The Christian in the World

     “Is not this the fast that I chose; to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke; to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke?”       Isaiah 58:6

     “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste; how shall its saltiness be restored?”                                                                                                                                                                                                     - Matthew 5:13

     “For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God...Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from Gd, that we might understand things freely given us by God                                                                   - I Corinthians 2:10-12

     Do we have a 9-5 mentality assigned not the hours of the day but instead to the days of the week. Do we act one way on Sunday and another the rest of the week? How do you live out your faith outside of the church and home? Is your faith exclusively private? If so, how do you live as a Christian when not in your private setting? Do you see the tension that is building!

     What is expected of a Christian in the world? How would you respond? Before you answer without thinking, we must ask: who we are?  The answer to that question should emanate from your identity - how you see yourself. We have discussed our identities as children of the King and servants of Jesus Christ. The question the believer must ask themselves is this: do you follow the commands of Jesus Christ, or do you bend to the expectation of the world, compartmentalizing your faith into a mere Sunday application and living according to the world’s standards the rest of the week. These are challenging questions that have relevance and meaning today in almost all walks of life, as we see for any believer at any age. That is what Isaiah is pointing out so profoundly in his writing. Did you catch the main points? It is a precursor to the Sermon on the Mount. He is distinguishing true and false fasting. But the fasting isn’t the issue. What he really is distinguishing is true faith from false faith. He is asking why the people have sought God through a ritualistic faith and failed to understand the reason behind the fast. They have not lived out the faith. As we look at Isaiah’s time, we are looking at our days as well, are we living our faith?

   So as we are reminded and challenged and jolted to pay attention to our spiritual walks, we move to the second section of the Sermon on the Mount. As we begin, let us remind ourselves of who we are in Christ, what we are supposed to be doing while on this earth, and then attempt to navigate those instructions in our world. Brace yourself, for Jesus’ Sermon does not provide much wiggle room for us to remain neutral.

    Why does Jesus compare us to salt? Let us look again at the same theme we have examined before. Jesus is not giving some lofty pie in the sky goals or spiritual pearls of wisdom for us to strive for. He is giving us Biblical based characteristics of our identities in him! Consider what Paul says in 1 Corinthians. These words are perhaps the most powerful in all of scripture about the effectiveness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to pay particular attention to the role of the Spirit in our lives in terms of being who Jesus says we are. Do you remember the difference between what Luther and the Reformers defined and applied this passage about the Holy Spirit versus what Rome defined? We see first hand the imputed righteousness of Christ given to us by the Holy Spirit, as Luther defined it versus being “infused” or boosted by the Spirit to do good - i.e. the spiritual “Red Bull” we have called it. They are two very different applications. It is the Spirit that know God and it is the Spirit that knows us. We are united in the Spirit. So by and through the Spirit, we can know God and what pleases God. That is why the wisdom of prevailing ages is nothing compared to the eternal, constant and non-changing wisdom of God through Jesus Christ!

  Listen to how Dr. Sinclair Ferguson summarizes our being the salt of the earth.

  “Jesus himself had this ‘zest’ [for his Father’s Kingdom]. By his very presence, he raised the spirits of the people. OF course, there came parting og the ways with those who would not follow him, but even they knew that there was a quality about his life that could not be explained in natural terms.

Not was this zest the cheap and tawdry and often egocentric ‘joy’ or ‘charisma’ we sometimes encounter today masquerading as Christianity. Jesus’ attractiveness did not draw attention to itself. It did not need to, because it was genuine. You do not need to draw attention to real quality; it speaks for itself.”

  As each of you live out your lives, be the salt of the earth. It requires commitment, dedication and service to Jesus Christ. Will the world see Christ in you? That is the challenge of being salt.

  Your Fellow Christian in the World,

Pastor Harry