“What color is the sky in your world,” the math teacher would say to me.  As a young student I loved to daydream and wonder why things worked the way they did or why people acted the way they did in the classroom.  The teacher would awaken me and call my attention back to the lesson at hand so I would know enough to pass the next test with flying colors.  I wasn’t a bad student, I just liked to think about and question the things of life.

Jesus awakens his crowd of followers who have scaled a mountain to sit and hear him speak to them.  By now in Jesus’ ministry, He is growing in popularity.  Watching Jesus heal the sick has brought them out of curiosity; but now what He says is engaging and helpful, like nothing they have ever heard!  People are hanging on every word this man of humble means has to say. 

Jesus is different than the other Teachers of the Law who wear all the “right” clothes.  Jesus speaks, not as the proud, judging teachers at the local Synagogue who admonish every move people “under them” make with a “new rule,” but as a Person who seems to know them, knows the questions they have had but were afraid to ask and knows their hearts!  This “knowing” draws all people, even the skeptics, to this man, this new prophet of God, who speaks with simple clarity in ways they can finally understand.

“He speaks and the sound of His voice, is so sweet the birds hush their singing…”

Matthew 5:13-20, The Message

Salt and Light

¹³ “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

^14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Completing God’s Law

^17-18 “Don’t suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures—either God’s Law or the Prophets. I’m not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast panorama. God’s Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God’s Law will be alive and working.

^19-20 “Trivialize even the smallest item in God’s Law and you will only have trivialized yourself. But take it seriously, show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom. Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won’t know the first thing about entering the kingdom.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus came to be and give Light, the Light of Truth, to the dark, sinful world.  Jesus calls on His followers—all who believe Him and decide and commit to follow Him, to be His Light, too.  In fact, He tells us, “This is why we are here”—to reflect His Light with all the God-colors of His character!  I would imagine this would include talking and walking with God so that we become more like Jesus who showed us who God is and what He will grow in our lives. 

I had a friend from Texas who went to college in the city of Nacogdoches.  She had a definite southern accent.  When I was around her, I picked it up without thinking and would say certain words just like she said them.  I would come home after time with her and my parents would say, “You’ve been with Anita, haven’t you?” 

We become who we are with and talk to most often. We begin to speak like them, walk, and even think like them. 

The more we spend time (commune) with God, speaking in the Name of Jesus, His Son, the more we become like Him.  We reflect His Light.  Our lives shine brighter and brighter as all the God-colors of His character begin to grow in us, dispelling all the dark deeds we used to think about and do. 

God’s Holy Spirit helps us!  Paul gives us a list in Galatians 5… “the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”  Paul even ends the list with, “against such there is no law”, meaning there is no rule from God that will stop us from being like Him!  No one in God’s thinking will tell you, “Stop it, you’re being too kind!”  There is no punishment for being too loving and generous!  There is only reward for seeking first the Kingdom of God and being Kingdom of God thinkers and doers.

I confess.  I am a “salt-alcoholic.” I will bypass a candy bar if you give me a bag of chips. I salt everything until I get my food to taste they way I like it, uh huh.  I love that God wants us to be salty in this world, bringing out the best of all the God-flavors of His character, as well!  I get it, Jesus, I really do!  In fact, I want to be sensationally salty, growing with the flavor of God so others will see You in me!

“God’s Laws are alive and working!” Jesus IS the Law in summation so He has not come to destroy Himself but to flesh out The Law of God in front of all who will believe, listen to understand, with a decision to trust and obey.  So, Jesus completes The Law.  Jesus brings all things of God together.  Jesus gave us a Helper, God’s Holy Spirit, who changes our minds and transforms our thinking.

Salt and Light—God-flavors and God-colors—illuminating and seasoning the world in need of His saving grace.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing;
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.

Lord,

Cleanse my heart, transform my mind, refresh and feed my soul while restoring the joy of your salvation in me so I can be salt and light today, better than yesterday or the day before.  Make me more like you every day I live on this earth.  May your beauty be seen in me.

In Jesus Name, Amen

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known…