WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.540 Over the past few weeks, we've been asking what kind of relationship Christians ought to have with the surrounding culture. 00:00:09.060 --> 00:00:15.839 Questions like, how much should we withdraw from culture versus how much should we engage with the culture? 00:00:16.359 --> 00:00:20.280 Should Christians completely refrain from getting involved in politics? 00:00:20.820 --> 00:00:23.900 Or should we be pushing to get Christians into public office? 00:00:24.219 --> 00:00:26.940 Or to get Christian ethics into public policy? 00:00:26.940 --> 00:00:35.980 How do we think about raising kids in a world where people have such divergent views about what it means to be a human being? 00:00:36.299 --> 00:00:38.200 So we've been asking these questions together. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:43.760 And as we saw last week, Christians have historically disagreed over how to answer these questions. 00:00:43.760 --> 00:00:50.939 And there are various views that we said by themselves tend to have weaknesses and be short-sighted. 00:00:50.939 --> 00:01:01.879 But that together, the best approach is an approach that holds together this tension, this balance of withdrawal and engagement. 00:01:02.019 --> 00:01:04.519 A rhythm of gathering and scattering. 00:01:05.420 --> 00:01:10.159 And some of the most helpful teaching on this comes from Jesus himself. 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:20.959 We see this in Matthew chapter 5, where Jesus uses two famous, very well-known metaphors to describe the impact that Christians are meant to have in the world. 00:01:21.060 --> 00:01:23.620 And these are the images of salt and light. 00:01:23.780 --> 00:01:26.579 Christians are salt and light for the world. 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:28.620 So we're going to look at that this morning together. 00:01:28.739 --> 00:01:31.439 And we're going to see first what Jesus means by this. 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:34.599 And second, what this means for us as a church. 00:01:34.699 --> 00:01:35.299 Let's pray. 00:01:35.299 --> 00:01:38.259 Lord, we thank you for your word. 00:01:38.459 --> 00:01:43.060 And we pray that it would be salt and light for us. 00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:49.159 That we would be enriched and illuminated as we open your word by the power of your spirit. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:54.539 That we would know how to faithfully live as your people in this world for your glory. 00:01:54.819 --> 00:01:56.359 And it's in your son's name that we pray. 00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:57.319 Amen. 00:01:58.500 --> 00:02:00.819 So first of all, what is Jesus saying? 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:03.479 What does he mean in this passage? 00:02:03.480 --> 00:02:07.120 At first, it seems fairly obvious when you think about salt and light. 00:02:07.240 --> 00:02:08.840 Those are pretty self-explanatory. 00:02:09.219 --> 00:02:14.159 But what we need to do is to try to understand how people would have heard this in the first century. 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:19.939 So salt, we think of salt primarily as a seasoning for food. 00:02:20.039 --> 00:02:21.379 And certainly that was part of it. 00:02:21.780 --> 00:02:28.819 But in the ancient world, salt had two other uses that were actually far more important than seasoning. 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:33.439 First, salt was very commonly used as a preservative. 00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:36.439 These are the days before we had refrigerators. 00:02:36.619 --> 00:02:41.419 And so they needed to have ways of keeping food from going bad, from rotting. 00:02:41.519 --> 00:02:45.899 And so one of the best ways was to take salt and to work it into meat. 00:02:46.179 --> 00:02:48.519 And that would preserve it against decay. 00:02:48.699 --> 00:02:49.799 So it was a preservative. 00:02:50.299 --> 00:02:51.839 Salt was also used. 00:02:52.280 --> 00:02:55.839 Various salt compounds were used as fertilizer. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:03.379 In a primarily agrarian society, salt was very central and was used not only to kill weeds, 00:03:03.480 --> 00:03:09.020 but also to nourish the soil and promote the growth of the crops that they were trying to grow. 00:03:09.180 --> 00:03:12.840 And so we have salt being used as a preservative and as a fertilizer. 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:18.520 So Jesus is saying that Christians are like salt in the society. 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:26.680 They preserve against decay and they promote the growth of all that is good and true and beautiful. 00:03:27.099 --> 00:03:28.340 So that's the first image. 00:03:28.780 --> 00:03:35.960 The second image he uses, he shifts a bit and he says that Christians are the light of the world in verse 14. 00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:41.300 And in the Bible, the word light is often used as a metaphor for truth. 00:03:41.700 --> 00:03:44.280 And certainly that is what Jesus has in mind here. 00:03:44.379 --> 00:03:46.600 But the image is much richer than that. 00:03:46.840 --> 00:03:51.939 Because Jesus goes on to say, a city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 00:03:52.020 --> 00:03:56.020 And we think, well, that's an odd transition to go from talking about Christians being light, 00:03:56.120 --> 00:04:00.280 where we would think of a lamp, to talking about a city being on a hill. 00:04:00.860 --> 00:04:04.439 But we have to realize that when Jesus made this reference, 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:08.680 every single person listening immediately thought of the same city. 00:04:09.139 --> 00:04:13.439 And that's the city of Jerusalem, which is actually located on a hill. 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:20.139 And what we need to understand is, in the ancient world, there are no streetlights. 00:04:20.259 --> 00:04:23.819 And so if you're out in the wilderness at night, it would be fairly dark. 00:04:24.500 --> 00:04:28.879 And yet, if you were a traveler, and imagine you're a traveler traveling in the wilderness, 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:33.360 and you came around a corner, and you saw for the first time at night, 00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:35.980 Jerusalem, the city on a hill. 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:39.560 And if you were to see that at night, what you would see is, 00:04:39.639 --> 00:04:41.879 in the midst of all the blackness, in the midst of all the darkness, 00:04:42.300 --> 00:04:46.079 you would see not just one or two lights, but thousands of lights. 00:04:46.579 --> 00:04:52.920 Thousands of lamps, and lanterns, and torches, and fires. 00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:56.319 And you would see that gleaming on the horizon. 00:04:56.879 --> 00:04:59.140 And in the ancient world, with no other lights around, 00:04:59.500 --> 00:05:03.500 it would be possible to see the lights of Jerusalem for miles around. 00:05:04.220 --> 00:05:08.300 And if you were a traveler in the ancient world, and you saw something like that, 00:05:08.500 --> 00:05:10.700 that would have all kinds of meaning for you. 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:12.660 You would see those lights, and you would say, 00:05:13.060 --> 00:05:16.860 there's a refuge for me to get me out of the darkness, 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:18.900 and into a place where I will be safe. 00:05:18.900 --> 00:05:20.040 I'm going to be safe there. 00:05:20.040 --> 00:05:24.319 You would see that, and you would say, that's a place where I'm going to find warmth. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:26.040 I'm going to find hospitality. 00:05:26.379 --> 00:05:27.780 There's going to be other people there. 00:05:27.819 --> 00:05:28.960 I'm going to find community. 00:05:29.300 --> 00:05:31.819 I'm going to get the things that I need to survive there. 00:05:32.300 --> 00:05:34.080 And so if we think about all of this, 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:39.220 these are very rich metaphors that Jesus is using to describe the Christian community. 00:05:39.660 --> 00:05:43.960 So essentially what he's saying is, in this world, there is decay. 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:46.200 Things are breaking down. 00:05:47.560 --> 00:05:49.080 There's a decay of justice. 00:05:49.079 --> 00:05:51.099 There's economic decay. 00:05:51.359 --> 00:05:52.839 There's familial decay. 00:05:53.039 --> 00:05:54.099 There's social decay. 00:05:54.479 --> 00:05:56.379 There's the decay of race relationships. 00:05:56.839 --> 00:06:01.579 There are governments and nations, no matter how powerful they are, 00:06:01.659 --> 00:06:03.659 over time all nations fade. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:04.699 They all decay. 00:06:05.599 --> 00:06:07.819 And so he's saying this is a world where there's decay. 00:06:08.180 --> 00:06:09.959 This is a world where the soil is hard. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:14.959 This is a world where there are weeds and rocks and stones and not much grows. 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:22.939 He's saying this is a world where there's darkness, where there are lies, where there's deception and people are self-deceived, 00:06:23.259 --> 00:06:28.560 where there's loneliness, where there's isolation, where there's confusion and alienation. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:35.620 And Jesus is saying that when his followers, when followers of Jesus are scattered throughout society, 00:06:35.620 --> 00:06:41.060 when Christian communities exist within every community around the world, 00:06:41.399 --> 00:06:43.879 those communities preserve against decay. 00:06:43.879 --> 00:06:48.379 They create the conditions for life to flourish. 00:06:49.060 --> 00:06:54.159 They promote the growth and the flourishing of all that is good and true and beautiful. 00:06:54.719 --> 00:06:57.800 They offer a refuge from the darkness. 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:03.300 They become places of hospitality and community and connection and safety. 00:07:03.300 --> 00:07:08.900 So this is a beautiful vision of what the Christian community is in the world. 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:15.980 And, you know, if you look at history, there are numerous examples of the church doing just this kind of thing in society. 00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:19.220 Just to give you one example, in Roman society, 00:07:20.439 --> 00:07:27.580 sex was often something that freeborn men used to dominate women and slaves. 00:07:27.579 --> 00:07:38.079 And when a woman was raped in this society, the great loss from a male perspective was not the trauma or the violation or the violence. 00:07:38.219 --> 00:07:45.319 The great loss from the male perspective is that that woman had lost her virginity and was no longer considered marriageable. 00:07:46.279 --> 00:07:55.000 The preference in this society for male babies meant that many of the female infants that were born were killed 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:59.220 or they were left out, they were exposed and left to die. 00:07:59.339 --> 00:08:07.060 And so at one point, the ratio of men to women in Rome was about 130 men for every 100 women. 00:08:07.259 --> 00:08:08.279 It got that bad. 00:08:08.740 --> 00:08:14.959 And in this society, when women lost their husbands, they were forced by the government to remarry 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:20.420 or they would have to pay fines because the government didn't want to have to support them financially. 00:08:20.699 --> 00:08:23.860 And so we hear these kinds of things and we're horrified by this. 00:08:23.860 --> 00:08:28.680 And in our society, in our culture, we look back and we ask, how could things ever have been this way? 00:08:29.480 --> 00:08:35.200 But the real question, the question that historians ask is, why did things ever change? 00:08:36.060 --> 00:08:40.779 How did we get from a society like that to a culture like ours with the Me Too movement? 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:47.720 And the answer, quite simply, is that Christians were salt and light in that society. 00:08:47.720 --> 00:08:53.600 Even though they were ridiculed, even though they were persecuted for their strange ethics, 00:08:53.740 --> 00:09:02.360 for their bizarre way of life, they began to transform their society by being salt and light in the midst of the culture. 00:09:02.920 --> 00:09:08.840 So Christians started teaching that sex should only happen within the confines of marriage. 00:09:08.840 --> 00:09:16.519 And so when men converted and became Christians, they were told that they should only have sex with their wives 00:09:16.519 --> 00:09:21.840 and that they could no longer visit the brothels or sleep with the temple prostitutes or sleep with their slaves, 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:25.500 which was very countercultural in Roman society. 00:09:25.940 --> 00:09:29.200 The Christians were the ones who began to take in the widows. 00:09:29.340 --> 00:09:35.220 They began to take the unwanted children who were left out and exposed and raise them as their own. 00:09:35.220 --> 00:09:39.259 And they also told widows that they didn't have to remarry if they didn't want to, 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:43.200 that the Christian community would be their family and take care of them. 00:09:43.700 --> 00:09:51.840 They gave dignity to every single human being, regardless of their race or their gender or their social status, 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:56.259 because they saw everyone as being made in the image of God. 00:09:56.700 --> 00:10:03.139 They taught that not only do men have authority over their wives' bodies, which is something that everybody believed, 00:10:03.139 --> 00:10:09.319 but they also taught the radical idea that wives also have authority over their husbands' bodies, 00:10:09.639 --> 00:10:11.559 which was unheard of at the time. 00:10:11.559 --> 00:10:19.159 They eventually expanded sexual ethics to cover and protect slaves and women as well. 00:10:19.580 --> 00:10:25.220 And so the interesting thing is, by many people's perspective these days, 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:28.000 Christian sexual ethics are backwards or prudish. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:32.659 But at this time in history, they were radical and revolutionary. 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:38.980 And I don't think we can overestimate how massive this shift was for Western civilization. 00:10:39.779 --> 00:10:49.059 The classicist, Kyle Harper, says that this was the world's first and possibly greatest sexual revolution ever. 00:10:49.059 --> 00:10:57.199 And in fact, there's a growing body of research that says that all of our fundamental assumptions in Western civilization 00:10:57.199 --> 00:11:02.959 about universal human equality and inalienable human rights, 00:11:03.339 --> 00:11:05.839 that all of this is not rooted in the Enlightenment, 00:11:05.939 --> 00:11:12.839 but it came directly out of the Judeo-Christian influence on Western civilization. 00:11:13.099 --> 00:11:16.079 It's rooted in the Judeo-Christian faith. 00:11:16.599 --> 00:11:18.519 And so this is what Jesus is saying. 00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:22.360 He's saying Christian communities are meant to be this for the world. 00:11:22.500 --> 00:11:27.799 They act as salt and light in a culture with decay and darkness. 00:11:28.460 --> 00:11:33.220 So now we need to ask, what does this mean for us as we fast forward and we look at the present day 00:11:33.220 --> 00:11:36.519 and we look around at the culture that God has placed us in? 00:11:36.579 --> 00:11:41.379 How do we think about what the church is called to be in this culture? 00:11:41.799 --> 00:11:43.500 And I would put it like this. 00:11:43.500 --> 00:11:50.360 The church community is meant to be a place of counterformation for the common good. 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:54.820 A place of counterformation for the common good. 00:11:54.899 --> 00:11:58.879 So I want to break down that phrase in a little more detail. 00:11:59.080 --> 00:12:01.379 First, I want to talk about counterformation. 00:12:01.379 --> 00:12:06.460 When Jesus says that Christians are salt and light for the world, 00:12:06.659 --> 00:12:14.159 what he's really saying is it is in society's best interest to allow Christians to be different. 00:12:14.899 --> 00:12:20.120 He's saying it is in the best interest of the city to allow Christians to be different, 00:12:20.220 --> 00:12:24.340 to not play by the same rules or live by the same standards. 00:12:24.340 --> 00:12:29.639 And so this is one of the reasons why religious freedom is so vital. 00:12:30.060 --> 00:12:33.540 And some of you work on issues of religious freedom, 00:12:33.780 --> 00:12:40.500 and that work is vital for ensuring that Christians can continue to be distinct from the surrounding culture. 00:12:40.740 --> 00:12:41.840 Absolutely important. 00:12:42.940 --> 00:12:48.060 But the freedom to be different only matters if you're actually different. 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:51.720 And that is really the point that Jesus is making here. 00:12:51.720 --> 00:13:00.320 Freedom of expression seems a bit hollow when Christians express themselves with every bit as much contempt 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:05.519 and mockery and hostility as anyone else in society. 00:13:05.899 --> 00:13:11.300 The freedom to hold different views about sexuality or marriage seems pretty hollow 00:13:11.300 --> 00:13:15.720 when Christian leaders keep getting accused of sexual misconduct. 00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:22.019 Jesus says for salt to be effective, it has to be salty. 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:24.700 It can't lose its saltiness. 00:13:24.800 --> 00:13:26.779 In other words, it has to be distinct. 00:13:26.899 --> 00:13:31.440 It has to be chemically different from the meat in order to be effective. 00:13:32.800 --> 00:13:36.720 Now, chemically speaking, salt can't actually lose its saltiness. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:46.620 But in the ancient world, with no refineries, salt could actually very easily become diluted with lots of other compounds that may look like salt, 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:49.860 but they were in fact not much more than road dust. 00:13:50.379 --> 00:13:52.160 And so what does this mean for us? 00:13:52.519 --> 00:13:57.840 Well, it means that we are all being spiritually formed all the time. 00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:02.240 All right, so formation is not optional for human beings. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:08.200 Whether you're a Christian or don't know what you believe, we are all being formed all the time. 00:14:08.460 --> 00:14:15.500 Things like the 24-hour news cycle, things like social media, they are spiritually forming us all the time. 00:14:15.500 --> 00:14:26.340 And so the gospel is always in danger of becoming diluted by the values and the idols that hold sway in our culture. 00:14:26.340 --> 00:14:29.740 And in a couple of weeks, we're going to talk about that in much more detail. 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:43.120 But things like individualism or consumerism or materialism or the political idolatry that so many people have been taken up with or progressivism. 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:45.240 These things can seep into the church. 00:14:45.379 --> 00:14:49.899 They can seep into the Christian life, and they can begin to dilute the gospel. 00:14:50.040 --> 00:14:52.780 And this is, of course, not something that is just now happening. 00:14:52.779 --> 00:14:56.439 It's something that has always happened since the earliest days of the church. 00:14:56.899 --> 00:15:01.019 And staying salty means staying committed to the gospel no matter what. 00:15:01.699 --> 00:15:05.539 A great example of this comes about 100 years ago. 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:08.839 For those of you who are familiar with church history, you'll know about this. 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:13.980 But about 100 years ago, there was a massive controversy in the church over the authority of Scripture. 00:15:13.980 --> 00:15:18.519 And on one side, you had these German academics who were saying, 00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:22.680 Well, now that we have science and now that we better understand how the world works, 00:15:22.980 --> 00:15:25.180 we now know that miracles aren't real. 00:15:25.300 --> 00:15:28.460 And we now know that the supernatural doesn't really exist. 00:15:28.500 --> 00:15:32.060 And we now know that things like resurrection aren't really possible. 00:15:32.580 --> 00:15:36.379 And these ideas about sin and judgment are offensive. 00:15:36.379 --> 00:15:44.379 And so what we need to do is to revise and update the Christian faith so it will fit and align with our modern views. 00:15:44.939 --> 00:15:47.399 And then on the other side, you have the traditionalists. 00:15:47.500 --> 00:15:48.939 And the traditionalists are saying, 00:15:49.299 --> 00:15:53.159 Listen, our faith has lasted 1,900 years. 00:15:53.379 --> 00:16:00.700 The same gospel has existed in different communities and different cultures all around the world for hundreds and hundreds of years. 00:16:00.700 --> 00:16:12.200 We see no need to modify the gospel to fit this current cultural context because this is the gospel that's been passed down since Christ first gave it to the apostles. 00:16:12.920 --> 00:16:23.820 And if you lived back then, you would have been sure, you would have put all your money on the fact that the traditionalists were going to lose, 00:16:23.900 --> 00:16:26.560 that they're the ones who were going to die out eventually. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:39.219 And yet here we are today, and when we look around today, the churches that embraced a modernized, deluded, progressive theology, those denominations are dying out. 00:16:40.339 --> 00:16:47.579 And in fact, Washington, D.C. is filled with big, beautiful, empty church buildings. 00:16:48.319 --> 00:16:53.159 These are relics of dying denominations that lost their saltiness. 00:16:53.159 --> 00:16:56.939 The gospel got so diluted that they lost their saltiness. 00:16:57.860 --> 00:17:04.119 And the churches, on the other hand, who held fast to the gospel that was first preached to the apostles, 00:17:04.299 --> 00:17:09.480 the churches that held fast to the original gospel, those are the churches that are renting those buildings. 00:17:10.920 --> 00:17:18.819 And there are more people coming to faith in Christ in churches like that, especially in places like the Global South. 00:17:18.819 --> 00:17:25.980 There are more people coming to faith in churches like that right now than at any point ever in human history, 00:17:25.980 --> 00:17:28.179 because they stayed salty. 00:17:28.579 --> 00:17:32.759 They continue to be salt and light in the world. 00:17:33.779 --> 00:17:42.439 And so Christians need strong, thick, countercultural practices that keep us from losing our saltiness. 00:17:42.440 --> 00:17:48.000 And it's vital to be deeply rooted in a gospel-centered church community. 00:17:48.180 --> 00:17:54.440 That example that I gave a moment ago is an example that I got from a guy named Darren Whitehead. 00:17:54.519 --> 00:18:00.340 That's just one of many examples of this kind of thing happening throughout history. 00:18:00.700 --> 00:18:03.340 Christians losing their saltiness and dying out, 00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:08.900 and other Christians staying salty by clinging to Christ and the gospel. 00:18:08.900 --> 00:18:11.860 And so what I mean as we think about our church, 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:19.080 we're not just talking about the importance of tuning into church once or twice a month or listening to sermons. 00:18:19.820 --> 00:18:23.680 What we're talking about is being deeply invested in a church community. 00:18:24.180 --> 00:18:28.140 We are talking about serving and using your gifts. 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:35.060 We are talking about meeting in triads or core groups and seeking, prioritizing, 00:18:35.059 --> 00:18:39.159 building Christian friendships with people who are going to actually hold you accountable, 00:18:39.339 --> 00:18:43.720 who love Jesus and who love you and who want you to grow in your faith. 00:18:44.179 --> 00:18:49.440 We're talking about becoming a member in our church or whatever church you are a part of 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:53.440 so that you can come under the accountability of that community. 00:18:53.960 --> 00:18:59.359 We're talking about committing yourself to personal spiritual disciplines of growth. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:05.819 Any hope of counter-formation that we have is going to require a high level of commitment, 00:19:06.339 --> 00:19:14.240 especially during COVID when we are spending so much time online and we are being formed all the time. 00:19:14.859 --> 00:19:16.799 So this is the first part of this. 00:19:16.859 --> 00:19:19.359 This is what we mean by counter-formation. 00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:23.740 But of course, that counter-formation actually has a larger purpose behind it. 00:19:23.740 --> 00:19:28.980 And the purpose of our counter-formation is so that we can seek the common good together. 00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:35.059 And this is that balance of gathering and scattering, of gathering together in the church 00:19:35.059 --> 00:19:39.019 and then being sent out to every corner of society. 00:19:39.180 --> 00:19:44.120 Because in order to be salt and light, we have to go where there's decay and darkness. 00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:46.500 That's the way it works. 00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:55.240 We have to remember that in order for salt to be effective, it has to be worked into every square inch of the meat. 00:19:55.339 --> 00:20:01.740 And in the same way, Christians need to be present in every square inch of society, 00:20:01.980 --> 00:20:05.380 especially where there is decay and darkness. 00:20:06.519 --> 00:20:10.140 And what's so amazing is that when I look around our community, 00:20:10.140 --> 00:20:16.560 I see all kinds of amazing examples of people doing just this kind of thing. 00:20:17.220 --> 00:20:20.200 There are some people in our church who looked around at one point 00:20:20.200 --> 00:20:23.780 and realized that very few of their neighbors knew each other. 00:20:23.900 --> 00:20:29.560 And so they got some of their neighbors together and planned to host a block party for their street. 00:20:29.700 --> 00:20:31.900 And that became an annual tradition. 00:20:32.100 --> 00:20:36.040 And other neighbors stepped in and took the lead in making sure it kept happening. 00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:40.980 And before long, all of the neighbors knew each other and friendships were being formed 00:20:40.980 --> 00:20:44.819 between people who didn't even know each other's names a few years earlier. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:48.420 That's being salt and light in your community. 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:54.399 Many of you are facing financial uncertainty and some of you have lost your jobs 00:20:54.399 --> 00:20:57.139 and nobody really knows how bad things are going to get. 00:20:57.700 --> 00:21:01.639 And yet, many of you have given to our COVID relief fund. 00:21:01.640 --> 00:21:07.540 And through your generosity, we've been able to give away over $45,000 to help pay rent, 00:21:07.700 --> 00:21:13.100 to pay mortgages, to pay utility bills, to buy food and essentials for people who need it 00:21:13.100 --> 00:21:14.500 all around this community, right? 00:21:14.580 --> 00:21:15.940 That's being salt and light. 00:21:16.040 --> 00:21:17.840 That's preserving against decay. 00:21:19.220 --> 00:21:24.759 Some of you give your time to mentor children or serve at Little Lights. 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:30.340 And others of you serve with the DC 127 Foster Care and Adoption Ministry. 00:21:30.339 --> 00:21:36.759 And you open up your homes and your friends and your families to receive children who need a home 00:21:36.759 --> 00:21:42.319 and who need a family, sometimes for short term, sometimes for longer term periods of time. 00:21:42.539 --> 00:21:43.859 That's being salt and light. 00:21:44.980 --> 00:21:51.039 Many of you are committed to learning more about policies that perpetuate racial inequity. 00:21:51.159 --> 00:21:56.240 And you're committed to building friendships across racial and ethnic lines 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:58.639 because you're committed to reconciliation. 00:21:58.640 --> 00:22:02.160 That's being salt and light in this community. 00:22:02.740 --> 00:22:07.820 A family in our church is deeply committed to evangelism in their neighborhood. 00:22:08.420 --> 00:22:14.880 And so they host an annual Christmas party every year where they share the gospel with their friends 00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:15.820 and neighbors. 00:22:15.820 --> 00:22:19.980 And they host neighborhood Bible studies that they invite their neighbors to 00:22:19.980 --> 00:22:22.020 because they want them to know about Jesus. 00:22:22.360 --> 00:22:24.860 That is being salt and light in the community. 00:22:24.859 --> 00:22:30.019 Some of you live in group homes where you have built intentional communities 00:22:30.019 --> 00:22:33.819 between married people and families, people with kids, 00:22:34.259 --> 00:22:36.399 and married people who don't have kids, 00:22:36.539 --> 00:22:39.659 and then single people who are not married, all living together. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:44.799 And that's because your vision of family is not just limited to nuclear families. 00:22:44.859 --> 00:22:49.679 You have a much larger gospel-driven vision of what families can be. 00:22:49.859 --> 00:22:52.759 That is being salt and light in this community. 00:22:52.759 --> 00:22:59.759 There was a woman in our church who was publicly criticized online for her Christian faith 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:04.379 by another parent at school. 00:23:04.740 --> 00:23:12.220 And instead of responding with anger or defensiveness or hostility or simply avoiding this person, 00:23:12.220 --> 00:23:19.420 she invited him to sit down with her and to share his concerns and heard him out 00:23:19.420 --> 00:23:23.799 and has since made it her mission to befriend him. 00:23:23.940 --> 00:23:26.240 That is being salt and light. 00:23:27.140 --> 00:23:34.059 There was a man who was on a partner track in a corporate law firm who began to realize that the long hours 00:23:34.059 --> 00:23:39.420 he was working, that that was doing harm to his marriage and to his family, 00:23:39.420 --> 00:23:42.220 his desire to be a father who's present with his children. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:46.100 And so he made the sacrificial decision to cut down his hours. 00:23:46.420 --> 00:23:52.640 He gave up on his dream of becoming partner so that he could prioritize his family. 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:55.519 That is being salt and light. 00:23:56.019 --> 00:24:01.560 Years ago, we commissioned and sent out a family to go live in the Persian Gulf region, 00:24:01.559 --> 00:24:05.700 to give their lives long-term, to living there, to building deep friendships, 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:11.319 to sharing the gospel, and to planting churches in a place where very few people follow Jesus 00:24:11.319 --> 00:24:13.379 and where the gospel is not preached. 00:24:13.559 --> 00:24:15.159 That is being salt and light. 00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:19.899 All right, so all of these examples, and I could go on and on and on and on. 00:24:20.159 --> 00:24:20.980 It's fascinating. 00:24:21.139 --> 00:24:25.299 Nick Kristof, who writes in the New York Times, occasionally writes articles about Christians, 00:24:25.299 --> 00:24:31.259 even though he's not one, and he has not been ashamed to criticize Christians on a number of levels. 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:37.619 But also, there have been several times when he has said something along these lines, 00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:44.019 where he has almost reluctantly had to admit that wherever he goes, anywhere in the world, 00:24:44.119 --> 00:24:49.720 he says, wherever there is the greatest suffering, whenever he goes to places where everyone else 00:24:49.720 --> 00:24:54.660 has pulled out, even places where their own governments have abandoned them, 00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:56.819 he says, you always find Christians. 00:24:58.000 --> 00:24:59.440 Christians are always there. 00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:03.539 Christians are always found in places of greatest suffering, 00:25:03.980 --> 00:25:07.600 greatest decay, greatest darkness all around the world. 00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:12.299 They're always found being there as salt and light in their community. 00:25:13.160 --> 00:25:14.660 And you ask, well, why? 00:25:14.779 --> 00:25:17.500 Why would Christians do this? 00:25:17.500 --> 00:25:24.160 Why would Christians endure the cost that comes with being different in our culture? 00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:31.720 Why would Christians face the certainty of persecution for their beliefs or their way of life? 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:37.779 Why would Christians intentionally seek out places of darkness or suffering or decay? 00:25:38.059 --> 00:25:42.519 Why would they risk their livelihoods or, in some cases, their lives? 00:25:42.519 --> 00:25:43.519 Why would they risk their lives? 00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:44.200 Why would they risk their lives? 00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:50.759 And the answer is that all of this is nothing compared to what Jesus Christ has done for us. 00:25:53.259 --> 00:25:55.139 It's nothing compared to that. 00:25:56.700 --> 00:26:02.420 The true light of the world, as he said himself, is Jesus Christ. 00:26:02.420 --> 00:26:08.779 And while we may at times risk our reputation, he gave his life. 00:26:10.039 --> 00:26:16.300 While we can only preserve society against decay, he offers the hope of resurrection. 00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:24.240 While we can only promote growth, Jesus brings complete renewal to the world. 00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:32.539 While we can merely be a city on a hill, Jesus will one day illuminate the whole earth. 00:26:33.240 --> 00:26:38.579 He will banish all darkness such that the sun itself will no longer be necessary. 00:26:38.579 --> 00:26:47.819 So our ministry in the world as salt and light is only possible because of Jesus' ministry. 00:26:48.460 --> 00:26:56.439 So the core of being salt and light is realizing that all of this is not actually about us. 00:26:57.240 --> 00:27:01.399 It's about him, Jesus Christ, and his glory. 00:27:02.179 --> 00:27:03.099 Let's pray. 00:27:03.099 --> 00:27:05.819 Lord, we thank you. 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:11.500 And we know that this is not even something that we aspire to be. 00:27:11.579 --> 00:27:14.039 You don't say you should be salt or light. 00:27:14.099 --> 00:27:16.659 You say you are salt and light. 00:27:16.759 --> 00:27:23.939 That if we belong to you, Lord, if we understand what you've done for us, the truth of the gospel, 00:27:24.579 --> 00:27:32.099 then we emanate that which is salt and light through our community because we're changed by your love. 00:27:32.099 --> 00:27:33.500 And I pray just that. 00:27:33.579 --> 00:27:38.619 I pray that you would, through your love and the truth of the gospel, melt our hearts, 00:27:39.059 --> 00:27:41.139 that we would fall more deeply in love with you. 00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:48.339 And that because of that love, Lord, we would become the salt and light that you desire us to be and glorify you. 00:27:48.740 --> 00:27:50.519 We pray this in your son's holy name. 00:27:50.980 --> 00:27:51.240 Amen. 00:27:51.240 --> 00:27:51.359 Amen. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:51.399 Amen.