Salt, Light, and Anger

Matthew 5:13-26

Introduction

A few weeks ago at my daughters fall choir concert - the finale of the evening consisted in part of the group singing "The Star Spangled Banner." The choir director was clearly choked up when she introduced the song and the audience immediately stood to their feet as the music began.

All over our country people are flying flags and wearing T-shirts that say "God Bless America." Suddenly patriotism is fashionable again.

Don't misunderstand, I think this is really good. But something happened to bring about this change - from a people often ashamed of who we are as a nation - to being pumped at being Americans.

What happened? Well, of course, people realized that all that we know and cherish as a nation was being challenged by a foreign power. We suddenly woke up and thought - "I'm an American and I better start acting like someone who cares about the freedoms I have."

We as Christians need a "wake-up call" too. We need to realize that we are members of a kingdom - and we better stop sleeping and mimicking the world around us and start acting like children of God because a foreign power is out to take us away from all that God has for us - that foreign power, of course, is the enemy: Lucifer.

That's where Jesus takes us today in our study of his life found in the gospel of Matthew. We studied last time about the Beatitudes - the ways to be happy in God's economy. Today we start looking at what a person in that economy should act like.

He's trying to set us up - to realize we can't do this on our own and to rely on Him - but His first point is that members of His kingdom are different.

1. Our role in the kingdom

13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Salt

What it is
To understand what Jesus is talking about we have to look back at how the Israelis obtained and used salt.

They didn't get it from the ocean from salt water and they didn't go down to the store and buy a blue box of Morton Salt. Today's salt can sit around for years and be just as salty.

In those days they got it from salt marshes southwest of the Dead Sea. The salt was used both for flavoring and as a preservative. The problem was the salt was impure and could easily go bad - leaving nothing but useless crystals - or practically useless - they would take these crystals and dump them on the roofs of their houses - roofs still used today as playgrounds for kids - so literally "trampled under foot."

What it means
Think about food without salt - plain, bland. Salt brings out the flavor in food. Jesus is saying that we are the flavor of God in the earth. Add a Christian to a situation and you have added a distinctiveness.

The point is - can anyone tell the difference between when you are in a situation? Are you different - not weird - but different. Does the life of Christ ooze out of your pores? Or do you seem so much like all the rest of the folks around you that you are no longer "distinct"? That's the idea of salt losing it's flavor. In that case, you're no good anymore for God's uses. It doesn't mean that He doesn't love you - but can he use you?

Light

Nobody turns on a light then puts the light under a bucket - it defeats the purpose. Jesus is saying to us - I've turned on a light inside of your life by changing you - don't hide what I'm doing by shielding everything that is from Me from other's view.

When you read the Bible in public, do you hide it behind a magazine? When you are talking with other believers about worship do you suddenly hush up when a pre-Christian comes up? Do you make sure your house and car are devoid of anything that might give the smallest hint that you are a Christian?

Now - I love what Jesus says at the end: there is a way to shine the light so that people are impressed with it - and not the One who made it shine in you.

Jesus tells us that the light we let shine are the good things we do for other people. How do you live your life - guarding against interaction with others - holding back doing good because you think you might get ripped off or because that person doesn't deserve it? If we stop calling attention to ourselves - and start focusing on what we can do for others, then the focus is on God because people will recognize that we are going things not for what we get out of it.

Jesus is trying to set a pattern here - in His kingdom, His subjects won't just do the same old thing - and that's the way it should be for us too. Christ coming into your life ought to shake things up, make things different. If that's not happening then you need to reassess your commitment to Him.

The point is: the world is lacking something - life is bland and the future is dark. We have something that will make a difference - IF we are willing to show them by our lives and our deeds what a difference Jesus can make.

This is important for us to decide first - because what He is going to ask us to do - the kind of character that He is making in us - is different than we were before we knew Him, and challenging to attain as a goal. So - are you willing to be salt and light?

Jesus begins the discussion by making sure we understand what He is doing now is based on what was laid down before - no surprises here, only now there will be a way of accomplishing it.

2. Jesus and the Law

17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

I think the principals we need to glean from this section are these:

o The values God imparted at Mt Sinai are still God's values today - and will be for eternity - that's why you can't just look good on the outside and pass muster in God's kingdom (like the Pharisees). You really have to BE like God.

o Jesus came both to fulfill and accomplish these values.

Fulfill by placing Himself on the altar and becoming the sacrificial lamb, thus concluding the need for a sacrifice for sin

Accomplish by putting the Holy Spirit in us - doing in us what we cannot do for ourselves - actually taking on that value system inside of us.

So Jesus has established both the QUALITY of character He's looking for, and the ABILITY to obtain it.

Now we're going to look at that type of character in-depth in 3 areas: Feelings, Commitments, and Conflict.

They break down further into: Anger, Lust, Marital Relationships, Commitment, Retaliation, and Loving your enemies. We're going to take the 1st 2 today - and pick up with the rest in the next two weeks.

The people who heard these words would have probably thought - "How could I possibly be more righteous than the Pharisees?" Jesus now shows them examples of exactly how - by focusing on inward attitudes, not just outward actions.

The first involves our feelings - of anger.

Feelings

Anger

21 "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Is it always wrong to be angry? No. There is a "righteous anger" - and its an anger that God expresses - an anger at sin or anyone who brings sin about. As an example:

Deut 11:16-17
Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. 17 Then the LORD's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the LORD is giving you.

But for Christians there are some things to remember - Ephesians tells us to not let sin infest anger - and James tells us to be slow to anger because our anger does not being about the righteous life God intends.

So how do we know the difference between sinful anger and righteous anger?

Look back at how Jesus portrayed the process of anger:

1- You think angry thoughts against someone - right there you are liable to judgment because you have sinned. We need to examine from the beginning the reasons and motives for our anger.

If the anger is because we are offended, or inconvenienced, or our standards aren't being met, or our needs aren't being met - then I think we need to question the anger.

Catch it in the thought stage and you might quell the flood before it gets out.

2- When you say angry words - then it becomes public. Others will hear, and it's not just a matter of asking forgiveness of God and trying to understand why we've gotten angry - now you have another person you have to deal with. And sometimes those angry words can escalate to the point where others - like a church council - have to intervene.

3- Then when those angry words become judging words - raca or "you fool" is a statement the rabbis would have used to excommunicate someone. When we then call someone's salvation into question, or tell them that we think God should damn them for what they have done to us - then we reveal something deeper.

Perhaps what is working in us isn't a heavenly character at all - but a demonic one - inspired by hell itself. "hell" here is a reference to the valley of Hinnom, outside of Jerusalem where a fire continually burned.

Remember James? Our tongues can be set on fire by hell - Satan loves nothing more than to incite us to anger so much that we don't just blast someone else - we totally annihilate them.

I think that we might be able to say: anytime anger involves you - an offense made against you - we need to question our motives.

If it involves anger at sin - (like we saw in Deut a moment ago) even if it is a person who is sinning - then it can be righteous - but we have to be very careful. This is especially true for parents, who must balance the need to correct with the need to not exasperate their children.

Jesus gives us a very interesting command next.

23 "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
25 "Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

In verse 23 "therefore" refers to the proceeding statements about relationships. It is human nature to let conflict get out of hand. It is divine nature to mend those conflicts.

Its interesting here that Jesus puts the onus on the one who is bringing a gift - to be really free in worship you need to be free in relationships too. And notice that the person remembers that someone has a grudge against him - not the other way around.

The point is that we should men relationships as quickly as possible or it will affect our ability to worship and relate to God.

Secondly - conflicts left unresolved can, as anger does, evolve into a battle - where its not just the two of you anymore, but perhaps it grows into a lawsuit.

In Roman days the two sides in a court battle walked to court together. Any settlement they came to on the way was good - but once a verdict was rendered, that decision stood.

Conclusions

o Don't let the world take away your flavor and don't hide your light
o Don't let anger grow to conflict or battle.
o Be willing to let go of your just cause in order to preserve a friendship
o Resolving conflict means face to face communication
o When all else fails - pray pray and pray!