Salt and Light
Read: Matthew 5:13-16
As we’ve seen, in our role as ambassadors for Christ, we are actually fulfilling the creation mandate of being God’s image bearers. We’re coming under the rule of God and extending His reign into all aspects of our lives wherever we go. We’re bringing our little kingdoms under the Kingdom of God, so that in us and through us God’s will is increasingly done “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls this kind of living being “salt and light.” In Jesus’ day, salt was both a preservative and a seasoning. As a preservative, salt served as a kind of antiseptic that kept decay from setting in. It was used to preserve meat without refrigeration, and it was used to clean wounds. As a seasoning, salt was used to draw out the flavor in a meal. Light in Jesus’ day was both a deterrent and a beacon. Light serves as a deterrent, keeping evil away. It’s why we have security lights to this day. Light also serves as a beacon. If you’re lost in the desert in the dark of night and see light shining from a city on the hill, you’re saved!
When Jesus calls us “salt and light,” He’s showing us the role we are to play in the world. Followers of Jesus have a preserving function in the world. We’re to arrest decay and bring healing to a broken world. We also serve as seasoning. We’re to draw out the flavor and beauty of the world around us. We act as a deterrent to evil, seeking justice and righteousness wherever we go. And we serve as beacons of hope and salvation to a lost and dying world. We shine the light of Jesus in word and deed so that everyone might give glory to our Father who is in Heaven!
Jesus is inviting you on the journey of a lifetime. It’s an invitation to know God through worship, feed your soul through community, grow in love through service, and change your world through mission. Every moment of every day, we live as salt and light in the world, ambassadors for Christ, image bearers of God. Wherever we live, work, learn, or play, we go to “be the church” with the words we say and the lives we live. We’ve been given the greatest commission to go and make disciples of all nations. And it starts in our own neighborhoods. We all want to change our world. Jesus is inviting you to change your world through mission. Will you join Jesus on mission in your world?
Your Journey Reflection Questions:
In what ways do we serve as preservatives and deterrents?
In what ways do we serve as seasonings and beacons?
What does “change your world through mission” mean in your life?
In light of what you’ve learned today, what is your next step?
