Salt of the Earth

Those familiar with Godspell can't read this passage and not think about the song "Light of the World." I attached it below for your viewing pleasure. So as Christians what can we take from this comparison to salt?

The first way we as Christians are like salt is, Christians Like Salt Are Of Infinite Value.

Jesus said to his followers “You are the salt of the earth.” Why salt? Why not something sweet or something that tastes good. Why not something that smells good? Why salt? Jesus refers to his handful of disciples, disciples that were just like you and me, and he referred to them as the salt of the earth. What great dignity Jesus bestows on his followers. What a great compliment! You see salt was a necessity of life in ancient times. Such great value was attached to it. Salt was so important that it was sometimes used for money. The Roman soldiers of Jesus’ day were at times paid with salt. In fact, our word “salary” comes from the Latin word salarium which referred to the payments to the soldiers with salt. People still use the phrase saying that someone either is, or is not, “worth their salt.” We don’t think much about salt because we can get as much of it in pure form as we want. It is just the little white shaker on the table. Better yet the big blue cylinder in the cabinet. But when you are completely dependent on salt to preserve your food, and when it is so valuable that it is used in the place of money, you get a completely different perspective on salt.
Because we live in a part of the world where we have an abundance of food we don’t understand the monotony of the diet of those who lived in Jesus’ day and for most of those who live in third world countries even today. In a great portion of the world rice is the common food, three times a day. In part of Africa today the common food is corn meal, at every meal. Corn meal alone doesn’t have much flavor. Without salt to make it palatable, it would be difficult to continue to swallow the same monotonous food, time after time.

Christians Like Salt Are Of Infinite Value and…

Second, Christians Like Salt Act As A Preservative.
Salt was important for survival, because it was the only way they had to preserve meat. Obviously, they were not as privileged as we are with refrigeration, so salt became very important in their ability to preserve their food. The salt was rubbed into the meat before it was stored. It was used to hinder the process of decay. In the same way Christians are given the task of hindering the decay of our world.

There is a book by [D. James Kennedy. “What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?” (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Pub., 1994) pp. 3- 4] and he talks about Christianity and it’s effect on the world. Christianity has in fact had a profound positive effect on the world. The most dramatic impact of Christianity on the world is that it has attached new value to human life. Prior to Christianity infanticide, and abandonment of children was a common practice. Hospitals as we now know them began through influence of Christianity. The Red Cross was started by an evangelical Christian. Almost every one of the first 123 colleges and universities in the United States has Christian origins, founded by Christians for Christian purposes. The same could be said of orphanages, adoption agencies, humane treatment of the insane, the list goes on and on of dramatic impact of Christianity in our world.
However with all of that good, and all the good that we do. We’re not perfect and we still sin like those who are not Christians. There are still temptations and evils that we fall victim to.

If we as Christian’s lose the qualities of Christlikeness that make us distinct then we become like the society around us, we no longer have a positive impact. We become a hindrance instead of a preservative.

Third, Christians Like Salt Are to Promote Thirst.
In arid climates and athletic competitions it is used to promote thirst. Christians are to make Christ attractive and desirable.
In Titus 2:9 the Apostle Paul tells Christian servants that they must act in such a way “that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.” The idea is here is that Christian servants (any Christian for that matter) have the power through their behavior to make the Christian life and faith beautiful to those outside.
Whenever we as Christians are introduced into a setting, whether it is social or work related, the unbelievers should see evidence of the difference that Jesus Christ makes in our lives. They should be able to look at us and say, “I don’t know what they have but I want it.”
Christians Like Salt Should Promote Thirst and…

Fourth, Christians Like Salt Can Lose Their Usefulness. (v. 13b)
Jesus says that if the salt loses its flavor, (v. 13b) “… It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”
Technically speaking, salt cannot lose its saltiness; sodium chloride is a stable compound. But in the part of the world where Jesus lived, salt was collected from around the Dead Sea where the crystals were often contaminated with other minerals. These crystallized formations were full of impurities, and since the actual salt was more soluble than the impurities, the rain could wash out the salt, which made what was left of little worth since it lost its saltiness. When this happened, the salt was thrown out, since it was no longer of any value either as a preservative or for flavoring.
When the salt was leached out it still looked like salt, but it lost its taste. The essential difference can be leached out of a Christian’s life by the constant flow of the world’s values through our lives.

“The peculiar property of salt is that even though it may have lost its pungency,… it still retains one very devastating potency. This rare and remarkable material can still …. destroy plant life on the land…. the same principle applies in the case of the Christian. Either our lives or counting for good and for God or they are making an impact for evil and the enemy…. The way we live, the things we say the attitudes we entertain, the lifestyle we adopt… are continuously producing either positive or negative results in society…. Our lives, whether we are aware or not either count for God or against Him. There simply is no middle ground.” [W. Phillip Keller. Salt for Society. (Waco: Word Books, 1981) p. 145-149]
Christians Like Salt Can Lose Their Usefulness and….

Finally, Christians Like Salt Must Have Contact To Have An Influence!
As we have already noted, the Christian is to be a preserving force in the world wherever God has placed them. But the salt never did any good when it was sitting on a shelf some place and the meat was somewhere else. To be effective, the salt had to be rubbed into the meat. In a similar way Christian’s are to allow God use them wherever he has placed them.
Whenever the church becomes a salt warehouse, it has missed out on the lesson that salt must make contact to have an affect.

Conclusion
I want you to notice what Jesus says and does not say, He does not say, “You all can be the salt of the earth.” Nor does he say, “You all should be the salt of the earth.” Jesus says “You are the salt of the earth”
So...
To be salt, we do not have to be spectacular.
To be salt, we do not have to be sensational.
To be salt, we do not have to be successful. By the world’s standards.

To be salt, we just have to effect our little corner of the world.

Come & Follow

Matthew 4:12 – 23

When reading this scripture we can take from this 3 calls that if we truly wish to be faithful in our walk we need to answer. There's the call to faith, the call to discipleship and the call to ministry.

For Matthew, this is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He’s been baptized by John and led into the wilderness to be tempted for forty days by Satan. He gets the news that John the Baptist has been arrested, so he heads back to civilization to begin his ministry. It’s there we find the first calling on people’s lives—the call to faith.

The call to faith is the call to change our mind, and it is the call that all of us, at some point, must answer. Literally, Jesus’ first word in ministry in verse 17 is “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” In other words, “Turn from your sin and turn to God.” That is the translator’s interpretation of the meaning of repent.

It’s not popular to talk about sin, and we try to steer clear of it because we don't want to come across as pointing the finger. We don't want people to think that we're judging them, and we definitely don't want to cast the spotlight on our own issues and sin.

Then there's some of us who don’t think we’re sinners. In today's world we think, "Hey, as long as other people are alright with what I'm doing and it's not effecting them then it's alright." Even thinking, "What I'm doing is not even close to being as bad as what they are doing." Taking the my sin is less then your sin approach.

When we think about sin, we think about the big ones or the really bad things. You know murder, stealing, adultery, rape, abuse, etc. These things are easy to point out as being wrong and sinful, but what does the Bible say? The bible defines sin as anything that misses the mark

We miss the mark in so many areas of our everyday life. All the "bigger sins" aside look at the sins we face daily. The Catholic church lists the seven deadly sins, and it is the belief that at the heart of all sin lies one of these. Looking at my own life I can find numerous ways these sins have crept in and taken a hold. These are things that I need to repent and ask forgiveness for.

Repentance opens us to grace that God desires to pour into our lives. Repentance is our acknowledgement that something is wrong, that something needs to change. Who can argue with the brokenness we see in our world today that something needs to change?

The call that everyone must answer is the call of Jesus to turn from our selfish, sinful ways, to consider the claims that Christ makes, and determine whether we will believe, or continue to go down a path that is ultimately destructive to us and those around us. It’s a call everyone must answer. Even refusing to answer is an answer.

There is another call that goes beyond the call to faith, and it is the call that Jesus gave to Simon, Andrew, James and John in verse 19. There, Jesus tells them, “Come, follow me,…” This is the call to discipleship. There are a lot of people who answer the call to faith. They consider the claims of Jesus and find them valid, but then just sort of leave the information there and never go deeper in the life of faith.

Jesus’ call to these fishermen was a call to a deeper life, a changed life. We might say that if the call to faith is the call to change our minds, then the call to discipleship is the call to change our lives. This was Jesus’ call for these men to change their lives.

The call to be a disciple is a more challenging call than the call of faith. Jesus said, “Follow me.” Discipleship is costly. Discipleship is about making the kingdom of God the priority of our lives. It is a leaving the old life and beginning a new life of faith, hope and love. There are a lot of people who hear, and even answer, the call to faith, but fewer are the people who hear and answer the call to discipleship, though the call goes out to everyone who answers the call to faith. You may be asking everyone?

You see Jesus called ordinary, common, hard-working fishermen. These guys made their living on the Sea of Galilee as commercial fishermen. I’m reminded of a show and some of you may have even watched it yourself. Ever watch The Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel?

That show chronicles the hard crazy life of commercial crab fishermen off the coast of Alaska. It portrays the life of a commercial fisherman as brutal. That’s the same kind of life these first century fishermen endured, too. It was hard, dangerous work, and the men who did it were simple, not highly educated, they were hard-working men who only sought to make a living for their families.

I’m pointing this out because Jesus isn’t necessarily looking for highly-educated, well-qualified people to be disciples. Jesus is looking for willing people, people who are willing to hear the call to faith and the claims of Jesus, and then be willing to join him in transforming the world. That’s the call to discipleship, and he’s calling all of us to be his disciples. He will meet you in your current place and your current situation.

But, there is a call that flows out of answering the call to discipleship, and that is the call to ministry. You may hear that word and think of a Pastor or clergy, and for some that may be. What we're seeing here is ministering to others. Sharing your faith and God's word.

Everyone who answers the call to be a disciple is called to ministry. Jesus, after inviting these men to “follow” him, adds that he will “show them how to fish for people.” The job he gave them was to work with him in transforming the world.

If the call to faith is a call to change our minds, and the call to discipleship is the call to change our lives, then the call to ministry is the call to change the world. Jesus is calling us to work with him in transforming the world. Don’t you think if Jesus could call a few common fishermen to change the world, he could call you and me, as common, ordinary and unprepared as we are? Jesus doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called. We are called by God. The question is Will we answer the call?

Jesus needs Christian business men and women who can reach non-Christian businessmen and women. Jesus needs Christian retired individuals who can reach non-Christian retired individuals. Jesus needs students, and grocery clerks and doctors and nurses and teachers who will go into the places of their lives and witness to His saving grace. Jesus called these hard working fishermen to reach their community. He’s calling us to reach our community.

Some of you may be afraid that Jesus’ call means you’ll have to pack up and leave your job and family, so you resist. It may mean that for some of us, but more than likely he’ll use us right where we are. If we look at the later life of these fishermen, we find after the crucifixion and resurrection they are back mending their nets and fishing. Most of them never ventured far from home, nor gave up their trades. They did, however, make a difference in the Kingdom because the Kingdom became their priority. Telling others, serving others, sharing the Good News became their priority.

Jesus is calling us to faith... to discipleship... and to ministry. He’s calling us to change our minds, to change our lives, and to change the world. It’s likely if you’re here this morning, you’ve already answered the call to faith. But, just in case you haven’t, Jesus is calling you to faith today.

Don’t miss your calling! There may be others here who haven’t answered the call to discipleship. You know he wants you to go deeper, but you’ve been afraid of the cost of going deeper so you’ve resisted. Don’t miss your calling! There may be others may be here who have gone deeper and feel in love following Jesus, but have resisted serving because you felt you weren’t capable. Don’t miss your calling!

Christmas 2016

The following story was shared by USA today last December. It's a touching testimony from a family in a WWII Nazi concentration camp.

By: Ruth Ebenstein
"On Christmas Eve 1944, my grandmother urged my uncle, then 12 years old, to sneak out of the concentration camp where they were imprisoned at Strasshof, nearly 15 miles east of Vienna, to go begging.

People are charitable around Christmastime, Grandma Lili said to her son, Gyuri (George in Hungarian). Ask for scraps. Anything they can spare. Tell them that we're on the verge of starvation.

Tell them that your 3-year-old sister cannot get off the bed because she's outgrown her shoes.

I don't want to beg, retorted the boy. I'd rather steal.

That's wrong, scolded his mother. We are not thieves!

They argued back and forth. After a time, her son reluctantly accepted.

In the dark of night, Gyuri snuck out of the camp between two wooden slats and walked the nearly four miles to Deutsch-Wagram, the closest town, shivering in his tattered clothing. On the outskirts he happened upon a house, secluded from the others. He walked up the path and knocked on the front door.

A woman opened that door. She was probably alone, her man far away, fighting in the war, her children asleep in their beds. And it is likely that she suspected that the young boy was Jewish.

The 12-year-old pieced together in German exactly what his mother had told him to say.

Did he hide his ambivalence about begging? Did he charm her even then with his gift of gab?

Come back tomorrow, whispered the woman.

The next day, my uncle returned. The woman opened the door with a smile. She piled his hands with bread, clothing, a pair of shoes that her child had outgrown.

And... a pair of socks.

The woman had knitted warm woolen socks for my mother.

Nestled in socks and shoes that fit, my mother scooted off the bed in delight. Her ragged shoes were passed on to a younger child who was also living in the camp. My mother joined her mother and older brother in feasting on the provisions they were given. They shared their unexpected bounty with the entire barracks. It was a quiet celebration of human kindness around Christmastime.

In April 1945, my mother, uncle and grandmother were liberated by the Russians. And it was those very socks and shoes that my mother wore as she trekked some 28 miles over two days to Bratislava on her walk to a new life.

She was three months shy of 4 years old.

Grandma Lili had a gorgeous laugh and a mischievous sense of humor. Even during the Holocaust. She used to tease my mom, you can tell folks that you spent your childhood in the Vienna Woods.

To the anonymous Righteous Gentile, I thank you.

Thank you for knitting with your hands the pair of socks that warmed my mom's little feet and skinny legs. Thank you for finding those shoes and clothing and giving them to a stranger. Thank you for sharing your bread during wartime. In the despair of a battered land, cold and snowy, when many hearts were closed and evil reigned and death was more likely than life, especially for Jews, you gave them light. You gave them kindheartedness.

You gave them a measure of sustenance that I can only imagine.

If you had not looked past the years of poisonous hatred and anti-Semitism that had enveloped your country in order to rally to help my family, who knows if they would have survived to tell this story..."

I share this with you because THIS is what Christmas is all about. It's not about special Church Services, it's not about just having nice nostalgic joyful music on the radio- it's about HOPE. True and REAL hope. Hope that leads to life, and life more abundantly.

This Christmas season and beyond, I challenge ALL of us to be a part of SPREADING that hope. Go out of your way to be more kind- every day try and do at least ONE small act of kindness to someone- whether you know them or you don't.

2000 years ago Jesus came to be the light in the darkness: a light of hope and goodwill, truth and peace. And when He left, He gave that responsibility over to us, to forever SPREAD that light and push back the darkness of fear, of hopelessness, of helplessness and sadness until He returns to finally vanquish ALL of it once and for all.

Until that day, let's let our lights shine in the darkness of this world. Who knows, maybe by buying ONE meal for a perfect stranger or donating a beautiful toy for a child who will have none, or giving up ONE night to help in a homeless shelter, or even buying or knitting ONE pair of socks for a small child- who knows if those tiny acts of goodness could make a difference to change a life for the good FOREVER.

So let's not only celebrate Christmas and this upcoming new year- but let's join together to BE Christmas as Son's and Daughters of the Living God- to continue to bring His real and lasting message of hope, to ALL who have such great need of it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! May this Christmas be a blessed one! Praise God!

Mighty God

Word's from the pastor:

I receive a daily devotional from Matthew West and a website he created, popwe.org. Today's devotion spoke to me and served as a reminder of how Mighty God really is. Matthew West shared this illustration that his dad a pastor himself had used in the past.

"One day a man asked a crowd of people, "Who is the strongest man here today?"  When a big burly guy in the back stepped forward, he asked him to join him on stage.  The speaker then told the crowd that he was going to prove just how strong the man was. The people were on the edge of their seats, expecting nothing less than a great show.  The speaker tossed a paper clip on the floor in front of him and challenged him to pick it up.  A gasp went up from the crowd.  The strong man glared at the speaker, insulted by the request.  Then, as the strong man bent to gather the paper clip, the hecklers shouted, "Come on! Show us what he can really do!" The speaker, unfazed by their response, addressed the crowd again. "As you can plainly see, the task I gave him to do was disappointing because it did not scratch the surface of his strength and capability."  This is what we do with God.  We don't comprehend His strength so we hesitate to ask Him to use it in our behalf."

We get caught doing this all the time don't we? We find ourselves in trouble. We find ourselves wondering how we're going to make it through this bump in the road, this struggle we're facing doesn't seem to have an ending. We can't see anyway out and we definitely don't know how or what the outcome is going to be. Will I make it through this? Will my family, friends, or loved ones going to be let down? So we try to make it better any possible way we can. The problem is we allow our anxiety and fear to dictate our decisions. We think that we can do it on our own and whatever we decide is going to fix our problems is the best possible way.

However how can we truly rely on our way out if we can't see what's ahead? How can we navigate our way through troubled times when we don't know where the road we're on leads us? We can't. We have relied on ourselves and our own thinking for way too long. Yeah, sure we've made it this far, but at what cost? It's been a hard rough road hasn't it? You're tired and weak from this journey so far and that has an effect on your decision making as well.

I tell you there is one who knows what lies ahead for you. There is one who has gone before you and He sees what lies ahead on the road you're traveling. It's time to stop thinking we can do it all by ourselves and time to start ask for help. Time to start asking for directions. Right now as you read this, today make that decision to trust in God. Turn to Him in prayer and ask Him to guide you. Next thing to do is trust and know that He is in our life, that He has always been in your life and He will show us the way. All we have to do is be open to receiving His guidance and watch and listen for His word.

Have a blessed day and a blessed Christmas!