The Sermon on the Mount Series, Week 3 – Believers are Salt and Light

Now that we have finished up with the eight beatitudes, which show us the characteristics of a heart that pleases God. Those characteristics showed how a heart aligned with the kingdom of heaven would interact with God and other people. At the time, the beatitudes also opened people’s eyes to the idea that the kingdom of heaven was being made available to the most unlikely people of that time, when it was thought that only the visibly righteous and those with material or social power were favored by God. They gave us a glimpse of all the core teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, with each beatitude being linked to multiple sections in the rest of the sermon, and many passages being linked to multiple beatitudes. Now we move on to the next section titled “Believers Are Salt and Light” in the CSB translation. 

Matthew 5:13-16 – “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In 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.”

I think that this opening section was very intentionally placed, and both salt and light deal with both inward transformation of the heart and then the outward actions that should be visible when you become a disciple or student of Jesus.

Let’s begin with salt. In the ancient world and time of Jesus, salt had two functions, to season food and amplify its flavor, to preserve it, and they understood that it was vital to life. In today’s age, we now know that salt is a vital electrolyte that you need to survive, and it allows your cells to absorb the water you drink and become hydrated so that they can perform their function. In the beatitudes, Jesus called us to be dependent on God, to care about others, to be humble, to seek the right thing in God’s eyes, to forgive others that don’t deserve it, to have an authentic heart, to bring reconciliation to conflict, and to bear persecution in his name with honor. Now he wants us to bring that way of living into everything we are doing and have it become a vital function in both our lives and others lives. Just like how salt brings out the flavor in food or preserves it from going bad and allows your body to survive. He wants us to take what he is teaching us into our interactions with others in our family, our workplace, our church, and even to our enemies.

The paragraph on being a light is even more apparent in how our actions should be visible and affect those around us. Salt was linked to how we affect others, but now light is linked to how we reveal ourselves to others. He wants us to be a light that can be seen by all and cannot be mistaken for something else. Jesus is the source of our light, but it is up to us to let our light shine in a way that can be seen by others and brings light to their lives in a way that brings them something good. We are all so busy with chores, work, and so many other things. It is not possible or an option to whole heartly believe in the teachings of Jesus but live in a way where other people the only visible action you take is to go to church once a week. This does not mean that we must drop everything we are doing in our lives and take up modern religious practices of churches (serving, evangelism, preaching). Jesus wants us to bring his teachings to all the aspects of our lives we are currently living, to whatever job we have and all our interactions with others. A light does not discriminate, it shines to all, including those that we are friends with and those we are enemies with. God does not only bless those that are his followers, but his light shines on those that are both evil and good (Matthew 5:44-45). In the last sentence, Jesus tells us that the purpose of our light shining, is so that others will be able to see the good works we are doing. These good works should benefit other people to bring them closer to the eternal kingdom of God right now, so that they benefit as well.

If we are on the right path, it will be apparent with the actions that we take in obedience to God (the fruit that we bear). We must hear the word of Jesus and act on them. If we do, we will fulfill a vital function in both our lives and the lives of others with something good and life giving. He leaves us with a strong warning if we lose our saltiness, or if our heart starts to slip back into the worldly way of living that is not in line with the kingdom’s heart or with what God desires for us. Branches must bear fruit (John 15), servants must remain ready (Matthew 25: 1-13), disciples must endure (Matthew 24:13), trees without fruit face judgement (Matthew 7:16-19), and if we call Jesus Lord then we must do the will of the Father in heaven (Matthew 7:21-23). If we are alarmed by these warnings, that is a good thing! It means that we care, and we fear God. A heathy fear of God is a good thing when we use it productively. For example, at work or school, a healthy fear of losing your job or not getting a good grade can be a very good thing when you take ownership of the things you can do to become better and be successful instead of just throwing up your hands and not try. Without any repercussions, humans have proven time and time again that they will take the easy road instead of the hard one. We should take comfort in the first beatitude, blessed are the poor in spirit, which tells us that we cannot do this alone, and need God for the strength, wisdom, and guidance on how to walk down the path he desires us to. We can do nothing without being connected to Jesus (John 15:6). He is the light that shines through us.