PARABLES OF CHRIST
SALT AND LIGHT
DR. JIM DIXON
JANUARY 23, 1999
MATTHEW 5:13
Camarillo Mental Hospital is located in Camarillo, California, north of Los Angeles. And I briefly worked there in conjunction with my undergraduate studies at Westmont College where I majored in psychology. At that time, Camarillo Mental Hospital was state-of-the-art. It had an incredible athletic facility complete with a huge gym, a wonderful swimming pool, weight rooms, all the modern equipment. I served in the schizophrenic ward, and there were color television sets in the common area. Color television sets were up on all the walls, but very few of the patients in the schizophrenic ward ever watched television. Most of them lived in an imaginary world and they spoke to imaginary friends. From time to time, I would go up to one of the patients and ask them questions, and sometimes they would leave just briefly their imaginary world and they would actually speak to me and they would talk normally and rationally. But as soon as I left, they would reenter their imaginary world and begin to speak again to their imaginary friends.
Part of what we were doing there was establishing a baseball program for the patients in the schizophrenic ward because the psychologists and the psychiatrists felt that if they could just get these patients out of their imaginary worlds, even to play baseball, it would be an incredible blessing. And most of the patients refused to leave their imaginary worlds and go play baseball. And the few that did go and play baseball oftentimes even in the midst of the game retreated into their imaginary world and began to talk to their imaginary friends. Most of these people at some time in the past found life too painful, too scary. The real world was too painful, the real world was too scary. And they have consciously or subconsciously retreated into this imaginary world.
You can go up to Colfax, you can go downtown Denver. You can see street people, and if you watch them, you’ll see some of them walking along with their lips moving, talking to people who are not there. For many of them, they are experiencing a degree of psychosis, and they too have entered into an imaginary world and they are speaking to imaginary people, and we can be sympathetic towards them. We can have compassion towards them and even understanding because we understand how this world can be a scary place. We understand how this world can be a painful place.
Throughout Christian history, there have been Christians who have sought to escape the real world. Some Christians built communities of their own in isolation from the world, people like the Amish. Other Christians retreated into monastic seclusion. But you see, our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that as His followers, we do not have this luxury. We cannot retreat from the world. We cannot escape the world. We are called to engage the world and we are called to minister on this earth as salt and as light.
This morning, we seek to understand what it means for us as believers in Jesus Christ to be salt and light. First, through this little first parable, Jesus tells us we are the salt of the earth. He said to us, “You are the salt of the earth.” Now, Bible scholars understand this statement in two different ways because in the biblical world salt was used in for two different purposes. First of all, salt was used to flavor food. It was used as a flavor enhancer. It was used to give a better taste to food. And there are some Bible scholars, although they are in the minority, who believe that what Jesus was saying here when He said you are the salt of the earth is that. He was saying, “You are called to season the earth.”
You are called to flavor the earth. You are called to bring flavor to life and to make life taste a little bit better in this world. Now, the irony here, of course, is that throughout history most people in this world have not viewed Christians and Christianity as giving flavor to life. In fact, I would say many have viewed the church of Jesus Christ as taking flavor from life. Perhaps you’ve heard of Swinburne. Algernon Swinburne was one of the greatest poets of Great Britain. And this English poet shocked Victorian England with his prose and with his lifestyle. He viewed Christians as pious bores. And he wrote these words “Thou conquered, oh pale Galilean; the world has grown gray from thy breath.” That’s how he viewed Christ and Christianity.
Emperor Julian ascended the throne of the Roman empire after Constantine had virtually Christianized Europe. He had Christianized the world and Emperor Julian came to the throne, an unbeliever wanting to revive the pagan religions. And Emperor Julian wrote these words: he said, “Have you looked at these Christians closely? Hollow eyed, pale cheeked, flat chested. All. They brooded their lives away, unspurred by ambition. The sun shines for them, but they do not see it. The earth offers them its fullness, but they desire it not. All they desire is to suffer and to renounce, that they may come to die.” You wonder if Emperor Julian, who sat on the throne of the Roman empire, ever really knew a Christian.
Oliver Wendell Holmes once said this: “I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers. Robert Lewis Stevenson once wrote in his diary with surprise, “I have been to church today and I’m not depressed.” Obviously, when Robert Lewis Stevenson went to church, normally he came home feeling depressed. I think there are many people in this world who view the church and Christians and Christianity as taking flavor from the world. And yet the opposite ought to be the case. Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and that you might have it abundantly.” Jesus said, “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.” Jesus said, “I have spoken these words to you that My joy might be in you and that your joy might be full.” You see, Jesus offers life and He calls us to love as He has loved, and He wants to fill us with the joy that He has.
And when you think about it, what would season this world more than the life of Christ, the love of Christ, and the joy of Christ? These things are meant to characterize us as Christians. The Bible tells us of Jesus that He has been anointed with the oil of gladness beyond all others. The Greek word for gladness is the word “agalliasis.” This word means exuberant joy, even laughter. And so you see, when the world sees a Christian, they ought to see a woman or a man filled with life just abounding in love and joy, even to the point of laughter. That’s what the world ought to see. And certainly if we were this way, we would season the world. This is a possible meaning of Jesus’ statement, “You are the salt of the earth.” But most Bible scholars believe that Jesus had something else in mind, because salt had a second purpose in the biblical world, and it was the primary purpose of salt.
Yes, salt was used to season and flavor, but even more so, salt was used as a preservative. You see, in the biblical and ancient world, salt was the primary preservative. It was rubbed into meat to keep that meat from putrification. It was used to preserve all foods and to protect them from decay and corruption. The Bible tells us that this world is in the midst of decay. It all began in Eden, the garden of God, when sin entered the world. And the Bible tells us that sin has spread to all mankind and sin covers the world. The world is fallen, and this world is morally corrupt. This world is morally in the midst of decay. This world is morally moving towards putrification. And the charge of Christ to the church of Christ is to be salt in the midst of the decay—in the midst of the corruption, we are called to be salt.
We are to act as a preservative on this earth. Morally, that’s not an easy call, that’s not an easy charge. It’s not easy to minister in this world in such a way as to stand against moral corruption. And I don’t know about you, but I know that personally when it comes to the moral corruption of this world, I have times when I’d just rather mind my own business. And certainly that’s what the world wants us as Christians to do. I would rather just praise the righteousness of Christ, for He alone is righteous. All of my righteousness is as filthy rags, and there is no true righteousness in me. But you see, Jesus has said to me and to you that we are to hunger and thirst after righteousness, not only in our own lives, but in our culture and in our society and in our world.
We are to hunger and thirst for righteousness and we are to be agents of righteousness on the earth. And that’s not an easy call. In 1456, a man named Rodrigo Borgia was appointed to the College of Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church. He was in his twenties, he was wealthy, he was famous, and he was infamous. He was utterly corrupt. He was debauched. He was extremely promiscuous. And yet he was appointed Cardinal. In the words of the historian William Manchester, “No sooner had he dawned his red hat than he removed it together with the rest of his arraignment for a marathon romp with a succession of women whose identity is unknown to us and may well have been unknown to him.” Such a man was appointed to leadership in the Catholic Church in 1456.
And for the next 36 years, Borja served as vice chancellor of the Roman Church. In that capacity, he became extremely wealthy, so that in 1492, when Christopher Columbus was discovering the New World, at that very time and in that very year Borgia bought his way into the papal throne. He bribed the College of Cardinals and he was appointed Pope and Borgia became Pope Alexander the Sixth, the most decadent, corrupt pope of the Renaissance era and perhaps of Christian history.
His immorality only increased as he aged. He always traveled with a stable of women. He fathered children through various women all over Europe, historians tell us. And of course, on October 30th, 1501, it was Pope Alexander the Sixth who presided over the infamous ballet of the chestnuts, where he invited the rich and famous to a palace. And as the guests arrived, they were greeted by nude women and nude men posing in erotic positions. They came into the palace and they were served a great feast. And after the feast, the tables were cleared and prostitutes were brought in by the command of Pope Alexander the Sixth. And they stripped piecemeal and then invited the guests to dance with them. And after the dancing, Pope Alexander the Sixth and his debauched sons had a contest where they invited all the guests to participate in sexual activity and they judged them and rated them and handed out awards and prizes.
Such was the state of the leadership of the Christian Church in the dawn of the 16th century. And the historians tell us that Borgia, Pope Alexander the Sixth, even fathered a child through his own daughter and at once became that child’s father and grandfather. And when he died, Julius II became Pope and he was not much better. And in the year 1510, when Martin Luther visited Rome and went to see Pope Julius II, he was stunned to find out that the papal court was served by 12 nude women. And it was these types of things that ultimately led Luther to nail his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg and ultimately led to the Protestant reformation. The church of Jesus Christ, called to be salt on the earth, had become part of the rot.
And of course, today we can look at a far better Pope, Pope John Paul II, and we can thank God because this is a moral man and he seeks by word and deed to fight the moral corruption that exists in the world. But the truth is that throughout Christian history, Protestant and Catholic, there have been times when the church of Jesus Christ has been part of the rot, and Christ weeps because He has called us to be salt on the earth. And He’s called you to be salt on the earth, that you would be moral, you would seek His holiness, and His righteousness in your life day by day, and that you would be a voice for righteousness in a decaying world.
That is not an easy call. I know most of you have heard of James Dobson. James Dobson is of course the president and the founder of Focus on the Family. And for 14 years, James Dobson was associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine. And for 17 years, he served on the staff of the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, served in the area of child psychology and medical genetics. And it was in those years that James Dobson began to feel a burden for the American family, began to feel a burden for children in our nation. He began to see the breakdown of the family and began to see how hard it is becoming for moms and dads to raise their children morally in a world that has rejected Judeo-Christian values, in a world where Judeo-Christian values are eroding.
Out of this, by the will of God, he founded Focus on the Family. And of course, he has a daily radio program that is broadcast over 1,450 stations. And I know that James Dobson is something of a controversial figure in the United States of America. Some people like him, some people don’t. Personally, I deeply appreciate him. How can anyone deny that James Dobson is seeking to be salt on the earth in the midst of moral decay? He is at least seeking to be salt on the earth. That call is not just given to James Dobson, but to the church of Christ universal. And it’s given to each and every one of us. We would be salt in the midst of the moral decay. And of course, we are to love sinners as Jesus loves sinners. We are to have compassion on people in the midst of their immorality, recognizing the fact that we too are sinners.
Jesus, though not a sinner, still had compassion on those who were weak. But in the midst of our love and compassion, we are to be faithful, to seek righteousness in our own life and in the culture, and to be a voice, even if it’s an unpopular voice, for a more moral world. Well, this is the first teaching from these twin parables. You are the salt of the earth.
There is of course a second teaching here. And the second teaching is that you are the light. You are the light of the world. And when Jesus said to us, “You are the light of the world,” we should understand that biblically light refers to divine revelation. And Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” And He said that because He is the divine revelation. He is the Son of God. He is the full manifestation of the Father. He is Emmanuel, “God with us,” the visible image of the invisible God, the divine revelation. Light. And He left this world and He said to all who believe in Him and all who love Him, “You are the light of the world.” And He said this to us because He has come into us by His Holy Spirit and He is light. He said this to us because He has entrusted the light of the gospel to us.
You see, the Bible tells us that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. The Bible tells us that those who have fellowship with God have come into the light. But the Bible tells us that the world is separated from God and therefore the world is in darkness. The gospel calls men and women the world over out of darkness into His marvelous light. And we are the light of the world. We have been entrusted with the gospel. We have come into fellowship with the Father, and we are called to invite men and women the world over to join us in that fellowship through the proclamation of the gospel. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid, neither does one light a lamp and hide it under a bushel basket, but places it on a lampstand that it might give light to all who are in the house.” Let your light shine. We have been entrusted with the gospel and we are not to hide that light.
Next Sunday is of course the Super Bowl, super Bowl 33. And our Denver Broncos are going to play the Atlanta Falcons and the Super Bowl will be watched, we are told, by a minimum of 130 million Americans. And the Super Bowl will be broadcast to 144 nations and territories of the Earth. And it will be broadcast in 17 languages and It will be watched by 800 million households worldwide. And many of those watching the Super Bowl will care nothing about football. In fact, market analysts tell us that here in the United States, 7% to 8% of the people who watch the Super Bowl will only be interested in the commercials. They will be watching the Super Bowl because they want to see the commercials. In fact, espn.com is offering a contest where you can rate the commercials. During the Super Bowl last year, the Budweiser lizards won receiving 17,000 of 27,000 votes. But you see, Fox Network is broadcasting the Super Bowl and Fox Network has for this year 58 30-second slots of advertising. And they’re selling each of those 30-second slots for $1,600,000. You can have 30 seconds of advertising during the Super Bowl for $1,600,000.
Fox Network during the Super Bowl through these 58 30-second slots are going to receive $93 million. Counting the advertising that precedes and follows the Super Bowl, they’re going to receive in the aggregate $140 million. And yet corporate America is not backing off. They’re lining up to buy these 30-second slots of time so they can advertise their products. Mars Candy has purchased advertising for this year’s Super Bowl because they want to promote their new crunchy form of M&Ms. And PepsiCo has purchased advertising for this year’s Super Bowl because they want to launch their new diet soda called Pepsi One. They’ve hired Cuba Gooding Jr. to do these Super Bowl advertisements. Of course, Budweiser and Seven Up and Pizza Hut and Visa and AT&T and MasterCard and Nissan and Honda and Volvo and Universal Pictures and Apple Computer and even the World Wrestling Federation have all purchased advertising time for this year’s Super Bowl, spending millions of dollars.
Why are they doing that? because they want to take their product to the world. They want everyone in the world to know about their product and to use their product. They devote their time, their energy, their passion, and yes, millions of dollars to take their product to the nations. And it’s kind of humorous when you consider the fact that their product is crunchy candy or diet soda. And here we, the church of Jesus Christ, have been entrusted with the gospel. And there’s nothing like the gospel. It has the power of salvation. There’s nothing like the gospel of Jesus Christ, which offers forgiveness. The gospel alone is able to offer purpose and meaning in life. There’s nothing like the gospel, which offers life beyond life. The light of the gospel has been entrusted to us. And what are we doing with it?
I mean, it’s worth all of our time. It’s worth all of our talent, all of our energy. It’s worth all of our money. It’s worthy of our time, talent, and treasure. We’ve been told to take the gospel to the nations, to our communities, to our neighborhoods, to our country, to our nation, to the world. And are we hiding it? Are we hiding the light of the gospel or are we taking the gospel to all people? This is the call of Christ upon us this morning.
I’m a pastor, and as a pastor I’ve studied the lives of many pastors through Christian history. And of course, there have been good pastors and pastors and bad pastors. One of my favorite pastors is a man named Alexander White. Alexander White was born in Scotland in 1836, and he intended Aberdeen University and the Free Church College of Edinburgh. He had a deep and a humble love for Jesus.
He entered the gospel ministry and he became a pastor. Ultimately, Alexander White became the pastor of Free St. George’s Church in Edinburgh. And at that time, it was the greatest church in Scotland. Alexander White was considered to be the greatest preacher of his time, but I do not respect him because of that. He became the President of New College in Edinburgh, but that’s not what I respect him for. He became the moderator of the general assembly of the free church in Scotland, but that’s not really what I respect him for either. I respect Alexander White because he never lost his simple love for the gospel.
He never ceased to be amazed at the power of the gospel to save sinners, and he never forgot that he was a sinner saved by grace. By the grace of Christ, Alexander White led thousands of men and women and boys and girls to faith in Jesus Christ while he served at St. George’s Church in Edinburgh. And just a month ago, when Barbara and I were in Scotland, we went with my brother Greg and his Barb and we walked a couple of miles from our hotel in Edinburgh to St. George’s Church. We saw a plaque on the wall there dedicated to Alexander White. And it mentioned his love for the gospel and how he had led so many to Jesus. Of course, he could not have done it had it not been for the power of the Holy Spirit within him. And he could not have done it had it not been for a faithful congregation.
You see, Alexander White had a congregation of people who loved to see others come to Christ. Alexander White had a congregation of people who brought unbelieving friends to church so they might hear the gospel and come out of the darkness into His marvelous light. And it was Alexander White who told the story of Rigby. And I’ve shared that story with you before, but it’s so important, and I intend always to remind you of these things.
Rigby was a businessman. He was not a member of St. George’s Church, but he visited St. George’s Church frequently because his business took him to Edinburgh. Every time he was in Edinburgh on Sunday, he would go to St. George’s Church, but he would never go alone. He always brought a friend; he always brought a guest. He would go into the hotel lobby where he was staying, and he would find a person and invite that person to go to church with him that morning. Perhaps they were reading the newspaper or having a cup of coffee, but he just engaged them in friendly conversation, invite them to go to St. George’s Church.
One Sunday, Rigby invited someone to go with him to St. George’s. And this man went. And during the service that morning, as Alexander White preached, the man that Rigby brought accepted Jesus and asked Him into his heart, and he told Rigby about this. Rigby had never been aware of anyone he’d brought accept Christ before. And he was so excited. He felt like he had a part in someone’s salvation. And after church that Sunday he took a walk around Edinburgh and he was walking on air. He was so thankful that he’d had a small part in bringing someone to Christ. As he walked along, he came across Alexander White’s house. He’d never met Alexander White, but he thought, you know, I’m gonna tell him what happened this morning. And he went and knocked on the door.
Alexander White came to the door and Rigby told him how he had brought a friend and how that person had asked Jesus into his heart and how God had used the sermon that morning. And he just wanted Pastor White to know. Alexander White said, what is your name again? He said, my name is Rigby. Alexander White began to cry. He said, Rigby, I’ve been wanting to meet you for years. He said, come into my house. And he took him back into his study. And Alexander White came out of his study with a stack of envelopes, a stack of letters more than a foot high. Each of those letters had been written by somebody who was sitting in the lobby of a hotel when a man named Rigby had come up to them and invited them to St. George’s Church. Each of them had accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and 12 of them had entered the full-time gospel ministry.
And I love that partly because it reveals the power of the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit anoints the gospel, but also because you see a humble Christian layperson used mightily by God just because that Christian was willing to bring friends to church. And do you understand the call of Christ that’s upon you? Do you understand the Great Commission? Do you understand that we are to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth? We are called to be light. We are the light of the world, and the gospel has been entrusted to us. So we encourage you to bring friends to church and we also encourage you to share your love for Christ with those you know, It’s not easy, but you’ll sense the power and presence of Christ as you do it. And you’ll put a smile on the Lord’s faith.
And someday you’ll hear Him say, well done, good and faithful servant. So we have these twin parables. You are the salt of the earth and you are the light of the world. As Christians, we are called to season this earth with the life and the love and the joy of Christ. And we’re called to stand against the growing moral decay of our culture, no matter what the cost. And we’re called to be light, called to take the gospel to our neighborhoods, to our city, to this nation, and the world. Let’s close with a word of prayer.