The salt of the earth.

Matthew 5:13 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.

As we approach this text we need to keep in mind that Jesus has just finished describing the characteristics of a believer in the beatitudes. Christ is sitting talking very specifically to the 12 disciples during this sermon on the mount, though there is a whole crowd surrounding them. As Christ says these words they are to be applied to all believers. 

You are the salt of the earth. The Greek implies you and you alone are the salt of the earth. There is no other salt for the earth, but the followers of Christ. Many preachers and commentators note that this section of scripture shows a move from the characteristics of a believer to the function of the believer. We are to function as salt.

What do we know about salt? Salt in this time period was very valuable. The Roman soldier was paid his daily wages in Salt, hence the expression “worth you salt.” Salt is used as a flavor enhancer. Salt is necessary for the body to function properly. Salt was used to clean out wounds, and Salt was used to preserve foods by slowing their decay process. I find it interesting that salt preserves food and enhances the flavor much in the same way, it draws out the moisture from the food. It leaves the food with a purer taste. I remember the first time I prepared eggplant for myself. When you prepare eggplant you generally slice it, salt it, and allow it to sit and drain for a while having done nothing more than slicing and draining it. Well I am a curious person so I sliced it, salted most of it and tried a piece of unsalted eggplant. It is so bitter I had to spit it out. After allowing the rest of the eggplant to sit having been salted you could see all the bitterness and moisture that was drawn out of the eggplant. It is in this way we are the salt of the earth. We are to draw out the bitterness of the world, to hold back its decay.

How do we do that, by living the beatitudes, by being filled with the spirit, by being salty. Salt is inherently different from the things it is applied to, meat, vegetables, you name it the salt is different, and we should be different from the world. There is an implication in being called the only salt of the earth, and that is the earth is devoid of flavor, and decaying. We are to be different. When we converse with people, our conversation should be different from the worlds. When we joke with people our jokes should be different. Our thoughts should be different. Our desires should be different. The difference in us should cause the world around us to be different. It was said of Jonathan Edwards that all he had to do was walk into a room and people would come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. When you enter a room does people’s language get cleaner. A friend of mine was known for having a “sailors” mouth, but whenever he was around Sara or I his language all of a sudden became a whole lot cleaner, not because we ever said anything to him, but because he knew there was something different about us and that his speech was not acceptable. You alone are the salt of the earth.

Christ does not linger too long on the function of being the salt of the earth though. He concentrates in this section a bit more on warning us not to lose our flavor. But if the salt loses its flavor how shall it be seasoned? The implication is that it cannot be seasoned. I must point out that the salt does not cease to be salt. Christ is not talking about losing your salvation, but He is talking about losing your flavor or your characteristics, that effectiveness to preform your function.

I think we should quickly look back at the beatitudes so we can see what the flavor of salt is. Blessed are the poor in Spirit, that quality that says I am completely dependent upon the grace of God and lean fully upon His Spirit. Blessed are those who mourn, this is to say those who are grieved by sin both their own and that of the world. Blessed are the meek, this is the individual who takes no thought of themselves but focuses on the things Kingdom of God. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for Righteousness. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness. This is what it is to be salty, to live the beatitudes. Paul describes these characteristics slightly differently in Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. . .” And Christ warns us not to lose our flavor?

So how do we lose it? We lose it when we allow our relationship with God to slip. We cannot live the beatitudes or the fruit of the Spirit without Him. When we neglect our relationship with Him we are less salty. It is sad to see so many Christians when they first get saved are on fire for God. As they “grow” in their relationship that raging fire seems to fade to a small simmer. We can keep that fire burning bright. We don’t have to lose our flavor. One of the things Sara and I were tasked to do in our premarital sessions was to find a new way every day to say I love you, we did that for almost a year. Now that we are married it seems more important to find different ways of telling Sara I love her. Our relationship with God is not that much different. If we will let Him he is constantly telling us that He loves us, and how much He loves us. We can do the same for Him.

But if the salt should lose its flavor how then shall it be seasoned. It is then good for nothing but to be trampled underfoot. When we lose our saltiness we become ineffectual witnesses. We no longer affect the world. We no longer flavor it. We no longer hold back its decay. No we are thrown on to the grown. You know what happens when you salt the earth? It becomes barren, nothing can grow there anymore. When we lose our flavor, we can become spiritually dangerous to those around us. I do not know how many times I have heard things like “I have no problem with Jesus, it’s the people that follow Him I can’t stand.” “I would probably believe in Christ, if it weren’t for the Christians.” When we lose our flavor we are not only ineffective, but we become a stumbling block, and create a barren land.

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.  So don't lose your flavor.

Be loud, be proud, be heard.

The Summer is over, and what a summer it was.  I had the chance to read several books, thanks to my network of people who own books I never read.  Sara and I had the chance to spend some time at camp.  We spent sometime with family.  My parents took us to the Corning museum of glass, and the Strong's museum of play.  It really was a good summer, though we are still searching for where God would have us.  Now things are getting back to normal I should be blogging a bit more frequently.
     While off doing summer things I watched a few movies as well.  One of the movies I watched was one of those made for TV teen high school movies.  The main premise of the movie was that we need to be heard.  We live in a day and age where everyone wants to be heard.  We have so many different ways for people to speak up and try to be heard.  You can tweet, Facebook, Instant Message, Txt, e-mail, snail mail, call, youtube, or blog whatever you want to say.  So many words are being used, yet so little is really being said.  What is the point in being heard if you aren't really saying anything at all?
     When growing up my oldest brother had a few favorite proverbs he liked sharing with me his youngest brother.  "Even a fool when he keeps silent is considered wise.  When he closes his lips he is considered prudent." [Proverbs 17:28] He also like to say "where words are plenty a fool is sure to be."  I think that was my brothers take on Ecclesiastes 5:3 and 10:14. So I have purposed in my heart that if I want people to hear what I am saying I am going to say something worth being heard.  I think the greatest compliment I ever received as a preacher was from a retired minister.  He said to me he liked hearing me preach because I always had something to say.  I noted to him that I never really had anything to say and my only pray as I prepared to preach was that God's word would be spoken today.  You see He has something worth saying.  I could preach the Bible forever because God's word is worth hearing.
     With so many people trying so desperately to be heard, they are saying so much and yet nothing really at all.  As you rise up and try to be heard ask yourself, is what you are about to say really worth saying.  Does it need to be heard?  As a Christian we are called to herald the good news of God.  In such a noisy world we need to rise up, and make His message heard.  

Hopeless?

     A while ago I had sent my resume off to a church that Sara and I both thought would be perfect.  The church is about 20 minutes from Sara's parents and 50 minutes from mine, so not too far from family.  The area is familiar as Sara grew up in that area.  We have had interactions with this church before and knew that theologically we are on the same page.  Sara is related to a good portion of the members of the church.  The position was not quite the one I desired, but all of my experience at camp would have made me perfect for the role.  We even know the pastor of the church; he and I attended the same seminary just at different times.  I am telling you this seemed like the perfect fit for us.  So we were so enthusiastic as I sent in my application.  I think I even said something to the effect of "If I can't get this position, I won't get any."  

     About a week after we sent my info, I received a letter from the church.  I was so excited, the wait was going to finally be over, God was sending me in and I was ready.  As I read the letter my head fell.   I even think tears came to my eyes.  It was one of the nicest rejection letters I ever received.  The church had already filled the position before my resume had gotten to them.  When I concluded reading the letter I slumped down, threw my head back, and said to myself I had no more hope.  

     I do not know how much time had past, as I sat there feeling so hopeless, I asked God "what do I do now?"  In my prayer God reminded me that I was not hopeless.  I had forgotten for a minute, my hope is not serving God at a church, don't get me wrong, this a noble thing to do and I desire very much to find a church to serve at.  My hope however was not that, my hope is Jesus Christ.  Paul writes in his letter to Timothy "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our savior, and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope." 

     How often do we as believers forget what our true hope is.  We get caught up so often in the little things, that we forget our hope is in the Lord.  Our hope is the Lord.  If we have forgotten what our hope is, how do we ever intend to always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks us for a reason of the hope that is in us?  Truth is we can't give an answer for the reason if we don't remember what that hope is in the first place.

     When I accepted Christ as my savior and Lord, He became my hope.  Ever since I realized that I was a sinner, and needed the sacrifice that Jesus offered of Himself upon the cross, and that no other sacrifice could save me from my sins, I have been learning to trust Him for everything.  He has promised to meet all my needs. With His own life He has paid the down payment on those promises, and with His resurrection I know that He can and will fulfill those promises.  Through it all He has become not only the one I have placed my hopes in but also He has become the very thing I hope for.  I may desire a church to serve Him at right now, but ultimately I only wish to stand in His presence, and know Him. 

     It was a valuable lesson for me to realize that I was loosing focus.  When I realized how silly I was, I smiled.  God is my hope, and He will never leave me or forsake me.  I can never loose my hope, for God is eternal.  So I have to ask, what are you hoping in?

Waiting

     Sometimes the hardest thing to do in life, is nothing.  Think about it how often do you find yourself content doing nothing.  We always see more work that needs to be done.  We can always do this or that better.  How often are you content just waiting for things?  We generally look for something to do to fill the time.  Nothing just isn't what we do.

     For me doing nothing but waiting is quite painful.  Growing up this was my father's greatest form of discipline.  Whenever I did something wrong my father would send me to my room to sit there, do nothing, and think about whatever it was I did  wrong.  I would have done any strenuous physical labor rather than do nothing.  I much preferred the spankings my mother gave me to doing nothing, waiting, and thinking about my situation.  Nothing just is.

     So what happens when God asks us to stop everything and do nothing and just wait?  This concept goes beyond the idea of the Sabbath where we are asked to do no work, because then we are asked to rest.  Rest and relaxation is something we can do.  I am talking about when God asks you to just wait and watch until He is ready for you?  I think all too often when we are asked to do nothing and wait, we find things on our own to do.  I find that in these moments of waiting faith is put to the test much more than when we are given a task to do.  When we have something to do we are almost forced to look to God for help, but in waiting that pressure is not there.  

      Being asked to do nothing but wait can be a form of punishment like it was in my household, but sometimes we are asked to do so for other reasons.  He told the disciples to wait until they received power on High before they were to go out.  He told the people of Israel to wait and watch for His coming.  In Gethsemane Jesus asked the disciples to wait and pray with Him.  Sometimes the Spirit just has us waiting.  We don't always know why He asks us to wait.  The question is what do you do until He has something else for you to do?

     When we look in the scriptures at those who waited for the Lord, they talk of learning, and praying, and being strengthened by the Lord.  Often we find it difficult not to act,  we want to take what we have and go go go.  Yet if we wait upon the Lord, wait until He tells us to go, we will go with so much more than should we do so on our own.  

     I know this blog only scratches the surface, but I want us all to think about what the Lord is asking us to do.  If we will listen the Spirit will tell us when we are to act, and when we are to wait.  What is He having you do?

Train them to walk not just talk.

    Over the past few days I have been thinking about the text in Proverbs 22:6  "Train up your child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it."  With this proverb in mind I had to ask myself the question why is it that 80% of youth who grow up in the church cease to continue going to church when they become adults.  The only answer I can come up with is that we are failing to train them. 

    It is easy to blame the parents of the children.  Ultimately the responsibility for training a child falls to the parents and more specifically the father.  Parenting is a great  topic that I would love to discuss some other time but that is not the topic I want us to focus on right now.  Right now I want to focus on the churches role to train in general. 

    Why is it that it seems only 10 percent of the people in our churches are active in the ministries of the church?  Why is it that only a handful of people seem willing to share their faith with others?  Our churches are filled with a bunch of talkers, but not a lot of walkers.  I believe that is because we have failed at training people to do.

    How do most churches go about training their people?  Well a major form of training comes in the Sunday morning sermon.  If your preacher is good he will unfold what God's word has to say, point to our need to do what God's word has to say, and he will even tell you some ways in which one might do what God's word has to say, but it stops there.  You may be asking what more do you want, and we get into that.  How else do churches train their people?  The next form of training is almost always Sunday School, or a Small Group.  Many of which are poor reflections of a Bible Study, that ask how do you feel about this text, or what do you think the text is saying.  If you have a good group you may get into a good discussion that real gets at what God is saying not just at your feelings, or even what you think it means.  This too however stops with talking.  If your church is good it has possibly set up a discipleship program, most of those programs I have seen take individuals through a workbook or something covering the basic tenets of Christianity.  Most of these discipleship programs again stop at talking about the Faith.  Should we wonder why we have churches filled with talkers, and not a lot of walkers.

    David Maryn Llyod-Jones notes in his Studies in the Sermon on the Mount "I can never forget, in this connection, a man who whenever I met him, always impressed upon me the fact that he was a great Bible student.  I suppose in one sense he was, but his life was unfortunately very far removed from that which one finds described in the pages of the New Testament."  You see studying the Bible is not enough.  Talking about means nothing when that does not translate into actions.  What good is it to have the cure for the worlds greatest problems if we never apply it.  Faith with out deeds is dead.  Yet too many churches seem to feel they are doing a good job by filling people with knowledge but never really training them in how to use that knowledge.  

    Training people takes more than talking.  Most people need to see what is being talked about played out.  They need someone to come by and show them how to do it.  Not only that but they need someone to help them through putting their faith in action. 

    Let's use evangelism as an example.  We tell people that God calls them to do it.  We show them the need to do it.  We may even give them some scripts and techniques for evangelism, that tend to never go as planned in reality.  Then we tell them to go and do it.  After that they go away saying I want to tell people the good news, I need to do it, but when it comes time to do it most never feel like they are ready or know how.  Yet I almost guarantee you if we would take the time to go out with them, or bring them along with us as we do it and show them they will be more likely to do it.  After showing theme a few times, you have them try.  You know what will happen before long they will be doing it on their own with out you.  Then you need to impress on them the need to train people just as you trained them.

    In many of Paul's Epistle he makes a plea that the Churches should remember how he acted when he was with them.  They should be like he is.  In his letter to Titus Paul tells Titus to have the older woman teach the younger, and he expresses to Titus to be an example.  Titus was not not just suppose to talk about it, but show the people visibly as an example so they had something tangible to help theme understand how to live out the Doctrines he taught.

    Christ for three years led the disciples and ministered in their presence.  He took them along so they could see how he did things.  Then he sent them out two by two to do it.  Afterwards he called them back and debriefed them on what they did.  He took time to walk along side them.  In the book of John he notes to them that he has set the example for what they were to do.  He not only talked about how to do the things they were to do but he made sure they experienced it.

    Our churches need to find a way of training their people.  Helping them to experience, and visibly see how all the talk plays out in their daily walk.  Imagine what the church could do if it was filled with walkers, and not just talkers. 

        

The rocks cry out.

    Sorry that I have not posted in a little over a week.  My wife and I have been giving a lot of thought to starting to host a yearly Seder meal to celebrate Easter.  We have found that much of Christiandom has forgotten its Jewish roots.  So as we read through the New Testament a lot of the little things are lost.  We found by experiencing the culture we understand it more and pick up on more of the little things.  We kind of decided to start this a bit last minute so much of my time was spent trying to put all of this together.

Apologies aside let's get on with our thought for today.  In the book of Luke the 19th chapter as Christ is riding into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey the Bible tells us that "the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out."[Luke 19:37-40]  This passage has always stuck with me, showing the importance of singing the praise of God if the disciples had kept quiet the rocks themselves would have cried out.  Yet how often do we keep silent in our world today.  Where is the voice of the true disciples of the Lord?  We hear time and time again from the crazies out there who preach hatred against everything.  We hear from the loons that teach acceptance of every sin, but where are the true disciples of God declaring with a loud voice "Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest?"

    We seem to be hidden in our own little pocket of the world.  We find ourselves watching our Christian movies, listening to our Christian music, and talking with our Christian friends.  It seems as so many are trying to hide themselves from the world.  Jesus said in Matthew that we "are the light of the world.  A city that is on a hill cannot be hid.  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it gives light unto all that are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven."[Matthew 5:14-16]  We should not be hiding from the world.  When we do, how do we expect them to see the light that we are to shine?

    We need to find more ways to get ourselves in the world, but not be of the world.  We are called to be ambassadors.  We can not herald the news that God has given us to proclaim to the world if we never leave our churches.  If we never go out into this world, if we never proclaim the news, how are the lost of the world to come to Christ?  "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach except they be sent?" [Romans 10:13-15]  As believers we were sent to do exactly that.  Christ said "go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." [Mark 16:15]  We are called to be ambassadors.  How are we to remain silent?  Jeremiah tried to "Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name.  But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." [Jeremiah 20:9]  

    I do not know about you, but as for me, I feel the same as Jeremiah: I can not stay.  I can not remain quiet.  The true believers can not remain quiet or we shall see the very rocks cry out.

Faith part 2

    In our last blog we noted that faith was the tangibles of hope.  We also mentioned a few sayings that we associate with faith such as "taking a leap of faith," and "Going by blind faith."  I want to point out in this blog how both of these sayings do not really fit with the Christian's faith.  

    First look at the idea of blind faith.  The term most often refers to accepting something with no evidence to support it.  Many people claim that for a Christian to believe there is a God they must do so on blind faith. God's Word tells us in Romans 1:19-20 "because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.  For since creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead."  In Psalms 19:1 "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork."  Christians do not believe there is a God based on blind faith, but they understand the evidence left in creation to point to a creator.  Lee Strobel put out a book, you can also watch a DVD version of the book, called The Case for a Creator.  In this book he goes through and gives the evidence found in nature pointing to the existence of God.  Ben Stein also put out a documentary called "expelled" that does much the same thing.  If you saw a computer in the middle of the woods, would you assume this computer was naturally occurring there, as in the parts randomly fell together to make this complex machine?  No, you would assume someone left it there, and if you are a nerd you are probably asking who made it, Dell, Gateway, or Alienware.  We assume the computer had a designer because of the complexity of the parts that make it up, there is no way it could have accidentally just grown there.  How much more complex are we, yet we are told that to believe we have a creator must be taken on blind faith.  We believe in God not because of blind faith, but because the evidence points to His existence.

    "Well" the skeptic may say "we can agree you could follow the evidence to a creator, but it is a leap to go from an impersonal creator to a personal God."  Albert Einstein, who believed in an impersonal creator, said "We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how.  It does not understand the languages in which they are written.  The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangements of the books, but doesn't know what it is."1  If God were to write all these books it seems He would not have left them there for us to find unless He wanted us to get to know Him.  The agnostic would be right in saying that there is no way to know God, except that He reveals Himself to us.  Why would an impersonal god place all these signs in creation that point to him?  Why would he place in the hearts of men a desire to know who he is?  Our ability to ask and reason through these questions point to a creator who wants us to know Him.  As John 6:44 says "no one comes to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him."  

     Even the things a Christian does are not done out of blind faith.  Sometimes God may ask us to do things that we do not understand, and may by all human reasoning seem stupid and unwise, yet through faith we follow Him.  My wife and I left the church we were at in December, because we believe God called us out of there.  We do not have another church lined up as of yet.  Most of the books you read suggest a pastor should not leave until he has a new church.  Most people thought I should have another job before leaving the church I was at.  God on the other hand told us to go.  To an outsider this may be madness and you may consider it blind faith.  I may be stepping into the unknown, but it is in no way blind.  I do so out of my intimate knowledge of the One who has called me out.  My faith is based upon the understanding of who my God is, and the knowledge that if He has called me out He has a plan.  Until God reveals the next step in His plan to my wife and I, we are getting involved in a local Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church, doing what we can to grow closer to Him, and to help others do so as well.  We trust He will send us to the perfect place He has for us, because we know Him and follow where ever He leads.  A Christian's faith is never really blind.  It is a trust that comes through a relationship with God himself.  If your best friend asked you to do something that you would not normally do and asked you to do so based on your relationship with him, wouldn't you give him your faith and step out and do what he is asking?  That is exactly how a Christian operates by faith.  Our best friend Christ, the Creator of the universe, directs us and we follow.

    You see there is no leaping, nor is our faith blind.  We follow the evidence step by step.  We walk by faith.  We live by faith.  Each step towards the unknown past where we can see is taken in a faith grounded in our relationship with a faithful God who cares very much for us individually.  God directs our path and shines a light upon the way for us.

    Where is your faith today?  Are you walking by the light of God's Word?  Are you letting God direct your path, or are you insisting to do it on your own?

   

¹ G. S. Viereck, Glimpses of the Great (Macauley, New York, 1930), quoted by D. Brian,  Einstein: A Life , p. 186.