A friend of mine had a co-worker named “Jerry”. I met Jerry a couple of times. He was a personable fellow. Jerry spent a lot of time wandering around the office with a cup of coffee in his hands, chatting with any co-worker who would take time to listen.
When I heard that Jerry had recently retired, I asked my friend, “Have they hired anyone yet to take Jerry’s place?” “Well,” came the hesitant reply, “When Jerry retired, he didn’t exactly leave a vacancy.” It seems that Jerry wasn’t a productive worker. He simply put in his time during the work week without accomplishing much of anything. This might seem like a dream job for some people, but I think that most of us want more than that from life. We want to be productive at whatever it is that we do. We want to make a difference in life. That certainly is true of those who truly understand what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
Jesus doesn’t call us to simply cruise along in life without having any influence on other people. He says in Matt.5:13-16, “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 underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 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. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
In the ancient world, salt was primarily used to preserve food by keeping it from spoiling. Here Jesus is saying that we need to make a difference in a world that is tainted by sin. Rather than retreat and try to stay out of the messiness, we need to be engaged. We can’t expect that every law that is passed will line up perfectly with the Bible, but we should always be telling the world what God says about the issues of the day, even to the point of being a nuisance to those who don’t want to hear the truth. The church must be a force that will not be silenced when it comes to matters of morality. We won’t save everybody, but we will prevent many from being spoiled by the sins that the world has to offer.
Light is a common symbol of good, while darkness represents what is evil. There is much darkness in our society today, but the proper response to this is not to be so dismayed that we fail to respond to the wickedness around us. Instead, Jesus says that we need to shine our light. He himself is the light of the world, but his followers reflect his light. As we pattern our lives after the example that Jesus set, we allow people to see the difference between right and wrong; to discern between good and evil.
Note that it doesn’t take a lot of salt to preserve some food. Nor does it take a great deal of light to illuminate a dark room. In the same way, a little faith goes a long way if it is seen in the life of a person who is following Jesus Christ. So, let’s be what Jesus says we are—the salt of the earth and the light of the world. A lifetime of living for Jesus will make more of a difference in the world than we can ever imagine!
Jesustrek 