Stay Salty, Matthew 5:11-16

This sermon is from Redeemer's final service before merging with First Baptist Church of Milton.

In Redeemer's final service, Pastor Aaron Shamp explores the themes of purpose, decay, distinctiveness, and deliverance as he reflects on the teachings of Jesus about being the salt and light of the world. He emphasizes the importance of understanding our role in a decaying world, preparing for opposition, and living distinctively as Christians. The sermon culminates in the assurance of deliverance through Christ and the call to rejoice in our eternal reward.

Takeaways

• The gospel has the power to transform lives.
• We are called to be salt and light in a decaying world.
• The world is in a state of decay and darkness.
• Prepare yourself for opposition and difficulty.
• We must engage with the world to remain salty.
• Being light means living out good works publicly.
• Distinctiveness is essential in our Christian walk.
• We are called to persevere for Christ's sake.
• Our deliverance is secured through Christ's work.
• Rejoice in the face of persecution because of our eternal reward.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the Beatitudes and Purpose
02:50 Understanding Decay in the World
11:00 The Distinctiveness of Believers
17:51 Living as Salt and Light
29:49 Deliverance Through Christ

Creators & Guests

Host

Aaron Shamp

Lead Pastor of Redeemer City Church

What is Redeemer City Church - Lafayette, LA?

Pastor Aaron Shamp preaches about the Gospel and facets of Christianity at Redeemer City Church. These podcasts are his sermons.

Aaron Shamp (00:16.014)
Once again, we'll be in Matthew chapter 5 and I'm going to start reading in verse 11. So right at the end of the Beatitudes.

Aaron Shamp (00:28.534)
And we'll also have the text on the screens next to me so you can follow along there if you need. But I'm going be reading Matthew chapter 5 and verses 11 through 16. So if we're all there and ready, we'll go ahead and jump in. OK.

Jesus said, you were blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty?

It's no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lamp stand. And it gives light for all those who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

So over the years at Redeemer, you guys know that I like to different people. I like to philosophers and theologians. I think sometimes some of y'all's eyes roll whenever I say, CS Lewis once said, or I pull out a reference from Schaeffer or Tolkien or somebody. And so I want to do the same thing today as I open with another great quote from a philosopher. This being Lincoln Park.

Aaron Shamp (02:14.86)
And one their songs, Linkin Park, saying, I want to heal. I want to feel like I'm close to something real. I want to find something I've wanted all along, somewhere I belong. There's a lot of songs in pop culture and even in alternative music, indie music, whatever else, that touches on these same themes. These themes that I think that they capture in those couple of lines really well, which are an experience of brokenness in the world, a sense of brokenness in

who we are, but then also with that brokenness, a desire to find, as he says, the place I belong or desire to find a purpose in the world. Like, why am I here? What is my life all about? Those two things tend to go together because we know that if we can find our purpose or that place I belong, if we understand what life is all about, as another great philosopher, Scott Stapp, saying, what's this life for?

When we find that thing, then we also find healing to our brokenness. In our Redeemer Sunsetting, I wanted to share something that I think embodies what we've always been about and what I hope you will continue as you continue to be salt and light in the world. And that is that we have always believed that the gospel has the power to transform lives, to heal us of that brokenness. The gospel has the power to transform lives, to transform the world.

We believe that the gospel speaks to more than just your personal spirituality, but that it declares Christ's lordship over all of the earth. And so we believe it has the power to transform lives, it has the power to transform the world, and that we have a role in God's plan to do that. And so considering those themes is what brings me to this passage today and what we're gonna reflect on as we live in this particular moment. We're gonna look at three things.

And they're all three D's, so very Baptist of me today. We're gonna look at decay, distinctiveness, and deliverance are the three things we're gonna consider today, the three headings. Decay, distinctiveness, and deliverance. So in these verses, right here at the very end of the Beatitudes, which is the introduction to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, towards the end of the Beatitudes and here in what he goes into after the Beatitudes.

Aaron Shamp (04:38.988)
Jesus talks about, bless you, when you were persecuted. And he goes straight from talking about persecution and persevering through persecution, whatever form it might take. Notice he says persecution, but he also talks about slander or whenever they say false things about you. These are also, you know, being spoken of falsely, being mocked and all these things are forms of persecution, though perhaps you may not be suffering bodily, but the opposition is still in the same category.

He talks about that, but blessed are you when you persevere through it for His name's sake. And then he goes into talking about being salt in the world and light in the world. Jesus is teaching on our purpose in the world, which is what I'm going to get to. But first I want us to see something else that he's saying in these statements. He's speaking to our purpose in the world, but he's also making some implicit statements about the condition of our world. Why are we persecuted?

Right? Why is it necessary that we remain salty? As he says, why must we be salt and why must we be light in the world? When we ask these questions and Jesus is teaching about our purpose, we see he's making some implicit statements here about the condition of our world. And so that's the first thing that I want to point out here is that Jesus declares that the world is in a state of decay. Jesus declares that our world is in a state of decay.

Let me bring out three things that he says about the condition of our world that once again are implicit in what he says about our purpose. So first of all, he says that the world is opposed to the kingdom of God. Once again, why should we expect persecution? This is not only present in Jesus's words here, but we see in other places in the New Testament over and over again, wherever it talks about belief, wherever it's in stories through acts or Paul's letters, wherever it talks about

suffering and enduring opposition, the New Testament assumes that these things will happen. It rarely ever says if, right? If you are opposed, if you suffer, if you endure hardships, it says when, right? Because the world is opposed to the kingdom of God. It's important that we keep this in mind, that we remember that we are living in, that we live as soldiers in spiritual warfare.

Aaron Shamp (07:04.3)
that we are engaged in a battle that yes, is not with flesh and blood as Paul says, but we engage with a battle that is on the level of truth. We engage in a battle that is on the level of worldview and what worldview, what God will reign supreme over the world. The God of this world does not want Christ to reign. The God of this world does not wanna see the kingdom grow and flourish. The God of this world does not wanna see.

believers in loving harmony with one another, living as salt and light. So the world is opposed to the kingdom. We are living in spiritual warfare and we must remember this. We must keep this in mind so that we are not surprised by the opposition that we face. Not only spiritual warfare, but also just the very other mundane types of warfare that we experience whenever the culture opposes us. Maybe even on the personal level if you experience mockery at work.

misunderstanding and alienation from family members, neighbors and so on who just don't get you because of your faith. Don't be surprised at all these things. So first of all, we see that the kingdom, that the world is opposed to the kingdom of God. Jesus says that whenever he tells us, bless you when you're persecuted. But secondly, he tells us that the world is in a state of decay. He says, you are the salt of the world and

we have to be salt in the world. Now why is he saying that? Okay, now whenever I speak about any type of seasoning in a Cajun setting, we immediately go to food, cooking, and so on. He's not talking about like making something taste good, right? He's not talking about throw a little extra Tony's on it, right? Whenever Jesus is talking about being salt in the world, and I'm sure many of you have heard this before, but whenever he's talking about being salt in the world, he is talking about being salt in a different sense.

than being used as a seasoning to flavor something. Back then, you know, they didn't have refrigeration like we do. And so in order to preserve their food, specifically their meats, from decaying too quickly, what they would do was, is they would rub salt into the meat to prevent it from decaying. And so whenever Jesus is telling us that we are the salt of the world, it's in this sense that Jesus is using that metaphor there.

Aaron Shamp (09:24.588)
Once again, he's not saying that we're a little extra seasoning, a little extra flavor in the world. What he's saying is that he has sent us into the world. He has us here in order to be a preservative because without the saltiness of the kingdom, the world will go into decay. We have more examples than we could possibly, than we have time for to go through in this room, examples of how our world is in a state of decay, right?

We see it in national issues. We see it in politics. We see it in cultural war battles. We see it in the political system. We see it in our schools. We see it in our neighborhoods, right? We can see over and over again how our world is in a state of decay. Look, even like go buy some bananas, right? And you, at the store, they're beautiful and bright yellow. And then by noon the next day, they're black, right? They're decay. Our world is in a state of decay, but not only in with our food, but...

spiritually as well, in the condition of people. You know, just to give you one specific example, last Sunday night, there was a party right here in this room where a fight broke out and someone was stabbed. And I think roughly 15 police units had to show up, ambulance and so on, right here in the room in the midst of the holidays, right? The holidays truly bring out the best in people, doesn't it? Right here.

Right, so we can see from examples in this own very room, and like I said, numerous others in our neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, our city, our nation, and so on, that the world is in a state of decay. And so it is necessary that we be that force of preservative in the world. So that's the second thing that Jesus is telling us, that the world is in a state of decay, declining towards death. The third thing that he says, implicitly in his teaching here,

is that the world is in a state of darkness. So the world as opposed to the kingdom is in a state of decay, but it's also in a state of darkness. This is implied when he says, you are the light of the world. He doesn't say you are one of the lights. He doesn't say you are some of the light, right? He is not assuming that there is any other source of light outside of his kingdom. You are the light of the world. That implies that everything else in the world is darkness.

Aaron Shamp (11:50.624)
Now, what is he referring to here? It's similar to the idea of the world being in a state of moral and spiritual decay, right? That there is moral and spiritual darkness in the world. There are wicked deeds that can only be done in darkness, right? That don't want to be exposed by the light. He means that as well. But also what Jesus means, whenever we look at the metaphors or the motif,

of light and darkness in scripture, very, very often the highest meaning here is speaking to truth and falsehood, right? The idea of there being darkness and light invading the darkness is the idea of truth piercing through lies to expose them as lies. So whenever Jesus is speaking to us being light in the world, he is saying that the world is a place of darkness, which means a place of lies and a falsehood

Therefore, the light of truth must be lived through us in the kingdom. Now, what does this all mean? Whenever we reflect on what Jesus is saying about the state of our world, what it means is this. These things are a given. In every culture throughout all of human history, these things are present. This is why the New Testament assumes that we will experience them. Therefore, prepare yourself for opposition and difficulty.

Prepare yourself for opposition and difficulty. Now what I mean by prepare yourself is what I mean is don't hunker down. Don't hear these things about the state of our world, its opposition, its darkness, its decay, and say, well, the world is going to hell in a handbasket, so I'm just going to hunker down, sit by, and wait until the good Lord takes me home, right? Until he comes back and takes me home. Don't hunker down.

That is not the point of what Jesus is saying here. That is not the point of any teaching in not less the New Testament, but the whole scripture. It doesn't mean hunker down. What it means is prepare yourself for it so that whenever it comes, you may face it in Christ. For when we suffer in Christ, the scripture tells us we are more than conquerors. So if we prepare ourselves, then we know that the opposition, the decay and the darkness cannot defeat

Aaron Shamp (14:14.41)
our role in the kingdom of God. Let me read to you what Paul says in 2 Timothy chapter 1. In verse 8, Paul wrote, he's writing this from prison, by the way, to Timothy. So from prison, being imprisoned for sharing the gospel, Paul says, don't be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me, his prisoner. You see, back then, to have your leader thrown to prison was shameful.

It was shameful and it was embarrassing. It didn't look good on the rest of the community. Paul's encouraging him, don't let that stop you, right? He's saying, don't be ashamed about the gospel. He says, instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God. He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according

to his own purpose and grace which he has given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel, I was appointed as a herald, apostle, and teacher. And that is why I suffer these things, but I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and have persuaded that he is able to guard what has been trusted to me

until that day. He goes on in chapter two and he continues to tell Timothy the same thing. He says, you therefore my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, which you have heard from me and the presence of many witnesses commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. In verse three, he continues, he says, share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life.

He seeks to please the commanding officer. Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer ought to be the first to get a share of the crops. What Paul is telling us here is prepare for suffering, prepare for opposition, prepare to endure the fallen state of our world, but in preparing, prepare like as a soldier does. Soldiers don't sit by, or good soldiers at least, they don't sit by

Aaron Shamp (16:43.138)
and get lazy, out of shape, rusty with their skills, just waiting until the enemy attacks. No, good soldiers, warriors, they are always preparing, training so that whenever the attack comes, they are ready to engage it. The athlete as well, the athlete trains, prepares, disciplines themselves so that on the day of competition, on the floor, they can compete, they can stand. So in the same way,

like a soldier, like an athlete, like a farmer who works in the planting season, prepare yourself, prepare yourself for opposition and difficulty. It is into this world of darkness and decay that Jesus is calling us. The only way that you will have hope and that you will know how to live in the face of this world that is in this state of darkness, decay and opposition is if you know and believe, if you have heard that God is calling you.

He has a purpose for you in this world that the darkness of the world cannot overcome, that the darkness of the world cannot remove, get rid of, or defeat. What is his purpose for us? That we are distinct in the world. He says, whenever you are opposed by wicked men, persevere for my name's sake. In the state of decay of our world, be salt.

in the state of darkness in our world be light. He's calling us to a distinctive life. Jesus declares that we have a purpose in this world. First of all, we are called to persevere for Christ. So don't quit. Don't quit. Whenever you are misunderstood, whenever you are mocked, slandered, and persecuted in any other form, don't quit.

Secondly, he is calling us, as I said before, to be a preservative. Salt must stay salty and salt has to be rubbed into the meat in order for it to work. So if we are going to be salt, if we're gonna stay salty in this world, what that means is that we can't remove ourselves from the world. Christians throughout time, some small groups of Christians have attempted to do this.

Aaron Shamp (19:03.896)
They have thought that the best way to keep the gospel pure, to keep their fellowship pure from the world, to walk closer to the Lord, was to remove themselves from the world, to break off into their own communities and silos where they were not influenced by the corrupting influences of the world and the persecution of the world. We see many different Christians throughout history attempting this. We see Christians attempting similar things today, being told that we ought to just disengage from the world, let the world go.

as it will, let it decay, let it fall apart, and we will remove ourselves and in our own protected communities keep ourselves pure and so on. But this is to would be to lose our saltiness. For the salt to be the preservative it is supposed to be, it has to be rubbed into the meat. That means that if we're going to stay salty, we have to be engaged in the world. Even as it opposes us.

even as it is decaying, even as we fight the darkness and decaying that would influence us, we have to stay engaged in the world. The great theologian John Stott said this. He said, our place is to be rubbed into the secular community as salt is rubbed into meat to stop it going bad. And when society does go bad, we Christians tend to throw our hands up in pious horror and reproach the non-Christian world.

But should we not rather reproach ourselves? One can hardly blame unsalted meat for going bad. It cannot do anything else. The real question to ask is, where is the salt? When we look at the state of our nation today, the state of the West in general, which was once greatly influenced by Christianity, where the Christian worldview was the dominant worldview, when we look at the state of the West today,

we can see that it is certainly in a state of decay. It is like that putrefied meat that has gone bad because that is all that it can do. When we look around the state of our world, will we throw up our hands like Stott says? Will we try to retreat away and disengage? Or will we ask that question, where is the salt? And if we ask that question, it's going to lead us to this place, which is that, where's the salt? Well, Jesus is calling you to be the salt.

Aaron Shamp (21:34.69)
We are called to persevere for Christ. We are called to be a preservative. And third, we are called to be a light. Jesus kind of mixes two metaphors here together where he says, you are the light of the world. And he says, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Right, he's kind of blending these metaphors together, which is something in literature you're not supposed to do, but Jesus gets a pass for that. He blends these metaphors together to give us this picture of

The kingdom of God is like a bright shining city that is set on a hill. That is what we are intended to be. The light of truth, the light of the gospel piercing into the darkness, which is the domain of lies, exposing those lies, exposing those deeds of darkness that are done in the darkness, those deeds of evil that are done in the darkness to expose those things. We do it through speaking the truth, declaring the truth into our world, but

Let's not overlook that Jesus also mentions that being light means living in good works.

So we cannot speak the truth but have lives that look differently. We understand that this is all too possible for us as human beings to speak one thing or to confess with our mouths that we believe one thing but our lives to show something radically, radically different. Being light means both together. You cannot just live the good works but then put the light under a basket

and not speak the truth. On the other hand, we have no legitimacy, no matter how great our theology is, if our lives do not match what we are preaching. This is all too possible for all of us. And so we need to watch ourselves. Moreover, once we have that truth, and once we are living those good works, it must be done publicly.

Aaron Shamp (23:35.64)
Don't walk in the ways of darkness at work and then try to walk in the ways of the light at church.

Those good works have to be lived out publicly. Once again, the theme that holds all these three things together is distinctiveness. Jesus is calling us to be distinct from the world. Are you distinct at work? Are you distinct in your classrooms? Are you distinct in your neighborhoods? Maybe even in your family? Do you stand out? If you don't, friend, you are hiding that light under a basket. You are not living as a citizen of that bright signing city.

Close one. Bright, shining city on a hill. That almost ended up on social media.

Aaron Shamp (24:29.848)
Are you truth into the midst of the lies? Are you standing upon and defending the truth of the Christian worldview? If not, then you're hiding and not being what Christ has called you to be. Another great theologian, this one German, his name was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I'm sure you've heard of him before. But Bonhoeffer once wrote, he said, flight to the invisible is a denial of the call. A community of Jesus which seeks to hide itself has ceased.

to follow him.

Aaron Shamp (25:04.462)
we need to understand this very clearly. You can have great theology, you can live a very moral life, but if you are not engaged in this mission, this purpose that Christ has called us to, you are being disobedient to the King. This is not saying that, you know, some people live this way. Some Christians live as lights in the darkness. Some Christians act like salt.

in the decaying world, but that the rest of us, as long as we do our best to live decent lives, then that's okay for us. He is speaking to us all. You are either living on mission for Christ or you are an imposter, as Charles Spurgeon once said. We cannot fly away in hiding. As Bonhoeffer said once again, a community of Jesus which seeks to hide itself has ceased to follow him.

if we will follow him, that we will be engaged in the world living out this calling. So step into your calling, friends. Step into this calling. If you recognize now that you have been living inconsistently, that there is an incongruence between your private life, which seeks to follow Christ, and your public life that hides Christ, repent of that, turn it away. If there is fear and complacency in your heart that is holding you back from being salt and light, if there is complacency that is holding you back

from persevering in the face of opposition. Repent from these things, reject these things. Friends, reject the spirit of fear and complacency, for that is not the spirit of Christ.

Can we, I've never done this before, but it's our last Sunday, why not? Repeat after me, I reject the spirit of fear.

Aaron Shamp (26:55.926)
Repeat after me, I receive the spirit of adoption.

Aaron Shamp (27:01.826)
Let us confess that every day. Let us live that way every day. But how do we do this? Because it's easy for me to say it up here in the midst of a friendly crowd that'll agree with me, that'll participate with me. But then living it out there, living it out, out in the world, for me as well, is difficult. So how? How do we do it?

We do it based on the work that Jesus has done for us. Go back to Paul in 2 Timothy. What Paul tells us here is that, where he talks about enduring suffering, don't be ashamed of the gospel, persevere in the gospel and all these things, every time he says, relying on the power of God. Or he says, stay strong in suffering in the grace that comes from Jesus Christ. Implicit in all of this, and the only way that it all works,

is that we will be light whenever we are in Christ, who is the light of the world. In the book of John, we see Jesus stand before the people and declare, am the light of the world. How do we reconcile those two things together? In one place he says, you are the light of the world. In another place he says, I am the light of the world. What he's saying is that whenever we are in him and we walk in the calling in him that he has given us, then we act like conduits.

We act like channels shining his light into the world around us. The light does not come from within us, but from Christ. And we as his servants, his citizens, his good soldiers in the world, we are shining that light. In other words, it is because of Christ's work that we are empowered to work. If we try to do it in our own power, in our own wisdom, not relying on the grace that is in Christ Jesus for us, then ultimately we'll fail. We'll burn out, we'll fall apart.

will act in foolishness rather than wisdom, right? Will act in fear rather than confidence and courage. But it's because of his work that we are empowered to do ours. So what all this brings us to is this, is that the whole reason that we're able to be salt, the whole reason that we are able to be light is because first, Jesus saved us. Let us not forget that. You're not his employee now, guys.

Aaron Shamp (29:31.468)
You are the rebel that he purchased from death by his blood to make a citizen. You are the orphan of darkness, a child of the enemy that he by his suffering has paid the price for you to be adopted as a child of God. It is because of that work that he is then able to say to us and only through that work that he's able to say to us, therefore you are the salt of the earth.

Therefore you are the light of the world. If it were not for his work, there's absolutely no way he could say those things because otherwise outside of him and outside of his work, we contribute and we are a part of the decay. We contribute and we are part of the darkness. It is only because of his work that he can call us salt because once we were in decay, it is only because of his work that he can call us light because once we were darkness and in darkness. So in this we see

It brings us back to the gospel. Jesus declares that deliverance is available in him.

that we are delivered from the darkness and decay, and that we are called to live as the children of the Father, as coheirs with Christ, living as salt and light in the world. This is one of the great themes of scripture, which is that we are blessed by Christ so that we can then be a blessing. We have been delivered by Christ so that we can then declare deliverance. We have been saved, forgiven, redeemed through Christ.

so that we might share that message of light, of redemption and deliverance to the world. We have been blessed by him so that we will then be a blessing to the world around us. In the midst of all these things then, remember what Jesus tells us, rejoice. No matter how difficult it is to be light, rejoice. No matter how heartbreaking and difficult it is to see the state of decay in the world around us,

Aaron Shamp (31:38.422)
Rejoice. Whenever you are opposed and persecuted, Jesus says rejoice. Why? He says in verse 12, be glad and rejoice because your reward is great in heaven. When we reflect on all these things, we know and we have confidence in this that at the end of the day, there's no persecution, opposition, decay, suffering, lies or anything else that can

take away from us what is ours in Christ. It is absolutely secure in Him. What is that? It is that we will one day have a home with Him, completely freed, delivered from the presence of sin, from our fallen flesh, where we will live in absolute, true union and fellowship with Him. The union that we experience only in tiny little tastes, in a very dim understanding now, we will have the full fruition and experience of.

So no matter what the world takes away, no matter what you lose because of your testimony for Christ, rejoice because your true reward cannot be taken away by anyone or anything, not even by you.

So if you've been living in fear, don't allow condemnation to speak into your heart. If you've been living in complacency, don't allow guilt and shame to hold you back from turning to Christ and rejoicing that that reward is still yours because it is secured by him, not by you. So friends, as we go and as we, as a Covenanted Body, step

into this next chapter that God has called us into. All I leave you with this is stay salty. Let's pray.

Aaron Shamp (33:36.056)
Father, we thank you that we have received and experienced this great deliverance in you.

that we are no longer slaves to fear, we are no longer captive to idols, we are no longer under the power of the enemy, that we have no word of condemnation that can be spoken against us because your blood has fully and completely paid the price. And since your blood has paid the price, we are living securely in that deliverance.

knowing that that great reward that is waiting for us will indeed be ours one day.

Father, us know the confirmation and the affirmation of these things as we walk in our calling. Father, maybe there are some of us in here who have been living with low confidence in the reward because they have not been walking in the calling. So would you empower us to do these things? We agree with Paul that without relying on your power, without being strong in your grace, we cannot be salt and light.

we cannot endure the persecutions and oppositions of the world. So would you in the grace of your spirit meet us here, enlarge and magnify the glory of Christ in our hearts, the eyes of our hearts to the infinite love that you have for us and let that fill our souls with truth, fill our souls with light that we can then spread to the world around us.

Aaron Shamp (35:17.496)
Lord, we praise you for all that you have done and all that you will do. We pray these things by the name of Jesus Christ, amen.