Have you any influence?

6th June, 2010.

Written By Rev. Law Hui Seng

Posted By Teresa Han

Main Idea: Need to exercise our influence in the society for Christ.

Objectives: To challenge the congregation to respond to Christ’s teaching on salt and light by prayer, evangelism, witness and protest.

A. Introduction

- I see 2 worlds; tensions…

- One world is like this: a world of Christians who come to church for service on Sunday; for ministry of all kinds like prayer, Sunday School, Youth Ministry, BB, GB, small group, etc; and we can be good at the ministry; and our lives are transformed by the word of God. There is certain degree of holiness in this world. Another world is like this: this other world of secularism and godlessness and it contains all other religions and Christians unavoidably live in it. For most Christians who are living in the second world, most of us out there put in very little effort to impact the second with our holiness and biblical values. In other words, we have no influence over their lives. We have not shown them for examples, what are biblical examples of honesty, integrity, accountability, humility, love, forgiveness, etc. In a lot of cases, we are secularized, we become as dirty, dishonest, angry, revengeful, immoral, depressed as if we have no Jesus, etc.

- I see lots of tensions among Christians: there is this great gospel of salvation and God’s love in our hands and we have the answers to man’s hopelessness and we want put across to people around us but we do not how to do it. Our lives are transformed by God’s word in the bible and we others to experience the same but it is not happening to our loved ones, friends, colleagues and relatives. May be we often find our worship is so enriching but we are not so courageous to invite others to come and share with us. I find that we have little influence in helping others to know Jesus and become His disciples. That is why the sermon topic: Have you any influence?

- Today, as your pastor, your shepherd, I ask God in the person of Jesus to help me to help you to breach the gap; to influence for Christ; to stand up for Christ. A gap some of us have realized long time ago and you are still very much struggling to overcome. May be some of us are still not aware of it. I pray that this sermon on salt and light teaching of Jesus (a small part of teachings by Jesus on the sermon of the mount) will help you to meet the need of breaching the gap.

B. Salt and Light.

- Everybody is familiar with salt and light. They are found in our house. Jesus as boy in Nazareth must often watch his mother Mary use salt as a preservative in the kitchen and light the lamps when the sun went down. He knew their practical usefulness.

- So, Jesus used these images later to show the influence of His disciples on the human society. At that time, his disciples were very few and yet he expected them to do it for the whole earth. What did he mean? At least 4 truths from this teaching of salt and light of Jesus must be emphasized:

- Firstly, Christians (disciples of Jesus) are fundamentally different from non-Christians. The images of salt and light set the 2 communities of Christians and non-Christians apart. There is a clear cut difference between Christians and that of the non-Christians. Jesus is really teaching that the world which we live in; the world his disciples were living at his time was and is dark (gelap), but his disciples at that time and all of us Christians (and disciples) now must be the light in the world. Brothers and sisters, you must be the light in the world. The world is morally decaying very much! Look at how people practice free sex (sex before marriage; sex with others even after marriage; how Aids spread through immoral sex; homosexual sex, etc); how people abuse drug and alcohol; how people, politicians, businessmen, even ordinary people become so greedy; how people of one religion hate and kill people of another religion. You see how decay and dark the world is!

- You see why Jesus calls His disciples and all of us as His disciples to be salt and light. Jesus calls you to be differentiated from darkness and decay. God in the person of Jesus is calling you to be holy, set apart, different and stand up for Jesus everyday. God is calling us all the time, every minute, every second, every moment to be holy, because He says, “I am holy.”

- Secondly, Christians must permeate non-Christian society. Although Christians are morally and spiritually distinct from non-Christians, they are not to socially segregated, separated from the rest of the society. On the other hand, their light must into the darkness, the sinfulness of the world. Their salt must soak into the decaying world, the decaying meat. The lamb does no good if it stays under the bed, and the salt does no good if it stays in the salt container. Similarly, Christians must enter the society and mix with the society and become immersed in its life. We must let our light shines so that our good deeds, good behavior are seen. People see Jesus in us and we are pointing people, showing them the way to the savior.

- Thirdly, Christians can influence non-Christian society. Before the days of refrigeration, salt was the best known preservative. Either it was rubbed into fish and meat, or they were left to soak in it. In this way the decaying process was retarded. Light is even more obviously effective; when the light is switched on, the darkness is actually dispelled. Jesus is really saying that Christians and His disciples can prevent social decay and dispel the darkness of evil.

- In Sarawak, we have 41% Christians in a population of 2.4 million, have you prevented the society from social decay? As our population increases, it looks like we become more and more morally not right. You see more and more of illegal trade; rape; corruption; injustice; cheating cases on money; prostitution; gangsterism; selling of illegal drug; etc. Where is our Christian influence? Whose fault is it? Who to blame?

- We always blame others. If the house is dark when night comes, there is no sense in blaming the house, for that is what happens when the sun goes down. The question to ask is “Where is the light?”

- If he meat goes bad and becomes inedible, there is no sense in blaming the meat, for that is what happens when bacteria are left alone to breed. The question to ask is “Where is the salt?”

- Similarly, if society deteriorates and its moral standards decline, until it becomes like dark night or stinking fish, there is no sense in blaming the society, for that is what happens when fallen men and women are left to themselves, and human selfishness is unchecked. Jesus has taught us to be salt and light; and therefore, if darkness and rottenness still prevail in our society, it is our fault and we must accept the blame.

- Fourthly, Christians must retain our Christian distinctiveness. If salt does not retain its saltiness, it is good for nothing. If light does not retain its brightness, it becomes ineffective. So we claim to be Christ’s followers have to fulfill 2 conditions if we are to obey Christ. On one hand, we have to permeate non-Christian society, and immerse ourselves in the life of the world. On the other hand, while doing so, we have to avoid becoming assimilated to the world. We must retain our Christian convictions, values, standards and lifestyle. These are the things that help us to be influential, and to be salt and light.

- But how can we exert some influence for Christ? What does it mean in practice to be the world’s salt and light? What can we do for social change?

- Brothers and sisters, we must pray and do evangelism; we must witness and protest.

C. Prayer and Evangelism.

- Firstly, in order to influence our society, we must pray a lot as there is power in prayer. I beg you not to dismiss it just as a holy act; I beg you not to underestimate its importance in causing people to come to know Christ and be saved. I have preached to you all power, wisdom, faith and resources of God almighty is available to Christians; unless we pray, and we have no access to them. We cannot read the bible without being impressed by its constant emphasis on the effectiveness of prayer. James 5:16, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” Matthew 18:19, Jesus says, “…if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my father in heaven.” We may not understand fully the rationale of intercession. But somehow it enables us to enter the field of spiritual conflict, and to align ourselves with the good purpose of God, so that his power is released and the principalities of evil are bound.

- The Filipino dictator, President Marcos, was as a result of the power of prayer, not people power as claimed. How could the machine guns and tanks fired at 2 milliion human barricades who were unarmed civilians, Roman Catholics and Protestants, who prayed! You see the power of prayer?

- Our churches must pray for those who are corrupted and injustice to be removed from power and authority. 1Timothy 2:1-4 actually urged us to pray for our authorities so that there may be peace and harmony in our country.

- With prayer, we must bring along the gospel as it is powerful. So, we must do evangelism. Gospel changes peoples’ lives. Have your lives being changed by the gospel? Every Christian must be able to echo Paul’s words with conviction, Roman 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.”

D. Witness and Protest

- We see the power of the gospel in transforming life. In fact, gospel is made up of truth. All truth is powerful. God’s truth is much more mighty than the devil’s crooked lies. We should never be afraid of the truth. Nor do we ever need to be afraid for the truth. For God watches over the truths and He will never allow the truth to be suppressed.

- As Paul put it, “we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth” (2Corinthians 13: 8)

- We Christians and disciples are all called like our Master, Jesus, to bear witness to the truth.

- We must also protest if we find something not truthful. We may voice it or we write against it or we do not want to participate in it. So, are you for the truth of anything? Not just on matters concerning God, but also matters on every day life, like whether somebody has done something or say something. If you are there, can you witness for the truth?

E. Conclusion.

- You see why if you are putting in all the effort to be salt and light, you can make our society better in every sense? Your salt and light are at stake today.