To Be A Christ To All

𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝟏𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟐 𝐂𝐨𝐫 𝟏:𝟏𝟖-𝟐𝟐

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟏𝟗:𝟏𝟐𝟗-𝟏𝟑𝟑, 𝟏𝟑𝟓 “𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟓:𝟏𝟑-𝟏𝟔

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒏,” (𝒗.16) 

          In the days of Jesus, to be referred to as the “𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩” was the greatest compliment that can be given to any man. Why? Because it speaks highly of a person’s character and value. To be called the salt of the earth in those days was to highlight a person’s usefulness and how he was perceived not only by his family and peers but by the community in general.

         For a person to be equated with salt was to draw attention to his purity as salt was in those days considered as the purest of all things because it came from the purest of all sources – the sun and the sea and even to this day, Jewish sacrificial offerings are made with salt. This is why for a Christian to be the salt of the earth that person must be an example of purity.

         It is not enough that we pay lip service to our commitment as a Christian. How often do we hear people professing how they love to serve in the Lord’s vineyard, how they have offered their lives to the Lord, how they love the church or community they serve in. But their actions do not mirror what comes out of their lips.

         The problem that most communities or ministries have is that the words that come out of our lips are often in contradiction with our deeds and we may not even be aware of it. Why is this so? We cannot see it because our intentions are clouded with our desire to create a good impression for ourselves.

         In this Gospel passage, Jesus used ordinary images, such as salt and light, to convey the truths he wanted to impart to his disciples and to the Jews. We may ask what does salt and light have to do with our mission to build God’s Kingdom on earth?

         The greatest and most obvious quality of salt is that it lends flavor to things. Food without salt is insipid and this is what Christianity is to life. Christianity lends flavor to life. Hence, if a seasoning does not have flavor, it has no value whatsoever. This is the same for us Christians because if we make no effort to influence the world around us, we are of little value to God.

         Jesus uses the image of salt to describe how we are to live in the world. As salt purifies, preserves, and penetrates, so we too must be like salt in our society, in our church or community to purify, preserve, and penetrate our society and our church for the Kingdom of God and of his righteousness and peace.

         The essence of this Gospel passage and our being equated with salt is to remind us that idleness invites disaster. If we as a Christian disciple do not fulfill our purpose as a Christian which is to “𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔, 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒖𝒑 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔” (𝑳𝒌 9:23) and go to the ends of the earth and “𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒃𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕.” (𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 28:18) then we are on our way to disaster.

         Just as seasoning brings out the best flavor in food, we as the salt of the earth should not merely blend in with others but we must influence others in a more positive way. Jesus also used the image of light and a lamp to underscore his illustration. Lamps in those days served a vital function as they also do today.

         Lamps enable people to see and work in the dark and to avoid stumbling. The Jews also understood “light” as an expression of the inner beauty, truth, and goodness of God. “𝑰𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕” ( 𝑷𝒔𝒂 36:9). “𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉.” (𝑷𝒔𝒂 119:105). God’s Grace not only illumines the darkness in our lives, but it also fills us with spiritual light, joy, and peace. Jesus used the image of a lamp to describe how his disciples are to live in the light of his truth and love.

         Just as natural light illumines the darkness and enables us to see visually, so the light of Christ must shine in our hearts that will enable us to see the heavenly reality of God’s Kingdom. In fact, our mission is to be the light-bearers of Christ so that others may see the truth of the Gospel and be freed from the blindness of sin and deception.

         Jesus said that nothing can remain hidden or kept secret. Even in the church or community that we belong to, we can camouflage our real intention and try to hide our true intention from others, but nothing can be hidden from God who sees everything.

         Unknown to us we may be inviting tragedy when we close our eyes to the consequences of our sinful ways and bad habits, even when we know what those consequences are. As we are enveloped by our personal intentions and desires, we keep these bad habits out of sight by hiding them from others and even from God. Nonetheless, nothing can be hidden from God who sees all.

         As a light, a Christian should serve as a guide who must clear the way for others to also come to know Christ. We must stand as a warning light to tell others of the danger that lies ahead, especially when their faith is being put to the test.

         And a Christian should not only be visible within the church or community whose light stops at the church entrance. This means that the light we have as Christians must be visible in the way we treat our neighbors or the person beside us.

         In other words, the world has to see our good deeds. As Greek was the universal language in those days, there are two words the Greeks use in describing that which is good. One is the word “𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴” which means good in quality and the other is “𝘬𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘴” which means a thing is not only good but is also beautiful and attractive.

         In this passage today, Jesus used the word “kalos” which means that the good deeds of a Christian must not only be good but attractive as well. Thus, the good deeds that we do must not only bring good to others but must be able to attract others to share the faith that we have.

         A true Christian is one who doesn’t think of what he has done but what God has enabled him to do. A true Christian does not draw attention to himself, but he directs attention to God. A true Christian is one who doesn’t do things in response to the expectations of others, but as a response to the call of God. A Christian who lives for Christ should glow like a light and be a salt to show others the way to Christ. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 10, 2025)