Salt and Light: Matthew 5:13-20 (Ep. 107)

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Good day, and welcome to stories of a faithful god for kids. Dave here. A big shout out to Albert who lives in Seattle, Washington in The United States. Albert tells me he's always checking for the latest episode. Albert, it was great to touch base with you.

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Thanks so much for listening. I love hearing from people. I'd love to hear from you, either through the contact page at faithfulgod.net or by leaving a comment or a review on your listening app. The more reviews the show has, the more likely the app will suggest the pod to other listeners. Now on with the show.

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Okay. Let's get real here. It's time to have a heart to heart chat. This is a safe space. We can share the truth.

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Who here is afraid of the dark? Are you afraid of the dark? You don't need to be embarrassed. The dark can be a scary place. I'm not always afraid of the dark, but there are times, man.

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There are times when something goes bump or when I don't know what's in front of me and my heart goes bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, You know what I love in those times? I love it when someone turns the light on. Then you realize that the thing you thought was a big hairy monster coming towards you, well, it's just the couch. The thing you thought was the world's biggest spider was just the bag you forgot to put away. I love the light.

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It tells us the truth of what's really there. It comforts us. It helps us to know what we need to know. In today's story, Jesus talks about a light that's a light for the whole world. It might not be the sort of light you expect, though.

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It's a very strange sort of light. Get ready for our next episode of stories of a faithful god for kids. At the end of our last episode, Jesus had been talking to his disciples, another word for his followers, about how happy and blessed people in his kingdom are. It was a sort of happiness that's so much better than anything else you can get in the world. It's a happiness given by God.

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Now Jesus tells his disciples how they should understand themselves, how they should think about themselves. How you think about yourself changes how you act. If you think of yourself as sporty, you'll want to do lots of sports. If you think of yourself as a dancer, you'll want to do lots of dancing. Well, Jesus tells his followers they should think of themselves as salt.

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Excuse me. Hey. Did I read that correctly? Salt, s a l t. Like the stuff you put on your dinner to make it yummier.

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Okay then. Okay. Yep. Salt. Jesus says to his followers in Matthew chapter five verse 13, you are the salt of the earth.

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What on earth does that mean? Well, Jesus doesn't really explain it yet. Salt is a good thing. It can actually be used for lots of different jobs. And in Jesus' day, they used it for all sorts of things.

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So at the very least, Jesus is saying that there's something really good about his followers, something really good for the whole earth. But then he gives them a sort of warning. He tells his followers that whatever that really good thing in them is, if it's taken away, they're useless. He says to them, you are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its salty taste, it cannot be made salty again.

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It is good for nothing. It must be thrown out for people to walk on. So whatever makes the followers of Jesus salty, whatever makes them really good for the world, they'd better not lose it. If they do, they'll be useless. Jesus is using picture language.

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The picture of salt is meant to tell them that there's something really good and important in them for the whole world. So what is it about Jesus' followers that's really good for the world? Before Jesus tells them, he uses more picture language with a different picture. This time, instead of calling them salt, he calls them light. In fact, he says that they're like a light that gives light to the whole world.

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Sorry. Excuse me again. Seriously? The whole world? Is that really what Jesus said?

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I mean, the world's a really big place. Okay. Apparently, that's right. Jesus calls his followers the light of the world. If you've listened to the series we did on John's gospel, you might remember that Jesus calls himself the light of the world.

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You can listen to those episodes by becoming a club member at faithfulgod.net. So what does it mean for Jesus' followers to be the light of the world? Again, just like with the salt picture language, Jesus doesn't tell them right away. First, just like with the salt picture language, he tells them not to be useless. How do you make a light useless?

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You cover it up. In verse 14, Jesus says, you are the light that gives light to the world. A city that is built on a hill cannot be hidden, and people don't hide a light under a bowl. They put the light on a lampstand, then the light shines for all the people in the house. So if Jesus followers are salt, they shouldn't be useless salt.

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If they're light, they shouldn't be useless light. There are really good things in salt and light, so what good thing is Jesus wanting in his followers? In verse 16, Jesus explains. He tells his disciples that like a light shines out for people to see, they should let the world see the good way they live their lives. People should be able to see how loving and kind and good they are.

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And just like a light shows people what's really true, so their good lives will show something or more importantly, someone who's really true. As they live good lives, people will see them and start praising god our father in heaven. They'll say how great he is because they've seen his goodness in his people. In verse 15, Jesus says, people don't hide a light under a bowl. They put the light on a lampstand, then the light shines for all the people in the house.

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In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do. Live so that they will praise your father in heaven. Because of sin, people don't know or understand God. It's like they're living in darkness, and they can't see him.

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They don't realize just how good he is. As followers of Jesus, we should live in the good way God wants us to so that people will see what God is like, And they'll be so excited, they'll want to love and trust and praise God as well. Now in the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible, God had given his special law to his special people, the Israelites. The Israelites were meant to be a light to the world. By obeying God, the world should have been able to look at them and see how great God is.

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Unfortunately, it didn't really happen. The Israelites didn't spend much time obeying God. That's why Jesus has come to make a new people of God. All of his followers are to be the new, better light to the world. Some people might think that means, right.

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Chuck out the Old Testament law. All those things God told the Israelites to do, we never have to read them again. They're useless. That's not what Jesus says, though. Instead, Jesus is going to show his followers what God meant when he gave the law to the Israelites.

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What was the most important thing about the law? We'll see in the next few episodes that what was so important was the way God teaches his people to love, how to love God and how to love other people. The Israelites hadn't really understood the law because they hadn't understood how love was at the center of it. In Jesus' day, there are people who think they're awesome at obeying God's law. In fact, they came up with a whole bunch of extra rules to try and make sure they were obeying God's rules.

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They spent their whole lives trying to obey God's law. They thought they were pretty great. Lots of other people thought they were pretty great as well. They all assumed that God thought they were pretty great, which is why what Jesus tells his followers about them is pretty shocking. These people were called teachers of the law and Pharisees, And Jesus says to his followers in verse 20, I tell you that you must do better than the teachers of the law and the Pharisees.

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If you are not better than they are, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. How can you possibly do better than the best guys in the world? Well, actually, because these guys didn't understand love, they could never obey God properly. Because they didn't love God, they never asked God for forgiveness for all their sin. Because they didn't love other people, they would treat people in mean ways.

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Even when they said they were obeying God, They made it seem like they were obeying God, but, actually, they weren't loving like God wanted them to be loving. Jesus says the people in his kingdom must be better. It doesn't mean they're perfect. Instead, they're honest enough to say they've done the wrong thing when they do and ask God for help to do better. It means they'll work hard to be loving and kind and caring, just like God is loving and kind and caring.

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That way, they can show the world what God is really like. They can be really useful to the world, like salt. They can show people the truth, like light. It's a bit strange to be called sultan light, isn't it? But Jesus is saying, be the really good thing that the world needs.

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Live the good way God wants us to. Love and care for people like God loves and cares for people. If we do that, then people will see it and want to praise God. What do you think? When people look at your life, do they see the kindness and love of God?

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Do they see you caring for people like God cares for people? Are you like salt that's lost its saltiness or light that's hidden? Or are you living life in a way that shows the world how great God is? We actually need God's help to live like that. God loves to help his people live like that.

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So pray and ask that God will help you live in a way that shows the world what he's like. Ask him to help you be a shining light that shows him to other people. Back where Jesus is teaching, the followers might be scratching their heads wondering, how on earth are we gonna do this? I mean, what does it look like when you're angry? Or you wanna get back at someone?

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Or you just really don't like them? What do we do then? Thankfully Jesus is about to tell them. But that's a story for next time. Thanks so much for listening, everyone.

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If you're enjoying the show, don't forget to head to faithfulgod.net and join the club. You can access every episode we've ever done. There's so much great stuff there to help you know god better and better. You can also get in contact with me there in the contact form. Grown ups, that's for you to fill in, and you can pass on messages from your kids.

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