Theme: The Christian Difference
Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Most of you know that when it comes to sports, I am a Michigan fan, especially when it comes to college athletics. I know that’s tough to hear out here in Husky (or sometimes Coug) country. But when you’re watching a college game on TV, it’s common for each University that is competing to have an advertisement (a commercial) for their school. As I happen to tune into Michigan games, I’ve become quite familiar with their commercial.
In it, they highlight some of the groundbreaking work they are doing as a research university, as well as certain studies and disciplines that set them apart from other schools. The overall theme of the advertisement is “The Michigan Difference.” To the inquiring student, the University of Michigan wants to be seen as different than the rest. They want the student to believe that there are opportunities and experiences at Michigan that cannot be found anywhere else.
It’s a catchy, and I’m sure, effective, advertisement. The PR group that developed it has tapped into the growing desire in our culture to be different – to highlight one’s uniqueness and to strive for things that will set us apart from others. We live in a culture where being different is highlighted and celebrated. But, as Christians, we have to be careful with this as well. People are encouraged to strive to find ways of emphasizing their uniqueness and originality to the world – even if their expression comes at the expense of God’s design for their life. The Church has always been on guard against becoming too different from the way that God intended our lives to be.
It’s not wrong for a public university to highlight what makes it unique. But, you can take that same line of thinking and multiple by ten in terms of the prevalence of humanity today to glorify individual expression and choice above God’s will. On both an individual and societal level, we tend to take our self-expression to the extreme over and against God’s Word. We live in a generation that pressures young people especially to define their lives and express their thoughts and actions in whatever ways they choose – even more so when it bucks the traditional trends of Christianity. Newer and bolder ways of identifying oneself are lauded and celebrated. It’s considered mature and enlightened to push the envelope of what is deemed acceptable.
I saw another example of this much more blatant form of being different this past week. It was a web article about a popular male singer and actor in his twenties who recently conducted a photo shoot for a trendy magazine where he dressed up in women’s make-up, jewelry, and clothing. The move was celebrated by many in the media as original, bold, and brave. The young man was praised as being socially conscious enough to liberate himself from the shackles of traditionalism. Perhaps this kind of thing isn’t surprising anymore but it’s also clear that it would not have been celebrated or accepted to such an extent in a different era. Our culture has changed and part of that change has been a desire to be different to an extreme – where choices are deliberately made to make others uncomfortable, to generate debate, and to stretch the boundaries of what is deemed acceptable, and even moral. The attitude behind such a movement is nothing new – it’s rooted in sinful human pride that wants to exalt itself over the rules and laws of the eternal God.
The desire to be different is simply the current manifestation of this sinful pride. The Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’ day suffered from the same root issue, but they showed it in being unwilling to change from tradition instead of craving personal liberty above all else. Many other examples could be brought to mind from history – both as it concerns those within and outside of the church. Human pride has no limit in its desire to subvert God’s standards of righteousness. Under the thin veneer of human acceptance and popular trends lies the rotten, corrupted human heart that seeks to control your identity and your every expression, rather than letting the Holy Spirit conform you closer to Jesus.
The impression has long been that Christians never want to change or be different in any way. There can be isolated attitudes from Christians which exemplify that stereotype but often it is a very limited characterization of the Church. The truth is – Christians are called to be different – very different, but in a different kind of way. The words of Jesus in our text from the Sermon on the Mount talk about what this difference is to be – and it’s more radical that anything the world can come up with.
Two illustrations are used – salt and light. These images encapsulate the Christian difference. Jesus first says, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” Today, we think of the primary use of salt in providing flavor to our food, but it wasn’t that way in Christ’s culture and many other ancient civilizations. Salt was used with food, but as a preservative. The use of electrically powered refrigerators to cool and freeze food is a very new development in history. For thousands of years before this invention, salt was used as the standard preservative – to keep food good to eat for a longer amount of time.
The preserving agent in the life of the Christian is the gospel message of Christ. When this permeates in our lives, it acts as a preserving agent in the world around us – both in stemming God’s righteous judgment of sin but also giving people a confidence and hope for salvation that doesn’t rest in their own works. Paul put it succinctly in Romans 5:20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. The law of God reveals the rottenness and corruption of sin – the grace of God in the gospel abounds over the curse of the law and covers the imperfections we carry in our lives – it’s a preserving agent against the effects of sin. And God guarantees that wherever sin’s rottenness resides, the gospel can be more powerful in its effect.
Jesus also says, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.” Believers are also different as lights. A light has one very basic purpose – to reveal something, to make it known and open to the world. Jesus mentions the illogical idea of lighting a lamp just to cover it up with a basket. By doing so, you are defeating the entire purpose of the light.
We are used to enjoying the blessings of having plenty of lights to keep darkness at bay – in our homes, on our vehicles, and on our streets. We might wonder why anyone would want to cover the light that we are called by God to shine. Well, sometimes we don’t like to see what the light reveals. You see, that’s the other aspect about using a light as it’s intended to be used. It shines light on everything – not just on what we choose to reveal. In terms of our lives with God – there are many areas that we’d rather keep hidden in the darkness of sin.
David confessed this of his own life in Psalm 19 saying, 12 Who perceives his unintentional sins? Cleanse me from my hidden faults. 13 Moreover, keep Your servant from willful sins; do not let them rule over me. Like mold in a damp basement, sin loves to stay hidden in the dark – either by willful ignorance on our part of genuine lack of awareness. When sin stays covered and hidden it can grow. That’s why David asked the LORD to forgive even the hidden areas of sin that David wasn’t thinking about. We need God’s light to shine even on the parts of our lives that we don’t want it to.
It’s no wonder that Jesus would declare Himself to be the light of the world in John 8, and that John would continue building on that theme throughout his gospel account and three epistles. The difference between light and dark in terms of our sin and God’s righteousness is clear and basic to our faith. Therefore, Jesus, the light, expects the same expression in our lives - "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Believers are to be willing to reveal God’s truth in whatever direction it takes. Paul says, Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
Here you can see that believers are called to be different, and these differences are something we should celebrate and support in our lives and in the lives of fellow Christians. But here also we see the primary difference between the world and the Church. The differences fueled by human pride are designed to center a person’s identity and expression on themselves. The differences fueled by faith in Jesus are designed to center a person’s identity and expression on Jesus.
It really comes down to identity. For the child of God – his or her identity is no longer in their own desires, efforts, or even thoughts. But they have been changed – made different – by Jesus. Paul writes in Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Differences exist and abound in life and that reality certainly is present in the Church. Part of the difficultly of being in a church, at times, is working with the differences of others. But the beauty of the Church is that it provides a level of unity despite our differences. We are all the same in Christ Jesus – sinner redeemed to saint – a prodigal son or daughter who has returned to their Father, and the many differences we have begin to fade in importance to the oneness we have in Jesus.
Part of that unity of faith is embracing how God calls us to be difference. The salt preserves in order to keep God’s truth intact. The light reveals the Savior’s will – not our own. In so emphasizing Christ, we also indirectly emphasize the most important and valuable aspects of who we are – how we are identified and found in His name by faith. Amen.
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