Trinity 8
Dear friends in Christ. By virtue of our baptism, we now, as Christians have a high and glorious position. Before the Lord God, in grace, came to us in the waters of holy Baptism and worked faith in Him in our hearts, being slaves to sin and Satan we were lost condemned sinners; we had no hope of heaven and eternal life; we could only expect God’s wrath now and into eternity. Whether we knew it or not, we were in the worst possible condition: all we could do was sin—since we were slaves to sin—and by that sin earn us nothing but God temporal and eternal punishment. But, says St. Paul, you were washed [that’s baptism], but you were sanctified [that is, set apart, made holy], but you were justified [that is, God declared you righteous] in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God [1 Cor. 6.11 NKJV].
Through holy Baptism we were cleansed of our sin and brought into God’s holy family. We are now, through baptism and in Christ, God’s dear children and heirs of heaven. Notice how the Holy Spirit through St. Peter [1 Peter 2. 8-10 NKJV] describes our state/ condition now as Christians: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Dear Christian, God’s gracious council toward us in Christ Jesus has been fulfilled. We have received the great treasure, the precious pearl. He could take us then right away into heaven the moment that last drop of water of holy baptism hit us as an infant; or that moment the Holy Spirit, through the Word, worked faith in our hearts as adults. But He doesn’t. It is His holy will that we live for a while in the world as Christians.
What, then, are our lives to be like as we live as Christians in the world? What gives form, meaning, purpose to our lives? Is our purpose or meaning in life to be found in riches, honor, pleasure and joy? Hardly! Instead, as Jesus teaches us in our text today, we Christians have a high, noble calling that God has allotted to us: we are salt and light to the world so that through us, others may come to that same blessed condition we are: our Lord’s dear Christians who enjoy His every grace and blessing, members of His holy family and heirs of heaven.
One of our theologians put it this way: But God wants [the Christian] to stay in this world for a while in order to serve Him on earth, particularly in the cause of the Gospel. The ultimate purpose of our life on earth is the performance of good works. [Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics 3, 61]
1. Our text is just a few short verses from our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount—a sermon He preached to His disciples. In these verses He tells us of our call as Christians, that high and noble purpose our lives now have. You are the salt of the earth; andYou are the light of the world. Notice here that simple word “are”. By virtue of our being Christians we are salt and light. It is not something that we strive for; it’s not something we aren’t now but can be, if we work hard enough. By virtue of our Lord bringing us to faith by the water and word and making us His dear Christians; by His calling us to that high calling of “Christian”, we are salt and light.
We are, then, salt. Since, Jesus here says, we do not and cannot strive to be salt, but simply are, that means that we have been made salt; it’s not something we bring about in ourselves but something that has been done to us; it’s not as if we strive really hard then one day we earn the title salt of the earth. By Jesus’ work in the word and sacrament, He brings us to faith and makes us the salt.
The other point about salt is that left to itself, salt really has no purpose. But when salt is mined and processed it is used in food and for lots of other purposes. When the Lord works true faith in our hearts and makes us His dear Christians, when He makes us the salt of the earth, it’s not just for the sake of us to be salt but for a purpose—to be the salt for the earth; we are salt to serve some good and gracious purpose of the Lord for the world/ for those the Lord has placed in our lives. The fact that we are salt of the earth means we have a meaning, purpose, significance outside of ourselves.
In Jesus’ day—and even down to our own day—a main use of salt is to preserve things from decay and putrification. Meat is salted and preserved—you have corned beef; vegetables are salted and preserved—you have sauerkraut and pickles. Without salt preserving meats and vegetables, people could have hardly survived in many climates. What a wonderful picture of the Christian, salt of the earth, carrying out the duties of his/her high calling! By the Christian living out his/ her life as Christian, we are acting as salt, preserving the world from further and greater moral decay and corruption.
How often we have heard or ourselves said something like, “The world is going down the tubes; it’s all so corrupt!” It is true—but think how far gone it would be if there were no Christians faithfully carrying out their high calling of living their lives according to their faith, living their lives in the fear and love of God—as so doing truly good works? The Christian is that preserving salt in his/ her corner of the world hindering that uncontrolled moral corruption in the world.
Here we see that our Christian calling is not just for ourselves but it has blessing and benefit to the world around us. As we fight against sin in our lives, not only are we exercising our faith and doing truly good works—living according to the 10 Commandments—but as we live a godly life we are truly acting as salt and counteracting the decay and corruption in and around us.
Not only by our actions are we the salt of the earth, but also by our words. As our Lord’s dear Christians, we have His holy Word—He has entrusted it to His Church. Our call as Christians, as salt of the earth, is also to salt the hearts of people with the truth of God’s word so that they may come to recognize their sin and the grace of God, so that through the word we share the Holy Spirit may work true saving faith in them. To us Christians has been entrusted the only thing that can counteract the moral decay and corruption in the world—the holy Word of God!
But as we Christians are the salt of the earth and live out our high calling and dignity as Christians, we are, by our life and word rebuking the godlessness of the world around us. That the godless world does not want! Here, too we are the salt of the earth as, like salt in a wound burns, so too our lives of godliness are a burning, stinging rebuke to the godless around us. Seeing our faithfulness to the Lord’s will, they are reminded of their own sin as their conscience, the Law of God written on their hearts, accuses them. The godly—like salt rubbed in a wound—are a stinging rebuke to the ungodly. That’s why when the Christian stands up for what is right, what God says in His holy word, the Christian is ridiculed and told that he/she is irrelevant, not with it, etc. When the truth of God’s word is ridiculed and shouted down, the salt is truly being salt—burning wounds.
Jesus gives a warning as well: since we Christians are the salt of the earth, woe to us if we stop being that salt! Our text: but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. If the Christian loses of forfeits his/her ability to counter worldly corruption, if the Christian adopts the ways and manners of the world, if we lose our primary quality—like if salt were to lose its saltiness—we then have lost the faith, no longer following the leadings and promptings of the Holy Spirit; we then are worthless in God’s sight, having brought shame and contempt on ourselves. It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out; and will be condemned with the world— and trampled underfoot by men.
What a warning to keep examining our own hearts and lives! Am I still salt—that is, am I still in the faith, following the leading of the Holy Spirit to live according to the holy 10 Commandments—salt—or am I living according to my own sinful desires—saltless salt?
If we are honest, we will all find times we are good for nothing salt/ worthless salt. But let us never forget that grace of God that made us salt to begin with is still there! Recognizing our sin, let us then turn back to the grace of God and the forgiveness of those sins Jesus won for us on the cross and gives to us in His holy word and sacraments. Our high and glorious calling as Christians means daily, in all boldness and confidence, going before our Lord receiving anew His gifts of forgiveness, peace and strength.
2. In His sermon, Jesus doesn’t just stop with this warning, but since He is speaking to His disciples, like us, He continues on assuming our repentance and faith. He again assures His repentant Christian: You are the light of the world. In spite of the sin that we commit, we are still the light of the world because Christ in all grace and mercy forgives us our sin and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.
Jesus tells us elsewhere [John 8.12] that He is the Light of the world. That means that as Christians we reflect the Light of Christ into the world. It is like with the sun and the moon. The sun makes the light; the moon doesn’t make light but it reflects the light of the sun. That’s how it is with us and Christ. Jesus is the true Light of the world; we on our own, left to ourselves, have no light but only the darkness of sin. But we have been baptized into Christ. He is now in us and we are in Him. With Christ in us, He by His Holy Spirit, is leading us into a life of faith and good works and by that we shine; we are the light of the world as we reflect that light of Christ. That’s our dignity and high calling as Christians. We are Light- bearers into this world of sin and corruption.
Just as each individual Christian reflects the light of Christ, the true Light, so all Christians together, are the holy Christian Church, that city that is set on a hill [that]cannot be hidden. The Church, to which Jesus entrusted His Holy word and sacraments, reflects that glory of Christ as she proclaims that word and administers the holy sacraments; and the Church, as Church, reflects that glory/ Light of Christ by the life of holiness when each of her members lives a life of faith and good works; when the Christians individually and the Church as Church stands for the moral good/ stands for the eternal truths of God’s holy word. The very nature of the Church and each of us, her dear Christians, is to proclaim Christ, His word, His will, His way. And as the light of the world we enlighten the hearts of people to true saving knowledge of God both by proclamation and by our good works which reflect Christ, which Christ works in and through us. Because of this our Christianity will be clear to all; it cannot be hidden.
Just like the moon cannot but reflect the sun, so too the Christ’s Church and each individual Christian cannot but reflect Christ. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. The very nature of the Christian is to live a Christian way, reflecting Christ. In fact is illogical and a denial of Christ to hide what we are, to hide our beliefs and convictions—“to go along and get along in this world”.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and so glorify your Father in heaven. The good works we do, the holy life we live in the world, prove the truth of the Christian faith to the world and entices them to hear Christ’s saving Word because the good works we do cause people to recognize God as a glorious, gracious, heavenly Father. Jesus then exhorts us to be bold and be who He called us and made us to be—both the salt of the earth and the light of the world. That we are salt and light is God’s gracious gift to us. May our lives of repentance and faith, the holy doctrine we believe and teach and our godly walk be clear to all—that’s our high calling and dignity! INJ Amen.