SEE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AT THE END
TODAY'S ADDRESSES THE ISSUE THAT: "A GREAT NATION MUST BE A SALTY NATION”
What makes a great nation? Today I am going to show you in order to be a great nation, that nation must be filled with salty citizens that make the nation in whole be-salty. What I mean by salty is directly related to being fully committed to a relationship with Jesus Christ and the entire biblical Scriptures. When a people, culture and nation is actively “salty” in biblical terms, they are in total blessed, provided and protected. What a people, culture and nation looses its saltiness, they become unraveled because they were kept together as a whole and blessed by the hand of God to begin with.
“He existed before all things, and he holds everything together. God's Son was before all else, and by him everything is held together”(Colossians 1:17 CEV). When we lose our saltiness, we end up intentionally or non-intentionally rejecting God. As a result, God rejects us in His blessings and provision. As a result, the culture, nation and people’s moral sanity begin to fall apart. Welcome to 2023. In order for us to get back to being a great nation, we need to address and get back to the central issue of how we do that which is found in Matthew 5:13-16 which says this:
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand and it gives light to all 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 who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16).
America was made great by great men and women of God, who feared, followed and trusted in the God of the Bible. As a result, God’s light shined through them and simply couldn’t, wouldn’t and didn’t want to be hidden. As a result, God raised up and blessed America. In contrast, verse 13 tells us what happens to any people, culture and nation that fails to become or remain “salty” for God’s Word and ways. This begs the question as to what the MEANING of “SALT” or “SALTY” is. In a nutshell, “Salt” does three major things. It preserves, creates thirst, and cleanses. In relation to the biblical wisdom regarding the body of Christ being and remaining salty, let’s now break that down.
- As Christians being like salt or “salty” means that we are to preservethe Christian faith from the degrading-secular erosion constantly being brought on by the secular culture. This is true not only for America but for every country around the world. This means that we are to stand firm and strong on and for the Word of God. And doing means not compromising the truth of God’s Word despite how counter-cultural it may seem. This mandates that you and I do not hide the word of God under a lamp shade, in our work place, in our community, government or anywhere else God takes us throughout our day. It doesn’t mean that we have to be in the face of the secular world about our faith either. We are not to express and share our faith in a way that welcomes a negative reaction, but simply that we stand firm and joyful on the Word of God as we interact with those He brings into our space in a tasteful way. That’s number one, we as Christians are to be preserves for the Word and truth of God through Christ.
- We, as Christians, like salt, are to create a thirst for God’s word in others; carrying out the Great Commission found in Matthew 28. This means that we are to be creating thirst in the mouths of those God calls us to throughout our world; a thirst for the truth of God and salvific gift of eternal life found only in Jesus Christ. This is a verb not a noun. It’s one thing to talk about doing this and another to live it out and simply do it. We are called to go out into ALL the world, including our family, workplace, and neighborhoods to help create that thirst. The goal showing folks their already existing true-spiritual thirst for God is to lead them to the true God of the universe to place their trust and life in Jesus Christ. “Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”(John 4:13-15). That’s number two, to help create a spiritual thirst in others for the true God of the universe in Jesus Christ and draw them away from the false waters of the world that only leave them more thirsty then when they first began.
- When we as Christians are “salty” for Christ, we not only preserve the Truth of God and create a thirst for His Word for the next generation to inherit, we help others receive the redemptive, cleaning of their soul through trusting in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The way this works in summary is that when we share that truth with others, God’s Spirit will create a thirst for the living Savior Jesus Christ. In response to doing all this, we as Christians will have opened the door for the Holy Spirit to, just like salt, “cleanse” the unbeliever. Just like salt cleanses a wound, the blood of Jesus Christ makes the new believer spotless in the sight of the living Savior. “Our sins are washed away and we are made clean because Christ gave His own body as a gift to God. He did this once for all time” (Hebrews 10:10-12).
In application for you and I as Christians, we must be like salt to the earth. If we, like salt loose our saltiness, we lose our good “taste” to the world. And today we have awoken to just that. This leads us to ask just how we can we regain that saltiness and be restored and restore our culture, nation and people to God’s favor? It’s a process and a discipline wrapped up in a sincere desire and thirst to pursue God through Jesus Christ. And this means becoming salty Christians once again. When we lost our saltiness, our Christian witness is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
You and I are the light of the world in this very way. And America has been and still is at the moment a great city set upon a hill that cannot be hidden. America has the chance to return to the God of Bible, not just in an emotional way, but in a biblically literate, committed, tenacious and salty way.
And when as Christians once again become a people living out the Christian faith and life in a salty way, we will once again become light a lamp that is no longer put under a basket, but on a stand that will give light to all in the world. Getting back to today’s passage, two similitudes follow the Beatitudes to point out the principle of “doing” following “being”. Simply point, there are those who talk a good game like a noun, and those who act upon living out their faith with action like a verb. Some Christians emphasize “being” so much they never get to the goal of “doing” what they are called to as a Christian “to do”. All of us will be called into account with all we have been given and what we do with what God gives us. So, let’s make those opportunities count.
IN CONCLUSION: I want to ask you personally to let your light shine before others this very day, so that the world, starting with those God calls into your space of life may see your good works and give glory to God our Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16). Remember, America was made great by great men and women of God, who feared God, following and trusting in Him and the Scriptures. And remember, we are called to be like “Salt”, which preserves, creates thirst, and cleanseswith the truth of God’s Word, the blood of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit. And this is what it takes in making a nation salty for God.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1) WHAT MAKES A GREAT NATION?
2) WHAT DOES GOD'S WORD MEAN BY CHRISTIANS BEING "SALTY"?
3) IN REAL LIFE, WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR CHRISTIANS TO "CREATE A THIRST" WITH THE UNSAVED AND PERHAPS EVEN THOSE WHO ARE SAVED?
4) CAN WE SAVE PEOPLE? WHO CLEANSES THE SOUL AND HOW DOES THAT WORK?
