Matthew 5:13-16 (NIV) 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.
Revelation 21:1-4 (NIV) 1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
To seek justice is to answer Jesus’ claim and command that you are the salt of the earth. We are called to be people who influence others around us, and influence involves not only changing lives but also changing laws, structures and organizations. We get involved because it is Biblical. We are called to be salt of influence in lives and laws. We are called to seek justice in our world and we are called to be salt as individuals.
We have been given the power of the humble Galilean to be salt and light in our society. In Jesus we are given clear, certain convictions. Sometimes these convictions come to us when there bursts forth in our minds a thought that imposes itself on us by its own authority, a thought that it is in keeping with the life and spirit of Jesus. The spirit of Jesus gives us clear and certain convictions but those convictions do not simply drop from the sky into our hearts. They come to us from spiritual practices, from doing things like having a daily devotional time, weekly worship, disciplined regular giving, listening to God’s people, and seeking to share our convictions given to us by Jesus Christ.
There is a real risk to being salt. There is the risk of being defeated. There is the risk of being corrupted. There is a risk of being wrong. But, we are not called into a riskless responsibility. We are not called to create the new Jerusalem or to establish a Christian nation. We are called to make the injustice and disorder of the world a little more like the way God wants it to be, the way God will one day cause it to be.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope August 27, 2000
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell
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