WEBVTT 00:00:00.839 --> 00:00:08.939 Howdy. Why are you here today? Not the polite 00:00:08.939 --> 00:00:13.400 answer. Not the church answer. Not the answer 00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:16.899 you've learned to say without thinking. Why are 00:00:16.899 --> 00:00:20.699 you really here? That sounds like a simple question, 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:25.100 but it actually isn't. Why were the crowds gathered 00:00:25.100 --> 00:00:28.780 around Jesus on that hillside long ago? Were 00:00:28.780 --> 00:00:32.460 they curious? Were they looking for something 00:00:32.460 --> 00:00:36.020 interesting to hear? Hoping to witness a spectacle 00:00:36.020 --> 00:00:39.640 that day? Wanting a new discussion topic for 00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:42.960 the walk home? When people gathered around Jesus 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:45.600 on the hillsides or in the streets, they had 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:49.000 their reasons. Some came because everyone else 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:53.060 was going. It had become the event, the spectacle. 00:00:53.859 --> 00:00:57.439 The place where something might happen. Some 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:00.649 came hoping to feel something to hear something 00:01:00.649 --> 00:01:03.990 meaningful, to carry away one good thought for 00:01:03.990 --> 00:01:08.329 the week ahead, and some came because they were 00:01:08.329 --> 00:01:12.049 desperate for life to be different. But here's 00:01:12.049 --> 00:01:16.709 the question. Did they actually understand why 00:01:16.709 --> 00:01:20.930 Jesus wanted them there? Because it's possible 00:01:20.930 --> 00:01:27.049 to be near Jesus and still miss the point. It's 00:01:27.049 --> 00:01:31.750 possible to listen to nod, to discuss, to make 00:01:31.750 --> 00:01:35.670 it part of your weekly rhythm, and still never 00:01:35.670 --> 00:01:40.189 ask what God is really doing. So I'll ask again 00:01:40.189 --> 00:01:48.189 gently, but honestly, why are you here? Are you 00:01:48.189 --> 00:01:50.129 here because this is your church and this is 00:01:50.129 --> 00:01:53.950 what you've always done? Are you here for a quiet 00:01:53.950 --> 00:01:58.290 moment, a familiar song? A thoughtful idea to 00:01:58.290 --> 00:02:02.030 carry into Monday? Those things are not nothing. 00:02:03.290 --> 00:02:07.569 But are you sure they are the reason? Because 00:02:07.569 --> 00:02:10.030 the deeper question is not why you decided to 00:02:10.030 --> 00:02:14.210 come. The deeper question is this, why does God 00:02:14.210 --> 00:02:19.650 want you here? What if you are not here to observe? 00:02:20.430 --> 00:02:23.389 You're not here to consume? What if you're not 00:02:23.389 --> 00:02:27.189 even here just to feel encouraged? Because in 00:02:27.189 --> 00:02:30.289 today's Gospel, Jesus does not gather the crowd 00:02:30.289 --> 00:02:34.789 just to give them information. He gathers them 00:02:34.789 --> 00:02:38.930 to tell them who they are. You are the salt of 00:02:38.930 --> 00:02:43.409 the earth. You are the light of the world. Not 00:02:43.409 --> 00:02:48.009 observers. Not spectators. Not religious consumers. 00:02:49.270 --> 00:02:54.069 Salt. Light. Which leads to the real question 00:02:54.069 --> 00:03:00.229 for us. Are you ready not just to learn about 00:03:00.229 --> 00:03:04.009 salt and light, not just to admire salt and light, 00:03:05.030 --> 00:03:10.370 but to be salt and light? It's an invitation. 00:03:11.930 --> 00:03:15.729 Imagine standing on a salt plain beneath a wide 00:03:15.729 --> 00:03:19.810 blazing sky. You scrape together the white crust 00:03:19.810 --> 00:03:23.689 on the ground. salt crystals mixed with gypsum 00:03:23.689 --> 00:03:28.030 and rock and dust and other minerals. This pile 00:03:28.030 --> 00:03:31.650 in general is supposed to preserve your food, 00:03:31.969 --> 00:03:36.650 to bring flavor, to sustain life. But the rain 00:03:36.650 --> 00:03:41.830 comes. The moisture seeps in. The true salt, 00:03:41.909 --> 00:03:46.689 the sodium chloride, it dissolves and it disappears. 00:03:47.750 --> 00:03:53.090 And what remains is only residue. Useless powder. 00:03:53.969 --> 00:03:56.669 Something that looks useful, but has no power 00:03:56.669 --> 00:04:00.629 left in it. This is what people understand when 00:04:00.629 --> 00:04:04.250 Jesus asked, how can salt lose its saltiness? 00:04:05.289 --> 00:04:08.090 It reminds us of what Isaiah answered centuries 00:04:08.090 --> 00:04:12.530 before. God's people were fasting. They were 00:04:12.530 --> 00:04:15.229 praying. They were performing religious devotion, 00:04:16.110 --> 00:04:19.480 yet they were still exploiting the workers. quarreling 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:22.399 with each other, striking each other with wicked 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:25.540 fists. They were doing everything religious that 00:04:25.540 --> 00:04:28.459 was expected, but they were treating people with 00:04:28.459 --> 00:04:32.680 violence like objects. They expected others to 00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:36.120 give them what they expected. They looked faithful, 00:04:36.779 --> 00:04:40.240 but the life of God had been washed out of the 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:45.160 pile. But if we're honest, that's not only their 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:49.029 story. We know how to do impressive religious 00:04:49.029 --> 00:04:52.730 things. We can organize the service days. We 00:04:52.730 --> 00:04:56.449 can fast for days and raise money for other countries. 00:04:56.810 --> 00:05:01.009 We can fill rooms with music and emotion. We 00:05:01.009 --> 00:05:03.889 can speak passionately about faith, yet still 00:05:03.889 --> 00:05:09.269 ignore the injustice that benefits us. We can 00:05:09.269 --> 00:05:12.629 protect our creature comforts while others struggle 00:05:12.629 --> 00:05:16.209 to afford food or housing. We can discuss compassion 00:05:16.209 --> 00:05:20.189 as an idea without ever rearranging our lives 00:05:20.189 --> 00:05:25.129 to practice it. Salt on the surface, residue 00:05:25.129 --> 00:05:29.410 underneath. When the storms of life come, the 00:05:29.410 --> 00:05:32.829 pressure to fit in, the fear of opinions, the 00:05:32.829 --> 00:05:35.930 scarcity in our shopping carts, is there anything 00:05:35.930 --> 00:05:39.569 truly of Christ that remains? Everything else, 00:05:39.569 --> 00:05:43.329 is any of it real? Because faith that cannot 00:05:43.329 --> 00:05:48.290 endure or care for suffering is salt that has 00:05:48.290 --> 00:05:52.329 already lost its taste. At this point, we might 00:05:52.329 --> 00:05:55.889 think Jesus is saying, come on people, try harder, 00:05:56.449 --> 00:06:00.850 do more, be better than the Pharisees. That's 00:06:00.850 --> 00:06:04.430 not what He's saying. He says our righteousness 00:06:04.430 --> 00:06:08.339 must surpass theirs. But it's not by effort, 00:06:09.459 --> 00:06:14.220 but by its source. Isaiah shows the turning point. 00:06:14.459 --> 00:06:19.720 True fasting is not performance, but humble repentance 00:06:19.720 --> 00:06:23.720 before God. A heart honest enough to admit we 00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:29.379 cannot save ourselves. Imagine you go to a white 00:06:29.379 --> 00:06:33.560 elephant party. The ones where you normally expect 00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:38.000 people to bring joke gifts and you're curious 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:42.480 to see what everybody gets, or maybe they bring 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:44.519 something that they just don't want to keep for 00:06:44.519 --> 00:06:47.980 themselves after Christmas. And you come with 00:06:47.980 --> 00:06:52.279 a huge, beautifully wrapped box with just a $5 00:06:52.279 --> 00:06:56.100 Chick -fil -A card lying in the bottom. You see 00:06:56.100 --> 00:06:59.980 everyone else start opening presents and you 00:06:59.980 --> 00:07:03.939 are aghast because the presents have jewelry. 00:07:04.170 --> 00:07:08.889 wine and vacation trips inside. With only your 00:07:08.889 --> 00:07:13.670 joke gift and one other gift sitting there, you 00:07:13.670 --> 00:07:16.790 bite your tongue, pick up your own present, open 00:07:16.790 --> 00:07:20.569 it up in surprise, and laugh at the card inside, 00:07:21.110 --> 00:07:24.189 glad that no one will choose your gift and that 00:07:24.189 --> 00:07:27.970 you won't need to feel ashamed. But the host 00:07:27.970 --> 00:07:31.449 suddenly walks over and just as you can steal 00:07:31.449 --> 00:07:35.259 someone else's gift, grabs the cheap gift card 00:07:35.259 --> 00:07:39.199 from you even though he saw you put that present 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:43.339 by the tree. And he says, I love waffle fries. 00:07:45.319 --> 00:07:48.180 He places the gift that he bought into your hands 00:07:48.180 --> 00:07:51.839 because he loves you. And he wants you there. 00:07:52.579 --> 00:07:54.860 A gift that you know you could have never provided 00:07:54.860 --> 00:07:58.560 yourself. That is the righteousness of Christ. 00:07:58.759 --> 00:08:01.560 It is not earned. It is not proven. It is given. 00:08:02.379 --> 00:08:06.720 with nothing in return. And only the humble can 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:11.439 receive a gift. Before we point at the brokenness 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:15.139 of the world with accusation and self -righteousness, 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:18.360 the Gospel turns the mirror gently toward us 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:22.720 so that we see exactly how our righteousness 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:27.019 came to be. Because the moment we confess we 00:08:27.019 --> 00:08:30.699 are not enough, that's the moment Christ says, 00:08:30.939 --> 00:08:34.860 I am enough for you. And for every place that 00:08:34.860 --> 00:08:38.820 our salt has lost its taste, Christ forgives 00:08:38.820 --> 00:08:43.480 us completely through His cross and gives His 00:08:43.480 --> 00:08:48.220 own life in its place. Through His cross, He 00:08:48.220 --> 00:08:50.139 takes our emptiness and in His resurrection, 00:08:50.259 --> 00:08:53.539 He gives us life. And suddenly, righteousness 00:08:53.539 --> 00:08:56.820 is no longer a performance, it's a relationship. 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:01.850 Not striving upward for grace, but receiving 00:09:01.850 --> 00:09:05.230 grace that comes downward. Instead of blaming 00:09:05.230 --> 00:09:09.490 others, we can start being honest about ourselves. 00:09:10.470 --> 00:09:15.129 We become salt and light only because Christ 00:09:15.129 --> 00:09:21.090 first became life for us. So if Christ is truly 00:09:21.090 --> 00:09:23.470 alive and His people, what would that light look 00:09:23.470 --> 00:09:29.230 like in the real world? Isaiah answers vividly, 00:09:29.309 --> 00:09:34.029 Undo the injustice around you. Lift the burdens 00:09:34.029 --> 00:09:38.750 of others. Feed the hungry. Welcome the homeless. 00:09:39.230 --> 00:09:42.830 Clothe the naked. Do not hide from your own flesh 00:09:42.830 --> 00:09:45.210 and blood. In other words, take care of your 00:09:45.210 --> 00:09:51.710 family. And Jesus says that kind of life is a 00:09:51.710 --> 00:09:56.230 city on a hill that cannot and should not be 00:09:56.230 --> 00:10:02.200 hidden. Look around this community. Doctors, 00:10:03.019 --> 00:10:07.320 teachers, engineers, planners, caregivers, builders, 00:10:07.860 --> 00:10:11.059 problem solvers of every kind. Look around this 00:10:11.059 --> 00:10:15.919 community. Is it possible that God has already 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:20.899 placed in this room the gifts needed to push 00:10:20.899 --> 00:10:26.399 back darkness in real, tangible ways? Not just 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:31.379 one -time events. not just good intentions, but 00:10:31.379 --> 00:10:36.639 sustained, shared work that makes hope visible 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:42.299 in this city. Because light is not just an idea. 00:10:43.500 --> 00:10:49.779 Light is seen. What if in two or three or fifty 00:10:49.779 --> 00:10:54.360 are gathered in His name to use their gifts to 00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:59.000 actually evaluate and solve the problems of this 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:02.559 city? Isn't it possible that God is in our midst 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:06.899 and God will explain the answers to injustice 00:11:06.899 --> 00:11:12.320 that we cannot understand by ourselves? When 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:15.440 the church lives this way, people do not merely 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:20.039 admire our programs. They glimpse for themselves 00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:25.559 when the Kingdom of God is breaking in. So we 00:11:25.559 --> 00:11:28.740 return to the question we started with. Why are 00:11:28.740 --> 00:11:34.000 you here? You're not here by accident. You're 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:38.019 not here merely by habit. You're not here just 00:11:38.019 --> 00:11:42.220 to listen and then leave unchanged today. You 00:11:42.220 --> 00:11:46.659 are here because Christ has called you. Salt 00:11:46.659 --> 00:11:51.240 of the earth, light of the world. The question 00:11:51.240 --> 00:11:54.730 today, it's actually simple. It's not are you 00:11:54.730 --> 00:11:58.629 ready to learn about salt and life. It's not 00:11:58.629 --> 00:12:01.149 are you ready to think about salt and light on 00:12:01.149 --> 00:12:04.750 Monday. It's not even are you ready to watch 00:12:04.750 --> 00:12:08.190 God make someone else salt and light that you 00:12:08.190 --> 00:12:12.350 can see from a distance. The real question is, 00:12:12.789 --> 00:12:17.750 are you ready to be salt and light? Because everything 00:12:17.750 --> 00:12:20.230 God has done in Jesus Christ was never meant 00:12:20.230 --> 00:12:24.399 to stay at a distance from you. It was meant 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:28.039 to live in you. It was meant to move through 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:32.580 you. The church can stay busy. We can organize 00:12:32.580 --> 00:12:35.279 our events. We can fill the calendars. We can 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:38.419 make everything look efficient, productive, successful. 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:42.519 We can even convince ourselves that being active 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:46.679 is the same as faithfulness. But Jesus did not 00:12:46.679 --> 00:12:48.919 say you are the well -organized of the world. 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:52.419 Jesus did not say you are the well -scheduled 00:12:52.419 --> 00:12:55.740 of the world. He said, you are the salt of the 00:12:55.740 --> 00:13:00.460 earth. You are the light of the world. Not someday. 00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:04.759 Not when you feel ready. Not when you finally 00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:13.419 have everything figured out. You are now. Because 00:13:13.419 --> 00:13:17.240 the gifts are already here. I see them right 00:13:17.240 --> 00:13:22.440 now. The calling is already spoken. Christ is 00:13:22.440 --> 00:13:25.720 already present among His people. So the question 00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:29.179 is not whether God will act. The question is 00:13:29.179 --> 00:13:31.019 whether we will step into what He is already 00:13:31.019 --> 00:13:35.320 doing. Will we be a people who loosen the bonds 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:38.399 of injustice? Who share bread with the hungry? 00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:42.460 Who welcome the forgotten? Who refuse to hide 00:13:42.460 --> 00:13:45.820 from our own flesh and blood? Will we be salt 00:13:45.820 --> 00:13:49.480 that preserves life? And light that makes hope 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:54.320 visible? not by our strength, not by our perfection, 00:13:55.419 --> 00:13:57.559 but because Christ Himself is our righteousness, 00:13:57.980 --> 00:14:02.379 our life, our light. This is not a burden placed 00:14:02.379 --> 00:14:06.259 on our shoulders. It is an invitation placed 00:14:06.259 --> 00:14:10.340 in your hands. Come be who Christ has already 00:14:10.340 --> 00:14:13.879 made you to be. Come live the life that is already 00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:19.929 yours in Him. Come be salt. Come be light. Now 00:14:19.929 --> 00:14:23.009 watch what God will do through ordinary people 00:14:23.009 --> 00:14:26.750 who finally believe the Kingdom of Gospel is 00:14:26.750 --> 00:14:31.350 true. And even when our light feels small, His 00:14:31.350 --> 00:14:36.350 light never fails. He is with you. He goes before 00:14:36.350 --> 00:14:40.870 you. And He will finish the work He has begun.