I thought we would start off this morning by adding a little stress to your life.

This is a Necker Cube.  Isn’t that fun?  Kinda hard to orientate the mind on which board is suppose to go where.

Try this one.   These are impossible items.  Things that cannot exist in the universe as we know it.

Last one.   Calvin and Hobbes.  Calvin’s dad says, “Playing a record?  I’ll show you something interesting.  Compare a point on the label with a point on the record’s outer edge.  They both make a complete circle in the same amount of time right?”  “Yeah…”  “But the point on the record’s edge has to make a bigger circle in the same time, so it goes faster.  See, two points on one disk move at two speeds, even though they both make the same revolutions per minute.”

Isn’t that a great way to stress out a child?  Stresses out some adults too! 

Our trying to understand the Kingdom of God is like that - trying to get our minds around what for us is impossible.  Imagine God.  What’s He like?  What’s it like for Him to be holy - almighty - all knowing - eternally existing transcendent of time.  What’s it like to dwell in God’s presence?  The blinding radiance - the magnificence - the awesomeness beyond anything we can even begin to begin to begin to imagine.  How are we to understand God?  How are we to understand God’s kingdom - the universal sovereignty of God - in particular His sovereign rule over the affairs of history - over human life - over our lives.

What we’ve been looking at - starting last Sunday - is Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus - out on a hill by the Sea of Galilee - a spot - probably this one - Jesus teaching a diverse - large - crowd of people.  Taking the unimaginable - hard to wrap our minds around - reality of God and His kingdom - and bringing all that down to the reality of where we live our lives.  Teaching us what it means for us to live in relationship with the Sovereign God down on the level where we live life.

If you would, please turn with me to Matthew 5 - starting at verse 13.  We’ll read through these verses - making some observations - and then look at how what Jesus says can apply to our lives today.

Matthew 5 - starting at verse 13:   You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

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.  That’s predominately what Jesus has in mind.  We are the  preservative in our world today.

About a year and a half ago Karen and I and the kids decided to unplug .  We discontinued our satellite service and we’ve gone cold-turkey.  No satellite - no cable - no rabbit ears.  That decision wasn’t necessarily based on the programming.  Most of our viewing was Hallmark, the History Channel, Food Network - programming like that.

It was mainly the commercials.  We’d be watching a football game or something and a commercial would come on - advertising some other program - content of which is perverse - or some scantily clad or suggestive woman advertising some male enhancement - and we couldn’t get to the remote fast enough.  You know what I’m talking about - right?  Then the Food Network started getting suggestive.  We unplugged.

Hear me.  I’m not saying that every Christian should unplug and you all are pagan sinners if you don’t.  To be plugged or unplugged that was a decision we made.  You and God can work out what’s best for you.  What I am saying is that we’re a long way from Ricky and Lucy sleeping in separate beds.  With me?

It doesn’t take a lot of observation to see that the culture surrounding us in this state and in this nation - even here in Merced - is decaying.  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 permitted to go on at school - or the discussions that are held in business settings - or just the decaying norms of how people behave.

What the world needs is salt that’s salty.  Not salt that’s lost its usefulness as salt.  Salt that gets scattered on roofs or roads.  Which is what they did back then.  The salt they had back then was mostly from marshes that would loose its effectiveness as salt.  So, they’d scatter it on roofs and roads to harden the surface.

What the world needs today is salty salt.  Salt that offers the possibility of something beside corruption and decay.

That’s us.  That’s Jesus’ point.  Those who live in relationship with God are salt in this world.  By God’s working in us and through us we are the preservative.  In Jesus, we are the salt.  Say that together.  “In Jesus, we are the salt.”

Grab that.  Its an awesome reality.  Almighty God - God and His kingdom - touch the world through us.

Mark and Alice Westlind were missionaries in Colombia.  Westlind Family.  They’re now in Argentina with the Evangelical Covenant Church.  Let me read you a short excerpt from one of their prayer letters from while they were in Columbia.  “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.’” (1)

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.  Or, when you’re at school.  Be praying for the people around you.  On the road - when there’s an accident - we can pray for those involved.  When we see people with bumper stickers that espouse 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.

Standing firm in our obedience to Jesus is another way we can actively be salt.  Its easy for us - in our relationships - easy to degenerate into worldliness - to give ourselves permission to live at a lower level than most of us really wants to - even in our Christian relationships.  But, we need to encourage each other to be salt - to inspire each other to put aside those things that drag us into the world - to live in this world as preservative.

People need to see that difference in us.  There’s nothing more unsalty than Christians who repeatedly take the name of God in vain or who find it permissible to swear.  What kind of salt are we when the world influences how we dress - what we talk about - what we involve ourselves in.

What testimony of God’s life in us do we demonstrate in the community and before our families - when we miss worship on Sundays - or wander in late - or our participation in the service and life of Christ’s church is somehow a lesser priority - than whatever may be more valuable to us at moment?

How salty are we if we practice business with the dishonesty and greed of the world?  Or if we live indifferent to the needs of others?  Or, condemn others without looking at ourselves first?

We are the salt.  That’s awesome.  Each of us makes a difference.  When we live according to what we say we believe those around us will see that difference - wherever we live life - family - work - community - school.  They’ll feel the preservative.  When we act like salt the effects will be felt - impacting the greater Merced metroplex with the Gospel.

Who are we?  “In Jesus, we are the salt.”

Verse 14:  You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Do you remember the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes?  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 couldn’t 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.  But, no one would dare admit that they couldn’t see the fabric.  Until one little boy, not concerned with what other people thought about him, 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.  Darkness meaning the lies and sin and corruption and decay of this world which comes from Satan.

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12)  When we open our lives up to God - giving our lives to God through Jesus Christ - the light that shines in us and through us is the light of our Savior Jesus Christ. 

Grab that.  Its an awesome reality.  The Almighty God - God and the reality of life in His kingdom - shine through us into this world.  In Jesus, we are the light.  Say that with me, “In Jesus, we are the light.”

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.

To be light requires that we shine for Jesus.

Anyone know what this tower is called?  Sutro Tower.  Have you  seen this?  977 feet tall - tallest structure in San Francisco - on top of the Mount Sutro - the top is is 1,800 feet above sea level.  Even on a foggy day - when the city is hidden in fog - Sutro Tower can be seen all over the Bay Area.

Its like a city set on a hill.  Couldn’t hide it if we tried.  Why would we?  Like a lamp.  Why would anyone want to hide it - cover its light.  What would be the purpose of lighting it and hiding it?

The purpose of being God’s light in the world is to shine - to be seen - visible.

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 - schools - and every other place we’re in - need 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 - the truth we need - 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.”

In Jesus, we are the what?  Light.

Verse 17:  Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.  For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 

Let’s pause and make sure we’re together on what Jesus is getting at.

Jesus is talking to a crowd of diverse thousands - multi-ethnic - multi-cultural - from every economic strata - the suffering and sick - average people just trying to get by - people from different religious backgrounds - religious people proud of their piety and traditions.

To Jesus’ listeners - life with God meant sacrifices - regulations - traditions - impossible standards of holiness - condemnation and ostracism for failure - hundreds of laws imposed on them by their religious leaders.

Jesus starts off with the Beatitudes - verses 1 to 12 - what we looked at last Sunday.  Jesus said:  You all - the ones who are trying to live rightly with God - who recognize your spiritual emptiness - and you’re mourning over it - )cause you see yourselves as spiritual failures.  You all who are hungering and thirsting for righteousness - who are crying out for mercy.  Who’ve been run over - longing for peace - who’ve been abused and persecuted - slandered - while you’ve been trying to live in obedience to God - you all are blessed by God.

You don’t need to achieve a relationship with God.  God has brought the reality of that relationship down to you.  God will be the One to satisfy and comfort and be merciful to you.  You all are the sons of God.  You have an eternal inheritance in His heavenly kingdom.

Now Jesus adds, “You are the salt of the earth.  You are the light of the world.”

That’s revolutionary.  So absolutely contrary to what they’d be taught.  The wheels are turning in the crowd’s minds.  “We like what we hear - this being blessed by God thing.  Wish it was true.  But this guy is nuts - a few sandwiches shy of a picnic.  What He’s saying borders on heresy.”

What Jesus says here - starting in verse 17 - is an answer to what’s rattling around in the minds of the people.  “How can you relate to God apart from the law?  You just can’t do away with the law.”

Its important that we understand the purpose of the law.

Abraham believed God and God declared Abraham to be what?  righteous.  God and Abraham had a relationship together that God established and blessed.  It wasn’t until Moses - some 600 plus years later that God writes out the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai.

The law - the five books of Moses - Genesis through Deuteronomy - the 10 Commandments and all the instructions that were given to God’s people - all that wasn’t about how to earn a relationship with God.  That’s what these people had been taught.  Do these things and God might bless you.

The God of the Bible is a covenant God not a contract God.  His message to us is not, “Do this for Me.  Then I’ll love you.”  That’s a do this and you’ll get paid - blessed - contract.  But instead God says, “I’ve done this for you as your Creator and as your Redeemer.  Therefore this is the kind of relationship that I invite you to be a part of.”

So many people are trying to live in a relationship with God as a contract - trying to live rightly - morally - as Christians - as Jews - trying to somehow please God - to earn God’s favor.  The 10 Commandments - the hundreds of laws imposed by the Scribes and Pharisees - had become a burdensome list of don’ts that we must fulfill if we’re to avoid the wrath of Almighty God.

But the law is a tutor - an instructor - that coaches us in how to live rightly in our relationship with God.  The prophets spoke forth God’s word to the people so that that relationship could be entered into - maintained - or renewed - lived out in every life. (Galatians 3:24)

Jesus is saying, “I’m not going to abolish the law.  The law - the prophets - all that isn’t going away.  But all that that pointed to I’m going to fulfill it.”  Complete it.  Bring it down to the level of where everyday life is lived out in your relationship with God.

These people listening to Jesus are about to get a huge upgrade to their operating system.  They’re going from DOS to Vista in one short sermon.

Point being:  We can have a relationship with God apart from the law.  Don’t get hung up on the law.  Live in the relationship God has brought to you.

Verse 19:  Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

The purpose of the law is what?  The law teaches us what it means to live in the relationship with God that God establishes with us.  I’ve got that written out because that would be easy to get tripped up on.  The purpose of the law is what?  Say it with me, “The law teaches us what it means to live in the relationship with God that God establishes with us.”   

So - follow this - if someone is teaching about the law in a way contrary to the purpose of the law - and teaching others to live in a way that God never intended for His law to be used - according to verse 19 - what does Jesus say about that person?  They are to called least in the kingdom of heaven.

So much for legalism.  If you don’t keep every law of the Scribes and Pharisees you’re a spiritual failure.  If you wear lipstick, play canasta, and listen to the Newsboys you’re going to hell.  Who are the least in God’s kingdom - the Scribes and the Pharisees.  Ouch. 

But who’s dealing straight with the people?  Jesus.  Who’s telling them exactly what God requires?  Jesus.  Who’s the greatest teacher?  Jesus.  And if we live by what Jesus teaches who’s considered great in the kingdom of God?  Us.

Steve Zeisler puts it this way.  “What Jesus has broken open is a world in which people slavishly obey external rigidities.  The first-century Jews were given a religion based on the Old Testament that actually was contradictory to what the Old Testament taught.” (2)

Bottom Line:  Jesus isn’t doing away with the law and prophets He’s fulfilling what God intended in the first place.  Here’s the awesome part:  We get to live in that fulfillment. 

Verse 20:  For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

That’s harsh.  But not in the way that most people hear it.

The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees - the visible quality and character of their relationship with God - was legendary.  Held up as an impossible standard for the average person to emulate.  How could anyone ever surpass them in righteousness?

But, how righteous were these scribes and Pharisees - these confused teachers of the law - least in God’s kingdom?  By what Jesus says - not very.  That’s harsh.

How righteous are those whom God declares righteous?  Righteous enough to not only enter the kingdom but to be considered great in God’s kingdom.

Hold on to this truth:  We really are blessed by God.  We really are the salt and light that Jesus is talking about.  There may be a whole lot of voices out there - maybe even some in here (our heads) -voices telling us something contrary.  But, we need to choose to listen to Jesus.  Its not a matter of becoming salt and light - we are salt and light.  Say that with me, “We are salt and light.”

Going one step further with this - thinking about how what Jesus say’s applies to us today - I’d like to have us come back to verse 16.  Jesus says, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Who gets the glorify for how we live our lives?  God.  Our Father in heaven.  Being salt and light is all about God.  Try that with me, “Being salt and light is all about God.”

East of Stockton on highway 4 - in the Sierra Foothills - is the small, rural community of Copperopolis.  Anyone ever been there?

John Rush - in his book, “The Man With The Bird On His Head,” shares about his experience in Copperopolis.  Under the guidance of what John had come to recognize as being God's voice, John began holding services on Sunday afternoons in the rundown former church - which long before had been shut down and the building was converted into a town hall. 

John writes:  I would sweep the rustic floorboards, dust off the chairs and place a hymnal on each one.  Then I would tune up my guitar in anticipation of the congregations' arrival.  But Sunday after Sunday, it was rare that anyone would come.

I had visited door to door and invited the community to the services.  I had handed out flyers, but no one seemed to be interested.  The first time this happened, I was greatly discouraged.  I wanted to simply give up and go home.

I began folding up the chairs and collecting the hymnals, but God's voice in me was saying, “No, you sing.  You preach and do what you've come here to do.” 

“There's no one here,” I pointed out the obvious to God.

The still, small voice urged me on. “That doesn't matter.  Do what I sent you here to do.” 

At the time, this seemed to be the single most nonsensical thing that God could ever ask me to do.  Feeling utterly silly, I stepped up to the front of the room and began to sing and play the songs I had chosen for the service.  I finished the songs and cleared my throat, ready to preach my message to my audience of empty chairs.

Over the months, this process repeated itself with only an occasional inquisitive spectator.   Worshipping and preaching became a matter of discipline and obedience rather than something reaping obvious rewards.  I remember driving home from Copperopolis, pondering this strange exercise that God seemed to be putting me through.

I will never forget how He opened my heart to a whole new dimension when He explained simply,  “Your unseen audience will always outnumber any audience you will ever see.”

I realized that every message I had spoken and every song I had sung had been cheered on by angelic participants and had made a difference in the unseen realm.  Indeed, we are surrounded by a heavenly host, a cloud of witnesses. 

This revelation was confirmed nearly two decades after my final visit to Copperopolis.  In 1994, I was speaking at a church in San Andreas.  After the service, a woman approached me and asked me to come and talk to her mother who was unable to walk to the platform.  Her mother, upon hearing that I was in town, had very much wanted to meet me.

I was certainly surprised and asked what had caused her interest.  The daughter related to me that her parents had been pastoring in California and in their senior years had felt God specifically telling them to minister in Copperopolis.  They had since planted a thriving church there.

I was delighted to meet this lovely woman of God.  She excitedly shook my hand and explained that from their first arrival in Copperopolis she had sensed such a sweet presence of Jesus in the town hall.  She had told her husband that surely someone had spent many hours praying and preparing the way for their work.

It had been years later that she came across a church bulletin in which I had written the story of my seemingly fruitless efforts in Copperopolis, and her speculations had been confirmed.  They had put that bulletin on the front page of their church history, and every year on the church's anniversary, someone would read my article to the congregation and give thanks to God.

I now look with joy upon those hours I spent with the birds and the angels, learning that success has nothing to do with numbers and everything to do with obedience to God.  (3)

Sometimes we’re tempted to doubt the truth of what Jesus says here - about being salt and light.  Sometimes we think that we don’t have what it takes.  Or, that we’ve failed too miserably.  We think of ourselves as tasteless or the dim bulb in the box.  Why should God bless my puny little efforts.  How could I ever glorify God?

Being salt and light isn’t about us.  Its about who?  God - what He has done in our lives - blessed us with.   We may never see or never know this side of heaven how He’s using us.  That’s not the point.  When we choose to obey Him - to place our lives in His hands - He will bring glory to Himself through us.

You are the salt.  You are the light.  Live that God may be glorified.

_______________
1. RBS, ODB, 01.03.97
2. Steve Zeisler, “The Fulfilling of the Law”  Sermon on Matthew 5:17-20
3.John Rush, “The Man With The Bird On His Head”, pgs. 89 and 90, YWAM Publishing