From Here to Eternity The Ultimate Oxymoron: Cynical Christians Text: Matthew 5: Senior Pastor Dan Slagle

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1 From Here to Eternity The Ultimate Oxymoron: Cynical Christians Text: Matthew 5: Senior Pastor Dan Slagle 1. Read Matthew 5: Jesus compares believers influence on the world by using the metaphor of salt. Think about what you know about the qualities of salt. What effects do believers have on the world around them that are captured with the metaphor of salt? 2. Read Lev. 2:13; Numb. 18:19; 2 Chron. 13:1-12. a. What do you learn in these passages about salt? b. What did it represent with regard to God and His actions toward His people? c. What did it represent concerning the throne of David? 3. What do you think Jesus meant about salt losing its flavor in verse 13? How does this part of the metaphor translate into the real life of the believer? What does it mean for a believer to lose his/her saltiness in the world? What impact does that have on our ability to be a light? 4. Read John 15:1-17. a. What parallels do you see between this passage and Matthew 5:13-16? b. What additional insights does it provide? 5. Read Matthew 16:33. Jesus said in this world we will have trouble. a. Why do we still try to act as if this is not the case so often? b. When trouble comes, it reveals what we are truly trusting and hoping in. What do you tend to turn to, other than Christ, for hope? c. More than just a mere acceptance of the trouble in this life, the call of Christ is a call to go to the hard places. If salt and light are really to do their job, they have to go to where there is decay and darkness. What is it that should empower us to go to the hard places?

2 Challenge: Write down at least three ways that you experience being salt in your world. Also think of three more ways that you could be a stronger influence in the world in which you daily live out your faith. Be specific and share with the group to challenge and encourage each other. (also see Study Deeper) Prayer: Lord, in the beginning you shattered the darkness with your light. That light is shining still. No darkness can overcome it. We ground our hope in you. O God, Jesus tells us we are salt and light for the world. He calls us to live in ways that reveal your glory and love. He says we re the agents of your kingdom. Sometimes that task seems overwhelming and more than we want to handle. Too often our fears keep us from being faithful. We stay silent when we need to speak. We try to make our discipleship a matter of what s comfortable and convenient. We say we don t have enough talent or that what we can offer is too little to make a difference. Lord, forgive us. Give us the faith to live by all that Jesus taught us, even the parts we find hard. Work within us so that we may be a good and effective witness to your loving presence and grace. Remind us also that we don t have to do this alone. We have you and we have one another. Let that truth empower and enable us. Keep us from surrendering to the belief that the world in its present state is the future and final word. Father, in trust we lift our prayers to you. We pray for those who have lost their way, those who don t know where they are going or even where they want to be. O God, we pray for our world and all its dark and broken places. We pray for peace and the wisdom and courage to make the choices that lead to it. We pray for justice and the boldness to speak up and act for it. We pray for the coming of your kingdom and the faith and willingness to claim it now. Lord, help us to live in ways that bring good to others and glory to you. Strengthen us to truly be who Jesus says we are. In his name we pray, Amen.

3 STUDY DEEPER Jesus Showed Us That Being Salt and Light Is True Power Over the last few months, I ve talked to many Christians who fear they are living in a world that is spinning out of control especially during a chaotic election season. They feel helpless, without the power to do anything about it. I like to share with them Four Ways Christians Can Influence the World, an article written by the late John Stott. Stott suggests that for Christians, the antidote to feeling helpless is found in being salt and light. In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus uses the illustrations of salt and light to teach about the responsibility of Christians in a post-christian society. Stott explains: The world, he says, is like rotting meat. But you are to be the world s salt. The world is like a dark night, but you are to be the world s light. This is the fundamental difference between the Christian and the non-christian, the church and the world. Jesus shows how being salt and light gives us influence in the world. Again, from Stott: Like salt in putrefying meat, Christians are to hinder social decay. Like light in the prevailing darkness, Christians are to illumine society and show it a better way. Salt and light have a powerful influence on their environment, but for salt to stop rot it has to be rubbed into the meat. For light to shine in the darkness it has to be set upon a lamp stand and not allowed to go out. Stott suggests four powerful ways Christians can be salt and light in their communities. These are ways Christians can differentiate themselves from the world while influencing it through the power of the gospel. The Power of Prayer I beg you not to dismiss this as a pious platitude, Stott writes. The Christian s first duty toward society and its leaders is to pray for them.

4 The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy in I Timothy 2:1, exhorting, I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. May we pray without ceasing! The Power of Truth We should not be ashamed of the gospel because it is true. Because it is true it has the power to make a difference in people s lives, our communities, and our nation. All God s truth is powerful. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 13:8, For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. John writes in his prologue to the book of John, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The darkness cannot overcome it that light is the truth of God. The Power of Example While the truth is powerful when it s argued, it s more powerful when it s exhibited, Stott writes. People need more than to just understand the argument. They need to see the benefits of the argument with their own eyes. Christians are marked people. The world is watching. God s major way of transforming the old society is to implant within it His new society, with its different values, different standards, different joys, and different goals. Our hope is that the watching world will see these differences and find them attractive, that they may see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven. The Power of Solidarity There is formidable power in a dedicated minority. Stott quotes American sociologist Robert Belair:

5 We should not underestimate the significance of the small group of people who have a vision of a just and gentle world. The quality of a whole culture may be changed when two percent of its people have a new vision. Is this not what Jesus did? He took a small group of only twelve dedicated disciples and within a few years their influence was felt across the entire Roman world. Do you want to see your national life made more pleasing to God? Do you have a vision of a new godliness, a new justice, a new freedom, a new righteousness, a new compassion? Do you wish to repent of sub-christian pessimism? Will you reaffirm your confidence in the power of God, in the power of prayer, of truth, of example, of group commitment and of the gospel? If Stott were here today, these are the questions he would ask us. How would you answer him?