When Lucy and I were courting I took her to see her first and only East Anglian derby at Portman Road. It was a tense and passionate game, and we were sat in a stand of about 7000 Ipswich fans. In last few minutes Norwich scored and for one guy in the stand it was too much; he stood up and took of his coat to reveal a yellow and green Norwich shirt underneath. For 85 minutes he’d managed to keep his true allegiance hidden but now he stood out like a sore thumb.

Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is teaching his disciples the characteristics of the citizens of the kingdom of heaven, how their allegiance to him will show itself. Last week we saw that the consequences of that allegiance lived out would be persecution both physical and verbal because such a life is counter cultural and highlights the sin of the world.

(13-16)Jesus now turns to teach his disciples how they and we ought to respond to that persecution. The temptation, the natural response would be what? To retreat, keep quiet or hide our distinctiveness. But when the world persecutes the believer or the church Jesus says don’t go into hiding but meet their persecution with service and distinctiveness.

1. You are distinctive - so be what you are!
I guess you have heard all sorts of explanations about the phrase ‘salt of the earth’. It’s a purifier - so Christians purify society, or it gives taste - so Christians are to flavour the world, it preserves things - so Christians are to preserve society and so on. But as we’ve looked at the beatitudes we’ve seen that they are not new ideas, but that Jesus is expounding and building on God’s word in the Old Testament. That’s made clear(10-12) when Jesus says "for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." and (17-20)as he teaches them he comes to fulfil the law not abolish it. So these two images salt and light must have more than just cultural roots they must have biblical roots, bible words have bible meanings.

The most significant use of salt in the Old Testament is in making covenants and bringing offerings.

Lev 2:13 "Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings."

Num 18:19 "Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and your sons and daughters as your perpetual share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD for both you and your offspring."

2 Chronicles 13:5 "Don't you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?"

Salt in each case was a reminder of the permanence of Israel’s relationship with God, or of God’s promise. It functioned as a reminder that they were God’s covenant people.

Notice here how Jesus begins; "You are..." it’s not a possibility - ‘you may be’, or conditional - ‘you shall be if...’, but "You are the salt of the earth." You are God’s permanent people; it is a status now live up to it is the encouragement.

Salt cannot lose its saltiness but it can become so intermingled and mixed up with other minerals that it is useless, that it loses its distinctiveness. Jesus is calling his people, the citizens of the kingdom of heaven to live as his permanent distinctive people. You are God’s people so don’t hide.

In the film The Incredibles all the superheroes have gone into hiding after being sued by those they rescued. They must not reveal who they are and their special powers which make them distinctive, they must blend in.

That is exactly the pressure Jesus disciples face in the book of Acts, and which we face today. We live in a society where gospel distinctiveness is not popular and where it will lead to persecution.

Believing Jesus is the only way, teaching that marriage between a man and a woman for life is the only biblical pattern will soon show you the world’s intolerance. Living as Jesus has called his people to live will highlight sin in others and lead to persecution. The pressure we face to is to keep our heads down, to blend in, to disguise or mask our distinctiveness.

But Jesus says be what you are - you are God’s permanent covenant people and you are distinctive so live it out, don’t hide. Be what you are!

2. You are Distinctive; Light up the Darkness
Jesus then paints a second picture as he encourages them to be distinctive, "You are the light of the world."

Light is a more familiar Bible image, it stands for the truth often against the pitch darkness of the sin, unbelief and opposition of the world around it. In Isaiah 60 God says of Zion:
"Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

As Israel returns from the exile and is restored it will be a light blazing in the darkness of the world and the nations will come. That light in Isaiah is associated with the coming of the Servant who is also described as a light.

Jesus is the light come into the darkness and so his people as they live out the gospel become lights in the darkness. They are not to be hidden; the purpose of lighting a light is to illuminate the darkness.

The film I am Legend is about a world where a vaccine has had terrible consequences and killed most of humanity, turning others into vicious un-civilised barbarians and left only a few who had natural immunity. At the end of the film the vaccine is taken to the last surviving community of humans and the film fades to black with the words 'Light up the darkness.' In other words they have the cure now they can bring change.

That is what Jesus is saying his disciples will do; they will light up the darkness as they reveal and live out their distinctiveness as his kingdom people. The light of the gospel at work, of the kingdom on earth, is needed in a dark world. Our lives need to be on display not hidden away.

But how? (16)"let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds..." The distinctive counter culture of the kingdom lived out will provide that light. The Christian who mourns their sin and is seen by others to be changing will be a light. The believer who displays honesty and integrity and refuses to rob their employer by being lazy is light. The disciple whose greatest desire is not things but to know God, the one who shows mercy instead of demanding justice illuminates the world. The one who stands against injustice on behalf of the helpless and weak, the one who serves by doing the task no one else is willing to, the one who looks to resolve conflict, the one who shares the great news of peace with God.

If you look back to Britain’s history you see men like William Wilberforce who stood up for the slaves and fought to abolish slavery because of gospel convictions. Britain’s history is littered with lights as Christians lived out the kingdom and changed the world.

3 challenges from this passage:
1. Am I distinctive? Jesus says his followers are distinctive - they are salt and light. It is not an option it is what you are. But the question is will we let that distinctiveness show as we live under his kingship? We are to be different, be changed and be changing in attitude, action and desires.

2. Am I prepared for peoples reactions? if(10-12) show us one possible reaction - persecution, then (16)show us another, it is that seeing such living, such distinctiveness such change brought about by the gospel that people "glorify your Father in heaven." Neither reaction is to shake us, persecution is not to make us hide and glorifying God is not to make us proud.

3. Do I live by grace not performance? Sometimes this passage makes us feel guilty - we feel; our failure to be distinctive. That is a right response but often it leads us to react wrongly - if we just feel guilty we will not change - at least not significantly and not long term. This is about kingdom distinctives, and what makes the kingdom distinctive is that it is founded on grace. Its members are those who know there is nothing they can bring to God to earn salvation. They are saved by grace, their hope of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I am not saved by my performance I am always saved by Jesus Christ. You are the salt and light - why? How? Not because we try to hard to be but because he has made us it! It is ours already - you are distinctive so be distinctive is the call. It is what he has made you, not what you make yourself - light up the darkness.

Lighthouse