In today’s scripture, Jesus has been teaching a group of eager listeners what it means to follow him. And following him is quite different than they had experienced before. Following Jesus did not mean following the Pharisees or the law givers. It also didn’t mean giving up following the law. Instead, Jesus is taking the people, and in essence, you and me, back to the original and core meaning. Jesus is taking us back to the meaning of it all when God first gave the commandments and what this looked like. And it doesn’t look that much like what it had become. Jesus is essentially wiping it all clean and starting again. And in the verses preceding this, he challenges what it means to be blessed and what God’s blessings actually may look like. Given these teachings, he challenges those before him with these words.
Matthew 5:13-20
This is a challenge for those listening. This is a challenge for us hearing and reading these words today. For me, I think these teachings begin by asking a question – where are we going? Where are we heading?
Many of you already know I am directionally challenged. It just isn’t part of the gifts in which I was given. I am not good with words such as north, south, east or west. I am much better with turn left, turn right, stay straight. And even those words must be very specific. So that means if I am traveling, I am usually either following someone else or I am using my GPS to guide me. I do not try to go rogue and figure it out on my own. I don’t have the time, gas, or money to do crazy things like that.
If I am following, I am following close. I do not want someone to get in between me and the person I am following. I do not want to lose my place or get to a point where I can’t see the person I am following. That leads to me getting lost, every single time. So I want to always keep them in my view. I trust the person who is leading to know where they are going. And if I am using my GPS, I am usually just fine until it begins to take me through areas which do not look right or it begins to cut out because there are not satellites around. Then, we have an issue.
Jesus is challenging those who are listening to lead. He is asking them to be salt and light. He is asking them to stand out and be seen, in a good way. He is asking them, as a community of believers, to be a city set upon a hill. They are to be seen. They are to be followed. But they are not to go their own way. And the light is not so they are seen in themselves. The light, the city is to be so that the way for others becomes clear and they see God! They are to give glory to God because of the light – not glory to the people who were shining the light.
So the light has to be God’s light you are shining. And if you are shining a light, if you are salt, if we are a city, what do people see? Where are they going if they follow us? What are they experiencing if they see our light? Where are we even going? What are we even doing? Do we know where we are heading? If we are leading others, are we leading them to Jesus? Or are we leading them down a path of destruction? Where are we leading?
These are pretty challenging thoughts and Jesus meant them to be. The community Jesus is speaking to has lost its way. They know the law and they think they are following it to the letter. But they have focused so much on the law, they have forgotten who gave the law and what it meant to follow God. They are following the law so intense they have forgotten the law was given so they would see God. They weren’t seeing God, but instead seeing their own works. And that was a problem. They weren’t leading people closer to God, but closer to their definition of perfection.
Jesus is calling them out. Jesus is calling us out. We have to reorient ourselves. He doesn’t say to throw the commandments and the law out the door. He says to follow them and to live into them. But in following them, two things should happen. They should become more like Jesus and they should lead people closer to him. If that isn’t happening, there is a problem. Being a light is a responsibility to bring people closer to Christ. We should be leading others to him.
That doesn’t mean we are perfect – not by any means. We will make mistakes. We will mess up. We will make bad decisions and wrong turns. But we do not lose our focus on where we are headed. We do not forget where we are going and who we are going for. We keep our eyes on Jesus, he is our ultimate guide. In other words, our light shows people Jesus, not us. It isn’t our light anyway, but his.
And I just don’t think we shine our light best by beating people down or telling them all the things they are doing wrong, or judging who we think they are. I think we shine a light by doing what Jesus taught as the greatest commandments – loving the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and loving our neighbor. That’s where the difference begins to take place. That’s where we begin to see real change. That’s when our light is most bright – when we love.
Being salt and light for Jesus means we follow him, no matter the cost. We love like him, no matter who it is we are loving. We give like him, live like him, and show people who it is we are following. And because we are flawed, people will see it is not us that are the light, but the one who forgives us and loves us any who is the light. We point others to Jesus.
Where are we going? If others see our light, what or who do they see? How are we showing people the love of Christ?
SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY 
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