06.29.2025. Sunday Sermon by
Pastor Jeungbok Lee
Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16
Title: You Are the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World
**Matthew 5:13-16**
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."
What is the most fitting biblical metaphor to describe Christians? Among these, which metaphor best reveals the Christ-like character of God’s children in the world? In terms of our relationship with the people of the world, what image most appropriately represents Christians?
### 1. Biblical Metaphors for Christians
Let us briefly examine the metaphors used in the Bible to describe Christians. As we reflect on these images, I encourage you to examine your own life. The Bible says that God’s people, Christians, are like these images. It is important to ask yourself, “Am I truly living in accordance with these descriptions?”
**First**, we are the sheep of the Lord, our Shepherd.
The image of sheep emphasizes obedience. Sheep listen to the voice of their shepherd and follow him. They graze where the shepherd leads them and rest where the shepherd allows them to rest.
**Second**, we are branches of the vine.
Branches must remain attached to the vine to receive life and bear fruit. Likewise, Christians can only bear fruit when they abide in Jesus, the true vine.
**Third**, we are the temple where God’s Holy Spirit dwells.
Christians are called to live holy lives, as their bodies and lives are sacred dwelling places for God.
**Fourth**, the Christian community, the church, is the bride of Christ.
When Jesus, the bridegroom, returns to earth, the church will join Him as His bride at the wedding feast. We must live in purity, becoming a bride worthy of the bridegroom, Jesus, by remaining unstained by sin.
**Fifth**, Christians are likened to soldiers, athletes, or farmers.
This is easy to understand. These images portray Christians as individuals who train, persevere, and work diligently.
**Finally**, Christians are described as the salt and light of the world.
The metaphors of salt and light highlight our role in relationship with others. Those who live in isolation cannot be salt or light.
### 2. Christians Are the Salt of the Earth
#### 2-1) Why Did Jesus Suddenly Call His Disciples the Salt of the Earth?
The world is like a large piece of meat that is decaying. It is continually corrupted by the bacteria of sin, growing worse and emitting a foul odor each day. Since Adam’s disobedience to God’s word, the world has been accumulating sin upon sin, becoming increasingly corrupt. It is only by God’s common grace that the world has not yet been destroyed. The only way for the world to be restored is for the sin that corrupts it to be dealt with—through the cleansing blood of the Savior. Thus, those who have been made new by the blood of the Lord are called to be salt, preventing the world’s decay.
#### 2-2) The Role and Function of Salt
**First**, salt prevents the decay of meat. When salt fulfills its role properly, the meat does not continue to rot. For example, hamón, a delicious dish, is made by salting a pig’s hind leg and drying it for months or even years. Thanks to the salt, the meat does not become a putrid, repulsive mass but instead becomes a flavorful food.
**Second**, for salt to prevent decay or add flavor to meat, it must dissolve and permeate the meat. Only salt that dissolves can fulfill its purpose. If salt remains in its solid form, it cannot penetrate the meat. Similarly, Christians cannot be salt to the world if they hold onto their pride or seek to elevate themselves. Prioritizing personal gain prevents Christians from permeating the world to prevent decay or add flavor. Those who fail to do so are like salt that has lost its saltiness.
#### 2-3) What Does It Mean for Salt to Lose Its Saltiness?
Does salt literally lose its salty taste? When does this happen?
Salt itself does not lose its saltiness. However, if salt, which is white, is mixed with white impurities like lime or dirt, it loses its effectiveness. If someone unknowingly mixes a large amount of white impurities (like flour or lime) into salt used for preserving meat, the meat will spoil because the salt lacks sufficient saltiness. Likewise, if Christians, who are called to be the salt of the earth, live according to the world’s values or customs, they become like salt mixed with impurities—salt that has lost its saltiness. Such salt is useless and will be thrown out, becoming an object of ridicule (trampled underfoot).
#### 2-4) How Do Christians Permeate the World as Salt?
Christians can participate in social activities and political engagement as individuals. At work, they live morally and help others. They assist the poor. These acts of permeating the world as salt are done according to the gifts and interests God has given each person, living faithfully in accordance with those gifts. However, we must be cautious. While Christians can engage in politics to be salt in the world, this does not mean participating in politics in the name of the church. Being salt by dissolving into the world is a calling for individual Christians, not for the church as an institution. If a church or pastor supports one political party over another, it risks alienating those with opposing political views, closing the door to the gospel. When the church takes sides on social issues, it shuts the door to the gospel for those on the opposing side.
Christians must hold to this fundamental truth: Republicans are sinners who need to accept Jesus as their Savior for salvation. Democrats are sinners who need to accept Jesus as their Savior for salvation. Those with common sense are sinners who need to accept Jesus as their Savior. Those with same-sex attractions are sinners who need to accept Jesus as their Savior. If the church engages in political partisanship, it will greatly hinder the spread of the gospel and obstruct individual Christians from living as salt in the world. If this happens frequently, we become like salt that has lost its saltiness.
### 3. Christians Are the Light of the World
#### 3-1) Why Did Jesus Call His Disciples the Light of the World?
As with the metaphor of salt, the metaphor of light assumes that the world is dark due to sin. Jesus would not have said, “You are the light of the world,” in a world filled with sunlight.
The world is dark because, since Adam’s rebellion, people have followed his example, making themselves kings instead of God and living to boast in themselves. A world where people act to acquire whatever benefits them, boasting that they are the greatest, is truly a dark place.
A society without a ruler is the hardest to live in. Even a society with a dictator is better than one with no ruler at all. Somalia has a near-anarchic political structure, where piracy, kidnapping, and terrorism are commonplace, and everyone carries a gun. In Haiti, gangs control the capital. In South Sudan, the government has lost its ability to function, leading to widespread looting and rape, with even UN relief efforts facing immense challenges.
Likewise, the world is a society that rejects God, the true Ruler, and makes itself king. Thus, it is a dark place that rejects the sovereign Lord of all creation.
#### 3-2) We Were Once in Darkness but Are Now Children of Light
**Ephesians 5:8-11**
"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."
How did we, who were once in darkness, become children of light?
By God’s grace, we believed in Jesus Christ as our Savior and were cleansed of our sins. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we were born again by God’s grace, becoming new people. We became children of God, who is light. We became a people who live with God as the King of all creation. Thus, in the Lord, we shine as children of light in the world. As children of light by God’s grace, we must bear the fruit of light.
#### 3-3) What Does It Mean to Be the Light of the World, and What Fruit Should We Bear?
**Ephesians 5:9**
"For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth."
The role of light is to illuminate the dark world. In a world where falsehood and injustice are considered normal, living in truth, practicing justice, and doing all things with goodness is what it means to be the light of the world and bear the fruit of light.
However, because the world is in darkness, it is only when Christians live as the light of the world that people will see their true selves. Through Christians who are light, they will realize how much darkness they are in. Some will be curious about the light we have, while others, like the Pharisees who hated Jesus, the true Light, will persecute us for living as light. Nevertheless, we must bear the fruit of light—goodness, righteousness, and truth—to please the Lord.
#### 3-4) Not All Children of Light Live as the Light of the World
Those who are saved by faith in Jesus Christ are children of light and must live as the light of the world. However, not all do so. Some are foolish, as described in verse 15:
"Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house."
Imagine someone lighting a lamp to brighten a dark house at night and then placing it under a bowl. What purpose would that lamp serve? The house would remain dark. All Christians are the light of the world, called to shine in a dark world. We must not be foolish like those who light a lamp and hide it under a bowl, darkening the house again. Living in isolation, away from others, is like hiding a lamp under a bowl. Likewise, only interacting with church members within the church fails to shine as the light of the world. Christians must shine as light in the world.
#### 3-5) What Is the Ultimate Purpose of Shining as Light Before Others?
The purpose is to let our good deeds (a life of light) bring glory to our Father in heaven. It is not to make our names known or to make our church famous. It is solely to bring glory to our Father in heaven. Therefore, before acting, Christians must examine whether their actions please the Lord.
### 4. Conclusion
We Christians are the salt of the earth. We must live as salt, preventing the world’s decay and adding flavor to make it a just and livable place.
We are also the light of the world, shining in the darkness and bearing the fruit of light so that people may see it and glorify our Father in heaven.
However, there is a distinction we must not overlook. To be salt, we must dissolve and permeate quietly into the decaying world, losing our form to fulfill our role. We cannot remain in the church, clinging to our pride or pursuing our own interests, and still be salt. Yet, we must retain our saltiness—our Christian identity.
On the other hand, to be light, we must visibly and outwardly act in the world. While salt permeates quietly, light shines openly. Christians must do both—permeating as salt and shining as light—requiring wisdom to balance these roles.
Being light does not mean drawing attention to ourselves but revealing God through truthful actions, spreading truth, and acting justly. While unbelievers may do good deeds for others, our good deeds are done out of gratitude for God’s grace, revealing Him. Christians who do nothing are like those who light a lamp and hide it under a bowl.
There is a story from Japan about a man who, every Sunday, dressed up and left home for a few hours. His family never knew why. After his death, they found a Bible among his belongings and learned he had been attending church for over 20 years. He failed to shine as light in his home or workplace.
We, the saved Christians, are the salt and light of the world. This is the role the Lord has commanded us to fulfill. In the name of the Lord, I urge you, our church, to live as the salt and light of the world.
Let us pray. (End)