Commissioned to be Light

Matthew 5:13-17 KJV

13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Often times, when we consider that Jesus has commissioned us to go forth and share his message, there are several responses that come to mind. For some, fear is how they respond to Christ, because there are times when sharing the Gospel comes at a great expense for us as witnesses. For others, the response is a powerful zeal for carrying out the mission Christ has given us as his witnesses. In this particular passage of scripture, Jesus identifies for us an important aspect of the mission that is often forgotten. He commissions us to let our light shine. What does it mean for us to let our light shine? I can remember singing as a child “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. Everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine.” As a child, I think the meaning of that song encouraged me to tell people about Jesus and to do good to others. However, the context of this passage of scripture suggests that Christ was saying a little more when commanded his followers to let their light “so shine.”

Before he spoke to his disciples about letting their light shine, Jesus talked about the importance of being salt saying, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men” (Matt. 5:13).

Christ describes his followers as  salt, and salt it a symbol for the lives we live. He also asks the rhetorical yet provocative question saying, “if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?” He then answers his own question saying, “it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Christ explains to his disciples that salt that has lost its savior is good for nothing but it is cast out under the foot of men. The word savour means flavor. If our lives are the salt, then the flavor of our lives is our worship. The Apostle Paul, being privy to this revelation, admonished the church in Rome saying, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12: 1).

The Old Testament gives evidence of God’s people offering sacrifices that rose as a sweet smelling (see Gen. 8: 20-21). As the New Testament church, we are admonished to present ourselves and our lives to God as living sacrifices unto God, which is our reasonable service (see Rom. 12:1). Our daily worship and obedience to God is the way we offer a sweet-smelling  savor to the Lord. This is how we remain savory as the salt of the earth, through obedience and worship to God. The flip side of that is that if if we lived lives that are void of worship and obedience to God, we become salt that has lost its savor.  In the eyes of Christ, salt that has lost its savor is “good for nothing but to be cast out to the ground and is trampled under the foot of men” (Matt. 5:13). If our lives lose its savor, we are no longer potent enough for Christian witness, and men will cast our efforts to witness to the ground and trample them under their feet. Not only is our worship and obedience integral to the potency of our Christian witness, but it is important for us to understand that there is a such thing as acceptable and unacceptable worship with God. Worship that is acceptable to God is worship that acknowledges that “God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4:24). When Christ speaks of us worshipping in sprit and truth, he is speaking of our submission to the Spirit as well as the aspect of authenticity of our worship to him and in him (Gal. 5: 25).  When we think about the authenticity of our worship in him and to him, there are two factors of authenticity that are absolutely necessary in the lives of Christian witnesses. 1) Jesus is the standard and the source of truth. The words of Jesus is truth. The life of Jesus is truth. The essence of Jesus is truth. Outside of Jesus Christ, in whom the fullness of deity dwells, authentic worship and witness is impossible. Therefore he must be the source and the standard of truth in our lives if we want our worship and witness to be authentic. He said it best himself in John 14: 6 when he said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.” 2) In order to have authentic worship and authentic witness, we should have  a witness and a worship that comes from a genuine and real place. A witness that that presents a facade instead of his or her honest testimony is a witness that lacks savor. The same is true with God. If we are to worship God in spirit and in truth, it is critical that we are honest to God in our prayers and meditation. When we are real with God in our worship, we are honest about the fact that we are weak and in need of his strength. If we are honest about our troubles and challenges, we present to God a real reliance on his provision in our lives and the lives of others through our witness.

After Jesus tells us that we are the salt of the earth, he says that we are the light of the world (see Matt. 5:14). After he tells us that we are the light of the world, he begins to describe how men generally behave when they are in possession of great light. The first thing he says about man when he has light is that “A city that sits on a hill cannot be hid.” In other words Christ is teaching us that a man who has this great light is like a city that sits upon a hill (see Matt. 5:14). When I think of a city that sits on a hill, I think about the various metropolitan cities around the world and how they shine, even when it’s dark outside. Those cities are abundantly lit even in the night, and well-lit cities, great and small, cannot be hid.  Furthermore, a human being who has the light cannot be hid. Their lives shine for those around them to witness. The next thing Jesus says about the behavior of men when they have great light is that they “don’t put it under a bushel” (Matt. 5:15). When men have true light, they are unashamed of the light being seen. They don’t hide their light, but they allow others to see their light. When others are allowed to see their light, one of the miracles that follows is that they can see clearly when they have light.

So far, we have discussed the two ways that mankind behave when they possess light. First, men with light are like cities that shine even in the darkness. Secondly, men with light do not hide their light, but they let it shine before all to see. However, Christ is adamant that his followers “…are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). The question then becomes “Why does Christ call his followers the light of the world?” Christ could confidently call his followers the light of the world, because he knew who he was. Jesus Christ is is the Light. John 1:4 says that, “In him (Jesus) was life; and the life was the light of men.” Jesus is the Son of God, and he is the true Light. God, our father, and the father of Jesus is “the Father of lights, in whom is no variableness or shadow of turning.” Scripture lets us know that our King is the true light. Jesus Christ is the Light, and our Father is the father of lights (see Jam. 1:17)What does that have to do with us? How does that make us the light? Notice that James 1:17 identifies God as the father of lights, and John 1:12 teaches us that God empowers the people who believe in Jesus with the power to be his children. On one hand, he is the father of lights, and on the other hand he empowers us to be his children.

Therefore, we have a new identity as light. The apostle Peter penned these words saying, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” When we are in the presence of God, we are in the presence of light. Not only are we in the presence of light, but we are also filled with light when the father and the son makes their abode in us (Jn. 14:23). The Father and the Son will make their abode with us by sending the Holy Spirit who will dwell with us forever (Jn. 14:16).

Therefore, our new identity as light is not some temporal thing that fades away. It is a new eternal status that we are given in Jesus Christ. With this new nature, new status, and new identity, we have been given a new responsibility to let our “lights so shine before men that they may see our good works, and glorify our father who is in heaven.      Just as the salt represents our lives in Christ, so does the light represent our lives in Christ. Our lives are lived out before men, and our works are done before men so that God would be glorified through our lives. How do we allow our light to shine before men? We allow our light to shine before men through our obedience to Christ and our holiness in Christ. Christ taught his followers that “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (Jn. 14:23). Here we can see that our obedience to the word of God and submission to the will of God causes our light to shine, because the light comes as a result of obedience and submission to the will of God. Next, our light shines through holiness to God. If you’ll notice, Jesus explains this teaching himself by what he says next. Jesus said:

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus uses entirety of these four verses to describe a righteousness that is superior to the Pharisees. The Pharisees taught some things that were good, but they did not practice what they preached. That is why Jesus admonished his followers that it was okay to do as the Pharisees said, but it was not okay to do what the Pharisees did. Simply put, the Pharisees were hypocrites, and Christ wanted his followers to live a truly righteous life. It is possible that we can live righteous lives, because Jesus is the source of our righteousness.  So, verses seventeen to twenty describe that the followers of Jesus must teach righteousness and live righteousness.  The disciples of Jesus are instructed to live holy lives unto God. Contrary to the opinions of the ultra liberal, holiness is one of the pillars of Christ’s teaching ministry. Holiness is separation from sin, but it is also a drawing nearer to the face of God (2 Chron. 7:14). Holiness is drawing nearer to God. The issue is that many people who want to sin place great emphasis on the fact that Christ does not permit them to sin, and they place the least emphasis on actually drawing close to God with your life and your decisions. The apostle Paul asked the question “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound, God forbid” (Rom. 6: 1-2). God provides grace for us, but he forbids the continual practice of sin (John 1:17). On the flip side of the same coin, Christ promised not to cast out anyone who comes to him (Jn. 6:37).

Therefore, our focus should be on drawing closer to God in Christ Jesus and not so much on the sins can no longer do. The fact that we turn away from our sin should be a decision made out of love for Christ and not a reluctant or regretful obligation. In our love of Christ and one another, we fulfill the law. Paul’s teaching to the Romans in the thirteenth chapter mirrors that of Christ. Paul said:

9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. (Rom. 13:9-14). Our holiness in Christ is something we are empowered to do. According to Paul, we can put on the holiness of Christ like an armor. Therefore, the light that Jesus tells us to shine is our new identity. It is our new eternal status. The light is inside us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and we put on the Light of Christ like armor which helps us to live holy lives and produce good works which glorifies our father who is in heaven. What are the good works that we will do?  The good works are works done in obedience to God (Jn. 14: 15). Good works result from the irresistible burden that God has laid on you that builds his kingdom (Matt. 28:19). The good works are evidence of our faith (Jam. 2: 18). The good works are acts of authentic love for God and our neighbor (Rom. 13: 8; 10). Good works is witnessing the gospel of Jesus Christ from a place of genuine worship and obedience (Matt. 5:16). If we do all that we do to the glory of God, that is good works (1 Cor. 10: 31).

Let us pray,

Heavenly Father, thank you for the  opportunity you have given us to study your word. Thank you for the command that you have given us to let our lights shine. Help us to never forget this command. Be with us and in us so that we can fulfill this command. Help us to love you and worship you the way you want to be loved and worshiped. Help us to love our neighbors. Help us to be obedient and authentic in our worship and service to you. We believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of your Son Jesus. We ask you to forgive us for our sins and arm us with the light of Christ. We thank you for the power you have given us to be the children of God, even the children of Light. In Jesus name we pray, Amen