In the Gospel Herald, there was a story about A young man and a young woman became engaged and were looking forward to a near wedding day, when the young man was suddenly called into the service of his country. From the field of warfare letters regularly came and went, and love shined brightly in all of them. Then letters from the young man abruptly stopped. A few weeks passed and then there came a letter in a strange handwriting. In it the young woman read:
“There has been another battle. I have lost both my arms. I asked my comrade to write this for me, and to tell you that I release you from our engagement, for now I will not be able to work and support you.”
That letter was never answered. By the next train the young woman journeyed southward. She left the train and went directly to the hospital. Inquiring the location of the young man’s cot, she quietly approached and suddenly flung herself down by the side of his cot with the passionate words, “I will never give you up. These hands of mine will work for you. We will live our life of love together.”
What a testimony of love. The young soldier being now relatively helpless to take care of his family, is now being pursued by the loving bride whom has taken on the role of never giving up, as she put it, these hands of mine will work for you. What a testament.
When we read Jesus’s parables and stories in the old testament, not once did God waver from His requirement of us, or even accepted an excuse from someone that they could NOT do His work. Even though the young soldier didn’t have arms, God knows there is still work that he could do. Countless times when God called a person or a nation, God called them to do something in His service; even with the best doctor’s note, God did not accept any cover story. I am reminded an individual told me once, if I can’t do anything, at least I can pray! When we talk about Being the Hands of Jesus, hands here, are figuratively speaking, which encompasses a vast variety of ways we, His children, are to be Jesus’ hands in a world where much help is needed. Prayer is a good example, volunteering our time and energy to help others, using our gifts and tithing to support God by obeying Him; and so much more. Throughout scripture friends, God has displayed his majestic power through the hands of His creation. He uses his creation to produce and create His mighty Love in ways we will never fully understand. From a flower that can only be fertilized by a certain bee to which then bloom into a powerful beauty, to having billions of pounds of life giving water simply float us by in the sky, and fall upon the earth at a given time. The Hand of God is everywhere; the heavens declare the glory of God and His firmament shows His handy work! And we, His children, are called upon to take part in Being the Hands of Jesus.
In starting our Journey today in reading the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus has just finished exclaiming the Beatitudes to the people. Then without any haste, he dives right into the realm of what we, His people, believers of God, are to be something called ‘Salt and Light of the earth!’
“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 underfoot by people.” Jesus described salt as being ONLY useful, if it has not lost its flavor.
In my youth, I sometimes wondered why would Jesus say, “you are salt of the earth!” Why salt? Why not gold, silver or even diamonds, but salt?
Lets start off with how valuable is salt? In 2001 it was reported 40 million tons are required each year to fill our needs. In the ancient world, a bag of salt was purposefully just as valuable as a human beings life. Famous poet Homer called it divine. Plato called it a "substance dear to the gods." Shakespeare mentioned salt 17 times in his plays. Perhaps Leonard da Vinci wanted to send a subtle message about purity lost when he painted "The last Supper." In that painting an overturned salt cellar is conspicuously placed before Judas. Special salt rations were given to Roman soldiers was given rations of special salt, known as "Solarium Argentums", term we use today as salary as a form of payment.
However, the value of salt has even a more pristine value than money, it actually helps the human body. Thousands of Napoleon’s troops died during his retreat from Moscow because their wounds would not heal--their bodies lacked salt. The human body contains about 4oz. of salt. Without enough of it, muscles won’t contract, blood won’t circulate, food won’t digest and the heart won’t beat a beat. Then salt preserves food from being spoiled, which was a common thing in the ancient world. With just these few examples, without a doubt, salt is one of the essences of life. Salt purifies, preserves and provides taste. With all these mentioning of salt, though the world might persecute the followers of the God of the Bible, Jesus instructs us to make the world a better place; to do so, Jesus said, "you are the salt of the earth." We are to do Gods work by being the salt of the earth, by being the Hands of Jesus. In the Old Testament sacrifices God told Israel You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.
One thing about Jesus’s messages, is when He speaks about being worthless, having no value on something, I think people really listened! It’s the one thing people felt most in the sinful world, about having no value, but when the chosen messiah spoke of it as well, it must be really serious, especially when He mentioned a person is no longer good if they have no salt. The Greek having no flavor, or tasteless, mo-rah'-ee-no, make foolish, turn to foolishness, tainted, make useless. Having no flavor with Jesus is a bad thing. Disciples and apostles of Christ alike are compared to "salt", because of the savory doctrines they minister. The words they spread, the ways they live; as all such should serve to exalt Christ, and to magnify the grace of God. When people of God give ungodly testimony, live foolish ungodly lives, live a lie for God, these are the ones who lost the flavor of salt. We who seek God in every area of our lives, call Him Lord and Savior, eager to live and breathe the Gospel of Christ, these are the ones that have salt to savor. Pauls letters to the Colossians tells us Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Gospel of Mark tells us For everyone will be salted with fire.
Salt grain may be very small, and the smallest amount of salt is effective in its apportions to the amount its given. In saying this, having salt that is useful means we are to stay in the world, touching even unworthy lives; which means everyone. Having salt is inconspicuous, ordinary, and admixed with common things. A single grain is very small, but its power is beyond words.
In a book from William Thompson, “The Land and the Book, there is an account of a merchant in a town who bought a lot of salt from a fellow merchant, and hid the salt in his house on a remote mountain to avoid payment of taxation. When he put the salt in the basement, it was on dry dirt floor, very poor quality, so then the salt soon by contact with the earth, became so hard and useless, it lost all its saltness. The man didn’t use the salt, and it became no longer useful for its intended purpose. A follower of Christ friends either redeems the world, or the world robs them of their faith. We live in a delicate balance. D. L. Moody once wrote this, “This Holy Book will keep you from your sins, or your sins will keep you from this Holy Book.” We have to make a clear choice. I hope perhaps you are starting to get the picture of what being the Hands of Jesus means. But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He now moves onto another area for Believers to follow; being the light of the world.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
We started off to be the salt of the earth, and now we are to also be the light of the world! Without raising your hands, how many of us today, would stand for Jesus, but not stand for everyone to see us? Have you ever seen a flashlight at night, in how bright it is in the darkness? Even a candle is really bright in a very dark place. So as Jesus describes, if we, being the children of the light, display our light for no one to see, what use are we? Do we hide it under a basket, under a pot, behind closed doors, where it does no good for others? Our light we shine for God friends, as Jesus clearly says, Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. These are not my words. Notice here the light we shine is from God. If we have the Light of God, then we know of God and what he has done for us. Do we harness this light to not share it? Become selfish or ashamed and not being the Hands of Jesus by hiding who God is and can be to others? Do we whisper about God, or shout it from the rooftops for all to hear? Friends, the world is in terrible danger of being in darkness. If no ‘true’ light is displayed in a fallen world, the world would have no hope. Some of you may think you are not worthy, and I am on the same boat you are in. But Margaret Gordon wrote a letter to Thomas Carlyle in stating this same problem. Listen to what she said. “Is man by nature worthy or unworthy? Man can make darkness and try to live in it; but darkness slays him, because darkness is NOT HIS TRUE NATURE. His eyes and soul alike are made for the light, not darkness. But there is a cleavage within us. One alternative is so base that, if we choose it, it leads us to the darkness far away from God. But the true choice, real choice, takes us HOME; just as what the prodigal son did, he returned home.”
In closing, I read a statement I found very useful to me, “The lamp is not important, the light is everything.” What are we to do friends! We are live a life of salt, and shine the light of Jesus. We are to Be the Hands of Jesus. We do these things by the way we live, what we say, how we act, and in every area of our lives, others will see Christ as that is who we are. It is a serious task that is fraught with issues of life and death, yet, we will NEVER do it alone with Christ in us.
Friends, no matter what circumstance we live in, no matter what our own encounters with evil are, we each have a choice.
Fellow Christians, as the salt of the earth Jesus spoke about, we need to live a pure and righteous life with the Lord Jesus at the helm. This will maximize our ability to "flavor" or bless others through Gods good works. When true believers mix into themselves things like false doctrines, they lose their purity and their originally intended goal. This will eventually lead to them becoming worthless and hollow.
Gospel of Mark They act like they are worshiping me, but they don't mean it. They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy, Ditching God's command and taking up the latest fads." He went on, "Well, good for you. You get rid of God's command so you won't be inconvenienced in following the religious fashions! Let us focus, let us stay alert, and always, let us always serve the Living God, with salt and continue being the light of Jesus Christ. Amen.