Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount moves from the promises of the Beatitudes to his commands for the Christian life. In this week’s Gospel, Jesus calls us to be salt and light. His words remind us that we don’t need to discover how to become salt and light. Jesus simply calls us to be what we are. Salt preserves. Light shines. We do what God calls us to do. We are what Jesus makes us to be.
It is no surprise to you that we are living in an evil and corrupt world. The world needs to be salted. The world is shrouded in the darkness of sin and unbelief and death and needs to be lighted. We cannot do this naturally on our own. On our own, we are corrupt and evil, dwelling in darkness. So, we need God to make us into what we are not by nature. The Word of God converts and sanctifies us to be salt and light. Our hymn proclaims how important it is for the Lord and his Word to guide our ways.
Verse one: Oh, that the Lord would guide my ways to keep his statutes still! Oh, that my God would grant me grace to know and do his will!
Jesus teaches in his sermon, “You are the salt of the earth.” Jesus calls you salt because you are precious. You serve a purpose. You are baptized to be the salt of the earth. You are baptized to be the light of the world. Jesus calls you salt not because of how much you can do, but because of how much he has done. He loves you. He declares you forgiven of your sin. He has spared you from hell. He chases the devil away from you. He has rescued you from death. He has made you his own. He sets you apart from the rest of the world to know and do his will.
God’s will is for you to live as a sanctified Christian keeping God’s statutes and also telling others about Jesus who kept God’s statutes perfectly for you and for them. Your privilege is to talk about all the wonderful things Jesus did out of love. This is who you are as salt of the earth. As Jesus has confronted your sins, now you are to confront the sins of those around you. As Jesus has forgiven your sins, now you are given the opportunity to forgive the sins of the repentant around you. Your life is the salt that penetrates the hardest heart. Your Christian love adds flavor to an otherwise bland life. Your example of Christian living may work to preserve and purify another person’s eternal soul.
Verse two: Order my footsteps by your Word, and make my heart sincere; let sin have no dominion, Lord, but keep my conscience clear.
We know that this world is very dark. The Lord knows it, too. Sin and the darkness it causes appear to have dominion over the world and its population. To dispel the darkness, Jesus Christ entered the world as Light from Light, true God from true God (Nicene Creed). He is the Word who spoke light into the darkness at creation. He is the Word made flesh in his incarnation in the darkness of Mary’s womb. He is the Word made flesh that breathed his last in the darkness that shrouded the Judean countryside on Good Friday. He is the Word made flesh that broke the darkness when he bodily burst forth from the tomb on Easter dawn.
Jesus teaches, “You are the light of the world. … Let your light shine in people’s presence, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” As Christian parents, Christian citizens, and members of the Christian Church, we are called to be a part of a counterculture which works hard to shine the light of Christ into the shadowy corners of the world and the dark recesses of people’s souls. You are light, shining the Light of Christ. You are the moon, reflecting the greater light of the Son. This is your identity. This is your calling. Let your light shine and “live such good lives among the pagans that … they may see your good deeds and glorify God” (1 Peter 2:12).
Verse three: Assist my soul, too apt to stray, a stricter watch to keep, and should I e’er forget your way, restore your wand’ring sheep.
We are salt that can lose its saltiness. We are light that can be overcome by the darkness. We are sheep who love to wander. We pray for the Holy Spirit to continually sanctify us through his Word to assist our souls so that we are salty again, so that we are lights in the world, and so that we are sheep who are restored to the Good Shepherd’s flock.
Verse four: Make me to walk in your commands— ’tis a delightful road—nor let my head or heart or hands offend against my God.
Jesus teaches, “Whoever practices and teaches [these commandments] will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” We bristle that God is so demanding with his commands. Still, his commands leave us with two options. We can either reject God in our self-righteous anger, or we can rely on the solution he has provided in his Son. Jesus came into this world to be our Savior and Substitute. He lived the life of perfect righteousness God required. He walked the way of God’s demanding commands. He never once let his head or heart or hands offend against his God.
Jesus offers his righteousness and fulfillment of God’s commands to us. We pray that we remain in God’s Word so the Holy Spirit continues to sanctify us, so we now walk in God’s commands. Instead of them being demanding, we see this as a delightful road. It is delightful because Jesus has already walked down this road for us. And when we mess up and stray from the road, we ask for Jesus’ forgiveness, and he applies his righteousness to us. Because of Jesus we can enter the kingdom of heaven. As we walk to heaven, let us keep praying and singing that the Lord would guide our ways there.