Lighting up the House

Matthew 5:13-20New International Version (NIV)

Salt and Light

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.

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot 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. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

The Fulfillment of the Law

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

I know I have told you all of you this before but a wise man once told me to never apologize for a sermon... and that has been extremely difficult for me this week.  I threw too much out last week.  It was a lot to try to get in a sermon and it turned out to be bland and not very well tied together.  The purpose and intent was there but it was like an offensive coordinator running the same unsuccessful play over and over and over again.  A wise woman once told me that my best sermons focus on one subject and work on hammering it home.  I am always reminded of this by the acronym K.I.S.S.  Keep It Simple Stupid.  Last week’s sermon could have been improved by simply saying, “Too much of a good thing can be detrimental.  No matter how good that good thing appears to be.”  And I could have used varying examples to make such a point.  I am thankful to get that off my chest and we can now look more closely at our text for this week.

It’s no secret that today is Superbowl SUNDAY, SUNday, sunday.  We will tune in for the commercials and {hopefully} a good game breaks out.  Both of these teams are made up of good players and coaches.  All of them must work together better than they have all year to stand a chance to win.  Winning this game means the winning team gets to call themselves “Champion” and what a feeling that must be.  There are coaches who call the plays and the players whose job it is to execute said plays.  The team who does that best this evening will be crowned champion.  Every player receives a playbook when they report to mini-camp.  That playbook is the key to a successful season.  It’s like the analogy of a piano when I said that there aren’t two sets of keys, the correct ones and the wrong ones.  Every play in that book is designed for success.  The timing and execution of those plays determines their success just like playing the piano.  In drawing the comparison for Christians as a football team, we are the players.  Jesus is the Coach.  The Scriptures are the playbook.  The Holy Spirit is the many hours of sweat, tears and training we have poured into the execution of the plays.  God is the General Manager of the team.  And our baptism is like the Gatorade bath.  Paul often compared the church to the body of Christ.  Today I am asking you to compare the Church to a team.  

Whether we like it or not, we are in this together.  And I mean all of us.  Every single human being is a part of this team.  As Christians, we are the leaders of this team.  What are some characteristics of good leaders?  Humility.  Character.  Bringing everyone into community.  Strength.  Courage.  Knowing the fine lines that exist all around us.  We learn from our coach.  We study the playbook.  We take notes of the opponent.  We learn from our mistakes.  We are the salt of the earth.  We are the city built on a hill.  We are the light on the stand.  The quarterback is often considered the leader of the team.  No matter how good he is, he is still reliant on 10 other guys executing their jobs correctly in order to be successful.  He can’t block the defensive line and hand off the ball.  He cannot throw a pass while running a route.  He cannot pickup the blitzing linebacker and scramble outside the pocket.  If you’re an offensive minded person you may consider yourself the quarterback and if defense is your thing, you may consider yourself the middle linebacker.  Here is where I would like to rattle off the responsibilities of the middle linebacker but..... K.I.S.S.  By acting on your personal relationship with Christ, you are a leader.  You have been given the tools to be successful.  Many different types of quarterbacks have found success because they were good leaders and used the skills given to them in ways that allowed their team to be successful.  Same goes for you.  

Matthew offers us a warning: “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.”  We are the quarterback, the salt, but if we choose not to use our gifts to lead our team then we have lost our effectiveness. We are no longer salty.  That is why we must “let our light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  This is where I think we can draw a parallel to last week: too much of anything can be detrimental to the team.  Sometimes the quarterback changes the play when he recognizes something in the defense but if he becomes too reliant on this and stops listening to his coach, he is setting himself up for failure.  If he begins to trust his own athletic ability over his teammates’ ability, he will cease to be effective.  If he doesn’t study his playbook (Scripture), he may not know which route his receivers are running, how his offensive line is blocking, or which linebacker the running back is responsible for.  He may be blindsided, if you will, if he doesn’t know his playbook.  If he quits putting the work in then he is not prepared.  In other words, if we stop communicating with and through the Holy Spirit, we will face the same demise.  We are the salt of the earth.  However, with ability of free will, we can lose our saltiness.  We may be the best quarterback on the planet, but we may lose our effectiveness.  

We are a team.  Our success not only relies on the work we have put in but also on the effectiveness of those around us.  It’s no secret there is so much negativity around us but what are we doing about it.  Going back to the quarterback analogy... We may have had a tough first half but the game isn’t over.  What adjustments are we going to make.  Let’s get back to listening to our Coach.  Let’s get back to the drawing board by digging back into our playbook.  Let’s get back to being a good leader through our humility, our compassion, our ability to hear the other side out.  There is no reason we cannot be that city on a hill or that light on the stand.  There is no reason we cannot bring light to all of God’s house.  Why are we keeping it hidden?  LET IT SHINE!  We want to blame our politicians and media for dividing this country but we are the only ones who are allowing it to happen.  I know you may think you are 100% correct in seeing the world the way you do but have you heard the other side out?  They are just as convinced about their convictions as you are.  Too much of a good thing can become detrimental.  In other words, thinking too highly of your own opinions and convictions is unhealthy.  The quarterback who only thinks their job is important will not have success.  The quarterback who quits listening to his coach will not have success.  We are not designed to be successful in life and faith on our own.  We were designed perfectly to share it with one another.  

NOW GET OUT THERE AND DOMINATE THE SECOND HALF!