Episode 1293: Salt and Light

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1,293 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:08] Shelly Lombard: I'm Shelly

[00:00:09] Lombard, founder of Millie Money. Learning how to Invest will give you options for your future and to help others get inspired. One way to do that is to listen to this podcast inspired Stewardship with my friend Scott Maderer.

[00:00:34] Scott Maderer: I am often just trying to keep my head above water and not get trampled under foot. I'm trying to, Do the best I can to know what it is that I'm supposed to be doing, and here Jesus is wanting me to shine, wanting me to give light to the whole house. See, that's the point. Light doesn't exist for its own sake.

[00:00:54] Neither does solve. Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired [00:01:00] Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, who will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that.

[00:01:20] Can impact the work.

[00:01:27] In today's spiritual foundation episode, I talk with you about Matthew chapter five, verses 13 through 20. I share how this isn't about safety or what we can be, but rather what we are. I also talk about how that means we exist for others, not ourselves. And I talked with you about why we are created to be this always.

[00:01:50] Matthew chapter five, verses 13 through 20 says, you are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is [00:02:00] no longer good for anything, but it is thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lamp stand and it gives light to all in the house.

[00:02:15] 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. Do not think that I've come to abolish the law or the prophets. I've come not to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

[00:02:37] Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of. For, I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you'll never enter the kingdom of heaven.

[00:02:57] Now, I've traveled a lot in my life and[00:03:00] when I've traveled with students, I've traveled by myself, I've traveled with my family, and always, whenever you're out and about in a new environment, in a new place, there's a part of you that is distracted and. How amazed at the busyness and the noise and the bustle and the changes and the sight and the sounds of this new place that's not your normal place.

[00:03:27] And often when you're out and about and moving around in these places, safety is something that comes up on your mind throughout that time. You wanna make sure that you stay protected, you stay. And that happens in our home environment as well. And safe is a good thing. We spend a lot of time and a lot of money and a lot of effort on being safe for at least feeling safe.

[00:03:56] It occupies a lot of our thinking and a lot of what we do in the [00:04:00] world. And yet throughout the Bible it doesn't seem to be on the list of things that Jesus is worried. Jesus does seem to have a list, but it isn't a worry list. In fact, he actually says, don't worry. Instead, there's a list of things to pay attention to and it's a long, and it's an involved list.

[00:04:21] And in fact, it's a list that I think we get into a lot of arguments about what's on the list and what's not on the list and what does it look like and my view of the list versus your view of the list. But the thing I think we can agree on, and nowhere on that list is safety. Entering in instead. Jesus seems to be a risk-taking leader.

[00:04:41] Get out there, go and do it. Try it and break it and we'll fix it as we go. Kind of leader. And this passage is about that you are salt. He says, you are light. No one lighting a lamp, hides it. And of course, immediately, I think most of us have [00:05:00] that song from Sunday School in our. Let your light shine is what Jesus is saying.

[00:05:08] Not you notice, make it shine. Not shine it, but let it shine. The, these like the be attitudes, which we talked about how we often try to turn those into imperatives. Go out there and BP speakers, go out there and be meek. Go out there and be hungry and thirsty for righteousness. They're. Presented that way.

[00:05:30] They're presented as indicatives a description, not a command. And these are the same sort of thing. It's not saying Go get salty, go be light, go light yourself up. It. Instead, it's just indicative you are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the. I don't know about you, but whenever I hear that, I wonder to myself, number one, when did that happen?

[00:05:58] When did I become [00:06:00] salt? When did I become light? I'm not anything special. I'm just doing the best I can to understand what I'm supposed to do to follow in this path. I'm often just trying to keep my head above water and not get trampled under foot. I'm trying to do the best I can to know what it is that I'm supposed to be doing.

[00:06:21] and here Jesus is wanting me to shine, wanting me to give light to the whole house. See, that's the point. Light doesn't exist for its own sake. Neither does salt. These things are only important when. When the light is serving others it isn't getting about getting folks to look at the light. It isn't becoming the focus of attention.

[00:06:45] It isn't about me shining. It isn't about com becoming center stage. We aren't the light. Instead the light is there to help others find their way to shine on the. To [00:07:00] reveal hazards along the way to, to help people get from point A to point B with a minimum of detours and trips and bumps in the dark.

[00:07:09] And salt. Of course, salt all on its own isn't really anything important or good, but taken as a, an enhancer or a preservative, it's invaluable. You would actually salt fields to help them grow. But too much salt causes nothing to grow there. The word that we can translate is earth is ground or dirt.

[00:07:38] You are the salt of the ground. The salt of the dirt. You're the salt that's there to help other things grow, but not to be too much, not to be too over the top. It's risky out there in the world. . It's a loud and a noisy world. It's safer to just keep your head down and keep your mouth shut. But Jesus says you can't do [00:08:00] that.

[00:08:00] A city built on a hill cannot be hid. It's a reminder that you're exposed, that you're out there. You're representatives of the faith whether you want to be or not. People look to you and see a picture of Christian living and if we're the salt of the. We should help others grow. If we're the light of the world, we should help others find their way.

[00:08:27] We have to get out there. You are the light. You are called to be. The light. You are called to do it, so let it shine. Thanks for listening.

[00:08:46] Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way [00:09:00] to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode, do me a favor. Go over to facebook.com/inspired stewardship and like our Facebook page and.

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