Matthew 5:13-16

During the time of Jesus, salt was a commodity that had to be mined or collected from the shores of seas rather than being refined from salt water as is mostly done today. As a result, most of the salt in those days contained large amounts of impurities, and because the salt itself is soluble in water, it was quite common for humid air to leech the salt out leaving “salt” that was nothing more than a variety of different minerals—not very tasty, and not useful for anything.

Of course, this is a serious warning. How terrible it would be to live life as an unsalty Christian, missing our purpose and living a worthless life!

However, that’s not the main point. Jesus wasn’t speaking words of threat, he was speaking words of purpose. “Don’t you realize that the only way this world gets any flavor, experiences any light is through you?” Talk about a high calling! Jesus is claiming that we who follow him are the ones who make life better for the whole world!

BIG IDEA OF THE DAY: When was the last time a non-Christian was thankful for your faith?

Matthew 5:1-12

Often called “The Beatitudes” these pithy little phrases spoken by Jesus at the start of his public ministry set the tone for the method Jesus will use throughout his teaching. The theme of his teaching, of course is repentance in preparation for the arrival of the kingdom of heaven, but his method is often to provoke thinking by speaking cryptic words that go against the prevailing wisdom of his day.

These phrases here are the epitome of Jesus’ cryptic method of teaching. In fact, each phrase directly counters the prevailing thinking of the day in a way that is both encouraging and challenging to all.

Just like today, there were many people in Jesus’ day who thought they had everything figured out. They thought they had taken care of their spiritual condition in ways that would earn them great favor with God. They were confident to the point of condescending and they looked at others with pity at best and contempt at worst. However, Jesus directly attacked them by speaking words of blessing not to the spiritually stable but to the poor in spirit; not to the self-confident, but to those who mourn; not to the aggressive, but to the meek; not to the righteous, but to those who hunger for righteousness; etc. In fact, the ones who are blessed are the broken ones who have come to the end of themselves and have nothing left but the purity of heart that truly seeks God and God alone. (Isn’t that the essence of repentance anyway?)

It isn’t easy being broken, but those who are are the ones God blesses.

BIG IDEA FOR THE DAY: When I come to the end of myself, and live only for God, blessing is sure to follow.

Matthew 4:19

There’s something profound and refreshing in these verses, but there’s also something challenging. Let’s dig into it for a moment.

Jesus didn’t say these words to superstars. The superstars of Jesus’ day were the religious leaders and the scholars. If anyone was a candidate for being in Jesus’ inner circle of apprentices it would have been one of them. That’s a principle of human life that seems like a no-brainer. As I’m writing this, sports announcers around the globe are discussing the recent NBA draft and the fact that once again, superstar players have dominated the first round of the draft. Everyone looks to pick superstars for their team… except for Jesus. He doesn’t invite the superstars to be on his team.

Jesus said these words to fishermen. Not only were fishermen your basic blue collar workers, they were smelly, rough around the edges, and we know that the band of fishermen Jesus approached were known to be temperamental, rash, and sometimes cocky. They were anything but societal superstars. We don’t even know if they could read. In fact, there is only one thing we know about these men… they knew how to fish. And that’s exactly what Jesus said he would do for them. He would take their fishing skill and put it to use for his own purposes. This is how Jesus loves to work. He doesn’t “take over” our lives turning us into something completely different than who we already are. Instead, he moves into our lives taking who we already are and transforms the direction, motivation, and purpose of our lives.

How often do we think about God’s will for us as if it’s something difficult or undesirable when in fact, Jesus just wants to take who we already are and shift us toward his own purposes?

Jesus’ purpose is to make us who we are for others. Here’s the key point. Jesus starts with who you are, but in the process of following him, you will become who you are for other people. The final shift in the transformation Jesus wants to make happen in your life is the shift from “for you” to “for others.”

You were not created the way you are for your own benefit. You were created the way you are to bring your unique benefit to others. So the next time you think about “evangelism” be encouraged that Jesus doesn’t expect you to be a superstar. He just wants you to be who you already are. But the next time you think about being yourself and living out your unique gifts, be challenged to be yourself in a way that brings benefit to others and draws them toward Jesus.

BIG IDEA FOR THE DAY: Be who you are for others.

Matthew 4:17

The introductory words of Jesus’ earthly ministry are words of change. In fact, the Greek word for “repent” literally is the Greek word for change applied to the word for mind. In other words, “repentance” is the act of changing your mind. As Jesus used it, it meant changing your entire perspective on the life you are living, doing a 180, and returning to God. It’s all about giving up life-on-my-own-terms living and shifting to life-on-God’s-terms living.

The dual theme of repentance and the kingdom of heaven is central to everything Jesus ever taught, because it addresses the deepest problem with the human heart.

Since the days of Adam and Eve, the primary expression of sin has always been living life on my terms according to my desires rather than living life on God’s terms with him at the place of preeminence. The central desire of the sinful human heart is to run its own show, but the central reality of the spiritual world is that God is sovereign. In other words, the question of Lordship, “Who’s in charge of your heart?” is the central, most important question of all.

Jesus declares that the kingdom is coming, and when it comes, God will claim full and complete lordship over all things and every person. Those people who call him Lord, will be welcomed to live in his kingdom, but those who follow the leading of their own heart will be cast out from the kingdom.

BIG IDEA FOR THE DAY: Who’s in charge of your heart today?

This is the first message in our Project Red series, and it is our first week as a church to meet in the Long Center as we prepare to launch into what we are calling Phase Two of the life of our church. Listen in as Pastor Jeff explains something Jesus said that caused most of his followers to leave him.