Salt and Light (Matthew 5:13-20)
Rev. David French
02/05/23 

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus teaches the church that she is salt and light. Notice that Jesus did not say, “You should be the salt of the earth” or “You should be the light of the world.” Instead, He said, “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world.” Again, sometimes it seems like we hear these words as commands instead of descriptions, which leads to beating up on ourselves because we are not salty enough or our light is not bright enough. But then, we do have a way of making the Bible more about us than Jesus. 

To be sure Satan, the world, and our own sinful nature want us to believe that the primary goal of Christianity is self-improvement - the focus being on the self. And “self” wants us to believe that being salt and light means living such a good life that everyone will want to be a Christian so they can be blessed just like us. Satan wants us to believe that this is how we will be salt and light to others.

This sounds pretty good, at first. The problem is, with time, it becomes obvious that no one can pull it off. There are days when we leave our homes with smiles that have absolutely nothing to do with the way we actually feel. There are tragedies that strike us to our core. Cancer, strokes, heart attacks, accidents on the road or in the home. These things and more remind us that our lives on this side of heaven will never be perfect.

We hear from the Scriptures, “All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isaiah 64:6) or “for all have sinned and fall short of the lory of God” (Romans 3:23). Then, as we learn through the Ten Commandments how God expects us to live, and we know 
 we can’t do what God demands that we do.

Then we hear the last verse in today’s gospel, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,” and we’re deflated. Why? Once again, we’ve allowed the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be twisted into the law.

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world.” He said this right after the Beatitudes. He had just taught them, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Even though we are spiritually bankrupt, Jesus blesses us as He performs the deeds of God among us and for us. You see, just as the blessings of the beatitudes depend not on us but on Jesus, so also, it is Jesus who makes us salt and light. 

Remember, Christianity is not about us it’s about Christ and what He did for us. We can’t earn God’s blessings, but He does gives them to us freely for Jesus’ sake. We can’t become salt and light on our own, but the Word of God can and does make us salt and light. It’s true we are salt and light, not because of what we do, but because of what Jesus does in us.

The salt and light begin in Christ, as the Holy Spirit inspired John to write, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5). That is, Jesus is the light of the world that no darkness can overcome. The Holy Spirit also inspired John to write these words in Revelation, “the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for 
 its lamp is the Lamb” (Revelation 21:23). That is, Jesus is the light of the next world as well.

And Jesus is the light of the world because He is its salvation. Jesus worked salvation by fulfilling the law and the prophets just like He says in the second half of today’s gospel, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” As Paul wrote to the Galatians, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). Remember what gave Jesus’s blood the value to redeem mankind was the sinless life He lived. That is, Jesus fulfilled the law for all of humanity. Fulfilling the prophets also meant fulfilling His role as the Christ. Jesus Himself said, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead” (Luke 24:46). The light shown no brighter than when Jesus offered Himself to pay for the sins of the world as He hung on the cross. 

Even as the world was plunged into darkness, Jesus, the light of the world, was overcoming that darkness. As He hung on that tree, He earned the light of salvation for us so that we could be set free from the darkness of sin and death. By His work on the cross He revealed His righteousness. This is the only righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees - the only righteousness that gains entry into the kingdom of heaven. (The righteousness you were clothed with on the day of your baptism.)

Jesus, the light of the world, triumphed over darkness on the cross and three days later He confirmed that triumph as He rose from the dead. With His resurrection, He demonstrated that He really is the light of the world, that all of His promises will be fulfilled, and all who believe in Him will be with Him for all eternity.

Jesus is the light of the world, and in Him we have forgiveness, life, and salvation. We confess that we are poor, miserable sinners who have sinned against God in thought, word, and deed. As we confess our sin, He shines His light on us with words of forgiveness. As we come to His table, He shines his light on us as we receive his body and blood in, with, and under the bread and wine of His Holy Supper.

Now, Jesus says that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. It’s just as ridiculous for salt to lose its saltiness as it would be for us to keep Jesus to ourselves. It makes more sense to light a lamp and then hide it as it does for us to hide our salvation. It turns out that we are not super saints who live a life that others envy, but we are forgiven sinners who have a loving Savior. As salt and light, we point not to ourselves, but to our Savior.

There’s also a promise hidden away in our Lord’s description of us as salt and light. Since we are salt and light and can’t be salt and light without Him, He must always be with us. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, He works in us and through us so that we are salt and light wherever we go. We are salt and light in our families. We’re salt and light in the workplace as employers or employees. We’re salt and light in our communities as friends and neighbors and citizens. Jesus has promised to be with us in all things so that in all things we might continue to shine the light who is Christ our Savior. 

In His name, Amen.