I invite you to turn in your copy of God's Word to the gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 5. We'll be looking at verses 13 through 16, Matthew 5, 13 through 16. And so for the last several weeks, we have been in Matthew chapter 5. This is the first of five major discourses of five sermons, if you will. And this one is known as the Sermon on the Mount, the most famous sermon in the history of the world. most often quoted sermon out there. It's interesting that many of our brothers and sisters in Christ understand that the Sermon on the Mount is about life in the kingdom of God. However, many of our brothers and sisters see that kingdom as something being only far off in the future when Jesus returns. What's interesting is that many unbelievers who do look at this, look for it, the Sermon on the Mount, they look to it for wisdom and so on, they understand that it speaks about life right now. But what they misunderstand is they think that they can obey it and live it in their own strength apart from Christ. And the position that we want to have as the followers of Jesus is to understand that what Jesus is doing in the Sermon on the Mount is He is describing life in the kingdom, His kingdom, and it's life right now. That kingdom is here. It came with the coming of Jesus Himself. but there is no way that we can live it apart from Him. So this is what we've been seeing and what we are going to continue to see. As we saw in the last few weeks, Jesus started the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes where He described the character of His disciples. These are those people who follow Jesus. And what was that? We saw that we are a broken people, a sinful people, a needy people, wholly unable in our own strength. to do anything about our sin and to change who we are. But by grace, Christ changes us and makes us a different kind of people. And it's that which now here in verses 13 through 16, Jesus pivots to now. He's discussed who we are and now he's going to say, this is how redeemed people behave. And if you recognize that pattern, you've seen it in the Ten Commandments. Right at the very beginning of the Ten Commandments, what does God do? He says, I am the God who delivered you out of Egypt. You are a redeemed people. This is how a redeemed people behave. It's never the reverse. It's never, behave this way and I will save you. No, it's, this is who you are as my people, redeemed and saved by grace. Now here is how you behave. So this is what he's gonna be showing us. Those disciples who possess that character that we saw in the last few weeks in beatitude, this is how we should behave in the world and it's a very clear contrast. Let's read verses 13 through 16. Our Lord says, you are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a stand, and it gives light to all 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 who is in heaven. Thus far, the reading of God's word. May he bless it to our hearing, especially as it's preached to us this morning. On December 1st, 1955, a bus pulled up in front of a department store in downtown Montgomery in Alabama. A middle-aged woman stood there. She had been working all day at the department store, and now she was ready to go home. So as soon as the bus pulled up and opened its door, she got on that bus, she paid her fare, and took her seat somewhere about in the middle of the bus. At the third stop in front of the Empire Theater there in Montgomery, several more passengers boarded on the bus, so much so that there were no seats left and three men were left standing with nowhere to sit. And so the bus driver turned around and asked the woman and the three others to give up their seats for the men who were standing. You see, the reason for this is that those men who were standing were white, but the woman was black along with the three others. Well, those three others complied with the request of the bus driver, but the woman refused. She would not give up her seat. Her name, of course, was Rosa Parks. And she was, of course, arrested. She was removed from the bus. But that single act of defiance sparked what came to be known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, what turned out to be a key moment in the civil rights movement, which would indeed not only change this nation, but ultimately the world. We ask the question, what difference can one person make in a world that's upside down, a world that's topsy-turvy and full of evil? And when we look at Rosa Parks, we see that her willingness to do this one single thing, acting out of integrity, acting out of dignity. And when I say out of dignity, it's not just that she was saying, this is the dignity of black people that we should be equal. She was ultimately acting for the dignity of all human beings and reminding us that we're all made in the image of God. That one single act began a transformation that has been used mightily in the world. We need to think about that when we look at the Sermon on the Mount. Because in the Sermon on the Mount, we see that the kingdom of God has come into our midst, to use the language that we've been using half-jokingly, but it's actually quite true of the last several weeks. When Jesus came, the kingdom of God intruded into our present space-time continuum. It changed reality. And that kingdom is now in our midst, and we who are the followers of Jesus belong to that kingdom. It is a kingdom that is radically different from the world. And because of that, the world, as we saw last week, opposes the kingdom of God and even seeks to destroy it. So the question for us this morning is, if this is how the world responds to the kingdom of God, how are we who belong to that kingdom to live in this world, the world that wants so desperately to destroy us? We saw last week in the Beatitudes what the character of a disciple of Christ is like. So how can it be that a people who are poor in spirit, who are meek in their attitudes, who are merciful, how can those people make any difference in a hard, tough world? Are we not too feeble to achieve anything of note? I mean, what lasting good can we do, we who hunger and thirst for righteousness, when our only weapon is purity of heart as we saw in the Beatitudes? Won't we then just simply be swept away by the evil in the world? So how do we respond in a world that wants to destroy us and persecutes us? To answer that question, Jesus uses two metaphors, the metaphor of salt and of light to indicate the influence that he expects us to have in this world for good. Those are two metaphors that are familiar to us today just as they were to the people back then. They were domestic metaphors. Every home, no matter how poor, made use of salt. Everyone was familiar with light. But the key truth that Jesus wants to communicate in both of these metaphors is that the church and the world are distinct. This is something that believers often forget and we constantly have to be reminded of. You have, he says, you are the salt of the earth. There is the salt and there is the earth. You are the light. of the world. There is the light and there is the world. These two things are distinct. The church and the world are not the same. And those two metaphors reveal and tell us some very important truths about this world in which we live. It's a world that is dark, even though it considers itself enlightened. It's a world that's desperately in need of light. And it is a world that is corrupt and decaying and really cannot stop itself from going bad. And so Jesus calls the church to be the salt that prevents the decay of this world and to be the light that dispels the darkness. That's what we see in this little section of the Sermon on the Mount. So as we expand and explore it, we're going to see three things. We're going to first look at the salt and our call to prevent corruption of the world. Then we're going to look at the metaphor of light and how Jesus calls us to dispel the darkness in the world. And finally, we're going to look at the power to fulfill our calling. So we're going to look at salt. We're called to prevent corruption of the world. We're going to look at light. We're called to dispel darkness in the world. And we're going to finally look at the power by which we can fulfill those callings. So let's take a look at the first point. Jesus says that we are salt. He's calling us to prevent the corruption of the world. He says in verse 13, you are the salt of the earth. Now, the word here, earth, does not mean the ground, the dirt. It actually stands for the whole of the world. I like the way the revised English Bible translated this, you are salt to the world. It's not the most literal translation, but it captures the essence of what it's trying to say. Now, what is salt? Salt is a preservative. It serves to give flavor. It serves to prevent corruption. And so, in using this metaphor, Jesus is telling us that this world is corrupt, that left to itself, it will rot and deteriorate without the preserving effect of the gospel. This world is suffering moral decay. It's a world that has become putrid and unfit for those who have been made in the image of God. But the good news for this crazy world is what Jesus tells us in verse 13. You are the salt. Now notice the way he says this. The word you in the original language is emphatic. It's like saying you, you. are the salt of the earth. And also the way it's written in the original language, it's restrictive. And what do I mean by that? You might remember the very beginning in verse 1 of chapter 5 as the Sermon on the Mount begins, it tells us that Jesus was not addressing the crowds, he was addressing his people, the disciples. So when he says, you, you particularly, my disciples are the salt of the earth. He's telling us, he's making a statement about who we are. It's not a promise. He's not saying one day you will be salt of the earth. He's not giving us a command, be the salt of the earth. It's just a simple indicative statement. You are. You are the salt of the earth. It's inevitable that you as a follower of Jesus will be salt. It's the nature of those people who belong to the kingdom and that places an important responsibility on us. Since we are salt, we are to penetrate the society. And in so doing, we are to do three things. We are to preserve what is wholesome. We are to oppose what is corrupt. And we are to give flavor to life. Let's unpack those three things that salt does and which Jesus expects us to do in our society. First of those, all's us. to prevent decay. Our saltiness, as it were, is displayed in our character, the very character we saw in the Beatitudes. When we behave as those who are meek, when we behave as those who mourn over our own sin and are repentant, when we behave as those who are merciful and so on, then we make a visible difference and we prevent the decay, we prevent the rot that we see in the world around us. Have you ever noticed when you are openly living for Jesus Christ in the eyes of your coworkers, your classmates, and your neighbors, and your family, do you see how it begins to change them? You begin to see that, for example, your companions will moderate the language that they use. That is to say that the things they say in their conversations will be restrained. Has that ever happened? They'll begin to say, oh, oh, you're here. Right? They're not so quick to blaspheme the name of Christ or of God and to use it so easily. We see people at work become more conscientious about the standard of their work because they see the integrity in your work. We begin to see that respect for others becomes more common. Our very presence as we live for Christ begins to prevent that decay. Maybe not change the heart, but at least on the surface, it restrains that evil. There was a time when Mary Jo took a friend of hers to her hairstylist. And the friend of the hairstylist engaged in conversation, and the hairstylist knew that Mary Jo was a Christian. And so at one point in the conversation, he says to her friend, I would tell you, but I can't because she's here. Have you ever seen that sort of thing happen? How many times that people act differently around me because I'm a pastor? These are the sorts of things we're talking about. As salt, we prevent decay. It also means that Jesus expects us to oppose what is corrupt. Not just to prevent a decay, but to actually face what's corrupt, to speak out with courage and to condemn what is evil. The problem is that so often we're afraid to do so because we want to be liked. We prefer being passive Christians. The German theologian Helmut Thielecke put it this way. He said, to look at some Christians, one would think that their ambition is to be the honeypot of the world. They sweeten and sugar the bitterness of life with an all too easy conception of a loving God. He's talking about, and he's in a German context where theology, much like it is now here, is all about, oh, we have a God who loves no matter what you do, and so on. And so they remove what the message actually says. He goes on, but Jesus, of course, did not say you are the honey of the world. He said you are the salt of the earth. Salt bites. And the unadulterated message of the judgment and grace of God has always been a biting thing. And that's true. We have to not be afraid to be able to oppose those things that are wrong. I'm really praying that what we're seeing in this last month in the aftermath of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, I'm praying that that's not a fluke. That what we're actually seeing is some Christians saying, I have been quiet, but as they've observed the way that Charlie and his wife Erica, not perfect people, but people who lived out their life following Christ as best as they could, that's beginning to get people saying, you know, I need to speak up in my context. We need to be able to do that. It doesn't mean that we have to be harsh while we're doing that. Paul says in Colossians 4, 6, let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt. Remember, the speech reveals our heart, and our conversation should bring out those pleasant flavors of Jesus. So we need to oppose what's corrupt, but we can do so in gracious ways. Also, we know that salt seasons. And so the third thing that we're expected to do is to give flavor to life. You know, Christians should have zest. Have you ever thought about that? Your presence, when you enter a room, you should not bring a pall of depression. Oh, there she is. Now we can't do this. Oh, there he is. Now we can't do that. When you enter a room, joy should not exit. Think about it, when you are there, you should increase the joy of life, because after all, aren't we the ones who've been with Jesus, the ones who are with Jesus? And that should show, that should show. There's a wonderful Christian woman that I would love for you to meet, however, you're gonna have to wait until glory, because that's where she's at now. And if you hadn't met her in her years here on earth, the first thing you think is, this woman's nuts. But it wouldn't take very long for you to realize, actually, no, she's the most sane person in the room. No, what she is is that she is free. She's free in Jesus Christ to live with joy. This is a woman who had dropped off all her masks, who realized that her identity was to be found in Christ and her joy was in Christ and she shared that with everyone around her. And that's the freedom that people saw. So much so that when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2011, no one knew about it except her doctor and her husband. There was no woe is me. She absolutely understood that even then she was with Jesus, the one who John 10 says gave her abundant life. We need to be like that. Those who recognize that even in the face of death, we have life abundantly. And that should give us joy. So we should season life all around us. But Jesus goes on to give us a bit of a warning. The only way that you and I can prevent the decay of this world, the only way in which we can give flavor is if we preserve our own distinctive character as salt. He said in the second half of verse 13, if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It's a rhetorical question. In other words, it can't. You see, pure salt, like the kind that we now buy in stores, is sodium chloride. And pure salt cannot lose its saltiness, but that's not what they had in first century Palestine. There, when they talked about salt, it was what they dug up from the shores of the Dead Sea and it was a mixture of sodium chloride and any number of other impurities that were brought with it. And over time, the sodium chloride would actually dissolve and the salt would become less and less salty until it lost all its saltiness. So when we understand that and how Jesus was using it, things that made sense to the people of that time, we then have to ask the question, how is it that we today lose our saltiness? And the answer is simple, we add things to it. We don't lose our saltiness by subtracting but by adding, by adding the impure things of this world. What are the things that we are adding to our salt? The impurities of this world that keep us from that distinctive Christian character that Jesus is calling us to here. That's the way you lose that character. You mix it with the character of the world. And when that has happened, Jesus says, the salt has lost its taste. That's the way it's translated in the ESV and actually in most translations. But it literally says, the salt has become foolish. It's the word for moron. It says that salt has become moronic, it's become foolish. If you know the way the word fool is used in Scripture, it doesn't refer to a person who's stupid or ignorant. It always means a person who resists God. That's the foolishness. A person who lacks faith, a person who lives contrary to the ways of God. He belongs to the world. And so a foolish disciple, a foolish follower of Jesus is a person who, according to Jesus, has no influence in the world because he's lost his saltiness. And then Jesus gives this judgment. He says, it is no longer good for anything. Can you imagine Jesus telling you, you are good for nothing? The word literally means it has power for nothing. It can do no more good. It is useless. And therefore, he says, the only use is for it to be thrown out and trampled. And so the warning for us is we must not lose our saltiness. In other words, we have to be different from the world. R.V.G. Tasker was this wonderful English Bible scholar from the middle of the previous century, mid-20th century. And he once wrote, the most obvious general characteristic of salt is that it is essentially different from the medium into which it is put. Its power lies precisely in this difference. So is it, says Jesus with his disciples. Their power in the world lies in their difference from it. And Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones of that same generation, preacher in London, once said, the glory of the gospel is that when the church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it. It is then that the world is made to listen to her message, though it may hate it at first. I think we're beginning to see some of that happening even now in our day because God is always faithful and always uses us to do these things. But sadly the problem is that so often what we want to do is we want to blur that distinction between the church and the world. We want to just commingle them and remove that. And when we do that, people of God, Jesus is telling us that we cease to be different. And the moment that we cease to be different, in effect, we cease to be Christian. As Jesus told us in John 17, we are to be in the world but not of the world. So this is what He's calling us to be, the salt of the earth. where we prevent decay and we give flavor to life. And the way that we do that is by not losing our saltiness, by not mixing with the world, but to be distinct from it. It's important to recognize that without Christians in this world, the world will decay. It cannot prevent itself from decaying without us. You might say, how can that be? We're nothing. Look, in those days, just like today, salt is cheap. Salt, look at it, it's small, it's insignificant, it's powerless, so it seems. And yet it has an effect completely out of proportion to its size and its cost. Again, remember what we saw in Rosa Parks, that quiet, humble little woman and the change she made in this world. This is what Jesus is calling us to do, to just be salt in the place in which you're at. And in so doing, you will affect the world. Now, Jesus is not done, and that's because fallen people need more than simply barriers to stop them from being as bad as they possibly can be. They need to be regenerated. They need to be created anew. They need a new life that comes from the gospel. And that's the other thing to which He called us, which is to be the light of the world. So let's look at our second point, which is light. We are called to dispel that darkness in the world. Now, when we think about the function of salt that we just looked at, it's a largely negative function in that it prevents decay. But the function of light is positive. It illumines the darkness. And so, Jesus in verse 14 then says, you are the light of the world. And He uses the same language that He used with the salt. He's telling us again a statement of fact, you are, not you will be, you hope to be, you can be, you are. And just before, as before, the you is emphatic and it's restrictive. You, my disciples, you and you alone are the light of the world. And what Jesus is telling us and reminding us is that we live in a world that is in deep moral darkness. And that moral darkness affects the ability of the world to see clearly. As a result of that, the world does not have an angle on how to live morally. It's lost its moral bearings. It's blind. to the terrible consequences of its own sin. And because the world is morally confused, it cannot distinguish between good and evil, and we see that happening all the time. You see people who will come out and they will protest against war and against violence, and they'll say, well, we're protesting against that because we're concerned for the well-being of people. But at the same time, those same people are pro-abortion, denying the well-being of millions of embryonic people. And yet, they don't see the disconnect. These are people who will campaign for trans rights because they say they're concerned with the equality of all people. And yet, just like that, they will actively seek to deny equal rights to Christians. Again, they don't see the disconnect. They can't. They are in darkness. And the world is so completely surrounded by that moral darkness that they cannot even see their own spiritual foolishness. It makes no sense to them. So you then, Jesus says, are the light that the world needs in order to see its profound spiritual need and in order to repent and change. And giving that light, Jesus says again, is inevitable. You will do it. He says in verse 14, a city set on a hill cannot be hidden. In other words, when you receive the light of the gospel, you will shine. in this dark world. As he says in verse 15, when the lamp is set on a stand, it will give light to all in the house. We're called to do that. Now, when we talk about giving our light, what is that light that they're seeing? He gives us the answer in verse 16. This is one of the most fascinating passages in Scripture. He says that that light is so that they may see your good works. In other words, as they see how you behave, that's the light that points people to Christ. Now, I want to take a moment. I've already been saying more than I normally do, hey look, here's what the original language says. This one is really quite fascinating. When you see the word good works, you think works that are good in terms of righteousness, right? There are three words that get translated good in the Bible. One of those words is the word dikaos, from which we get righteousness. In other words, these are works that are morally good, righteous works. And yet, that's not the word that's used here. There's another word, agathos, which is good as opposed to evil. And that's not the word that's being used here. The word that's being used here is kolos, which is the word that means beautiful or attractive. Isn't that a fascinating choice of what Jesus chose to say here? But the reason that you show your light is so that they may see your beautiful works, your attractive works. They don't mean that you're going to do a painting or so on. It means that as you do things that are righteous, as you do things that are good over and opposed as against evil, that those things are beautiful. When you go and you help your neighbor, when you show kindness to someone who is hurting, When you sacrifice something on your behalf for the sake of someone else's well-being, those things become beautiful in the sight of the world and it attracts them. It gets their attention. Think about how, especially nowadays, it's become so much easier how we use light, not just simply to see, but to beautify, don't we? Now you can go to Best Buy or Amazon and you can order these little light strips and you can put them everywhere. We believe that light can be beautiful and we all like to see that. Who doesn't like to, at night, fly and see the whole city and all the twinkling lights and everything? That's what we're talking about here. When you live for Jesus, you're going to glow like that beautiful light. And as you do so, you show others the beauty and the splendor and the majesty and the wonder of who Jesus is. As we do that, let's remember the goal of those beautiful works is not to draw attention to yourself, not to be like those Pharisees who constantly tried to win praise for themselves with their own works, but rather it's to have that light observed pointing to Jesus rather than having the focus on you, the light bearer. And when you do that, those attractive works point ultimately to God. He says in verse 16 that the result of that is that we will give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Think about that. That is the goal of these good works, these beautiful works, is so that we would praise the Father who is in heaven. Peter said that so clearly in 1 Peter 2.12. He said, live such good lives among the pagans. That though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day that he visits us. At first, they'll tell you what you're doing is wrong. Oh, you're the one who's hateful. But in time, they will see that. In the end, they will have to give glory to God. And that is the purpose of our good works, of our attractive works. It's ultimately to bring them into a relationship with God so that He can become their Father even as He is ours through Christ. And by the way, this is the first time in the Gospel of Matthew that Jesus calls God Father. And sometimes we forget just how radical a statement that is. Because it really is. In the Old Testament, sometimes the Jews were referred to God as father of all of Israel in a corporate sense. But as an individual, we say it so often that we perhaps have lost the sense and the wonder of that. That this God of whom we're talking about is the one whom Isaiah 57 15 describes as the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. and yet we get to call him father. So continuing then with verse 15. What Jesus is doing is he's telling us that we are that light that they will see that brings people to himself. But he tells us that we're not to hide that light, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. In other words, there is no such thing or should be no such thing as a secret disciple. A person who acts like a disciple in secret is no more of use to Jesus than a disciple who has lost his saltiness. How do we hide our light? We do so in so many ways. We're quiet when we should speak. We go along with the crowd. We deny Jesus. We let sin and our sinful actions dim that light. We fail to explain the hope of our life to others and we ignore their needs. And what Jesus is telling us is, hey, look, don't conceal the truth that you know about Jesus. Don't conceal the truth of who you are in Jesus. Don't pretend to be anything other than what you are and be willing to let your Christianity show. In other words, just like salt, we must not be worldly people. We have to be very, very clearly distinct from the world around us. And just like he said about salt, without Christians doing this, the world will remain in darkness. It cannot, on its own, light its way. It's only the light that comes from Christians pointing to Jesus that can dispel that darkness. And so, people of God, let's take a step back and see the broad scope of what it is that Jesus is calling us to. He's calling us to a ministry that is to be the salt of the entire earth, light of the entire world. And he expects us to live in such a way that it will transform the entirety of the globe. It's no small task. And it demands that we be fully devoted to Jesus, not with one foot in the world and another foot in the kingdom. We can't do that because then our salt will lose its saltiness and our light will dim and go out. We're being called to be true and faithful to Christ and to his service. And as we've seen already and will continue to see, it will cost us everything. Now, I could just stop there and tell you, go home and try hard. But that's not going to help you. What we need to recognize is that none of us innately has the strength and the ability to do what we just have been called to do by Jesus. So from where do we get that strength? And where do we get the power? And that's our last point. The power with which you can fulfill this call to be salt and light. And as we've seen here, what Jesus is doing is He's telling us all throughout the sermon is that there is a fundamental difference. I need to keep insisting on that because it's so clear. A fundamental difference between Christians and non-Christians. A fundamental difference between the church and the world. The biggest challenge that we have today is that so many Christians are indistinguishable from the world. In the things that we say or don't say. In the things that we do or we don't do. And every time that we've become those indistinguishable Christians, we are in effect denying Jesus. And Jesus calls us to be different. The greatest tragedy, not just today, but all throughout church history, is this tendency of the church to conform to the world. And instead, he's telling us that we have to be a counterculture, completely distinct. That's the first thing that we see so clearly here. And that puts a distinction on us. That's the second thing. Rather, that distinction puts a responsibility on us. That's our second thing. You are the salt of the earth, he says. You are the light of the world. And we have to retain our saltiness. We have to not lose our flavor. And we have to let our light shine and not conceal it. And this is difficult. Indeed, it's impossible to do in our own strength. So from where do we get the power? And that's where we turn back to Jesus. Remember what we've been saying all along. Jesus is not just the one who is preaching about the Sermon of the Mount being life in the kingdom. Jesus is the king of that kingdom who brought the kingdom in his very presence. It's from him that we then have to draw our strength and our power. A reminder of the words of Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2 that says, let us keep our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. What does that mean, author and perfecter? I like the way the Good News translation translates that. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. There is no time in which you outgrow the gospel, there is no time in which you mature beyond the cross, and you don't need the power and strength of Jesus to enable you to live in the way that He's called you to live. And that means that when we look at these things, everything that Jesus ever calls us to, He's the one who fulfills it. He's the one who exemplifies it perfectly, and in so doing, empowers us to live it out. So for example, in John chapter 8 and John chapter 9, Jesus says, I am the light of the world. And that light makes all the difference. Chapter 1 of John verse 4 says, in him was life. If there's anything that characterizes this world, it's death. From little death all the way to ultimate death. And yet in him was life. And that life was the light of mankind. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness could not overpower it. That's who Jesus is. His light, His very presence dispels the darkness of this world. And He overcame the evil, the darkness in this world. How? Through the cross. It is on the cross that he flipped things around. And so we as his disciples then point, you might look at it this way, we don't actually radiate the light ourselves, but we reflect his light for the world to see. Ephesians 5.8, Paul says, you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. That's our role, it's to continue Jesus' earthly ministry as the light of the world. He himself is first the light. And it is through him that we continue to be that light as we reflect his light for the world. You won't be able to do it apart from him. Also, one other thing here. We never see in scripture where Jesus refers to himself as the salt of the world. You know, saying I'm the light of the world, he never says I'm the salt of the earth. However, what he accomplished on the cross, in effect, is what salt does. Because he arrested and even reversed the decay of the world when he died for our sins. You see, that's the whole point. The reason this world is corrupt is because of our sin. It's because of our rebellion against God. And on the cross, Jesus defeated sin. And in so doing, he halted the decay of the world on a cosmic scale. And even more, he's reversed the effects of the fall. It's not here yet in its fullness. Remember, we have that principle of the already not yet. The kingdom has already come and the effects of it are already being felt, but it's not yet here in its fullness. That awaits his return when we see things fully. But the point is simply this, Jesus is the light of the world. What he did on the cross is essentially what serves the function of salt. You and I can only be faithful to be salt and light as we tap into Jesus himself. And what difference will that make? That one person, just you in the world? It reminds me of a missionary story, or a story I heard from a missionary many, many years ago. There was a town in India where a large tree had fallen along a busy street. And in so doing, it was blocking all the traffic. So they have this traffic, it's all jammed, people are frustrated, they're getting out of the cars, they're arguing. And then this small boy who was in a bus also stuck in that jam gets out. And it begins to rain, and all the people return to their cars, or they dive under the awnings of the shops that were lining the road. But the boy stays out, and he surveys the scene. He acknowledges how the grown-ups so quickly conceded defeat. And then he walks up to the huge trunk of the tree. He dropped his backpack in the muddy street, and then he began to push on that huge, huge log. An impossible task. But still, it caught people's attention, so they stopped. They were startled by that strange sight of this little boy out in the rain. And pretty soon, three other small boys get off the bus, and they rush to help. And truth be told, they probably were more enjoying being in the rain than wanting to help. But soon, the other kids in the school bus all get out, and they join in their pushing. And then, a few adults begin to come out of the shops. They join in the effort and then the drivers see what's happening and they begin to get out of their cars and their rickshaws. And before you know it, you have a whole gaggle of people there and some of the grown men begin to coordinate the efforts and making sure that everything is happening. And so with a big push and with muscle straining, everyone crying out in pain, they literally lift the log and move it aside. And in time, the rain stops and the clouds part and the sun shines and traffic begins to roll again and business at the shops resume. All because one little boy was willing to sit there and do that which is right. What difference can one person make? Jesus calls us to be salt, to be light. And empowered by Him, yes, we can make all the difference in the world. Let's pray. Father in heaven, how often we want to be like the world. The things of the world call us, they promise, they lie to us, but they promise satisfaction. And again and again, they never deliver. We thank you that you have delivered us from the false promises of this world and you've brought us into, as Peter says, the marvelous light of Jesus. And now you've called us to this immense task, to be a new people, a new nation, a new type of human being. Those who are, you're redeemed. And you've called us to be not so apart from the world that we make no difference, not to be of the world, but in the world, to be salt and to be light. And we pray, Lord, that you would use those efforts of ours to indeed begin to show the world a better way. We confess our utter inability to do these things in our own strength. And so we pray that we would be a people always relying upon Jesus Christ that we would realize that we so desperately need the gospel that the gospel is not just what saves us at the beginning of our Christian life. But we need it as much today in order to be good husbands and good wives, good fathers and good mothers, good sons and daughters, good brothers and sisters, good laborers and workers and professionals, good citizens, good pastors, good church members. We are unable to do any of these things apart from Christ. Enable us to see that and enable us to then live as salt and as light in this world.