Be What You Are

January 7, 2001

TEXT: MATTHEW 5:13-16

LISTENING TO THE TEXT
Because the Beatitudes begin the Sermon on the Mount, they also set the criteria for life in the kingdom of God. What we do as Christians must flow out of what God has made us to be. Being always precedes doing.

Jesus says, "You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world." Not, you should be salt. Not, you ought to be light. No! "You ARE salt! You ARE light! By virtue of what I have made you to be by My grace, you are!" And Matthew's grammar makes the second person emphatic: "YOU are!"

Salt is an intriguing metaphor. Salt does not exist for itself. Salt is the preservative that penetrates our food to give lasting value. Salt brings out the flavors in our food. In the same way, disciples exist for God's work in the world. Disciples are the seasoning that brings out the God-flavors in the world. Jesus' disciples are the preservatives that penetrate into society and help to purify a fallen and sinful humanity.

Light is the second metaphor. Light defuses darkness. It is visible. It draws attention. Jesus' disciples are visible expressions of the kingdom of God in the world. No undercover Christians!

And all Jesus does is give the facts! "You are salt!" Fact. "You are light!" Fact. But the facts are immediately followed by function. Jesus continues to speak indicative language of being, before he speaks imperative language of doing.

But while Jesus does not command His disciples to become salty (their saltiness is a gift of God's grace), He does challenge them to stay salty (to be who they are).

It appears that disciples who are not freely giving what they have received are in danger of losing what they have been freely given (5:13b). And Jesus says when that happens they become good-for-nothing. The word in the Greek language is dumb. Disciples who cease to be who they are simply become foolish, because they have lost the meaning of what they are to be as followers of Jesus Christ. And those followers suffer a very peculiar persecution. They aren't ambushed, or attacked. They are merely ignored.

ENGAGING THE TEXT
The Need
People often ask purpose questions. Why do I exist? What is my purpose in living? Is there a reason I'm alive? Christians need not ask those questions. Jesus is clear that His disciples need not constantly search for the meaning of their existence. Christian disciples exist in the world to bring glory to God through the witness of their lives.

God's Answer
The answer is again God's merciful transformation of our lives into what He has called us to be. We do not become salt by tightening our belts. We do not give off light by gritting our teeth. We become change agents in God's world through saving, sanctifying, keeping grace.

Our Response
There are pressures at work around us and within us not to be who God has created us to be. There is the constant temptation to be inconspicuous, prudent, tasteless Christians. The faithful disciples' response to God's grace is to simply be what God has created them to be. Christians need not make themselves anything. They need only to be what God has created them to be and live as God empowers them to live.

PREACHING THE TEXT
The preacher may begin the sermon with a real-life example of someone who has impacted his or her world for Christ—not only through great accomplishments but also through the witness of his or her life. An excellent example of a life courageously lived for God is Father Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish monk, who endured for the cause of Christ under the persecution of the Nazi regime. Kolbe's story is beautifully recounted in The Body, by Chuck Colson.

The challenge of this text is to call Christians to action, without sacrificing their dependence upon the grace of God. That tension kept in balance is the essence of Christian stewardship. God's grace is lavishly poured out on those who also give it away. The sermon must call people to give what they have received and be who they are!