Matthew 5:11-16
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Live as Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,
She was faithfully doing her work as a mother-to-be. As my wife and I went on our daily walks we could see her in the exact same spot every time: on a little peninsula by a flowing stream, sitting on a nest she had made, protecting the eggs she had laid. She was a Canada goose, and we wondered how long it would be before her goslings would be hatched; we wondered how many there would be.
But one day a couple of weeks ago as we got close to where the mother goose and her nest were, we could hear her calling out in anguish. She was standing next to her nest, very distraught. There were eggs shells in her nest. But there were no goslings. Either a predator had snatched them or they had been swept away by the nearby river that was swollen and flowing quickly because of a rain storm during the night.
In any case, the anguished cries of the mother goose announced to anyone who would listen that the loss of her goslings was a tragedy.
This world is filled with tragedies, every day. And the cause of so many of these tragedies is sinful mankind. The hearts of humans are inclined towards evil all the time. Human beings do what is truly evil, breaking God’s righteous commandments, including the commandment that protects human life: “You shall not murder.” God is the one who creates human life; God reserves the right to end human life. Murder is the intentional or careless taking of human life and includes the killing of a baby in his or her mother’s womb and the so-called “mercy killing” of people who are old or sick or suffering. Who mourns the tragic taking of human life? Who will bring it to the attention of the world that such things are happening? Who will speak to people’s consciences with the word of God, calling people to repentance? Jesus’s followers will. Why? Because they know the Lord, who he has changed their hearts and minds by his word and by his Holy Spirit.
In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us how to live as his disciples in this sinful world. He encourages us to remember how blessed we are and to serve as salt and light.
“Live as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ!”
Part One: Remembering how blessed you are
The Gospel of Matthew is the continuation of a true story, a story that began in Old Testament times. God promised Adam and Eve that a Savior would rescue fallen mankind from sin, death, and hell. God promised Abraham that the Savior of all people would come from his descendants. God promised King David that the Savior would be an eternal king from his royal line.
The Gospel of Matthew announces that Jesus Christ is that promised Savior of all. God the Father sent him into the world. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He was Immanuel—God with us. When he preached and taught the people, he spoke with the authority of God. He came with the authority to do even more: to lay down his life to save people from their sins and to take up his life again. Jesus is the Risen and Ascended Savior. When he comes again, Jesus will come with the authority to judge all people.
As we ponder these words from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, let’s remember that he speaks these words to us with divine authority.
Many people would deny that authority. They think that Jesus was just a human being, just one philosopher or one preacher among many. They would say that Jesus’s teaching should be taken with a grain of salt or that it is fine to reject what he said, especially if it does not agree with societal values or modern thinking. They pick and choose the parts of Jesus’s teaching they like and pass over the parts that they don’t like.
The way Matthew introduces this sermon is significant: “Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.” The scene is similar to what happened in the book of Exodus when God gathered the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. There God spoke to his chosen people—the people he had rescued out of Egypt—and revealed his name to them.
Jesus also speaks as God. The Son of God came to reveal his Father to us—his righteousness and his love. Jesus came to rescue us out of sin, death, and hell and to guide us in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount with eight “blessed are” statements called the beatitudes. In the first four, Jesus states how poor and needy his people were by nature. But Jesus has made them heirs of heaven. In the next four, Jesus says what his disciples will do. They will serve and be persecuted.
After those eight statements, Jesus speaks directly and personally to his disciples:
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
We should not be surprised when people speak falsely against us and say all kinds of evil against. It is not us that they are rejecting, but God. Jesus tells us that we can rejoice when this happens, because it is evidence that we belong to God and not to this sinful world, which is perishing. We have an inheritance kept in heaven for us—and it will never perish, spoil, or fade (1 Peter 1).
So, dear friends, as we think about our lives in this world, let’s remember how blessed we are. God has changed our hearts so that we love what he loves and hate what he hates. We pray to him and call on him for help. We love him and his word. We honor those God has place over us. We protect life of all human beings. We honor marriage and family as he designed it. We flee from sexual immorality. We receive our daily bread with thankful hearts and use what we have in service to others. We speak well of others; we speak the truth in love. We fight against our own sinful desires, living lives of repentance. We don’t do these things perfectly, but we strive to do them because God richly and daily forgives our sins because of Jesus and because he empowers us by his Holy Spirit to struggle against our own sinful desires, to fight the fight of faith, and to live in a way that honors our Father in heaven.
We are blessed, now and forever. The Holy Spirit convinces us that Jesus is the risen Savior who is with us always, to the very end of the age. As we gather in his name, he is with us. He speaks to us by his word and invites us to a holy meal in which he assures us that our sins are forgiven and that we will be guests at his banquet in heaven.
So, dear friends, live as Jesus’s disciples, remembering how blessed you are.
Part Two: Serving as salt and light
We are blessed to be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have many reasons to rejoice and give thanks. But we also have reasons to mourn and groan and cry out in anguish like that Canada goose. Our battle against our own sinful nature is difficult. The consequences of sin, including death, are hard to bear. The sinfulness of this world is difficult to see. We are living in a world that is in rebellion against the Creator.
Life might be easier for Jesus’s disciples, if they remain quiet and hidden in this world. But God has a better plan and purpose for us: we are salt and light. We are here to preserve the world and to shine the light of God’s Word in a dark world—by how we live and by what we say.
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Jesus talks about salt losing its saltiness or a lamp being hidden under a bowl because he understands how difficult it will be for us to live as his disciples and proclaim his word in this sinful world. The people of this world might call us arrogant or narrow-minded, even though we are humbly doing what God has called us to do and we are speaking the words that he gave us to say. We need to pray that God would guide and bless us, that he would help us to speak the truth in love, that all we do would be for our Father’s glory. We pray that God would use our humble proclamation of his word to change hearts, to lead people out of darkness into the light of Christ. We pray that the Lord would make the light of the good news about Jesus to shine in their hearts as well. “For God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2). That is why he makes us to be salt and light in this world.
So, should we go around like that Canada goose, crying out in anguish, telling everyone how sinful they are? The Apostle Peter who heard the Sermon on the Mount and who preached in Jerusalem on Pentecost, was guided by the Holy Spirit Peter to teach believers in the early Christian church how to live in a hostile environment:
13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” 15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
As you live in one of the most socially liberal developed countries in the world, let your light shine. Walk in God’s ways. Worship and serve the Lord with joy. Be kind and gentle to others. Serve them, especially the lowly and the weak, without expectation of anything in return. Recognize that the dignity of people is not dependent on their abilities or their health, but on the God who created them and redeemed them and wants to dwell with them. Imitate your heavenly Father, who loves the prisoner, the hungry, the blind, the oppressed, those who are bowed down, and all the righteous (Psalm 146). People may notice your attitude, your faith, your love, and your hope. They may say things like: “How do you do it?” Or “Why don’t you complain more?” Or “What is your secret?” They might say, “I have to hand it to you.” Statements like that give you a chance to tell people about our Father in heaven, about the Savior at his right hand, and about the Holy Spirit who makes our bodies his holy temples. Engage in conversations with people. Be prepared to tell them about the Lord and his plan of salvation.
Live as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ and serving as salt and light are not things we can do by our own wisdom or strength or zeal. And we don’t have to. By his word, God gives us the armor we need: a shield of faith, a belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, a helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Our feet are fitted with gospel readiness, and we pray in the Spirit on all occasions.
Our service as salt and light in this sinful world is temporary. But our blessings and our joy as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ are eternal. Because our Savior lives, we too will live. Amen.