Salt & Light

Preached 5 Feb 2023 @ Christ church, Billericay at 10:00 Morning Worship

Isaiah’s Time

It seems that the world in Isaiah’s time was not so different in some ways than the world is now. They look like they followed God, they did all the right things on the surface, but underneath they we just being selfish. Then they wondered why their prayers were not answered.

God said about Israel

“For day after day they seek me out” (well, perhaps that’s a bit different) “they seem eager to know my ways as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.”

Israel Replied

‘Why have we fasted, and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’

Our reply

‘We come to church week by week, you have not seen us? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’

but God says to Israel

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
Your fasting ends in quarrelling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.”

but God says to us

“Yet every Sunday, you go home and treat the rest of the day like any other. You expect people to serve you, to entertain you, and to sell you things.” … and no doubt, sometimes there is quarrelling and strife, even here amongst Billericians.

Religion must make a difference

Isaiah is saying that their religion must make a difference to their lives. The people show some evidence of wanting to do God’s will, they are even prepared to put up with the minor inconvenience of fasting. But it doesn’t make a real difference to how they live their lives, to how they behave on a day to day basis.

My commentary call this ‘empty externalism’ - religion on the outside which has no meaning to the person on the inside.

God’s requirement

God’s requirement is in verses 6 and 7.

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? ⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter — when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

It is a common theme running through the Old Testament. In our communion prayer we sometimes have these words from Micah 6:8:

“And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

NT

Jesus has a different way of putting it to the crowds he is speaking to in the sermon on the mount. “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world”.

Salt & Light - Pliny

Pliny said, “Nothing is more useful than salt and sunshine”. So Jesus has used the two most important elements of life to teach the people. I’m going to look at each of these in more detail so that we can understand a little better how these sayings might have been received.

Salt

You won’t be surprised to learn that salt in the first century did not come out of a plastic tub. Instead, it was collected from around the Dead Sea. That means it is impure, it is a mixture of all sorts of things. When it gets damp, the real salt – the sodium chloride – is dissolved little by little. The salt still looks the same but is beginning to lose its saltiness.

Non-salty salt - uses

This non-salty salt was used on the flat roofs and when combined with the soil on the roof it produces a hard and waterproof covering for the house. The flat roofs are also used, children were allowed to play on them, Peter used to pray on the roof (Acts 10:9). In some places it is also used on roads, so that’s where the ‘trampled by men’ phrase come from.

Worth his salt (salary)

Salt was very important, as we have already heard from Pliny. It is where we get the phrase “He is worth his salt” - which means he is worth his pay. Sal, the Latin for salt is also the root of our word salary, which was an allowance paid to Roman soldiers so that they could buy salt.

Flavouring & Preservative

Salt was important for two reasons. It was used for flavouring food, as it still is today, but more importantly it was used as a preservative before the invention of refrigeration.

Preservative

It is this preservative property of salt that Jesus is getting at. “The salt of the earth” means that we are the preservative of the world. We are a sort of moral disinfectant, our purpose is to keep the world from becoming rotten.
Do you think we are doing a good job?

Light

The other thing that Pliny reckoned was most useful was sunshine. In the days before electric lights real work could only take place in the daytime when the sun provided light to see by. The lamps in Jesus’ time gave off little more light than our candles. If you were outside on a moonless night it was impossible to travel. You might though have been able to see a city on a hill.

Billericay – town on a hill

I live on the top of the hill that Billericay stands on. There is never real darkness at any time of day or night. I can walk around the garden at 3am when I’m having a bad night without fear of tripping over or walking into the bushes. I can even see enough to navigate around the house if I open the curtains. That’s because of the street lighting outside bouncing off the atmosphere - it's called back scatter. Once, there was a permanent orange glow, now it’s just never exactly properly dark.

Points of light visible

Without street lighting, though, it is still possible to see points of light on a clear night that are miles away. Even with only candles, there would still be something that would be visible, and our eyes would be drawn to it – it catches our attention.

Limestone at dawn

At dawn, as the first light of the sun gets scattered around the atmosphere a city on a hill – especially one built of limestones houses, as many were, would soon begin to reflect light and become visible. At sunrise, it would become a beacon as the direct sunlight reflected off the houses. Think of the white cliffs of Dover in bright sunlight. We should also remember that the sun rises much more quickly in Israel, because it is nearer to the equator.

We are the light of the world

In the same way, we are the light of the world, reflecting the glory of Christ Jesus, we can become a beacon of truth and love. Light is good news as the sun brings light and heat and life can get underway again after the darkness and chill of the night. We are good news as we spread God’s word to those still in darkness, and they too realise that life can properly get underway now their darkness has been eradicated.

Cost

For the Christian there is a cost to all this. Here are a couple of examples.

West Nickel Mines School shooting

In Bart Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on October, 2^nd 2006, Charles Carl Roberts IV entered the school house. He lined the girls up against the blackboard. He let the boys and the adults go. Eventually, the girls were shot, but not before they had time to understand what was happening. He then committed suicide.

It is just one of an unfathomable number of school massacres that have occurred in the United States. Forgotten now by a world that tires of hearing about them, but still remembered by families and the communities affected.

Bart township is an Amish community. The Amish are a protestant denomination.

What makes this shooting stand out from the others is that there was no call for revenge, only for forgiveness. One of the fathers said, “He had a mother and a wife and a soul, and now he's standing before a just God.” Members of the community visited and comforted Charles Robert’s widow and his parents.

They are being salt and light. They are doing what they can to preserve the family of Charles Roberts, and point them to a better future.

Gordon Wilson

My other example is Gordon Wilson, who you may remember. On 8^th November 1987 the provisional IRA blew up the Remembrance Day parade in Enniskillen. Gordon was injured, and his daughter was killed. His response was “I bear no ill will, I bear no grudge”. He begged the loyalists not to take revenge for the bombing. All this was reported along with the bombing in news reports across the world. The cost to Gordon was not just the loss of his daughter and his injuries, but the hatred of loyalists and a continued bombing campaign by the provisional IRA.

Much later though, this bombing, and especially Gordon’s reaction, has been seen as a turning point in the troubles.

Gordon Wilson was salt and light in his community because he forgave those who planted the bomb, because he effectively prevented a retaliation, and because for years afterwards he worked for peace in Northern Ireland.

And us

In both my examples, an act of evil spurred people to action. Their actions would not have been possible without the solid long term grounding of their faith in Jesus. I pray that none of us ever suffer those kinds of evils, but we all suffer evils of some sort, and we also see evils suffered by others.

Our calling means ...

Our calling is to be salt and light in all circumstances. That means:

to be an influence in our culture against further insensitivity and cruelty;

to season the bitter, dog-eat-dog world with grace and mercy;

to be that light shining in the darkest corner;

to be a beacon of truth and love.

 

How

How can we be salt and light for them and for the surrounding community?

By being there, by being active, sometimes by opposing, but mainly by helping and being available. By acting where others in society won’t. By being forgiving, by being always ready to give account of the hope that is in us. By being gentle and respectful and keeping a clear conscience.

Change Society

This is how we change society, not by joining in with the increasingly shrill shouting match that passes for debate, but by actions that are consistent with the gospel we preach. In other words by being salt and light in every situation.

Amen.