Being Obvious

Matthew 5:13-16

'You are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled under people's feet.
'You are light for the world. A city on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in people's sight, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven.'

After Jesus lays out the Beatitudes for us, He goes on to call us the Salt and Light for the world. What He teaches is both the consequence of living out the Beatitudes in the world, as well as the responsibility to live them out. He is calling us to be obvious in our faith.

Salt.
When Jesus calls us the "salt for the world", He's not suggesting that we'll go good on fries. In Jesus' day, salt wasn't just to spice up a meal. It was used much in the same way that we use a refrigerator or a freezer today. It preserved food and kept it from going bad. When Jesus calls us the "salt for the world", He is telling us that our role as Christians is to help preserve people--to show them the way of Salvation in order to keep them from going to Hell.

Light.
Why does Jesus call us light? Because this world is a dark place. His light shines in us to be a light in the darkness, so those who are lost and despairing without Him, can find their Way home! Jesus first compares our light to "a city on a hill." By this, He is saying that the Church as a whole is to be that light. The Church is a visible reality, an obvious institution in this world. It has stood for 2000 years as a testament to Jesus' saving power, and still stands, despite conflicts and divisions from sinners inside her, and persecutions and attacks from sinners outside her. And she will continue to stand firm and be that light, because the Light doesn't come from her, but from Christ, who shines out from her!

But then, Jesus talks about a lamp-stand in a room. When it is lit, we do not hide it. That would be really dumb. Instead, we set it up so that it lights the whole house. The lamp-stands are you and me. We are each responsible for lighting our room in the City that is the Church. The light of Christ inside each of us must play its part in lighting the way Home for the world.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, St. Paul uses another analogy to illustrate the relationship between the City and the individual Lamps. He uses the idea of the Body of Christ. He says that we all have a vital role to play in the Church, and just as when one part of a physical body is injured, the whole body suffers and has to compensate, so with the Church. We all have a place and a plan that God has given us--and we have the responsibility to live it out, so that the Church can be effective in the world, to fend off the powers of darkness and be the salt and light of the world.

Salt=to preserve people from Hell.
Light=to guide people to Heaven.

Refuse to be flavourless. Refuse to be hidden. Refuse to be mediocre. Choose to be obvious!