Salt and Light

well let's read these verses together Matthew chapter 5 verses 13 through 16 you are the salt of the earth but if the salt loses its saltiness how can it be made salty again is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot you are the light of the world a town built on a hill cannot be hidden neither do people light a lamp or put it under a bowl instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house in the same way let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven let's pray Lord Jesus we do pray that you would help us to understand our position in you Lord you tell us what we are before you tell us what to do and because of our transformation that has come about through our faith in you through the drawing of your spirit through the salvation that was obtained not by anything we did but by everything you did on our behalf I we have been drawn into a new life but also a new purpose new meaning and Lord I pray for each of us here that we would have our minds shaped not by the age in which we live but that our minds would be shaped by your scriptures more importantly by your lordship for you or the author of the scriptures and we pray Jesus that we would recognize as children of your kingdom that being a part of your kingdom means that we are under your rule and I pray that we would see that you save us not that we would be born into some kind of personal self-centered vacuum but you save us into a family and you call us to be witnesses to your truth in your reality for the Lord the world is lost and broken and hurting as many are even here tonight and I pray Jesus that you who come to set us free would do that very thing tonight and may your beauty shine forth and may we be transformed by a holy spirit we invite you to teach us and bring to remembrance all that Jesus has said you pray these things in his name amen see all of you I haven't not been in the pulpit over the last three weeks due to I just so you guys know personally as we talked about salt and light you know that this is not an address to individuals this is an address to communities that we as a community are the salt and the and the light of the earth which means that we in order to witness to Jesus well begins with how well we care for one another and this has been a rough few months for for my family my wife has been extremely sick since May and we didn't really know what was going on she was incredibly anemic and through a whole bunch of tests just this week she had a hysterectomy on on Tuesday which the doctor said she'd be down for six weeks and she didn't believe that she would be down for six weeks she will be down for six weeks so it's been a my wife as a we're both drivers so we're intense and passionate people and being confined to your couch when you're a person who sees every detail of what needs to happen in life is very challenging for her so just pray that she'll stinking hold still and let her body heal and and that I would be gentle with her because I made her cry twice this week telling her to sit down on the couch and stop working so I you know we we recognize often the importance of community through the different trials and and difficulties that we go into and I just will segue into this message by saying that when you were born again you were not born again into a vacuum but you were born again into a family and people often ask me is the is it necessary to be a part of the church to be a Christian and I would say that you're not a Christian apart from the church for the church is the very thing that you were born into and it takes expression in local communities where God's people come together who have been have been been confronted with the reality of the Living Christ that our salvation is not an individual a private affair but it is an outward expression in which we have been so touched by Jesus that the self life is of least importance to us and then life of Jesus and the life of others becomes of supreme importance and that is expressed and accomplished through the church and so looking at these passages you know it's it's funny it's one of those passages that it's so concise and so clear that we often overlook what is being said and Jesus is basically declaring to his disciples that those who are blessed those who are blessed who have recognized their need have been confronted with the living Christ Jesus is his the king who's revealing the kingdom he says the kingdom has come near it's come upon us it is it is it is here but it is coming in full and we are who have recognized the king and who are a peculiar people that have been radically transformed by our faith in his life and death and resurrection have now come under his rule and coming under his rule we are given this incredible commission to to partner with him in declaring the truth of who he is in both word and deed and when we read these words we often because we've been so permeated with an individualistic culture we read them as if they're written just to you alone you are the light of the world like you are and when he's saying this he's saying you all you who are my disciples you the community you the church are the salt of the earth you are the light of the world and so I want us to see what is being stated in this because there are two major dangers that approach us in the age in which we live and they two things that are directly opposed to what Christ has come to accomplish in his world through his church and that is the danger first of all of assimilation the danger of looking more like the world rather than being salt and light in the world the danger of actually viewing Christianity and Christ through the lens of culture rather than looking at culture through the lens of Christ the danger of actually having little to no impact upon the city in which we have been called to be salt and light in because of our likeness to the very culture which we have been called out of as unique and peculiar people salt if it means anything it means that it is distinct and yet it brings it brings it brings a protection against decay as well as flavor to whatever it touches and if it isn't doing those two things it's useless is essentially the word of Jesus and light is not something that we hide but it is something that is meant to bring illumination to everyone it comes in contact with and so Jesus gives this very incredible statement he says this isn't what you are trying to be this is what you are if indeed your mind this is what you are and he says as a community you need to understand this this is a communal address and I think it's important to once again remind you that the church is a community that exists under Jesus in freedom for the world we exist under Jesus in freedom the gospel sets us free to live no longer for ourselves for that was enslavement but to live freely for the world which God gave His only Son for and so we look at this and we see that this that the that God calls us to live in freedom for the world and sends this out into it because in Jesus we see that God is not just involved with the suffering of the world but literally in Jesus he has become fully identified with that suffering that his sympathy isn't just that he feels sorry for us but he's actually willing to get involved to get his own hands dirty if you will and he calls us to enter into that active and experimental knowledge that the church becomes a witness to the truth of God's direct and deep abiding concern for Humanity by us being a witness to that through word and through deed and in it is in doing that that we truly are salt in life this is a communal address but secondly I want you to notice that it's about identity it answers the why of Christianity it answers the why of salvation it's not about it's not about you trying to be something it addresses what you are in Jesus you are this is emphatic it's not you ought to be I think one of the great reasons that that brings so much discouragement to the Christian life is that we are constantly attempting in our own effort to be something that we can only be in Christ that we aren't working toward victory but we are working from it and if we don't understand our position that it all begins with grace Jesus declares what we are before he asks us to do anything the beauty of the gospel is God makes us a new people and gives us a new identity and a new purpose and then that is in that identity that he calls us now to figure out what it means to work out that identity work out your salvation we're told in the scripture with fear and trembling and so this this identity is that because we are in Christ who is the light of the world and who is the salt of the earth we by our identification with him become that we don't imitate it we are that by the fact that his Spirit comes to dwell within us as a new covenant people as as an new creation if anyone be in Christ the old has passed away and the new has come this is our identity it's an incredible revelation of grace the the Sermon on the Mount before Jesus gets into Christian ethics how then shall we live he first of all says this is what you are because of what I have done on your behalf I think it's one of the great challenges that we're constantly trying to figure out how to become what we should be but Jesus says no you need to learn to become what you already are I think that's a great challenge for the Christian life because we do not understand our identity in Jesus and then I think finally this this passage is not only opens up for us our community our identity but it opens up for us our our mission and the warnings that follow the declaration the blessing remind us that there is a real danger in our ability to not become what we are because the gospel if it's a gospel of freedom means that he sets us free and to be free means that we now are responsible for being what he has declared us to be in himself and this is you know this it becomes this paradoxical reality God has done everything on our behalf through Jesus and as we put our trust in that we become free now to participate in not in saving people but in being a witness and in witnessing to the reality of what Jesus alone can do and has done and and will do we by doing that bring a preservation against decay as well as a flavoring of life because we bring total meaning to total life through the gospel as well as illumination to the truth of who Jesus are because we we become a people who have come out of hiding and in in bringing illumination to the reality of Jesus we become a revealer of darkness which causes some to run away from us and it causes others to be drawn into the beauty of who Jesus is and so the church is meant to have a direct concise and real impact upon the society in which it's placed and I think this is as I have reflected on this I I become deeply troubled by the loss of flavor at times in my own life or the the hiding of the light that has come to me and this is why I'm reminded that this is indeed a communal a communal address because all of us individually will have moments of brokenness of failure where we come short where our light is hidden where our our saltiness becomes not so salty and we need one another to hold each other accountable to encourage one another and love intentional community and that we might reflect and keep our light bright and to keep our influence effective because I essentially lead that salt is about our influence and life is about our visibility when I first started door of Hope I remember one of the things that impacted me was was the fact that I would meet so many young people to come to the church and they'd be like like well we work together I didn't know you were a Christian and I was like I didn't know you were a Christian or like that's awesome I'm like that's not awesome that's actually problematic that's actually a revelation that we have some wacky ideas about what Christianity is about for Jesus says whatever you are told in private you must declare from the rooftops he says whoever denies me before men I will deny before my father in heaven and in the witness of the church how do churches die churches die when they lose sight of who they are in Christ and that happens because they lost sight of Christ they fell into the trappings of trying to become relevant and assimilating the ways of the world to attract the world or they fell into the trappings of trying to protect themselves from the world and become this protected community when Jesus actually said I didn't father I didn't call them out of the world I want to keep them in the world but protected from it that they might impact it on my behalf and so when we look at these things we have to ask ourselves is door of hope a salty and shiny community I really I think that those are those are good questions to ask do we bring a preservation against decay in our own community as well as the city in which we are called to influence are we a people that shine brightly upon the truth of who Jesus is and is that light seen in the way that we sacrificially give of our lives for the good of one another and for the city in which God has called us to because Jesus says this is what you are so I believe he's asking us as a church is this what your being and it's a deeply convicting question to ask ourselves and I think it's essential because as you can tell the church is continuing to grow and there's no seats and we did the counterintuitive thing I knew it would happen like the moment we cut out of gathering everybody is like now let's go to do our Pope that's awesome they cut out a gathering now we're gonna go and you know we we want to make sure that we're growing for the right reasons in healthy ways and you know as the six o'clock really doesn't have much space and the nine o'clock didn't have a single seat available today and and so I I have to step back as as one who when I started door of hope I remember praying I'm like Lord I I want to be the leery of ever being caught up in the excitement around numerical growth help me to not fall into the trappings of the flesh and saying now we're now we're succeeding because that isn't necessarily it's one gauge of a Church's growth but it's actually not a very good one a much better gauge is are we truly being salt and are we being light and it begins here are we being that to one another and then actually does Portland even know we exist and do they care I don't care if the room is full if we aren't actually being salty and being light and so let's ask the question then what does it mean when Jesus says you are the salt of the earth what does he mean by that and when he says in math in Matthew 5:13 he says you are the salt of the earth but if the salt loses its saltiness how can it be made salty again it's no longer good for anything I think this interesting it doesn't just stop there he's like you've become useless he actually says not only do you become useless but you are thrown out the only thing you're good for is to be thrown out and trampled underfoot you're like man I just seems like you coulda just stopped with a useless hurt hurt enough about your like you had to take it that extra you know just take the knife and twist it but I think let's let's begin with what what does salt actually do salts been being used by by humanity for over 6,000 years for to pry actually figured out three real uses for salt salt preserves it keeps food from perishing it's been used as a preservative against is a way of keeping food from going bad from spoiling it's also been always used to flavor things salt people like salt in their food I think the third and most important thing that salt is used for and where I want to spend the rest of my time today is that salt kills slugs I'd like to show you some slides no I'm just joking I know if I was really good I could just come up with a bunch of like lame metaphors on how that applies to our it's about killing slugs you know you may know some slugs in life have you ever put salt on a slug it's really quite work but I actually was gonna show a picture as a joke and I was so like disturbed by it it was way too early it literally burns holes right through them as afforable so I will just stick with preserves and seasons okay so when we think of Jesus saying you are the salt of the earth as a preservative against decay you think about what Jesus is essentially saying if he's saying anything about salt and if he's saying anything about the church is that there is something distinct about us a goodness that protects against decay that comes through living against the rule of the kingdom to live at odds against the kingdom is to actually engage in that which will ultimately fail perish and decay Jesus in coming into the world God entering into human flesh God came into Christ to set humanity which was dead in his sins and in decaying in its self-centered destruction on the cross ritual that Jesus actually unhinged the work of the devil of sin of death and of this world system it's all been dismantled through the work of Jesus but we aren't seeing the full effect of that the church is here to remind the world of Christ's victory over those things in other words we become a preserving factor for goodness that where the church is not all hell breaks loose if the church is indeed functioning as it is intended to function now that's not to say that the church has the capability of making the world's it can make it better but it's not going to make it great because there's this reality until Jesus comes again that that darkness will still have an incredible influence but wherever God's people have gathered as and I like to say that we are as a church were not the kingdom but we are a kingdom outpost we are to give the world a glimpse of in part of what is coming in full we are to actually be reflection of what victory over sin the devil and and the flesh and this world system looks like and so the question immediately arises is does door of Hope do that is door of Hope a place where darkness does not have control now obviously as individuals we're all from different places some of you sitting here probably don't know Jesus at all and you've come because you've been invited in and you're trying to explore whether or not this Jesus is someone worth following well that wasn't the question I'm actually posing to this church is are we doing a good job of convincing you if you're here today that there's something about this Jesus that's worth exploring is there a a flavor a preserving factor that is preventing corruption from gaining full control because we need to understand the city that we live in because Portland is a city that has a higher level of depression than any city in the United States it actually has more strip clubs than even Las Vegas it's it is a city that is marked and known throughout the world for being this weird liberal eccentric place that is driven by a Peter Pan mentality where young adults can retire in enjoy the pleasures of life without responsibility that is what we are known for and we all love it that's why we're here but the question is this how are we influencing it for the King because Jesus didn't call us to Portland so that we can enjoy all the incredible food although we can enjoy the incredible food we can enjoy the culture we can enjoy all the things that Portland has to offer but are we defined by those his portland more of an influence upon us than we are on it one of the most discouraging things that's happened the door of hope in the last year I think is when the Oregonian recently did an article and one of the big it was supposed to be on deeper well and the music that's coming out instead it ends up being about it being a hipster Church based upon the fact that we have eclectic chairs and I was like dangit Lord really was I in sin to handpick all those chairs I don't think so maybe if you're sitting on a broken one I was in that moment but I like you know is that really what will be known for is that we have a beautiful building that's great but what makes it beautiful what should be the the driving force that is attracting people to what is happening here is that we actually have an influence over and against darkness that there is a preservation that occurs when God's people actually function in love under the authority of Jesus that's the beauty of the church if the church is truly the church I think that not only to salt preserve salt also seasons and then this flavoring that Saul brings is what I like to think of this is they the salt I remember what life was like before I met Jesus that my life was a life that was that was marked by a certain dullness a lack of flavor that there was a lack of meaning an intent in the things that I did in fact I was AG man who tried to derive activities as a means of escaping the nagging voice of conscience that constantly told me that I was a man who was guilty and deserved judgment I found I was brilliant in creating diversions from escaping that voice but I couldn't escape it for long because there was a point in which I saw my own self centeredness played out so deeply that I realized that I'm going to lose everything that's meaningful and everything I have tried to do to escape what I know to be true and the depths of my being is no longer serving its purpose and I have nowhere else to turn and I have to find escape or life isn't worth living and when I met Jesus he so radically transformed my life so radically brought new and total meaning to total life there was a new flavoring if you will to existence that there was no possibility of even going back to what I was in fact it was so intense that my wife was like I'd liked you better when you were depressed and discouraged in doing hard drugs because you're so different now I actually don't know what even what to do with this transformation in your life you can't go from sleeping until 2:00 in the afternoon and staying up till 3:00 in the morning doing stupid stuff to all the sudden getting up every day at 4:00 in the morning and then bombarding me with scriptures right when I wake up out of bed that's it's creepy and I don't like it and I and but I but that's the thing is what did Jesus do he didn't just come to like I'm gonna save you but you're not really gonna experience anything and everything's going to remain the same and you continue to live the dumb stupid wasted life that you were already living you know and I and leap but at least I'll get you out of hell I'm like I need him to get me out of the hell that I was in in life because I wasn't living life the church is called the salt of the earth and that it is meant to bring as a witness to the world total meaning to total life that there is no facet of existence that Jesus does not get in his hands into that he can bring robust meaning and value to every single aspect of your existence he can give you a new lens by which to look at your work your future your spouse your children your boyfriend your girlfriend your community your city he gives us a whole new way of viewing reality and if there's no new view and no new lens and a continued dullness and a lack of excitement and Wonder and amazement that you who are dead are now alive in Christ then you should ask yourself am I really alive in Christ because the salvation that comes through Christ was never meant to save us for personal and private purposes in fact the evidence that you have been personally and privately radically transformed by Jesus is that you no longer care about what is best for you and care more supremely about what is best for Jesus and his world and as a community of faith we have to ask ourselves do we bring that kind of flavour to Portland Oregon do we bring that kind of flavour to one another because if it doesn't happen here it's not gonna happen out there I always say this as Christians if you truly experience grace you have no right to be bored that life is too meaningful even when it's hard to be bored I think that flavor I think I almost think of like bringing just color into something it's like it's just bringing you this zest and Jesus says that this is what you are a church is you are to be a witness to a whole new reality you become a force of good that preserves the world against darkness having full control because you are reminding the world that I have overcome darkness you are to bring flavour to the world in that you bring now total meaning to total life through your witness to my kingdom through your obedience to Who I am as king both in Word and in deed and this is what's fascinating is that Jesus says if we don't do that that we can lose our saltiness now this is one of those things I've never troubled by by apparent contradictions in Scripture I never come across them and go you know there's something wrong with the scripture I'm pretty much convinced every time I come across what I would consider an apparent contradiction in Scripture that there's something totally wrong with my understand that's generally how I approach ID I trust Jesus more than I trust my own faulty you know drug recovered brain okay every time I'm like any time I think I'm right and he's wrong there's a deep problem and I'm gonna pay for it deeply and so but this is one that I was actually troubled by I'm like I don't I'm not a scientist but I'm pretty sure salt can't lose its flavor so did Jesus not understand what he was talking about what what does he mean if the salt loses its saltiness because salt is a very simple chemical compound called sodium chloride it's very stable it's not like if you leave salt in your cupboard for like five years and you like come and you're like I poured it out and was just like white powder it was weird I've never has happened to any of you because it doesn't happen and now we have all these varieties of salt I you know they're just charging you for the color like you're like this the pink salt is worth the $50 for the small vial that they sell at new seasons I'm like I told I'm like I think I need the pink salt okay like it's weird though it's still tasted like salt and and I'm pretty sure that salt is salt but but here's the thing is that what does Jesus oh i went online and i was reading i'm like cans salt loses its saltiness because I'm worried that Jesus was confused on this one and and it said that that sodium chloride because it's water soluble it crude salt were exposed to condensation or rainwater that the sodium chloride could not be dissolved and removed and the salt could in effect lose its saltiness in other words if the salt can only lose its saltiness in two ways and I think that this is what Jesus is getting at the first is it loses its saltiness when it becomes compromised compromised by water actually affects the chemical in such a way that it will in effect lose its saltiness and I think the church loses its saltiness when it becomes compromised by the culture in which it's supposed to be it's supposed to be flavoring instead the culture flavors it and we end up a dead church it's dangerous it's dangerous but I think even more importantly I think what this is really saying in the main point is that just as salt if it's compromised becomes useless I think more importantly the salt if it is not used for what salt is is useless what does salt do if salt isn't used to flavor and preserve or kill slugs it really is the meaningless compound so it is with Christians if we do not understand that we are primarily saved that through us you are chosen that through you God might save all if you do not understand that primary distinction you aren't chosen so that you can say I'm in and they're out you are chosen by God through Jesus to be a witness to him and to his kingdom to the world and if you don't understand that then you are fooling yourself you're not salt you're not salt you're at least not doing what cause salt even two inches away from food doesn't do anything to it it actually has to be put on the food to actually have an effect and the Christian is useless if he does not understand that he is not here for himself or herself but here for the world and so we have to ask ourselves are we compromised or weakly stirred the bottom line is that we are to be neither and Jesus says this is what you are so don't be this because if you are this what happens what happens when the salt becomes useless we become trampled underfoot and I think what he means by that is that the church why would we be trampled underfoot is that the church essentially becomes unnoticed and unimportant they that there's nothing you think about it if you think about salt is something that flavors brings a certain it brings a flavor to life it bring if we as the church are called to bring total meaning to total life we better as individuals as well as corporate reflects something that actually does that for life because we can't say Jesus does that but then still live as if Jesus is the most unexcited an embarrassing thing that I've ever gathered around and I'll come to church because I might meet a girl which is cool and I'm happy to help hook you up because there's so many cool people here guys girls I am the ultimate matchmaker I really that's fun I enjoy it email me about it I'll make it happen I but but that's not the primary purpose of the church and we have to understand that our responsibility is to is to is to actually influence the culture and the society that we're a part of by our witness to Christ in other words our witness should be equipping each of you individually to actually flavor that community in which you are a part of in your daily lives it begins here and it moves out into there but I think it's too often Christians like they're not excited about their faith they don't really care about Jesus and when someone finds out that you're a part of a church there's actually the sinking feeling and I don't know what causes us to actually close our lips and refuse to influence for Christ's sake if we're truly been born again and radically transformed by him and his kingdom then the only thing that I can think is that that that we've somehow lost we've lost our saltiness or we never believed to begin with that that this is who we are in Jesus and so what happens if we don't have that kind of zeal that kind of reality in our lives I'm talking about energy but I'm talking about a calm assured confidence that I know who I belong to I loved Carl Bart's statement the church is a community of men and women who have been reconciled to God through Jesus they are around Jesus and see him and he sees them around himself and I think that this is the question that we have to ask ourselves are you confident because Paul says that you actually should have assurance of who you have believed in and and what role you have to play and being a part and a witness to his King and Paul says he goes I know in whom I have believed and I'm confident and convinced that he is able to keep that which he has begun in me through me the Paul was actually willing to say as a follower of Jesus imitate me as I imitate Christ because when the world wants to know what Jesus is like the question that you and I have to ask ourselves is can we say like Paul he is like me because one of the most convicting things is to even say that feels like blasphemy but that's exactly what Jesus wants for you and I is he wants us to be a visible reflection of his invisible reality we are only salt because we are in him and he is the true salt of the world we reflect him we don't do that well as individuals but we can do it well as a community we can what about light light I think if salt is about our influence upon the society and the danger is that the society can influence us and in doing so it makes us irrelevant where we become trampled on underfoot basically we go unnoticed like oh you're a part of a church I didn't even know you were there I didn't you're a Christian I had no idea that's that's problematic it's problematic because he doesn't leave it at influence he brings it into visibility and this is something that's fascinating cuz you notice here he this is what we're to be to the world but then when he gets into actual Christian ethics when we move in to - how then shall we live by chapter 6 he talks about all the things that were to do in a way that isn't to draw attention to ourselves like he's like when you fast don't let anyone know when you pray don't pray openly so that people can see how awesome although I want you to come Friday because we're gonna worship and pray opens I just don't think you'll be heard for your many words because we all get bored when you pray too long you know who you are you were the one who didn't laugh it might be me when I'm really tired so I think that this is the the question of light is that light here he says this is the church is meant to be outward it doesn't exist for itself or for the individual that Jesus Christ has saved us that through us he might actually draw others to himself and this outward expression is done is is accomplished through our witness and I love what he says he says listen you are the light of the world a town built on a hill cannot be hidden he said I have elevated you to a place that you might be a beacon you as a community door of hope I have elevated you I died for you Church I gave myself for you I am the light of the world he says in John in John chapter 9 verse 5 I am the light of the world we are the light of the world it's reflective light it isn't light that begins or originates with us we can't imitate light hey if you guys are familiar with a song I wrote actually years ago called the Blessed light and the the opening line is Lord I'm like the moon without the Sun I hang in darkness too it was just that image of secondary light the moon is a bright source of light and in a night sky only because it reflects the light of the Sun it's secondary light we are only as bright as Christ's reflection off of us which means that the responsibility that we have as individuals is to keep ourselves perpetually before and an intimate union with Jesus not for the sake of private relationship but for the sake of being energized in such a way that we can actually illuminate the reality of him to the world remember Moses in discussing with God face to face his people and his plans His redemptive history when he comes down off the mountain the children of Israel were terrified because the face of Moses literally radiated with the very light of God told in scriptures God is light and in him is no darkness at all so to come into the light means that you come out of hiding it means that if we are the light of the world it means that we are a people who have come out of hiding and you don't light a lamp and then put it under a basket Jesus says you don't cover up the lamp if you turn the lamp on it's for the purpose of illuminating that and it says it gives light to everyone who is in the room which means that the light is not just simply so that you can read while you and without bothering anyone else it means that you are actually turning on the light that it might illuminate for everyone the reality of what they need and who they are to be as the church this is what we are called to do light speaks of coming out of darkness and into life and as a church our responsibility is to be reveal a Christ light comes and this is where I think we can become challenged by the responsibility of the church is that how do we know if we are shining brightly the truth of Jesus is that we will no longer draw from the society in which we are a part of neutral neutral responses because Jesus says I did not come to bring peace but to bring a sword and he is the author of peace it says that he himself is our peace who has torn down the middle wall of separation what is meant by this statement then is that what light comes forth it reveals and when we live in the light we will bring light to others and what that light does is it will draw some to the beauty of who Jesus is but it also reveals the sinfulness and the brokenness of our own lives as well as the lives of others and it creates conflict and some will come recognizing their deep need others will be horrified by what what our light reveals in them and they will turn back against us and and will respond negatively the church has become way too comfortable with no reaction I think if we were truly living as the light of Christ and the city in which we've been placed people would not be neutral to us some would get saved and some would be offended Jesus loves them all but to come into the light is a courageous act because to come into the light means you're coming out of hiding what is the first thing our first parents did when sin entered into the human story is they head when you come into the light there is no hiding which means that for us to be light means that we are a transparent and honest people who live according to the truth not according to the lies that our culture has placed upon us we have come out of the the heaviness and the darkness that comes with a with the with a society that says that you are the most important thing in the universe and we see the heartbreak that comes from living according to that faulty living because as children of the kingdom we know that the kingdom alone has the ability to set people free and to bring them into truth and robust meaning and in existence and so light must reveal the king which in turn will cause some to be saved and some to be utterly offended and I think it's hard for us because we don't want to be offensive because we are taught in our age that what is true for me may not be true for you know we declare as children of the light what is true for us is true for everyone and that is not a popular message in our day it's not about you go your way I go my way we say no we all need to go Jesus his way because there will be a day when every knee will bow to Jesus as Lord and some will bow their knee to him as Lord and judge and others will bow their knee to him as Lord and Savior and we have a choice to make because the gospel sets us free to make that choice will you follow Jesus with me do we live in a way that invites people to follow Jesus to come out of death into life or are we afraid of the offensiveness of the rigid exclusivity of the claims of Christ which have an all-inclusive element to them because we it's Universal in its application because of its the narrowness of our message we we open up the vastness of God's goodness and his love for a humanity that he is willing to identify himself with now and forever and we should be confident of this the light that reveals is a light that is reflected we Fleck Jesus light but this is the thing that's most important at the end of the day when it says he says let your light so shine before humanity that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven is that if light reveals light also does something really fascinating it conceals it conceals to live in the light means that we are able to reflect Jesus in such a way that the attention is not given to us but the attention goes to Jesus because he says let your light be seen be seen before humanity they will see your good works and they will glorify your father notice they don't glorify you and this is one of the great litmus tests are are we as a church actually elevating the right things because if the church is elevating what a great teacher or what a great preacher or what a great worship leader what an awesome chair I just had to throw that in there for lightness they you know this is this is not bringing this is not illuminating the right thing my prayer whenever you hear Tim or I preach is that you walk away saying what a great Savior when you come in it's not about the preachers but it's about the community as a whole this is one amazing community that reflects something I so desperately need and want which is true selfless sacrificial love that brings glory to Jesus God the Father is glorified when his children simply do what they were intended to do which is bring a witness to him so I asked you guys in closing how is our witness how is our influence how is our visibility this isn't a private experience this is a an experience of a community of men and women who have come to the realization that Jesus Christ is indeed everything that he said he was that he is king of the universe and we as his people as as as those who have been born again and have entered into the newness of life and have been empowered by His Holy Spirit which is alone what makes us salty and bright that we have come to the to a place in which we recognize that our greatest satisfaction is found in our total commitment to the witness of Jesus our King in his kingdom that is what we are called to and this is why Paul said we preach Christ crucified may we simplify our lives to live fully for that one thing that we may know him and that we might make him known amen you

Channel: Door of Hope Southeast

Views: 1,319

Rating: 4.8571429 out of 5

Keywords: Josh White, Door of Hope, DoH, Church, Portland, PDX, Oregon, Matthew, Book of Matthew

Id: 0uxse-Ep5r8

Length: 49min 31sec (2971 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 01 2019