Beatitudes, these eight ways Jesus talks about to live a 00:01:55.679 --> 00:01:56.399 blessed life. 00:01:57.239 --> 00:02:03.159 One of the ways we framed it was to say that Jesus there gives you a description of the beautiful 00:02:03.159 --> 00:02:05.179 life, a life of beauty. 00:02:06.080 --> 00:02:14.659 So a beautiful life is a life where truth, the truth himself, tells you what it means to seek the good. 00:02:15.640 --> 00:02:20.099 And if you do that, if you have truth and goodness, you have a changed heart because of Jesus, good 00:02:20.099 --> 00:02:27.040 intention, glory of God, and you do it in the truth, in the light of the word, the truth himself speaking, 00:02:27.580 --> 00:02:28.879 you've got a beautiful life. 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:32.460 And the Beatitudes give you that picture of what it means to live a life of beauty. 00:02:32.460 --> 00:02:38.120 And so today we turn to what is, that's, the Beatitudes is the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount. 00:02:38.520 --> 00:02:45.159 And now Jesus week by week will give you topical sermons on all sorts of different things, on how to 00:02:45.159 --> 00:02:50.800 live, what it means to live a changed life, a life that looks like you're a citizen in the kingdom of God. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:57.020 And as you read, as we read, this week is about being salt and light. 00:02:57.580 --> 00:02:59.240 These two metaphors, salt and light. 00:02:59.540 --> 00:03:00.480 So let's think about it. 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:04.840 We're going to have the Lord's Supper in a few minutes, so we'll think about it briefly. 00:03:05.959 --> 00:03:10.639 And it is, Jesus teaches us here, first that the world needs salt and light. 00:03:12.339 --> 00:03:16.839 And then that there is the salt and light, the salt and light we really need. 00:03:17.419 --> 00:03:22.500 And then lastly, how to live a life as salt and light, the call to be salt and light. 00:03:23.099 --> 00:03:24.599 So what is this, what are these metaphors? 00:03:24.739 --> 00:03:25.560 That's really the question. 00:03:25.899 --> 00:03:26.439 What are they about? 00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:28.400 Let's look at it for a minute together. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:29.840 The world needs salt and light. 00:03:30.859 --> 00:03:36.159 Now Jesus gives here, in the Sermon on the Mount, some people have called it a cosmic sermon. 00:03:36.300 --> 00:03:37.939 He's talking about the kingdom. 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:40.579 He's talking about the worldwide kingdom. 00:03:40.580 --> 00:03:48.240 And in the first century, the very first metaphor he chooses to describe life in the kingdom, life as a kingdom citizen, is salt. 00:03:49.020 --> 00:03:52.480 And in the first century, salt is a preserving agent. 00:03:53.220 --> 00:03:56.540 So you use salt to keep your meat from going bad. 00:03:57.040 --> 00:04:01.320 You use salt as your refrigeration system in the first century. 00:04:01.319 --> 00:04:07.959 And that means that Jesus is telling us something underneath that idea. 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:13.120 If everybody in the first century looked at salt and thought, that's how I keep my food from going bad. 00:04:13.639 --> 00:04:14.659 What is Jesus saying? 00:04:14.819 --> 00:04:16.959 He's saying the world needs salt. 00:04:18.120 --> 00:04:19.360 It needs preservation. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:25.939 And that means he's suggesting to us that we live in a world of decay and corruption. 00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:29.699 And that we live in a world where everything is breaking down. 00:04:30.100 --> 00:04:30.379 Everything. 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:39.379 And people used to say, in the 19th century, it was popular for people to say, we are in an industrial age. 00:04:39.840 --> 00:04:41.319 In an age after the enlightenment. 00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:43.139 And in this age, we're going to make progress. 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:45.379 And we're going to reach utopia. 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:46.980 And everything is going to be amazing. 00:04:46.980 --> 00:04:48.220 And technology advances. 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:51.980 And we'll see the realization of this wonderful society. 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:53.740 And then the 20th century came. 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:56.759 And it was the bloodiest century on record. 00:04:57.460 --> 00:04:58.480 The worst wars. 00:04:59.020 --> 00:05:02.860 And then we realized generation after generation, no matter how much good technology we got. 00:05:03.780 --> 00:05:06.180 No matter how many more screens we make. 00:05:06.900 --> 00:05:08.520 That we're not making progress. 00:05:09.700 --> 00:05:10.700 Everything's decaying. 00:05:11.140 --> 00:05:12.000 Everything's falling apart. 00:05:13.180 --> 00:05:15.060 And I read in high school. 00:05:15.060 --> 00:05:20.120 And when I say, I read in high school, that's very loose use of the term read. 00:05:20.939 --> 00:05:24.699 In high school, I was assigned a book to read that you probably have heard of. 00:05:24.759 --> 00:05:28.639 Chinua Chibis, the African writer, Things Fall Apart. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:31.519 And I remember so much of that book. 00:05:31.860 --> 00:05:32.139 No. 00:05:32.300 --> 00:05:33.220 I don't remember anything. 00:05:34.699 --> 00:05:36.000 Because I was a high schooler. 00:05:36.060 --> 00:05:37.000 And I didn't read my books. 00:05:37.399 --> 00:05:39.480 If you're a high schooler here, you should read your books. 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:42.120 But I do remember the title. 00:05:42.220 --> 00:05:43.939 And the title is very famous, Things Fall Apart. 00:05:44.860 --> 00:05:46.680 And that title sticks with anybody. 00:05:47.280 --> 00:05:49.300 And I'm sure the book lays that out very clearly. 00:05:51.800 --> 00:05:53.060 But things do fall apart. 00:05:53.200 --> 00:05:54.080 That's a way to say it. 00:05:54.140 --> 00:05:55.120 That's what Jesus is saying. 00:05:55.280 --> 00:05:56.240 Things fall apart. 00:05:56.420 --> 00:05:57.280 Everything falls apart. 00:05:58.040 --> 00:05:59.319 Physically, we are falling apart. 00:05:59.319 --> 00:06:04.199 And eventually, every single part of who we are will decay. 00:06:05.019 --> 00:06:05.459 Physically. 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:11.159 And relationally, it's very, very hard to keep relationships intact. 00:06:12.259 --> 00:06:13.379 Relationships tend to fall apart. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:16.879 And if you're not constantly pulling the weeds up from your relationships, 00:06:17.100 --> 00:06:18.039 they're probably going to fall apart. 00:06:19.300 --> 00:06:22.639 And scientifically, we know that it's also true. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:29.800 The second law of thermodynamics, which says science people, who know better than me about this, 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:34.000 that everything is moving into a state of disorder, away from order. 00:06:34.099 --> 00:06:35.719 All things move towards disorder, not order. 00:06:36.479 --> 00:06:39.060 And the second law of thermodynamics tells us, apparently, 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:43.939 that in 10 to the 26th power of years from now, the sun will explode. 00:06:44.599 --> 00:06:46.800 And we will experience either heat death or cold death. 00:06:47.979 --> 00:06:48.060 Right? 00:06:49.459 --> 00:06:50.819 It's that everything's falling apart. 00:06:50.819 --> 00:06:54.360 And we could talk about it in every single category of existence. 00:06:54.659 --> 00:06:59.579 So politically, as soon as somebody takes power in office, a new government comes in, 00:07:00.139 --> 00:07:03.360 that day one is the first day towards the day of their demise. 00:07:04.259 --> 00:07:04.399 Right? 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:05.740 Everything's falling apart. 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:07.459 Every time an empire comes into power, 00:07:07.899 --> 00:07:11.659 the first day of the empire is the first day towards the time when it will cease. 00:07:12.339 --> 00:07:13.399 It won't last. 00:07:13.500 --> 00:07:14.120 Nothing lasts. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:14.879 Everything decays. 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:19.439 And so Jesus is saying here that the world needs preservation. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:19.879 Salt. 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:20.800 Salt. 00:07:21.939 --> 00:07:23.560 Because everything is falling apart. 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:28.300 And there's something very wrong with this life. 00:07:28.540 --> 00:07:29.620 And I think we all know that. 00:07:29.779 --> 00:07:33.420 No matter what background we come from, no matter what traditions we come from. 00:07:34.259 --> 00:07:39.139 And so he's saying here, he's assuming here, there is a fix. 00:07:40.620 --> 00:07:41.659 There is preservation. 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:42.560 There is a hope. 00:07:43.280 --> 00:07:44.139 So secondly, what is it? 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:45.560 The salt, the light. 00:07:46.540 --> 00:07:49.759 Now, it's very clear in this passage that Jesus is talking to disciples. 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:51.339 He's talking to followers of Jesus. 00:07:51.819 --> 00:07:54.939 And he's saying to them, you have got to go and be salt and light. 00:07:55.500 --> 00:08:01.160 But again, just like when he says the world needs help and hope because it's under decay, 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:02.759 that's the presupposition. 00:08:02.840 --> 00:08:04.480 That's underneath his claim. 00:08:04.920 --> 00:08:06.560 There's also something else here that's underneath. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:13.500 And that's that he's assuming the salt, the light, the true agent of preservation. 00:08:14.780 --> 00:08:15.740 Who's talking here? 00:08:15.819 --> 00:08:16.360 It's Jesus. 00:08:17.740 --> 00:08:22.700 And while he's calling on us to be salt and light, and we'll get to that in just a moment. 00:08:23.939 --> 00:08:27.819 You know, he's saying to us, if you're a Christian, you're a lamp. 00:08:27.980 --> 00:08:29.220 That's the exact word he uses. 00:08:29.300 --> 00:08:29.800 You're a lamp. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:30.740 You're not the sun. 00:08:30.740 --> 00:08:33.039 You know, what do lamps do? 00:08:33.139 --> 00:08:33.379 They don't. 00:08:34.460 --> 00:08:35.200 What does the moon do? 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:35.700 You're the moon. 00:08:35.779 --> 00:08:36.299 You're not the sun. 00:08:36.379 --> 00:08:37.039 You reflect. 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:39.200 But you're not the source of light. 00:08:39.379 --> 00:08:40.620 You're not the origin of that light. 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:41.500 No, not at all. 00:08:42.840 --> 00:08:43.960 There's got to be something more. 00:08:44.039 --> 00:08:45.039 Who can fix the decay? 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:48.200 Who can stop the problem that we face? 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:49.460 The great decay. 00:08:49.940 --> 00:08:51.120 The great decay of our bodies. 00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:53.180 The great decay of all empire and government. 00:08:53.320 --> 00:08:55.419 The great decay of everything around us. 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:56.879 Who can stop it? 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:01.019 And we saw last week that it's Jesus that's giving the Sermon on the Mount. 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:13.399 And if you were here, if you weren't here last week, I can just very briefly say that one of the ways Matthew presents the Sermon on the Mount is that he presents Jesus as this true and better Moses. 00:09:14.340 --> 00:09:18.019 Who comes up at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount and stands on the mountain. 00:09:18.019 --> 00:09:25.000 And it says that he sits down in authority and he opens his mouth and he speaks and he gives this new law. 00:09:25.439 --> 00:09:26.279 The law of the kingdom. 00:09:26.659 --> 00:09:28.139 Just like Moses went up the mountain. 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:32.259 But when Moses went up the mountain, boy, he didn't sit down. 00:09:32.340 --> 00:09:33.000 He didn't have authority. 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:35.360 He heard the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament. 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:36.759 And then delivered them. 00:09:37.460 --> 00:09:42.019 But in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus goes up the mountain and he sits down as if on a throne on the side of a mountain. 00:09:42.299 --> 00:09:46.899 And he speaks the Sermon on the Mount because he doesn't need anybody to tell him the new law. 00:09:46.899 --> 00:09:53.659 He has the authority because it's saying, Matthew, it's very subtly saying without saying it, Jesus is God. 00:09:54.299 --> 00:09:55.779 He doesn't need to receive the law. 00:09:55.860 --> 00:09:56.679 He just gives it. 00:09:57.679 --> 00:10:02.259 And here we've got God himself saying the world needs salt and light. 00:10:02.519 --> 00:10:07.500 And you flip over to John's Gospel and you remember Jesus will say, I am the light of the world. 00:10:08.299 --> 00:10:09.240 I am the light. 00:10:10.299 --> 00:10:11.379 He is the salt. 00:10:11.579 --> 00:10:13.179 He's the preserving agent. 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:15.319 That's how Paul puts it in Colossians chapter 1. 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:20.100 He says that in him, in Jesus Christ, all things are held together. 00:10:21.060 --> 00:10:21.820 He preserves it. 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:34.100 And if Jesus stopped right now, the Logos himself, the eternal word, holding all of creation together, every molecule in your body together, mediating that reality, then you would just fly apart like dust. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:35.820 He holds it together. 00:10:35.980 --> 00:10:39.420 But then he also says, but I'm also the light who can fix it as well. 00:10:40.200 --> 00:10:41.540 And I can be, what does light do? 00:10:41.580 --> 00:10:42.240 Light exposes. 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:44.539 He exposes, but then light brings warmth. 00:10:44.680 --> 00:10:45.220 Light heals. 00:10:46.820 --> 00:10:48.539 And he's saying that that's him. 00:10:48.620 --> 00:10:51.060 That's the assumption here in this passage. 00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:53.159 What does he say? 00:10:53.180 --> 00:10:54.360 When he says, I'm the light, what is he saying? 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:56.440 He's saying, what else does he say in John's Gospel? 00:10:56.600 --> 00:10:57.460 I am the way. 00:10:57.899 --> 00:10:59.039 I am the truth. 00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:00.279 I am the life. 00:11:01.019 --> 00:11:03.720 That's the same thing as saying I'm salt and I'm light. 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:05.879 It's the very same concept. 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:11.980 And that means that Jesus Christ here, the true and better Moses, is assuming something. 00:11:12.100 --> 00:11:18.200 Before you can ever get to the command that we're going to focus on now, you, if you're a believer, go and be salt and light. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:23.539 You've got to first be willing to say and see, I can only reflect. 00:11:24.700 --> 00:11:28.240 I can only be a tiny little dash pinch of salt. 00:11:28.379 --> 00:11:29.200 I'm not the salt. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:31.040 I can only be a little lamp. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:32.020 I'm not the sun. 00:11:32.600 --> 00:11:33.560 But he is. 00:11:33.800 --> 00:11:34.400 He is. 00:11:34.720 --> 00:11:39.440 And we're being told here that in the incarnation, in the coming of the Son of God in the flesh, 00:11:41.240 --> 00:11:47.080 Jesus Christ, the one who holds all the world together as preserving agent, 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:52.480 the only one who can heal the world and bring a cosmic kingdom, a holistic kingdom, 00:11:53.280 --> 00:11:57.000 he voluntarily subjected himself to decay. 00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:01.600 He subjected his body, his physical body to decay. 00:12:02.259 --> 00:12:03.100 He died. 00:12:03.899 --> 00:12:06.779 He gave himself over to the second law of thermodynamics. 00:12:07.539 --> 00:12:13.559 He gave himself away so that he could be light and life to us, 00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:17.120 so that he could heal the land, so that he could be the cosmic redeemer. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:21.899 Now, if you believe that tonight, Jesus is talking to you. 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:24.860 And now he's saying, and this is the main thing, he's saying, 00:12:24.860 --> 00:12:29.680 now, go into the city and be salt and light. 00:12:30.680 --> 00:12:31.560 So point three. 00:12:32.460 --> 00:12:33.539 We only have three points. 00:12:33.620 --> 00:12:34.539 We're all ready to point three. 00:12:36.519 --> 00:12:37.200 Point three. 00:12:37.399 --> 00:12:38.000 How do we do that? 00:12:38.060 --> 00:12:39.820 Here's the question that's left for us. 00:12:41.460 --> 00:12:43.620 Will you, if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, 00:12:43.740 --> 00:12:50.060 will you go tomorrow into the city and be salt and light like he calls you to be, 00:12:50.560 --> 00:12:51.879 like he's invited you to be? 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:53.740 Now, what does that mean? 00:12:53.980 --> 00:12:56.240 Remember that this is in the context of the Beatitudes. 00:12:56.939 --> 00:13:00.439 And at the very end of the Beatitudes, in verse 11 and 12, 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:03.000 one of the last things Jesus says is, 00:13:03.379 --> 00:13:07.919 blessed are you when you're reviled and persecuted for my name's sake. 00:13:09.019 --> 00:13:12.600 So Jesus is assuming here that if you follow Jesus, 00:13:12.740 --> 00:13:15.879 you've gone out into the world and you've got a public faith, 00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:19.139 a living faith, that you've got a faith that's willing to count the cost. 00:13:19.139 --> 00:13:23.279 And before Christ to the point of suffering in some way. 00:13:24.179 --> 00:13:27.879 And so one of the implicit questions here that Jesus is asking is, 00:13:28.019 --> 00:13:31.879 what does a kingdom life look like in this world for followers of Jesus, 00:13:32.100 --> 00:13:33.500 especially in a city, 00:13:33.580 --> 00:13:36.500 in a time where most people aren't walking around as Christians? 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:37.559 What does it look like? 00:13:37.779 --> 00:13:39.980 He's asking, have you had to count the cost in any way? 00:13:41.319 --> 00:13:43.519 Has following Jesus with public faith, 00:13:44.139 --> 00:13:46.620 shining the spotlight on him with your life, 00:13:46.620 --> 00:13:50.460 has that cost you in any way at all, at any point in your life? 00:13:51.100 --> 00:13:51.740 That's the question. 00:13:51.820 --> 00:13:54.000 That's the context where then he turns and says, okay. 00:13:55.379 --> 00:13:57.299 In other words, it is, it is going to cost you. 00:13:57.419 --> 00:13:59.779 If you're living a public faith, it's going to cost in some way. 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:02.580 And so then he says, now go be salt and light. 00:14:02.700 --> 00:14:06.240 Now he's talking there about how to go and live out in the world 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:08.720 that doesn't all believe and follow Jesus Christ. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:13.639 And that means he's assuming that you're going to have one of a few types of responses 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:15.800 to public faith that costs something, 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:21.940 that causes people, maybe at times, to revile you, to dislike you, to even persecute. 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:26.540 And one of those is that, look, if being a Christian in the public world, 00:14:27.139 --> 00:14:29.180 in the modern secular public world that we live in, 00:14:29.240 --> 00:14:32.940 if it is challenging, one of the things we'll be tempted to do is compromise 00:14:32.940 --> 00:14:37.360 and to just live a life that looks identical to everybody else, 00:14:37.420 --> 00:14:40.140 the normal default cultural patterns of our city. 00:14:40.400 --> 00:14:42.400 That's one way we might go. 00:14:42.460 --> 00:14:45.700 The other way we might go is we might become isolationists. 00:14:46.680 --> 00:14:50.360 And isolationists are so scared of public faith 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:54.780 that they back into the Christian community and will never take a front seat. 00:14:55.340 --> 00:14:56.380 You know, always a back seat. 00:14:56.520 --> 00:15:00.000 Anytime you're in your, when you're in your workplace, you take the back seat. 00:15:00.140 --> 00:15:02.220 When you're, you won't make non-Christian friends. 00:15:02.220 --> 00:15:06.899 You won't go out into the city and get stuck in to other communities 00:15:06.899 --> 00:15:08.580 other than just the local church. 00:15:08.940 --> 00:15:11.180 And he's saying that's the isolationist mentality. 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:13.460 And how, look, in other words, he's asking, 00:15:13.620 --> 00:15:15.460 how in the world can you live the life of Beatitudes 00:15:15.460 --> 00:15:18.540 if you're not out in the city living in salt and light? 00:15:18.800 --> 00:15:20.540 How could you ever be a peacemaker 00:15:20.540 --> 00:15:23.300 if you're not willing to go out and get stuck into, 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:25.879 right in the middle of people's conflict to try to help heal it? 00:15:25.920 --> 00:15:27.100 How could you ever show mercy? 00:15:27.899 --> 00:15:29.040 Blessed are those who show mercy 00:15:29.040 --> 00:15:31.600 if you're never out amongst those who need mercy. 00:15:32.220 --> 00:15:36.220 How could people revile you for following Jesus 00:15:36.220 --> 00:15:38.860 if you're never out amongst people who don't follow Jesus? 00:15:39.320 --> 00:15:40.820 That's the question he's asking here. 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:41.700 And so he turns and says, 00:15:42.519 --> 00:15:43.759 no, you've got to be salt and light. 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:45.100 There were two groups, 00:15:45.300 --> 00:15:48.139 there were two groups in Jesus's lifetime 00:15:48.139 --> 00:15:50.139 in the first century when he says this, 00:15:50.620 --> 00:15:54.820 that because of the Greco-Roman culture they lived in 00:15:54.820 --> 00:15:57.820 and because the Roman Empire had occupied Israel, 00:15:58.520 --> 00:15:59.160 the land of Israel, 00:15:59.400 --> 00:16:02.160 they reacted by becoming isolationist. 00:16:02.780 --> 00:16:04.620 And one of those groups were called the Zealots. 00:16:05.620 --> 00:16:08.480 And the Zealots were activists. 00:16:09.160 --> 00:16:10.820 You know, they hated everything, 00:16:10.820 --> 00:16:13.080 everything about the Roman Empire. 00:16:13.080 --> 00:16:14.700 And they said, you know, 00:16:14.740 --> 00:16:16.700 the only way to really follow God in this world 00:16:16.700 --> 00:16:18.440 is to take over the country 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:20.400 and to cause a revolution, 00:16:20.500 --> 00:16:21.280 to be an activist. 00:16:21.900 --> 00:16:25.020 You know, that impulse that sometimes Christians still have, 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:26.080 which says, you know, 00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:28.860 we're never really going to win unless we're in power. 00:16:29.400 --> 00:16:30.420 We've got to seek power. 00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:33.340 The other group in Jesus's time in the first century 00:16:33.340 --> 00:16:34.320 were the Essenes. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:37.080 And the Essenes reacted as isolationists, 00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:39.240 but in exactly the opposite way. 00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:42.440 They moved to caves near the Dead Sea. 00:16:43.060 --> 00:16:44.080 And they said, look, 00:16:44.120 --> 00:16:45.120 we're just going to wait this out. 00:16:45.740 --> 00:16:47.060 We're going to form our own communities, 00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:47.800 our own towns, 00:16:47.900 --> 00:16:50.980 our own cities in the caves near the Dead Sea. 00:16:51.060 --> 00:16:52.879 And we'll wait till the Roman Empire is gone. 00:16:52.940 --> 00:16:54.180 And then we'll reclaim the land 00:16:54.180 --> 00:16:55.980 and we'll follow God publicly again. 00:16:56.700 --> 00:16:57.759 Now, in God's providence, 00:16:58.259 --> 00:17:01.400 the Essenes did provide for us lots of manuscripts 00:17:01.400 --> 00:17:03.100 that we find very valuable today. 00:17:03.259 --> 00:17:05.319 And so there's a good outcome to some degree. 00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:07.439 But Jesus is countering both of those. 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:09.079 Compromise on the one hand 00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:11.679 and different types of isolationism on the other hand. 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:12.259 And he's saying, no, 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:14.439 the method of the Christian life 00:17:14.439 --> 00:17:16.639 is to be salt and light in the world 00:17:16.639 --> 00:17:19.039 in whatever place God has put you. 00:17:21.019 --> 00:17:23.019 And so let me finish by just saying 00:17:23.019 --> 00:17:25.519 what that means in very practical detail 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:26.700 for just a moment. 00:17:27.339 --> 00:17:28.819 First, he says, 00:17:28.919 --> 00:17:30.200 you've got to go into the world and be light. 00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:33.639 And what does light do? 00:17:33.639 --> 00:17:35.139 Light exposes darkness. 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:38.799 And that means that 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:42.079 when you're around wherever God has put you, 00:17:42.639 --> 00:17:44.480 in university, in the workplace, 00:17:44.819 --> 00:17:46.939 in school, in your neighborhoods, 00:17:48.019 --> 00:17:49.740 around your neighbors in the flats, 00:17:49.859 --> 00:17:50.879 wherever you might be, 00:17:51.379 --> 00:17:55.839 do you live a life of beauty, 00:17:56.799 --> 00:17:57.960 the life of the Beatitudes, 00:17:58.119 --> 00:17:58.819 to such a degree 00:17:58.819 --> 00:18:01.480 that it actually exposes the darkness around you? 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:03.019 What does that look like? 00:18:03.019 --> 00:18:04.519 It looks like that when you're at work 00:18:04.519 --> 00:18:06.200 and you walk into a certain room 00:18:06.200 --> 00:18:07.960 and there's gossip, 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:09.180 there's gossip everywhere 00:18:09.180 --> 00:18:10.960 about your coworkers and about your boss 00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:13.279 and about how everybody hates the boss. 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:16.480 Does the train of gossip end with you, 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:17.440 stop with you, 00:18:17.700 --> 00:18:19.160 because you're living a life of beauty? 00:18:19.160 --> 00:18:22.259 It looks like this, 00:18:22.420 --> 00:18:23.779 that if you're in a workplace, 00:18:24.120 --> 00:18:24.740 in a business, 00:18:24.820 --> 00:18:26.800 and it's full of corrupt practices, 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:28.720 has there come a point where you said, 00:18:29.019 --> 00:18:30.000 I won't do that? 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:32.500 I won't participate in that corruption 00:18:32.500 --> 00:18:35.080 because you live the blessed life, 00:18:35.140 --> 00:18:35.740 the life of beauty. 00:18:36.779 --> 00:18:38.060 Light exposes the darkness, 00:18:38.980 --> 00:18:39.960 but at the same time, 00:18:40.100 --> 00:18:42.880 salt preserves and flavors the world. 00:18:43.840 --> 00:18:44.540 And so on the one hand, 00:18:44.840 --> 00:18:46.780 while a life of beauty 00:18:46.780 --> 00:18:48.800 is a life that exposes darkness, 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:50.340 at the same time, 00:18:50.740 --> 00:18:52.220 you also step into that room 00:18:52.220 --> 00:18:53.120 and you're not a killjoy 00:18:53.120 --> 00:18:55.400 because salt gives flavor. 00:18:56.620 --> 00:18:57.440 Salt preserves. 00:18:57.700 --> 00:18:58.680 Salt lifts up. 00:18:59.320 --> 00:19:00.000 What is he saying? 00:19:00.060 --> 00:19:00.780 He's saying when you combine 00:19:00.780 --> 00:19:01.340 both of these, 00:19:01.420 --> 00:19:02.780 salt and light at the same time, 00:19:03.220 --> 00:19:04.260 you're not the guy, 00:19:04.580 --> 00:19:06.120 you're not the person 00:19:06.120 --> 00:19:08.000 where when you're coming down the hallway, 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:08.680 everybody says, 00:19:08.840 --> 00:19:09.000 shh, 00:19:09.120 --> 00:19:09.880 they're coming, 00:19:09.880 --> 00:19:11.800 that person who's going to, 00:19:11.840 --> 00:19:12.060 you know, 00:19:12.100 --> 00:19:13.720 make the room very dour and sad 00:19:13.720 --> 00:19:14.920 because they're coming 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:16.720 and they're going to expose the darkness 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:17.580 and we'll all be miserable. 00:19:18.060 --> 00:19:18.300 No, 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:19.320 that's not what he means. 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:20.280 He means that you live 00:19:20.280 --> 00:19:21.620 such a life of beauty 00:19:21.620 --> 00:19:22.840 and joy, 00:19:24.020 --> 00:19:24.880 the life of beatitude, 00:19:25.620 --> 00:19:27.040 that people want to be around you, 00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:30.200 that you don't bring things down, 00:19:30.300 --> 00:19:31.400 you lift things up. 00:19:32.280 --> 00:19:33.700 So when you expose the darkness, 00:19:33.700 --> 00:19:34.780 it's because you replace it 00:19:34.780 --> 00:19:35.380 with something better. 00:19:36.100 --> 00:19:37.520 Your joy kills the gossip. 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:40.139 Your gladness kills 00:19:40.139 --> 00:19:41.500 whatever's going on in the corruption 00:19:41.500 --> 00:19:43.460 in the business that you're working in. 00:19:44.879 --> 00:19:46.740 One of the ways to put it is, 00:19:47.099 --> 00:19:47.980 another way to put it 00:19:47.980 --> 00:19:48.960 that summarizes it, 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:49.299 I think, 00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:50.700 is that salt and light, 00:19:50.920 --> 00:19:51.980 salt in particular, 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:52.980 in the ancient Near East, 00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:55.220 salt was an agent also of cleansing. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:58.019 So salt was not only a preservation agent 00:19:58.019 --> 00:20:00.000 but also a purification agent. 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:01.299 And you see this actually 00:20:01.299 --> 00:20:01.980 in the Old Testament. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:02.720 So there's a moment 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:04.400 in 2 Kings chapter 2 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:06.400 where the men of the city 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:07.800 say to Elisha, the prophet, 00:20:08.360 --> 00:20:09.560 the situation in our city 00:20:09.560 --> 00:20:11.360 is pleasant as my Lord sees 00:20:11.360 --> 00:20:12.980 but the water is corrupted. 00:20:13.220 --> 00:20:14.060 The water is bad. 00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:15.620 The land is unfruitful. 00:20:16.019 --> 00:20:17.280 And so Elisha said, 00:20:17.540 --> 00:20:19.440 bring me a bowl with salt in it. 00:20:19.460 --> 00:20:20.400 And they brought it to him 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:21.920 and they went to the spring of water 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:23.740 and they threw salt into the water. 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:25.440 And the Lord said, 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:27.460 I have now healed this water. 00:20:28.120 --> 00:20:28.960 From now on, 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:31.320 neither death nor miscarriage 00:20:31.320 --> 00:20:32.160 shall come from it. 00:20:32.620 --> 00:20:33.420 So in this moment, 00:20:33.500 --> 00:20:35.140 now a first century reader of Matthew 00:20:35.140 --> 00:20:36.600 written to Jewish people 00:20:36.600 --> 00:20:38.180 would have remembered that. 00:20:38.780 --> 00:20:39.720 They would have known salt 00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:40.880 has been used in the past 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:42.120 as an agent of purification. 00:20:42.860 --> 00:20:43.840 And what are we being told here? 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:44.980 We're being told 00:20:44.980 --> 00:20:47.980 that a person who has put on 00:20:47.980 --> 00:20:49.740 the integrity of the identity of Christ 00:20:49.740 --> 00:20:51.700 is a person of salt and light 00:20:51.700 --> 00:20:53.460 that preserves, 00:20:54.140 --> 00:20:54.580 purifies, 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:55.540 beautifies, 00:20:56.380 --> 00:20:57.420 exposes spaces 00:20:57.420 --> 00:20:58.300 that you walk into. 00:20:58.299 --> 00:21:02.460 that you mirror the life of Jesus. 00:21:02.659 --> 00:21:03.759 You mirror the blessed life 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:05.159 into the world. 00:21:06.419 --> 00:21:07.059 Last thing. 00:21:08.279 --> 00:21:08.659 What does salt, 00:21:08.819 --> 00:21:09.480 what does light do? 00:21:10.359 --> 00:21:10.500 All right, 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:10.940 what does he say? 00:21:11.019 --> 00:21:11.720 Look, verse 13, 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:12.859 he says something very strange. 00:21:14.139 --> 00:21:14.680 He says, 00:21:14.759 --> 00:21:15.539 you are the salt of the earth, 00:21:15.639 --> 00:21:16.379 but then here's the clause. 00:21:16.460 --> 00:21:19.000 But if salt has lost its taste, 00:21:19.379 --> 00:21:21.119 how can its saltiness be restored? 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:23.259 And I once heard a debate 00:21:23.259 --> 00:21:25.919 between an atheist philosopher 00:21:25.919 --> 00:21:27.179 and a Christian theologian 00:21:27.179 --> 00:21:28.519 about this verse, 00:21:28.919 --> 00:21:29.479 verse 13, 00:21:29.639 --> 00:21:30.199 and they asked, 00:21:30.699 --> 00:21:31.539 the atheist said, 00:21:31.619 --> 00:21:31.719 look, 00:21:31.879 --> 00:21:33.459 salt can never lose its taste. 00:21:34.199 --> 00:21:36.059 Salt does not diminish like that 00:21:36.059 --> 00:21:36.619 from flavor. 00:21:36.779 --> 00:21:38.039 And so Jesus clearly 00:21:38.039 --> 00:21:40.019 is speaking in error here, 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:40.699 but boy, 00:21:41.619 --> 00:21:42.119 misunderstanding 00:21:42.119 --> 00:21:43.799 of what Jesus is saying. 00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:44.579 What is Jesus saying? 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:46.379 If salt has lost its flavor, 00:21:46.500 --> 00:21:47.379 how can it be restored? 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:48.279 What's the point of it? 00:21:48.339 --> 00:21:49.879 It's an even stronger term 00:21:49.879 --> 00:21:50.519 in Greek than that. 00:21:50.519 --> 00:21:51.160 He's saying, 00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:53.480 if salt is thrown out on the floor, 00:21:54.139 --> 00:21:54.759 thrown on the ground, 00:21:54.819 --> 00:21:56.139 and you just walk on top of it, 00:21:56.339 --> 00:21:57.799 he says that's useless. 00:21:58.579 --> 00:21:59.680 That's the language there. 00:22:00.200 --> 00:22:01.039 What is he saying? 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:01.559 He's saying, 00:22:01.980 --> 00:22:03.519 if God has set you apart 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:05.259 to be a preserving agent 00:22:05.259 --> 00:22:06.279 and a cleansing agent, 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:08.759 then what are you doing? 00:22:08.819 --> 00:22:09.599 If you've corrupted, 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:10.539 if you've just become 00:22:10.539 --> 00:22:11.440 like the normal patterns 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:11.839 of the world, 00:22:11.940 --> 00:22:13.220 if your life looks no different 00:22:13.220 --> 00:22:14.119 than everybody else's, 00:22:14.500 --> 00:22:16.019 what use is your saltiness? 00:22:16.859 --> 00:22:17.940 You've been made salt, 00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:20.339 but if you've compromised, 00:22:20.519 --> 00:22:22.000 then you've just thrown 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:23.059 the salt out onto the ground. 00:22:23.180 --> 00:22:24.079 You're not using it. 00:22:24.139 --> 00:22:25.220 You're not being it, right? 00:22:25.460 --> 00:22:26.799 Or if you're salty, 00:22:27.299 --> 00:22:28.460 if Jesus has made you salty, 00:22:28.539 --> 00:22:29.619 but you're isolationist, 00:22:29.940 --> 00:22:31.539 if you go and live in the caves 00:22:31.539 --> 00:22:32.240 and think I'm going to be 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:32.839 a desert monk, 00:22:34.220 --> 00:22:35.299 what good is that? 00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:36.599 You've lost your saltiness. 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:38.519 We might as well just dump 00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:39.200 the salt on the ground 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:39.720 and trample on it. 00:22:39.720 --> 00:22:40.400 It's the same thing 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:42.860 that I do, 00:22:43.180 --> 00:22:43.980 Heather and I, 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:44.880 my wife and I, 00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:46.559 with every one of our kids 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:48.120 when they hit toddler years, 00:22:48.259 --> 00:22:49.120 we have five children, 00:22:49.259 --> 00:22:50.180 and every time 00:22:50.180 --> 00:22:52.360 they hit toddler years, 00:22:52.519 --> 00:22:53.440 two to three years old, 00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:54.360 what do we do? 00:22:54.420 --> 00:22:55.079 We're at the table 00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:56.640 and they say, 00:22:57.000 --> 00:22:57.240 salt, 00:22:57.500 --> 00:22:57.759 salt, 00:22:58.000 --> 00:22:58.259 salt, 00:22:58.259 --> 00:22:58.360 salt, 00:22:58.360 --> 00:22:59.160 salt, 00:22:59.160 --> 00:23:01.299 and we take salt shaker 00:23:01.299 --> 00:23:06.119 and we keep the lid completely sealed and we just, there you go, buddy. 00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:09.339 Have all the salt you want, right? 00:23:09.500 --> 00:23:13.579 And immediately the vegetable stays completely different to them, you know? 00:23:15.099 --> 00:23:18.039 Now, in our case, that's a wise use of salt. 00:23:18.259 --> 00:23:19.079 We don't use it at all. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:20.960 But, boy, it's not the right use of salt. 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:21.680 It's silly. 00:23:22.159 --> 00:23:23.379 It's pointless, you know? 00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:26.799 Sometimes the salt doesn't have a lid on it, and so we've just dumped it on the floor. 00:23:27.879 --> 00:23:29.099 And that's exactly what Jesus is saying. 00:23:29.099 --> 00:23:35.159 If you've been changed, if you've been made salt to preserve and cleanse, what does he say about light? 00:23:35.219 --> 00:23:39.619 He says, what good is light if you light a lamp and stick it under a basket? 00:23:40.599 --> 00:23:44.439 He's saying that it is not the nature of salt to not taste salty. 00:23:44.599 --> 00:23:47.019 It is not the nature of light to be hidden. 00:23:47.139 --> 00:23:48.039 You can't stop light. 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:51.859 If you light something, boy, the light travels so fast. 00:23:52.399 --> 00:23:53.079 It gets everywhere. 00:23:53.079 --> 00:24:01.859 And this would have been so powerful to a first century person because unlike us in the first century, they don't have electricity. 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:08.000 And you don't light lights very often because you have to burn oil to have light at night. 00:24:08.500 --> 00:24:09.980 And that's very, very expensive. 00:24:09.980 --> 00:24:21.360 And so that first century here would have, when he said, what good is, do you ever turn on a light at night, burn oil in your homes at night in the first century, and then put that under a basket? 00:24:21.740 --> 00:24:24.740 And they would have said, the hero would have said, absolutely not. 00:24:25.339 --> 00:24:29.079 That's like running your boiler while you're on holiday the entire time. 00:24:29.400 --> 00:24:31.019 That would be the equivalent for us, right? 00:24:31.539 --> 00:24:32.480 He said, that's so expensive. 00:24:32.599 --> 00:24:33.640 It's foolish, right? 00:24:34.099 --> 00:24:35.680 It's against your nature. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:41.420 It's against your nature to compromise and to be just like everybody else in the city. 00:24:41.539 --> 00:24:44.660 It's against your nature to be hidden and isolationist. 00:24:45.060 --> 00:24:55.680 And it is your nature to live the blessed life, the life of beauty, the life of beauty that brings, expose, that exposes the darkness, but brings joy in the name of Jesus. 00:24:55.960 --> 00:24:57.580 And so he puts it this way to finish. 00:24:57.579 --> 00:25:12.299 He says, live your life in such a way that you let your light shine, the light of Jesus through you shine, so that people will see your good works and glorify God and be pointed to Christ, be pointed to something bigger than you and better than you in the end. 00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:16.679 This is a call to live tonight with a very definite purpose. 00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:23.560 So let me give you an example from the second century, and this will be the final word. 00:25:24.320 --> 00:25:33.539 This is from a letter called the Epistle to Diognetus that was written as early as 130 A.D. 00:25:33.580 --> 00:25:35.759 So this is very early in Christian history. 00:25:36.820 --> 00:25:43.080 And this letter is written by a man named Mephetes in Greek, and he's writing it to a man named Diognetus. 00:25:43.079 --> 00:25:48.000 And he's trying to compel Diognetus to believe in Jesus. 00:25:49.359 --> 00:25:54.939 And one of the ways he does that is he says, Diognetus, you know how the Christians live. 00:25:55.779 --> 00:25:56.679 And this is what he writes. 00:25:57.939 --> 00:26:09.399 He says, Diognetus, the Christians are distinguished from other people, not by the country they live in, not by the language they speak, not by the customs that they observe. 00:26:10.039 --> 00:26:12.000 They don't inhabit cities of their own. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:15.339 They do not employ a peculiar form of speech. 00:26:15.880 --> 00:26:19.039 They don't lead a life which is marked out by any peculiarity. 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:25.200 But inhabiting the Greek as well as the barbarian cities, they follow the customs of the natives. 00:26:25.640 --> 00:26:26.940 They wear the same clothing. 00:26:27.079 --> 00:26:28.039 They eat the same food. 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:32.720 They live in ordinary conduct in the same ways as everybody else. 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:37.380 And yet at the same time, they're never isolationists. 00:26:38.180 --> 00:26:38.600 Never. 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:45.220 But at the same time, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. 00:26:46.120 --> 00:26:46.660 And this is what he says. 00:26:46.759 --> 00:26:52.519 They dwell in our country, but they live as sojourners. 00:26:53.019 --> 00:26:54.940 As if this is not their final home. 00:26:54.940 --> 00:27:02.480 As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet they endure all things. 00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:05.320 They marry as does others. 00:27:05.860 --> 00:27:10.400 They beget children as everyone else does, but they do not destroy their offspring. 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:23.720 They are in the flesh, but they do not live according to the flesh. 00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:29.380 They obey the laws, but at the same time, they surpass the laws by their lives. 00:27:29.460 --> 00:27:30.580 They are the best of citizens. 00:27:30.579 --> 00:27:36.139 They love all people, Jew, Greek, Roman. 00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:38.319 They're persecuted by all. 00:27:39.419 --> 00:27:41.439 They are unknown, yet they're condemned. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:44.220 They are put to death, yet they're restored to life. 00:27:44.460 --> 00:27:46.439 They're reviled, yet they bless. 00:27:48.119 --> 00:27:51.559 They are insulted, yet they repay the insult with honor. 00:27:51.939 --> 00:27:54.619 They do good, yet they are punished as evildoers. 00:27:54.939 --> 00:27:56.299 When punished, they rejoice. 00:27:56.299 --> 00:28:01.639 And yet those who hate them are unable to explain or give a reason for why they hate them. 00:28:02.180 --> 00:28:09.299 To sum it all up in one word, what the soul is to the body, Christians are in the world. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:15.879 The soul is dispersed through all the parts of the body, and so God has scattered the Christians 00:28:15.879 --> 00:28:18.039 throughout all the cities of our world. 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:23.579 Now, let me ask you, will you this week commune? 00:28:23.579 --> 00:28:30.460 Will you commune with the light himself in order that you can go wherever God has put you 00:28:30.460 --> 00:28:34.439 in a little world that God has put you in this city and be salt and light for the city? 00:28:36.220 --> 00:28:42.179 And if you're not, will you come tonight to the Lord's Supper and commune with Jesus Christ 00:28:42.180 --> 00:28:48.680 by the Spirit for a little bit so that you can have the strength to go out into our great city 00:28:48.680 --> 00:28:54.100 and be salt and light, to let your good work shine forth so that other people will see it 00:28:54.100 --> 00:28:56.299 and give glory to the Father who is in heaven. 00:28:57.060 --> 00:28:57.600 Let's pray. 00:28:57.680 --> 00:28:58.960 Father, we ask for that. 00:28:59.039 --> 00:29:05.500 We ask that you would teach each of us specifically tonight what it might look like to be salt and light 00:29:05.500 --> 00:29:10.779 in our workplace, in our university context, in our school, wherever you've put us. 00:29:10.940 --> 00:29:16.400 And so use this great meal, the Lord's Supper, this communion meal in just a few minutes 00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:21.960 to transform us, God, to remind us of who we are and then send us forth in power, 00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:24.039 the power of the light himself. 00:29:24.299 --> 00:29:26.319 And so we ask for that in Jesus' name. 00:29:26.839 --> 00:29:27.079 Amen. 00:29:27.079 --> 00:29:27.180 Amen. 00:29:27.180 --> 00:29:27.220 Amen.