Please Pass the Salt (revised)
Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:1-16
1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was
seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught
them, saying:
3 “ Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of
evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for
great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were
before you.
13 “You are the salt of the earth; 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.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 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. 16 Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
This passage I've read a hundred times but as I began to study it for this sermon, I
saw something I never noticed. Most times this scripture is portrayed in movies, they
show Jesus standing on the side of a hill in the eternal 'Jesus' pose preaching to the
crowd. However, it clearly says in this first verse that He went up on the ‘mountain’,
‘sat’ down and His disciple came to Him. I believe there were many in the crowd that
never went up to Him. We spoke last week about those who are stand on the porch
but not going through the door, and these people are likewise right there at the
mountain but not going up. First of all, if He were speaking not yelling a crowd would
not have heard Him. Although, I've been told the acoustics on the side of a
mountain are very good, as it says, there was a crowd. Crowds make noise just
being a crowd. It says He saw the crowd and went up on the mountain. Maybe He
went up on the mountain to get away from the 'crowd' so He could teach His true
disciples.
Secondly, it was a mountain, not a hill. It is usually portrayed as some little hillside,
nice and grassy; for comfortable seating, of course. But this was not a hillside or
top, it was a mountain. There are two different words in the Greek for hill and
mountain. Hill is found other times in this gospel and in the others. The writer was
definitely conveying that it was a mountain. Have you ever climbed a mountain? I
never have, but I've seen it on tv and it looks really difficult. I'm not saying they
would have had to ascend a flat rock-faced cliff but even hiking up a mountain is not
easy. My point is that those who went up to hear Him had a difficult task. Yet they
sought Him! Even up a mountain, which is used at times to indicate a problem.
They faced it head on and received what was likely the greatest sermon ever in
history.
In this sermon, which lasted through three entire chapters here in Matthew, no one
questions Him even once. Those who wanted to discredit Him were not there to
heckle Him by trying to trip Him up. They were probably down in the crowd saying,
"Why does He hide Himself up on this mountain? See He can't answer to us which is
why He's gone away?" This is all fictional, of course, because I wasn't there and
they didn't write about it. Even today there are many who want to come near to the
kingdom so they can get the benefits and blessings of the kingdom, but don’t really
want to hear the word. They come for the social aspects of fellowship but as soon
as the word begins to be preached they lose interest. Those are the ones who
would have waited at the bottom of the mountain for Him to come back down and do
more miracles. There were likely many who went to get people who needed healing
or even others who might simply have been curious to see a miracle.
Matthew 8:1-2
1 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.
2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are
willing, You can make me clean.”
You see, when He comes down from the mountain it says there was a multitude.
That sounds much larger than merely a crowd, doesn’t it? Now, it’s good that there
are great multitudes that will come to the mountain to be healed, like the leper.
However, how much better would it have been to take the time and the effort to come
up that mountain to sit at the feet of the Master? Those who made the effort to go
up the mountain had been fed better than anything the 5000 or the 4000 received.
They had been fed with the Word of God, straight from the mouth of the Son. There
are so many today who pray and who worship and may even read a few passages
here and there but will not make the effort to truly study God’s word. Yes, it can
take a long time. Yes, it can be tedious. But the payoff is phenomenal!
Back to the scripture, the first ones He blessed are the poor in spirit. Now, we know,
as a Christian we are supposed to be filled with the Spirit so what does this mean.
He means those that are humble; lowly in their own eyes, not full of themselves.
Remember, we must crucify our own flesh daily so there will be room for the Spirit.
The more of ourselves that is still there, the less of the Spirit we can receive. Their
reward is the Kingdom of Heaven that we've been speaking about. It's something we
should all long to achieve, poverty of self, true selflessness.
The next ones are those who mourn. Again as Christians we are supposed to have
joy unspeakable and a peace that passes understanding. However, according to
Roman 12:15 we should, "rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those
who mourn." Look outside of our comfort zone into the misery in this world. We
should mourn. My mother had a dream this week. It had to do with her seeing
people living in squalor and filth but not realizing. She knew in the dream that she
had to get out but had difficulty finding the way, but she did and as soon as she
jumped out, she woke up crying. Afterward she prayed for interpretation and spoke
to me about it, and then she received a revelation. It was about their spiritual
condition. They were living in the filth of sin and just laughing and joking, with no
idea they were in a spiritual shantytown. The next day and every weekday last
week, she went out to witness to the lost. That's what it means to mourn in the way
Jesus spoke of with this blessing. These shall be comforted.
The next are the meek. The ones who turn the other cheek, who take an insult and
bless but don't curse. They quietly submit to the will of God, not their own will and in
doing so Jesus says they will inherit the earth. Submit everything and you will gain
everything. It makes no sense in the world’s economy, but in the kingdom it makes
perfect sense. Next up are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Those
who have a strong desire for that which is right. They are motivated by that which is
right. They see injustice and long to see things made right. They shall be filled.
We, on this side of the cross, are able to put on the righteousness of God in Christ.
And when we do so, we are filled.
Next He blessed the merciful. We have to be quick to forgive; the little things and
the big. Sometimes we might hold on to the pettiest of things because we feel we
are right. "They shouldn't have said that." "They shouldn't have done that." If God
held onto our faults, our missteps in the same way, would we have forgiveness from
Him? We must make a point of forgiving all things. Next are the pure in heart. As
the temple was rededicated, cleansed from being defiled, so must our hearts be
cleansed.
Psalm 51:10-13
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.
As David prayed so should we, 'Lord, create in me a clean heart.' Only the pure
are able to see God. Our hearts must be cleansed and purified if we are going to be
the vessels that God uses teach the lost His ways and convert sinners into saints.
Now we come to the peacemakers. Peace - Makers. We have to make a point of
making peace. It will not always just be there. The peace makers are those who not
only long for peace but also are willing to get their hands dirty to work on restoring
peace when it's gone. Oh, to be called a son of God. If He blesses the peace
makers, what do you think He does to the peace breakers? The last distinct group
mentioned are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. When was the
last time you were reviled and hated by men for His sake? We can not be motivated
by how much people like us. That is not Kingdom oriented. The reward for this
group comes back to the Kingdom of Heaven where it began. That's what it's all
about. This is all just temporary, that which is seen. It's what is unseen that is
permanent.
We've celebrated the Feast of Dedication or Hanukkah as it is commonly known for
several years now in our fellowship. As we've learned, the eight days of the feast
remembers the eight days that it took to cleanse the temple after it had been
defiled. I don't think it's by accident that Jesus shows us eight qualities we must
strive for to be cleansed of our own defilement. I wonder if it was near Hanukkah
when He gave this sermon? Who knows? Now, if you decide to count the eight
categories you might get tripped up and think there are nine, but that’s only because
He repeats the last one, personalizing it. I just think it’s really interesting that eight is
the number of renewal; new beginnings and these are the eight areas when we can
renew our minds from the world’s way to the way of the kingdom.
In finishing today we look at Yeshua tell His disciples that they are salt and light.
The salt is the truth of the Law. People don't want to hear that all liars have their
place in the lake of fire or that fornicators and homosexuals will have their own place
in that lake. Someone who is injured might not like salt being rubbed in their wound
but if there is no other medicine it may be what they need to stay alive. We must
love the sinner, with all our heart, but hate the sin. This is how we are salt. If salt
losses its saltiness, what good is it. As Yeshua says in verse 13, you'd throw it
away.
We are to be a light in the darkness. Our light is our love, our forgiveness and
mercy, our compassion. Our light must reveal to them the darkness of their own
souls. If we are being hateful and unforgiving and uncompassionate to fit in (hiding
our light under a bushel) how will they ever see that they are in darkness? If you've
ever been in a darkened room and had your eyes get used to the dimness, you
don't even really notice how dim it is until you come out into the light. Let us be that
light that will be a beacon to guide those living in darkness into the waiting hands of
the Savior.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: August 24, 2008
Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:1-16
1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was
seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught
them, saying:
3 “ Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of
evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for
great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were
before you.
13 “You are the salt of the earth; 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.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 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. 16 Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
This passage I've read a hundred times but as I began to study it for this sermon, I
saw something I never noticed. Most times this scripture is portrayed in movies, they
show Jesus standing on the side of a hill in the eternal 'Jesus' pose preaching to the
crowd. However, it clearly says in this first verse that He went up on the ‘mountain’,
‘sat’ down and His disciple came to Him. I believe there were many in the crowd that
never went up to Him. We spoke last week about those who are stand on the porch
but not going through the door, and these people are likewise right there at the
mountain but not going up. First of all, if He were speaking not yelling a crowd would
not have heard Him. Although, I've been told the acoustics on the side of a
mountain are very good, as it says, there was a crowd. Crowds make noise just
being a crowd. It says He saw the crowd and went up on the mountain. Maybe He
went up on the mountain to get away from the 'crowd' so He could teach His true
disciples.
Secondly, it was a mountain, not a hill. It is usually portrayed as some little hillside,
nice and grassy; for comfortable seating, of course. But this was not a hillside or
top, it was a mountain. There are two different words in the Greek for hill and
mountain. Hill is found other times in this gospel and in the others. The writer was
definitely conveying that it was a mountain. Have you ever climbed a mountain? I
never have, but I've seen it on tv and it looks really difficult. I'm not saying they
would have had to ascend a flat rock-faced cliff but even hiking up a mountain is not
easy. My point is that those who went up to hear Him had a difficult task. Yet they
sought Him! Even up a mountain, which is used at times to indicate a problem.
They faced it head on and received what was likely the greatest sermon ever in
history.
In this sermon, which lasted through three entire chapters here in Matthew, no one
questions Him even once. Those who wanted to discredit Him were not there to
heckle Him by trying to trip Him up. They were probably down in the crowd saying,
"Why does He hide Himself up on this mountain? See He can't answer to us which is
why He's gone away?" This is all fictional, of course, because I wasn't there and
they didn't write about it. Even today there are many who want to come near to the
kingdom so they can get the benefits and blessings of the kingdom, but don’t really
want to hear the word. They come for the social aspects of fellowship but as soon
as the word begins to be preached they lose interest. Those are the ones who
would have waited at the bottom of the mountain for Him to come back down and do
more miracles. There were likely many who went to get people who needed healing
or even others who might simply have been curious to see a miracle.
Matthew 8:1-2
1 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.
2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are
willing, You can make me clean.”
You see, when He comes down from the mountain it says there was a multitude.
That sounds much larger than merely a crowd, doesn’t it? Now, it’s good that there
are great multitudes that will come to the mountain to be healed, like the leper.
However, how much better would it have been to take the time and the effort to come
up that mountain to sit at the feet of the Master? Those who made the effort to go
up the mountain had been fed better than anything the 5000 or the 4000 received.
They had been fed with the Word of God, straight from the mouth of the Son. There
are so many today who pray and who worship and may even read a few passages
here and there but will not make the effort to truly study God’s word. Yes, it can
take a long time. Yes, it can be tedious. But the payoff is phenomenal!
Back to the scripture, the first ones He blessed are the poor in spirit. Now, we know,
as a Christian we are supposed to be filled with the Spirit so what does this mean.
He means those that are humble; lowly in their own eyes, not full of themselves.
Remember, we must crucify our own flesh daily so there will be room for the Spirit.
The more of ourselves that is still there, the less of the Spirit we can receive. Their
reward is the Kingdom of Heaven that we've been speaking about. It's something we
should all long to achieve, poverty of self, true selflessness.
The next ones are those who mourn. Again as Christians we are supposed to have
joy unspeakable and a peace that passes understanding. However, according to
Roman 12:15 we should, "rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those
who mourn." Look outside of our comfort zone into the misery in this world. We
should mourn. My mother had a dream this week. It had to do with her seeing
people living in squalor and filth but not realizing. She knew in the dream that she
had to get out but had difficulty finding the way, but she did and as soon as she
jumped out, she woke up crying. Afterward she prayed for interpretation and spoke
to me about it, and then she received a revelation. It was about their spiritual
condition. They were living in the filth of sin and just laughing and joking, with no
idea they were in a spiritual shantytown. The next day and every weekday last
week, she went out to witness to the lost. That's what it means to mourn in the way
Jesus spoke of with this blessing. These shall be comforted.
The next are the meek. The ones who turn the other cheek, who take an insult and
bless but don't curse. They quietly submit to the will of God, not their own will and in
doing so Jesus says they will inherit the earth. Submit everything and you will gain
everything. It makes no sense in the world’s economy, but in the kingdom it makes
perfect sense. Next up are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Those
who have a strong desire for that which is right. They are motivated by that which is
right. They see injustice and long to see things made right. They shall be filled.
We, on this side of the cross, are able to put on the righteousness of God in Christ.
And when we do so, we are filled.
Next He blessed the merciful. We have to be quick to forgive; the little things and
the big. Sometimes we might hold on to the pettiest of things because we feel we
are right. "They shouldn't have said that." "They shouldn't have done that." If God
held onto our faults, our missteps in the same way, would we have forgiveness from
Him? We must make a point of forgiving all things. Next are the pure in heart. As
the temple was rededicated, cleansed from being defiled, so must our hearts be
cleansed.
Psalm 51:10-13
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.
As David prayed so should we, 'Lord, create in me a clean heart.' Only the pure
are able to see God. Our hearts must be cleansed and purified if we are going to be
the vessels that God uses teach the lost His ways and convert sinners into saints.
Now we come to the peacemakers. Peace - Makers. We have to make a point of
making peace. It will not always just be there. The peace makers are those who not
only long for peace but also are willing to get their hands dirty to work on restoring
peace when it's gone. Oh, to be called a son of God. If He blesses the peace
makers, what do you think He does to the peace breakers? The last distinct group
mentioned are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. When was the
last time you were reviled and hated by men for His sake? We can not be motivated
by how much people like us. That is not Kingdom oriented. The reward for this
group comes back to the Kingdom of Heaven where it began. That's what it's all
about. This is all just temporary, that which is seen. It's what is unseen that is
permanent.
We've celebrated the Feast of Dedication or Hanukkah as it is commonly known for
several years now in our fellowship. As we've learned, the eight days of the feast
remembers the eight days that it took to cleanse the temple after it had been
defiled. I don't think it's by accident that Jesus shows us eight qualities we must
strive for to be cleansed of our own defilement. I wonder if it was near Hanukkah
when He gave this sermon? Who knows? Now, if you decide to count the eight
categories you might get tripped up and think there are nine, but that’s only because
He repeats the last one, personalizing it. I just think it’s really interesting that eight is
the number of renewal; new beginnings and these are the eight areas when we can
renew our minds from the world’s way to the way of the kingdom.
In finishing today we look at Yeshua tell His disciples that they are salt and light.
The salt is the truth of the Law. People don't want to hear that all liars have their
place in the lake of fire or that fornicators and homosexuals will have their own place
in that lake. Someone who is injured might not like salt being rubbed in their wound
but if there is no other medicine it may be what they need to stay alive. We must
love the sinner, with all our heart, but hate the sin. This is how we are salt. If salt
losses its saltiness, what good is it. As Yeshua says in verse 13, you'd throw it
away.
We are to be a light in the darkness. Our light is our love, our forgiveness and
mercy, our compassion. Our light must reveal to them the darkness of their own
souls. If we are being hateful and unforgiving and uncompassionate to fit in (hiding
our light under a bushel) how will they ever see that they are in darkness? If you've
ever been in a darkened room and had your eyes get used to the dimness, you
don't even really notice how dim it is until you come out into the light. Let us be that
light that will be a beacon to guide those living in darkness into the waiting hands of
the Savior.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: August 24, 2008