Showing Up
Notes
Transcript
Showing Up
Christian
We are in week 4 in our series, “Christian”.
We are talking about how Jesus never called His followers, “Christians”.
Actually followers of Jesus never called themselves “Christians”.
They called themselves disciples.
We’ve been talking about how the word Christian isn’t really defined in the Bible.
But that word “disciple” is actually well defined.
Last week we talked about how Christians can be stuck just on what they believe and Disciples are focused on what they can do.
That’s important because Jesus actually called us to do something.
He called us to make disciples.
Making disciples is not just for Pastors and missionaries.
We then talked about how one of the reasons we don’t reach out to the lost and make disciples is we are confused by this issue of judging.
Many times as believers we look down and judge non-believers, all the while letting Christians do and live however they want because they call themselves “Christians”.
We’ve gotten it backwards.
We discussed in 1 Corinthians 5 where Paul actually tells us that we are not called to judge people outside the church but are called to judge those inside.
Judging in just another word for accountability.
Today the title of my message is, “Showing Up”.
We’re going to look at probably Jesus’ most inspiring message He ever preached.
Some might say this message is what set the world on fire.
What inspired his followers to really go out into the world and preach the gospel.
We call this message, “the sermon on the mount”.
It’s found in Matthew 5.
We’re going to start in verse 13 where He just got done going over what we call the beatitudes.
Matthew 5:13 “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.”
Why would Jesus say we are salt?
What is salt?
Salt is a preservative.
Preservative is “a substance added to food to prevent decomposition due to chemical or bacterial action.”
When we talk about food a lot of people will mention how certain foods are full of preservatives.
Why do food companies put preservatives in food?
To make it last longer.
So it doesn’t get moldy and nasty too quickly.
Preservatives keep things from becoming rotten or stinky.
The Jewish people at this time are well aware of what salt is and what it is meant for.
Jesus is making the statement that, “You are the preservative of this world.”
If you don’t preserve, this world is going to rot, it’s going to stink.
Jesus is saying, you are the last stand for what is good!
YOU are the preservers of what’s right and TRUE.
Notice how he doesn’t say, “You WILL be salt”.
He says, “YOU ARE SALT”!
If you are a disciple of Jesus you are called to be the salt of the earth.
The preserver of truth.
Unfortunately in our culture I don’t know how good of a job the church is doing in preserving the truth.
Many “Christians” today have tried to manipulate the scriptures to fit what they WANT to be true, rather than reading the Word and just believe what it says.
Whether it’s issues like abortion, gay marriage, or just sex outside of marriage.
The church is starting to accept these types of issues even though the bible is clear on these topics.
But our culture is accepting of it, so many “Chrisitians” have bought the lie that if our culture accepts it, why shouldn’t we?
God gave us the Word so that we could study it and KNOW what the truth is.
It is our job to preserve that truth and stand up for what’s right.
I’m sure we all could look at the Bible and read something that we wish wasn’t there or that God approved of.
But it’s not about us!
It’s not about what we WANT to be true or what we want to be right!
It’s about preserving what the Lord has already spoken.
We have an obligation, if you are going to be a true disciple of Christ, to be 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,”
Jesus is saying if salt loses its saltiness, then it’s useless.
There’s no benefit to it!
There’s no POWER to do what it’s supposed to.
This is what happens when disciples of Jesus don’t live and speak the truth.
As soon as we stop speaking and preaching the TRUTH of the Word of God, we lose our power and our saltiness, therefore we are “no longer good for anything” when it comes to the kingdom of God.
We need to STAY SALTY!
When the church loses its saltiness we’re in trouble.
Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Once again, He says, “YOU ARE”.
You are the LIGHT!
During this time they would build houses on hills so at night you could see these homes or towns for miles when they would light their lamps.
Pastor Doug saw this for himself when he went to Israel.
That’s where we got the name City Church.
These towns were strategically placed on the hills.
Jesus is saying you are a Strategically Placed Town!
You’re a light!
And you are placed where you are right now to be that light.
Did you notice how Jesus said that a town on a hill CANNOT be hidden?
When the light of these towns are on there is no way to hide.
Jesus is saying that’s the same thing for you and me.
YOU are the light, and that light should shine in a way that can’t be hidden.
15 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.
I love how Jesus uses common sense analogies.
And remember they don’t have electricity at this time.
So He’s saying at night when you light your oil lamps to give light in the house, do you then put a bowl over it?
Of course not! It defeats the purpose of the light.
So what do you do?
You put it on a stand and make it as high as you can so the light can illuminate the room easier.
Because even if you light a lamp and put it on the floor it’s going to be very limited on how far the light reaches.
But placing it up where everyone can see makes all the difference.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Jesus is saying this is EXACTLY how it should be for my disciples.
You have this light in you, it’s called JESUS!
And we are called to shine that light for all to see.
Not to hide it under a bowl
But to put it on a stand and let it illuminate everyone around us.
So how do we hide our light?
You hide your light when you purposefully keep your faith to yourself.
“Well my buddies at work are definitely not Christians and I just don’t want them to act differently around me if they find out I’m a Christian.”
So instead I’ll just keep my light under a bowl and not give them the opportunity to see what God could do for them.
Hiding your light is when maybe your co-workers or peers know you are a Christian but you don’t want them to feel uncomfortable around you so you just do whatever they do!
“I want to be part of the group to witness to them and they like to go to the bar after work and get trashed, so I just go with them so they feel comfortable with me.”
“But it’s ok, because I mentioned Jesus when I was with them. It might’ve been after I rammed my knee into a bar stool but I mentioned Jesus.”
Why are we so afraid to show the world we are disciples of Jesus?
Which means I’m not going to be afraid to admit I’m a follower and SURELY am not going to be afraid to live the life He called me to live.
And that means staying away from the things of this world that He speaks out against.
We have to understand something about when it comes to reaching this world for Jesus.
Jesus will NEVER call you to SIN to reach someone for Him!
Jesus calls us to be HOLY, which means to be set apart!
Sin is putting that bowl over your light.
You see this world is the darkness.
You have the light.
The light can’t be seen if it’s blending in with the darkness.
The light is something that STANDS OUT!
That’s DIFFERENT FROM THE DARKNESS!
And when you truly commit to being a disciple of Jesus and to living the life He called you to live, you WILL stand out.
Your co-workers are going to see that you don’t act like them.
That you don’t treat people the same as them.
You’re going to be different.
And what’s that difference going to do?
“that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
When people see the light of Jesus coming out of you, which they see by your good deeds, it’s going to draw them to you and ultimately HIM.
People should see the way you live your life and not just say, “they’re a good person.”
They should look at us and say, “WHO DOES THAT?”
Who treats people like that?
Who’s that generous?
Who gives an employee that many chances?
When we live life that way it’s going to lead people to GOD not you!
I don’t want people to look at me and say, “oh he’s so nice! He’s such a good person!”
NO, I want them to say, “he’s not normal! There’s something different about him and I want to know what it is!”
There are people in this church who do a GREAT job of this!
And I’m sure there are some here that are just like, “hey I’m a Christian, leave me alone.”
Jesus never called you “Christian!”
He called you SALT, he called you LIGHT
My wife and I just read a parenting book where the author talks about how she has taught her kids about this verse.
That this is how they are supposed to live as Christians.
So what she does everyday when her kids go off to school is she tells them, “Be Salt, Be Light, Be Love.”
And we’re trying to establish that with our kids along with ourselves.
Be Salt!
Be the preservers of truth.
Be the preservers of what’s good.
Stand up for what’s right
Stand up for the truth.
Be Light
Be proud to be a disciple of Jesus
Live in a way that DRAWS people to you by the way you live your life.
Be Love
Treat EVERYONE with the love of Christ.
Let them know you are a disciple of Jesus by the way you love people.
If the church in America REALLY lived this way I believe we would see revival in this country like never before.
And this country is ready for revival.
So this morning my challenge to you is to reflect on your life and ask yourself if you think you’ve truly been salt and light in your life.
Ask God to reveal those moments that maybe you haven’t been and to repent and make a commitment to God going forward that THIS is how you are going to live your life!
Altar Call