Matthew 5:13-16 - Salt and Light - Sermon on the Mount - Study 2

In these verses Jesus starts by saying that we are 'salt of the earth'. Salt is used for flavouring and preserving, we might conclude from this that we are Jesus flavoured and intended to be used to preserve the purity in the world and the gospel message.

He then goes on to say that we are 'the light of the world'. Light allows people to see and Jesus says 'let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.'

Questions which then came from these verses were;

• What could cause us to lose our saltiness / Jesus flavouring?
• Why is it good to be both salt and light together?
• What is the result of people seeing our good deeds?
• Is there a potential pitfall to avoid in boasting about good deeds and how can we address this? (Jeremiah 9 v 23-24)
• Do we have a responsibility to be salt and light, is there an expectation and what if we get it wrong? (Romans 2 v 26) (Matthew 19 v 26)
• What connections can we draw between the Beatitudes (blessings) of the previous verses and this call to be salt and light?

Other references to light; Genesis 1 v 3-4, John 1 v 4-9, Ephesians 5 v 8-14

Matthew 5:1-12 - The Beatitudes - Sermon on the Mount - Study 1

Whether you were there last week or unable to join us, Mango started a new season of studies looking at the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and asking questions about how this teaching relates to our own 21st Century lives.

Study 1 - The Beatitudes

This starter lists nine blessings which are not the same type of blessings that we naturally consider in our own lives. They challenge our own worldview by shining a light on the upside-down, counter-cultural nature of the Kingdom of God – His ways are just different to our ways. We’re immediately invited to try to look at blessing through a ‘Kingdom lens’ and we were able to ask a number of questions:

1. What types of things do we imagine when we thing of ‘blessings’ in our own lives today?
2. What does this passage really teach us about being Merciful and showing Forgiveness?
3. What does it mean to mourn for the world around us, but in a Godly way?
4. Are these blessings linked as they seem to share a common thread of living a humble life, guarding ourselves from pride?
5. Which of these nine blessings do we sense God is calling each of us to pay particular attention to and/or address issues which relate to our own lives?
6. Should we intentionally pursue these blessings? Eg actively pursue a life that we expect would lead to greater persecution due to our righteousness?
7. Which of these do we find the most confusing and why?

Justice Theme at Mango

Over the past few weeks we’ve been looking at the whole issue of Justice. Here is a short summary of some of the areas that we have been exploring from both the Old Testament and the New Testament. If you sense God has been speaking specifically to you about Mango and a greater call on us to respond to injustice then do let me know, Scott

OT passages – Habakkuk – a book of many parts that explores a discussion between one man and Go over the decision to raise the Babylonians to seize power over the Israelite community. Raising questions like, is it Ok to argue with God over injustice? How do we relate to a God whose actions (or apparent inaction) might seem so counter to what we would expect?

Psalm 37 – a great psalm of David that provides instruction on Godly wisdom in light of apparent injustice. Raising questions like what does it mean to ‘delight ourselves in God’? And what happens if we don’t sense He’s providing for the desires of our heart? Why do we find it hard to trust in God or to wait patiently in times of trial and injustice?

NT passages – On first impressions we might think that the Old Testament takes a tougher stance than the New Testament, however on many occasions Jesus pulls no punches and presents an eternal justice that is as tough as it gets, resulting in either life or death. e.g. Mat 5 v21-22, v27-30, Mat 8 v22, Mat 10 v32-42, Mat 11 v20-24, Mat 12 v31-32.

John 8:7 - Jesus and the adulteress woman. This amazing story of the grace and mercy of God challenging OT thinking on justice raises new questions about how we should be slow to judge others and to first check out the sinfulness in our own lives. We see mercy and forgiveness triumphing over justice. It raises questions like where do we need a greater capacity to demonstrate mercy and forgives in our own lives?

Matt 25:21-26 – Jesus speaks of the parable of the talents. The wicked man who did not invest his talent but rather hid it suffered the wrath of the Master. The passage follows with an odd statement that ‘everyone who has will be given more’ – What does this mean in the context of our unjust society where inequality reigns?

Romans – Paul writes of how we are no longer condemned under the Law, and that God showed His perfect justice and redeemed us through Christ on the cross. In Rom 3:21-26, we read of receiving righteousness through faith. This raises questions about what really if true faith? How does faith lead to righteousness? Does this mean God has changed his mind or is this the same God as the one of the Old Testament?

Many of the issues raised in these studies are addressed in a fascinating theological introduction to a Rob Scott-Cook sermon that was delivered in 2009 on the book of Gideon. In the first ten minutes of the sermon, Rob speaks of what he refers to as the ‘unfolding revelation of God’ - this is a fascinating talk which attempts to piece together the God of justice that we read of in the old testament with the same God of grace and mercy that we read of in the NT. I’ve tried to download the podcast here but the blogger won't let me - so you'd need to goto itunes, type Rob Scott Cook into the search and select 'Gideon' from the podcast options. The talk was from a morning service on 28June09

Let us know what you think,
Cheers Scott & Dan