A person would have to be an Eskimo living in an igloo at the North Pole to have not heard about the Kenneth Starr investigation. These past few weeks - months - have been a very difficult time here in the United States.

Two weeks ago the Starr report was released. Have any of you read the report? I haven’t read it. But I looked at the table of contents.

ABC News has a website with an index so that a person can go and read through only the parts of the report they want to without reading the whole thing. The titles in the index are hard enough to stomach.

The sections that deal with specific legal matters are very sad to read. Over and over again the phrase is repeated, “There is substantial and credible information that President Clinton lied under oath....” or the phrase, “There is substantial and credible information that President Clinton endeavored to obstruct justice...” And the saddest phrase is this, “There is substantial and credible information that President Clinton committed acts that may constitute grounds for an impeachment.”

And then this last week there was the release of the video of President Clinton’s Grand Jury deposition. I haven’t seen this either. Frankly I prefer not to. But, it was hard to miss. On Monday morning I was in the lobby of the Marriott hotel and there it was playing on the lobby television.

To have all of this displayed in public is unprecedented - and some would say unwarranted. Yet there it is. Unprecedented, yes - unexpected, no.

The reaction of our society to what’s been going on in Washington, D.C. is not surprising. We live in a post-modern society which views everything - truth, morals, God - which views everything as relative to whatever an individual chooses to believe. If its truth to me then its truth. Something is only wrong if you get caught doing it. God is someplace out there and if He exists I really have no need to be accountable to Him.

What we see happening around us is not new. Unprecedented, yes. Unusual, no.

I was at St. Vartan’s church in Oakland a couple of weeks ago - and one of the Sunday School teachers for the youth was teaching about current events. And, he had an outline written on the chalkboard:

Point 1 - A Popular Head of State
Point 2 - Committed Adultery
Point 3 - Major Cover-up
Point 4 - Disastrous Effect on Nation

And the list went on until it became evident that he was talking about King David and not President Clinton. Unprecedented, yes - unusual, no.

And our society’s reaction to all this is not new either. President Clinton’s approval rating remains at about 60% and people don’t seem to care what he does in his private life. In today’s society economics and personal well-being take precedence over morality and justice.

About 2,000 years ago - the culture of Corinth was very much like our own today. Corinth was a city of great moral laxity and intellectual pride - great wealth, corruption, and sin. In fact, the theme slogan for city could have been something like, “Eat, drink, anything goes - for tomorrow we die.” It was a city in which the only guiding rule was personal satisfaction.

Sometimes we feel helpless - like there isn’t much we can do about where we live. Jesus lived in the same type of world we live in - these are not new issues. And He had a lot to say about making a difference. Matthew 5:13-16 is part of the Sermon on the Mount - and the whole point of the sermon is for those who know God to go out in their world and make a difference.

Verses 13-16 are an illustration of how Jesus expects us to go out there and make a difference.

Matthew 5:13-16: “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Two ways we make a difference - First, Jesus says,

1. YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH - verse13

Its estimated that there are over 14,000 uses for salt. Someone said once, “Nothing is more useful than salt and sunshine.”

In the ancient world salt was used as a preservative. Salt was rubbed into meat to slow down decay. I don’t really know how that works - but it does. Its a process of preservation we still use today. And this is predominately what Jesus has in mind. We are the preservative in our world today.

It doesn’t take a lot of observation to see that the culture surrounding us in this state and in this nation is decaying at a tremendous rate. Things that were once neutral or benign more and more we find are sources of decay - whether decay comes to us through the media - or the things that are taught in schools - or the discussions that are held in business settings.

I used listen to KCBS when I took my son to school - so we would listen and talk about the news. Now, I’m afraid to do that. We can’t watch the evening news because of the content.

What the world needs is salt that’s salty - that keeps the corruption from getting worse - that offers the possibility that not everything will decay and become harmful.

Mark and Alice Westlind are missionaries in Colombia. Let me read you a short excerpt from their prayer letter. “Driving through Christmas traffic, fighting the drizzling rain, I chanced on a 4-year-old little girl. She was wet and cold and shaking. Her clothes were ragged, her hair was matted, and her nose was running. She walked between the cars at the stoplight, washing headlights because she was too short to wash windshields. A few gave her coins, others honked at her to get away from their vehicles. As I drove away only some 50 cents poorer, I raged at God for the injustice in the world that allowed the situation. ‘God, how could You just stand by, helpless’ Later that evening, God came to me softly with that still small voice and responded not in like kind to my rage, but with tenderness, ‘I have done something. I created you.’”

Being preservative requires action on our part - and there are a number of ways that we can be salt through our actions.

Prayer - When we drive through our neighborhoods we need to be in prayer for our neighborhoods. On the road - when there’s an accident to pray for those involved. When we see people with bumper stickers that expouse a life apart from God - we need to pray. In business - to pray for our fellow workers - to pray for those in the businesses around us. When we see others who live apart from God - when we see those who struggle - when we view the society in which we live - we should be moved to prayer.

And standing firm in our obedience to Jesus is another way we can be actively salt. I have certain Christian friendships what sometimes degenerate into worldliness - we laugh at jokes that are inappropriate - we give ourselves permission to live at a lower level than most of us really wants to. But, I have other Christian friendships that are very salty. Being with those people inspires me to put aside things that are worldly.

People need to see that difference in us. There is nothing worse than Christians who repeatedly take the name of God in vain - who find it permissible to swear and to act no different than the world around us. Christians who give lip service to feeling bad about missing worship because of family events on Sunday or sports or anything else - or because of things that go on on Saturday night - who have priorities which keep them from participating in the ministry and life of Christ’s church. We all have choices that God allows us to make - and we can choose to be here - and be here on time.

Its wrong for Christians to practice business with the dishonesty and greed of the world. Its wrong to be indifferent to the needs of others. Its wrong for us to condemn others without looking at ourselves first.

God calls us to live according to what we say we believe. Sometimes that may hurt - it may cost us - pain - like getting salt in our eyes. But, how will the world see a difference - how will they feel the preserving effects of the salt - if we don’t act like salt? How will our society be impacted with Gospel if we don’t live it?

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth.” Second, Jesus says - you make a difference because,

2. YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD - verse 14

Do you remember the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes? It seems that there was this vain emperor who wanted to be seen by all of his subjects. So he hired some tailors to design the most beautiful outfit of clothing ever created. As the story goes, the “tailors” were actually “con men” who devised a scheme to bilk the emperor out of his money.

The “tailors” spent hours weaving at looms to produce the finest quality material. So fine, they said, that it could only be seen by the most discerning of persons. Of course there was no material. But nobody would admit that they were not “discerning” and so could not see the cloth. So, when the emperor tried on his new outfit, all the royal courtiers praised the quality of the fabric and the beauty of the clothes.

The emperor declared a holiday with a parade through the main street of the city, just so that he could show off his new outfit. And of course, he ended up marching through throngs of his loyal subjects buff naked. And, no one would dare admit that they couldn’t see the fabric. Until one little boy, not concerned with his appearance before others, shouted out the truth, “But, I don’t see a thing! The Emperor has no clothes on!”

Light dispels darkness. In the Bible - light is a metaphor - it symbolizes God’s truth - the Word of God - it symbolizes Jesus and His Gospel. Light as opposed to darkness - which is the lies and sin and corruption which comes from Satan.

In this world Satan is working to create an illusion of life which in reality is a lie. The message of Jesus Christ and His people is like the outcry of that little boy. “This is wrong! Its a lie! God has shown us something different!”

Jesus tells us that we are the proclaimers of His Gospel - His truth - His light.

In our society it takes courage to stand for Jesus. It is not easy to speak out. Who in our society wants to be shown the lie upon which our lives are constructed? Jesus said, “You will be hated by all on account of My name.” (Luke 21:17) But its essential - vital and required - that we speak up. The world needs to hear the cry of the Gospel which can set us free from Satan’s lies.

What our neighbors - friends - associates - school districts - clubs - and every other place we are in - needs for us to say is, “Apart from my Savior I’m nothing. I don’t have anything to offer - and neither do you. We’re desperate apart from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We aren’t going to make it - even doing our best. God’s answer is in Jesus - the Gospel is our only hope.”

Psalm 119:105 says “Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” There are a tremendous number of people who are looking for that light but have not idea where to find it. We need to hold it up - and in love - say, “Here it is - truth - the word of God.”

It would be very easy to stand up here and join the voices that are condemning the President - to declare in no uncertain terms that what President Clinton has done is wrong. I think most us here realize that what has been going on is wrong. The question is - what alternative do we offer? What can we offer a society which is decaying. What difference can we make?

Jesus said you can make a difference, “You are the salt of the earth - You are the light of the world.”