One of the most profound changes Jesus produces in us is a change of purpose. Think what the disciples were, before Jesus called them. Fishermen. Tradesmen. One was a tax collector, making dirty money extorting his fellow countrymen. One was a zealot, hell bent on political revolution. But when Jesus called, they laid down their nets. Matthew left his tax booth. Simon the Zealot abandoned his cloak & dagger political aspirations. Together they became fishers of men. Their purpose would be found in loving God and loving people. In time, they’d understand the hollowness of only serving self. Jesus taped into that deeper part of their humanity—their desire to matter for something more than self.
Years ago, Rick Warren wrote that book, "The Purpose Driven Life." Little did he know it would become one of the single best-selling books in the world. I don’t know how many actually read his book, but it had a great opening line: “It’s not about you.” There are always exceptions, but people want their lives to matter, they ate it up!
In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus says, “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 lampstand, and it gives light for all 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.”
What an inspiring charge! It’s not about you! Be salt. Let your light shine! Make your life matter for the glory of God. This morning I want to explore what it looks like to be a world changer. If you go to Barnes and Noble, and check out the leadership shelves, you’ll find hundreds of books filled with advice on how to be emotionally intelligent, find your voice, be heard, be assertive, play smart, or show grit. Is this what Jesus has in mind, or does he have something else in mind?
First, being a world changer demands Personal Humility.
The pre-requisites for being a world-changer are found in Matthew 5:1-12 beattitudes. The men and women God uses are the poor in spirit… people who mourn the brokenness in their lives and in God’s world… the meek/humble who possess little power/status in this world… those who hunger and thirst for righteousness… those with a merciful disposition toward others, the pure in heart… those willing to be peacemakers, who are willing to be persecuted not just loved, who are willing to be insulted and maligned not celebrated.
The very things that disqualify us in the eyes of the world, qualify us before God! The truth is that those who have come to an end of themselves are the most qualified, for God’s service. Those who have suffered defeat, failure, or suffered the world’s hostility, are the most ready to matter for God’s kingdom.
Being a world changer begins with personal humility. Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth.” Wouldn’t have been more flattering if Jesus used a different metaphor? Salt? Really? We don’t get to be the meat and potatoes? We don’t get to be the fries in the happy meal… everyone loves the fries! We don’t get to be the bread? We don’t even get to be the water? Nope. We’re the salt.
At most we get to add flavor. We shouldn’t imagine for a moment that we’re the bread of life, or that we’re solid meat or even milk, or that we’re the living water. In ourselves, we can’t nourish/sustain not a single other soul. Yet it’s here in these verses Jesus invites us to be “salt.” If you’re humble enough to be salt, then you’re a man or woman ready for service in God’s Kingdom.
The other night I was in my garage, and had Pandora playing. Pandora likes to randomly inject songs in my playlist it thinks I’ll like. For some reason Pandora thought I’d really like an explicit laden song by Beyonce and Eminem! I had Pandora cranked up because I was running power tools, and it was like “F this” and “F that…” I scrambled to unlike the song, but then I heard them sing, “I walk on water, but I ain’t no Jesus, I walk on water, but only it when freezes…” And then Eminem is rapping, “Kids look at me like I’m god… if only they knew it’s a façade and its exhaustive… I’m not God-sent…”
I hated the vulgarity, but I embraced the message! We’re the salt, not the sustenance. We’re the salt, not the savior. We can walk on water, but only when it’s frozen, or only if like Peter, we’re completely dependent (by faith) in the one who calls. To imagine ourselves to be anything more than merely human is to embrace an exhaustive façade. Being a world changed demands personal humility.
Second, being a world changer demands Good Works.
The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-6-7) is loaded with memorable quotes. It's where Jesus says things like: “give to the one who asks… don’t turn from the one who wants to borrow from you… love your enemies… don’t let your right hand know what you’re left hand is doing… forgive as you’ve been forgiven… if you’re son asks for bread do you give him a stone? If you’re son asks for a fish do you give him a snake? If God gives you good gifts though you are evil, shouldn’t you do good? Do unto others what you would have them do unto you…
Even more pointed are Jesus’ words in the parable of the sheep and goats: “‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you didn’t take me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of me.’ “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help you?’ 45 “Then he will answer them, ‘I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’” You can’t miss good works!
Third, being a world changer demands Tough Words.
For those of you who minimize the importance of preaching, don’t forget when (and to whom) Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 4:23-25, “Jesus began to go all over Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread throughout Syria. So they brought to him all those who were afflicted, those suffering from various diseases and intense pains, the demon-possessed, the epileptics, and the paralytics. And he healed them. 25 Large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.”
And the very next thing we read is Jesus goes up on a mountain and begins teaching his disciples and the crowd! Why the sudden shift from healing to teaching? It’s simple! For Jesus, compassion necessarily demands not just good works but tough words as well. “What do you mean, tough words?” The Sermon on the Mount were some of the toughest words Jesus ever spoke. Jesus thought it imperative to shift from doing good works to speaking tough words! But actually, Jesus had been speaking tough words from the beginning of his public ministry. If we look back to Matthew 4:17, what was Jesus’ core message? It was “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near.” His core message was, “Repent, and turn away from your sins.” This was the Apostles core message in Acts too. “Repent, that times of refreshing may come.” Maybe you even remember that time in John 5:14, when Jesus finds a man in the temple and warns him, “Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”
When we do good works we’re often alleviating the suffering caused by sin. But when we call upon people to repent, we’re inviting people to bypass suffering altogether, we’re dealing with things at their root, we’re addressing causes not just symptoms. Which doctor is more compassionate: The one who comforts you, or the who cures you? The one who treats symptoms, or the one who cures your disease?
I cringe when people say, “Preach the gospel, if necessary use words.” On the one hand I agree, we can’t just preach, we must do good works. But if we never sit down on the side of the mountain (like Jesus) and call people to repentance… we’re not truly being compassionate... because if we fail to speak tough words we live leave people in their sins… and what a terrible place to leave people. Being a world changer involves personal humility, good works, and tough words.
Fourth, being a world changer demands Personal Holiness (Righteousness).
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We live in a day when people are preaching that because God gives us grace, He no longer expects holiness. But what about Hebrews 12:14, which says, “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” The whole purpose of grace is to enable, not disable holiness.
Our message to the world is not “grace matters, so holiness doesn’t.” Our message is that “grace matters because holiness matters.” Grace matters because without holiness no one will see the Lord. Without holiness “we” won’t see the Lord… and without holiness “others” won’t see the Lord. Grace matters because who “we are” can speak so loudly, and be so contradictory to who God is, that no one ever sees God!
This is really the point of Matthew 5:16. “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
The way we make our lives matter most ultimately, is to give people the fullest possible picture of God. This picture necessarily involves humility, good works, tough words, but also personally “being” righteousness… personally “being” holy… personally “being” imitators of God. I find it interesting that after Jesus calls us to be salt and light, most everything Jesus talks about through the rest of the Sermon on the Mount has far less to do with what we say or what we do and everything to do with who were being.
Where do we get this idea that righteousness doesn’t matter? Ephesians 5:1-5, “Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints. Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks. For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”
1 Peter 1:14-19, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy... conduct yourselves in reverence… For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ…”
So much to say, so little time. Let me come back to this idea of personal humility.
At the end of the day, no matter what we imagine ourselves to be, we’re only God’s servants. Our good works are finite/limited. Our tough words are finite/limited. Our personal righteousness is finite/limited. Only Jesus’ words matter ultimately to a soul. Only Jesus’ work on that cross matter ultimately to a soul. We can only hope to stand before a Holy God on the basis of Christ’s righteousness, never our own.
But it’s our desire that in some small way… our finite words, our finite works, our finite righteousness… might be seen, and might cause just one person to glorify our Father in heaven. If through our lives just one other soul might be captivated with a love for Christ or a love for people… we can know our lives have mattered for eternity.