church

INI
Fifth Sunday after Trinity
July 12, 2009
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

The World Needs YOU!
Matthew 5:13-16

Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.
Today we consider the Word of our Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 5, beginning
with the 13th verse, as follows:

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. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill
cannot be hidden. 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. Let your light so shine
before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in
heaven. This is the Word of God.

&nb sp; In the Name of Jesus Christ, Who bids us go and make disciples of all
the nations, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

Does the world need you? A man named Julien Vincent says yes. You may
have heard of him - he's an activist with the environmental organization
Greenpeace. Last year he led a successful effort to block construction of a large
coal-fired power plant in Australia. He thinks you should join him. "More than
ever before," he wrote, "the world needs activism. The world needs civil
disobedience. ...THE WORLD NEEDS YOU to do what you can to speak out
against the dangers of climate change!"

If you're like me, you may be a little skeptical about statements=2 0like that.
Does the world really need more environmental activists? Maybe so, but one
has one's doubts. Here's something that's not in doubt, however: the world does
need more Christians. In our text for today, Christ tells you in no uncertain
terms that the world needs you, as a Christian. To be a Christian and to act like
a Christian. So if you've ever felt like you're totally insignificant, like your life
doesn't count, and there's no way you can make a difference and affect the lives
of the people around you, then you've got another thing coming! Jesus makes
clear, in the words of our theme, that:

The World Needs YOU!
I. A corrupt world needs Christians to season and preserve it.
II. A dark world needs Christians to attract and illumine it.
& nbsp;
"The world needs me." That seems a pretty conceited thing for any person to
say of himself, doesn't it? History is full of the stories of men who considered
themselves so great that they thought that they were absolutely indispensable to
society. Invariably, when such men depart the earth, society discovers that it
can in fact get along very well without them. But society can’t get along without
Christians, for the very good reason that it can’t get along without Christ.
Christians are the ones who bring Christ to the world, and that’s why it is
literally true that THE WORLD NEEDS YOU.

THE WORLD NEEDS YOU, and not primarily for material things, either. As
Christ Himself pointed out, "What is a man profited if he gains the whole world
and loses his own soul?" The world needs you for a lot more than a hot meal or
a bed for the night. As a follower of Christ, you can have an effect on people's
eternal life. How does the world need you? First of all, it needs you to be salt.
Jesus said "You are the salt of the earth." A corrupt world needs Christians to
season and preserve it.

Did you know that salt is necessary for life? It is an essential nutrient. Human
blood contains nine grams of salt per liter, making it four times more salty then
seawater. People can't live without salt. Well, what does salt do? The first thing
that springs to mind is that we use salt as a seasoning. And when it comes to
seasoning, there's no substitute for salt. Those of us with high blood pressure
have tried salt substitutes, and we can tell you that Mrs. Dash just doesn't cut
it. As a seasoning, salt is irreplaceable. Just a small amount of it can turn food
that is tasteless and unpalatable into food that is inviting and appetizing.

Christians are that way in the world, Jesus says. They provide seasoning. Just as
salt enlivens the flavor of food, so the Gospel -- as dispersed and proclaimed by
Christians -- serves as a flavor, an aroma, a fragrance of righteousness and
salvation in the world. As Paul says, Now thanks be to God who always leads
us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge
in every place. -- 2 Corinthians 2:14.

Yes, THE WORLD NEEDS YOU, but not merely as a seasoning. In this
corrupt world Christians are needed as a preservative, too. That, of course, is
the other function of salt - it also preserves. In fact that was the primary
function of salt up until about 100 years ago, with the advent of refrigeration.
Throughout history salt was used to preserve food, and for that reason it was
very precious. We think of salt now as a relatively inexpensive commodity, but
through most of history salt was precious! In many places cakes or bars of salt
were actually used as money. Roman soldiers were often paid their wages in
salt. In fact the word "salary" comes from the Latin word salus, meaning salt.

Salt was a preservative, most often used to preserve meat. Of course, anything
that is rotten and decayed is distasteful to us. But there is nothing quite as bad
as spoiled, decaying meat. If you've ever smelled any you know what I mean.
Unfortunately, we live in a world that20is much like rotten, corrupt meat, and it
you don't believe it all you have to do is open your newspaper or turn on the
evening news. The sin of this world is a stench in the nostrils of the holy God.
Ever since Adam and Eve fell into sin in the garden of Eden, the tendency of
mankind has been ever toward sinfulness and corruption. As we read
concerning the time of Noah, the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually. -- Genesis 6:5. A Lutheran writer named Stellhorn remarked,
"Since the fall of Adam and Eve, and in consequence of it, mankind, together
with their abode and surroundings, have been in a state of corruption and
decay, spiritually, morally, and physically. If it had not been for the seed that
God in his mercy and lovingkindness has always been preserving from this mass
of corruption, it would long ago have been impossible for God to bear with it
any longer. This holy seed, these children of God, they are the salt that by its
divinely given powers, the means of grace and a life in faith and love, prevents
the corruption and decay from becoming unbearable to God. And this is their
office to the last of the days."

To combat the corruption of the world, Jesus says we should be salt. We
Christians should provide a seasoning of Gospel in the world; our presence
should serve to preserve the world from total corruption. Christians are to be
tangy and strong-tasting, like salt. But how often don't we fail at our job as
Christ's salt? How often don't we prove bland and tasteless. We try to blend in
with the crowd, sometimes we actually mimic the unbelievers in the world
around us, rather than standing out and reflecting the Gospel of Christ and
being the salt we're supposed to be.

Are you a salty Christian, or are you a bland Christian? Put it this way: if you
didn't tell your friends, neighbors and co-wor kers that you were a believer, how
long would it take them to discover it merely by your actions? Would they ever
discover it? Our Lord asks, if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?
Someone once aptly pointed out, "There's no salt for salt." That is, if salt loses
its flavor, there's nothing you can do with it. It's worthless. It is then good for
nothing, Jesus said, but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. If we
lose the saving taste of the Gospel ourselves - though neglect, through
inattention, through carelessness, through sin - then we won't reach heaven
ourselves, let alone helping anyone else get there! Peter's chilling warning
sounds over the centuries: For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the
world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again
entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the
beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way
of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment
delivered to them. -- 2 Pet 2:20.

No, we haven't always been salt. We've often failed to be the kind of
preservative our Lord designed us to be. Sometimes, instead of combating the
corruption of the world, we've actually indulged in the very same corruptions
ourselves. So let's confess that sin right now. Let's bring our failures in
repentance to our Lord. The good news is that, Although you may not have
"salted" the world, God has certainly "salted" you. He's already preserved you
with the best preservative in the world - faith in Jesus Christ! In bygone days
there were women who really knew the art of canning and preserving food. And
their secret was what? To strictly clean and boil and sanitize every jar and lid.
To eliminate every last germ that could possibly spoil the food. And that's how
God has preserved you . He gave his son Jesus, who we eliminated every last
sin on your record. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we
might become t he righteousness of God in Him. -- 2 Corinthians 5:21. Though
you were sinful, yet god has applied to you the salt of his son Jesus Christ, and
you will never spoil! You will be preserved on to everlasting life. You can say
the same thing the Apostle Paul did: The Lord will deliver me from every evil
work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom.-- 2 Timothy 4:18.

Do you realize what an amazing turnaround Christ has made in your life? What
a striking new relationship you have to the world! Before you came to faith you
were the dupe and the slave and the prey of the world, now you are its salt. You
are its preservative. So get out there and be salt! Paul says, Let your speech
always be with grace, seasoned with salt, but you may know how you ought to
answer each one. Col 4:6. THE WORLD NEEDS YOU. Live like a Christian!
You never know how the Lord may be working through you to preserve
someone you know.

This is a very corrupt world in which we live, and it needs salt. But Jesus says it
is also a very dark world. And a dark world needs light. Jesus said, "You are the
light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light
a lamp and put it under the basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all
who are in the house." Why does the world need you? Because a dark world
needs Christians to attract and illumine it.

Christians are made to be seen, Jesus says, like a city on the hill. I can well
recall when I served as a vacancy pastor at our CLC Church in Valentine,
Nebraska. Returning northward from evening services, and crossing back into
south Dakota, I remember being able to see clearly the twinkling lights of
Murdo, South Dakota far away on the northern horizon. Now that city is nearly
100mi. away from the Nebraska border, but it is set on a hill. That's why you
can see it from so far away. It can not be hidden.

Likewise, Christians are made to be seen, like a city set on the hill. In his most
famous work, Saint Augustine even called us Christians "the City of God." God
designed us to be conspicuous. He made us to attract attention. Not to
ourselves, but to the God of grace. You want people to look at you and say,
not, "What a wonderful person he is!" but, "What a wonderful Savior he has!"
That's the whole purpose of shining. Jesus said: "Let your light so shine before
man, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
That they may see your faith, and come to faith themselves!

0A
Light is conspicuous. It attracts. But of course light also carries out an even
more important function than that. It illuminates. Jesus said, 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." This is a picture taken from lowly cottage life in the ancient
near east. Most homes consisted of one common room in which everyone lived.
In this room there would be a stone projecting from above the hearth on which
the lamp was set. Set up high, even a small light would be enough for everyone
in the room to see by. And that of course is what Christians are supposed to do.
You are a light. In some instances, you may be the only light. You may not have
thought about it before, but your actions, your speech, your behavior may be
the only Bible some of your friends ever read!

THE WORLD NEEDS YOU, but it needs you to shine your light, not cover
it! Jesus points up the logical absurdity: why would someone light a light and
then immediately hide under a basket? It makes no sense (why light it in the
first place?) But again, how often haven't we been guilty of hiding our light, of
concealing our Christian faith when we should've been placing it high upon a
lampstand for all to see. Instead so often we keep our faith under wraps, we
hide our light so that hardly a glimmer emerges, or we conceal it altogether. So
many people around us are wandering in darkness and ignorance of the truth,
and we withhold our light! One writer asks a pointed question: "How will your
neighbors see the light if yours is hidden? Will someone else show him the
light?"

Again, let us repent of our sinful failures, and bring our sins to Jesus. Let us
return to the source of all light. God has had pity on you, in your darkness. He
refused to let you die in darkness and ignorance. John says, In Him was life, and
the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness did not comprehend it. -- John 1:4-5. God sent his only son Jesus to
the cross that first Good Friday. There on that cross, the light of His life
flickered and went out. But it rose again, radiant like the sun, on Easter Sunday,
never to be dimmed! With that glorious resurrection, Jesus sealed your eternal
joy once and for all. He guarantees that you will live in the light of His
presence, not just today and tomorrow, not just for the rest of your life on earth,
but for all eternity in heaven!

Paul says, It is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who
has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ. -- 2 Corinthians 4:6. The lig ht of the Gospel of Jesus
has shined in your heart. And now you have the blessed privilege of spreading
that light to others. Just like when a lamp is lit, and it gives light to all who are
in the house, so you can lend your light to all who come into contact with you.
By being kind to people you work with and interact with. By listening to them
and trying to help them in true Christian concern. By being ready to answer
those questions that always seem to come up: "Why do you go to church?"
"What is it that you believe?" "Do you really think there's a heaven and a hell?"
You may even hear the question the Philippian jailor asked: "What must I do to
be saved?" When those moments come (and they come more often than you'd
think) let your light shine. Peter says, Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and
always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the
hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; -- 1 Peter 3:15.

It was the Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder who said, Sole et sale nihil
utilius. "Nothing is more useful than light and salt." How right he was! How
soon our world would sink into oblivion if either of those two essential
elements were withdrawn. Well, Pliny wasn't referring to Christians when he
spoke those words, but he might as well have been. For there's nothing this
world needs more than Christians. A corrupt world needs Christians to season
and preserve it. A dark world needs Christians to attract and illumine it. The
world needs Christians. The world needs YOU! AMEN.