Pastor Brad DeLong - Are You Salty

i want us to turn together the book of matthew chapter 5 and also we'll be reading briefly from colossians chapter 4. while you're doing that i do honor all of our veterans today i honor each of you i counted 16 veterans in the house this morning and we thank you for your service we give you great honor this week and any week we can't before i read i'll say i know what time it is and i'm conscious of that but i also know god's direction and his word and i believe that each of you want to hear and receive that so matthew chapter 5 jesus has just wrapped up preaching and teaching on the beatitudes he changes his focus in subject matter a little bit

and he says this in verse 13 on the heels of those beatitudes he said you are the salt of the earth if the salt has lost its flavor how shall it be seasoned it's then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men you're the light of the world a city that's set on a hill cannot be hidden nor they light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand and your life gives light to all who are in the house with you let your light so shine before men they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven so your salt he says and your light according to jesus christ we build on this premise

and we read from colossians 4 and verse 5 paul instructs us because of who we are identity that we're to walk in wisdom towards those who are outside those who are unbelievers those who don't yet believe redeeming the time let your speech be always with grace seasoned with salt you may know how to answer each one so you're not just a salt of the earth and the light of the world but in conjunction with that your speech your dialogue and i would add your conduct and your disposition ought to all be seasoned with salt as well in fact everything you do ought to reflect your makeup your maker and your status and calling is the light of the world the salt of the earth a person who believes

in the power of jesus name and who exercises that you ought to be the salt with that in mind this morning i want to preach to you today from a somewhat satirical title and i want to pose you this question are you salty are you salty for your seed look at a neighbor and ask them with sincerity are you salty this morning and then you may be seated now you all heard the chuckle in the room because the term salty has brought with it a whole new connotation in recent years and in common culture you see at one time the only things that were called salty were overly seasoned foods and maybe some packets of ramen noodle we all know those are real salty but

now in our culture the term salty is used in a myriad of other ways originally it pertained to something that was tasting of or containing or preserved with salt now salty is used in many places to describe individuals instead of describing food or the preservation of food it's even been amended in the dictionary that to be salty also describes one who is angry or an ill-tempered individual it describes someone who's bitter someone who's resentful of someone else on a more light-hearted note salty may be used to describe the saint of god who shows up and doesn't get their particular spot on their pew or their parking spot or they didn't get their cup of coffee when they came to church this morning some of you didn't even know how salty

you were when you came in where once was only employed as an adjective of the food of an overly eager chef or someone like me who loves salt now the term salty is used everywhere from text messages to twitter feeds to memes and t-shirt slogans and it could rightly be said that the term salty has been altered and morphed significantly in the past several years and in the past decade with that in mind this morning we're going to alter it again for our own purposes and really we're going to take it back to an age-old and timeless definition one that pertains to the text we read earlier you see i haven't come today to ask you how bitter or resentful you are that may be a different sermon

for a different day i'm hoping that you're neither i'm hoping you got your spot you got your coffee you got your parking spot or you just have the joy of the lord and you don't need any of those things so now of asking you that question i want to pose to you a more poignant and meaningful question this morning one that i hope we can all answer before we leave here today are you salty looking back at our text jesus tells his disciples you're the salt of the earth but if the salt loses its savor how shall it be seasoned it's then good for nothing if it's not salty it's good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men you're the light of the world a city that's set on a hill cannot be hidden nor

they light a lamp and they don't put it under a basket but they put it out on a lampstand it gives light to everyone who's around everyone in the house let your light so shine before men that they would see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven you see in this context to be the salt of the earth to be salty takes on a whole new meaning than the one we just talked about so when i say salty today i'm not talking about someone who's bitter or cold or unpleasant i'm not referencing a mindset that turns its back on the world in hostility and resentment i'm not describing someone operating in the exact opposite manner of the call of god in matthew 5

and instead jesus says you're the salt and he clarifies saying this you're also the light of the world you're a city on a hill you just cannot be hidden you're a beacon of hope you're a witness of the glory and the grace of god you are soul in lines to let your light shine before men why so they'll glorify your father who is in heaven like we've done here today and worship him today you're salt you're called to be salty not in aversion to those who are lost and those who need god's grace but instead one who administers grace in the gospel everywhere he or she goes you're called to be salt god's instrument an element of salvation for humanity you're called to be light god's way of proclaiming the praises of him who's called us out of darkness into his marvelous light you're called to be a city on a hill one that cannot be hidden

and one that emanates light to everyone in your proximity and even those who are afar oh if you're called to be the salt of the earth the light of the world in fact my wife sent me a meme this week she knew what i was preaching it fit so perfectly it said you're called to be salt not to be salty and you know what i mean by that salty that's the bad salty we're called to be the salt of the earth which inherently is chock full of meaning and implications and i'll be the first to admit we may never know the death and the layers of meaning that jesus intended to include when he made this statement but there are faculties of salt that are obvious to us

and that would have been obvious more than likely to the hearers of that day i haven't come today to bore you with any of my salt research i've done quite a bit of it but i do love salt myself so i'm hoping that you'll find some value here today if not spiritually than practically but i believe you'll find value in both there are some faculties of salt there's a powerful application in matthew chapter five first of all the next verse in the context clarifies what he's talking about salt and light are equated to one another our text in colossians directly pertains to the lost to unbelievers as it tells us to let our speech be always with grace season with salt that's difficult that means social media facebook posts instagram that's your speech as

well that's your speech when you're driving in the car and you get cut off by someone let it off let it be always with grace season with salt that's your speech at home when you're talking to family members and spouses and children let it be always with grace but especially to unbelievers should be salty in this light takes on a whole new meaning as the salt of the earth interacts with unbelievers and points them in the direction of jesus christ we were reading a book as a staff here at the church referenced it a couple weeks ago it said it like this this was powerful we need a revival and a cultural reformation where salty believers make unbelievers thirsty for jesus christ i'm going to repeat that

so it'll get lodged somewhere in your spirit we need a revival and a cultural reformation where salty believers make unbelievers thirsty for jesus christ and this really in a nutshell is what it means to be salty today that they would see your life and your good works and they glorify your father that there'd be no other option for them but when they see you talking and they hear you speaking they see your actions and they see you serving others and all they have to do is they say all i can do is glorify your father in heaven because of what he's done in your life and the change and the transformation that's happened within you but even beyond that definition in matthew 5 the qualities the makeup of salt themselves are compelling today this may sound a little more like a bible study

but like i mentioned i don't apologize for that because this concept of the salt of the earth is just too powerful for us to miss i want us to know who we are today if jesus said this is who you are i'd like us to know what that means you see salt is one of the most plentiful and versatile elements on planet earth salt is everywhere that will preach in and of itself salts everywhere everywhere you go there's salt salt on the road salt i mean there will be salt at some point not today though don't worry it's it's been estimated that if the oceans of the world completely dried up they would yield at least 4.5 million cubic miles of rock salt 14 and a half times the bulk of the entire continent of europe it's everywhere it's

in the ocean it's in the crust of the earth it's in the dirt the sand salt springs salt lakes even salt domes it's everywhere and without it hear this human life itself is not even sustainable the human anatomy and body has to have salt to help it stay balanced and regulate it and it's astounding to me because the god who made salt so valuable and so necessary he says oh by the way you're salt you're the salt of the earth in other words it would appear that the world and human life itself is only sustainable by the presence of salt in the presence of the people of god within it when you consider you're part of the same lineage that god used to bless the entire earth

and the people within it you realize he continues to use us the salt of the earth to bring a balance to bring a counteragent to the darkness the depravity of the world salt is necessary and critical for life it also brings healing and soothing properties it's literally inherent within it our soothing and healing characteristics salt and salt water are used as a remedy for sore throats and canker sores salt is often placed on bee stings to soothe pain and poison ivy to soothe itching some of you are going to go home and buy a bunch of these and just start pouring them oh yeah i got it it gets everywhere salt is used in healing using iv bags and saline solutions used to treat sunburn

and other ailments it was often used as a home remedy for all kinds of illnesses and all kinds of ailments in second kings 2 and 21. the lord through the prophets coincidentally used salt to heal the water source near jericho of its unproductive qualities and ezekiel tells us that newborns in that day were rubbed down with salt to enhance and to purify their skin again the same god who created its properties in the first place he knew exactly what he was referencing when he called us the salt of the earth maybe it wasn't at the top of his list when he said it but there is no doubt god uses you and god uses me as ministers of healing and reconciliation in other people's lives

in fact he said as much in john 14 he who believes in me he or she is going to do even greater works than these the works that i've done and just like him and through him in the spirit we can be a part of the healing that happens in people around us both physically and emotionally we've seen that today i saw brothers and sisters use you would agree there's nothing about us that's anything special we have no inherent power but when we are going and we're used as a salt of the earth and we lay hands on someone and speak the name of jesus something starts to happen something starts to shift something starts to change god uses these earthen and imperfect vessels to help someone else used

in healing it's also used in cleaning ezekiel 43 salt was one of the elements used as the priest purified and consecrated the altar of the lord it was specifically asked for for salt even still salt is used to clean pots and pans and dishes in the church sidewalks not today but eventually the church sidewalks it's used to revitalize metals like copper other metals describe and clean tough surfaces again parallels here the salt of the earth can be used as a cleaning agent for the earth and the people within it when salt starts to interact with foreign and unwanted substances a cleaning process starts to take place when salt comes into contact with filth and grime and blemishes a chemical and spiritual reaction starts to happen

and this is part of the reason why salt was used and this is the last thing i'll mention today when it's used as a preserving agent in that day and time of all the practical implications we'll discuss this one flows to the top today salt was one of the primary substances uses used to preserve things like food and meat especially in that day and time i want you to hear me the chemical makeup of salt kept rot and decay from being able to advance and it prevented mold and corrosion as well so when jesus says you're the salt of the earth it is more than a trivial pronouncement it's more than a pithy saying salt was the primary agent used in preservation just as the church his church is one of the primary agents used

in preservation and reconciliation today salt held back decay and corruption just as the people of god with his help in the spirit hold back darkness and hold back decline salt preserves and protects the objects and substances that it shields just as god uses the people of god to encircle and preserve and eventually alter the people and the vessels around us you are the salt of the earth he says so you're one of the primary agents of preservation that god employs on planet earth and not only that but i mentioned a moment ago when salt has been in contact with another object or element long enough it can actually begin to change the structure and the makeup of that other element just by being in its proximity

and in its presence that's what saul didn't have to touch things for them to begin to change i mentioned the story a couple weeks ago my wife works at a high school and creep corps area she started going in the mornings in her classroom started praying over each desk she wanted to change the atmosphere many of you know schools are going through a difficult season especially this year a whole lot of confusion darkness and decay they're taking kids out on stretchers because they've had bad drugs in school a lot of horrible things going on with mariah went to that classroom and started praying in the mornings and a young lady walked in and she said you know mr long i like coming to your class there's peace here

i feel a pee everywhere else in the school there's a whole lot of madness and chaos but when i walk in this place and i get around some salt some things start to change salt preserves even in a harsh environment and salt changes the makeup of whatever person and vessel with whom it comes into contact you are the salt of the earth you are the primary agent of preservation in your neighborhood your school your workplace you can bring healing to co-workers through the help of the holy ghost you can bring the ministry of reconciliation and restoration into your workplace you can mean cleansing you can help revitalize a subdivision in a community you can bring protection to opposition and darkness and decay in your city

and your municipality you are salt and light you cannot be hidden you're a city on a hill and you're called to be salt and to be salty which has more significance than we could even discuss today and with all those faculties and benefits in mind this morning the ones i listed even the ones i didn't i would ask you again in light of the healing and the cleansing the revitalizing the preservative qualities of the salt of the earth how salty are you today how salty is your life this morning are you exhibiting the characteristics of the salt you've been called to be is there any light emanating from your life today are you the salt of the earth and the light of the world today are

you salty i want you to lean in your neighbor now you know what i'm talking about ask them are you salty get their answer make sure they answer you be accountable are you salty whatever your answer is whether it was a yes or no or i could be a little more salty i could whatever your answer was i think we would all agree over this that the salt of the earth really exhibits all those qualities i just mentioned if it can help cleanse and revive and heal and preserve and the world could use a whole lot more salt if healing cleansing revival and preservation among other things are really part of the nature of the salty earth it goes without saying that our world needs more salt our neighborhoods need more

so my neighborhood needs more so our city needs more salt our world needs more salt a couple months ago i was cooking at the house i was learning how to make a new dish it's called puyo giselle it's puerto rican dish my mother-in-law was helping me teach she's a great cook she's helping me out we added all the elements in we put everything in the pot of sasson adobo cilantro i mean oh there's a lot of seasonings i like a lot of seasonings started boiling and we did the taste test how many of you love the taste test i love the taste test praise the lord first fruits and blessing we did the taste test we looked over at each other we came to a quorum

and a consensus immediately needs more salt you know you can tell when salt is missing of all the elements of a savory dish the absence of salt seems to be the most glaring of them all you can tell when your workplace is devoid of salt you can see when your city and your neighborhood your school are lacking the qualities and the effects of the salt of the earth you can tell when the light of the world is missing and the darkness is overwhelming you know almost immediately when a setting is lacking in salt so i say again today our city means more salt our neighborhoods need more healing our schools need the preserving power of god our families need the cleansing that comes with proximity to righteousness

and the presence of god our community needs more salt than saying that what i'm really saying today is that our city needs more of you our neighborhood your neighborhood needs you your school needs you and the holy ghost that's inside of you those unsaved loved ones are in desperate need of you in the gospel you've got to offer them your community needs you because you are this he said you're it you're the saul you're the lie of the world you are a city on a hill which cannot be hidden you are called to be salt and called to be salty this morning paul echoes this in 2nd corinthians 3 he says you are our epistle written in our hearts you're it known and read by all men clearly

he says you're an epistle of christ i wonder today am i clearly an epistle of jesus christ is it evident that his his spirit is written on my life written not with ink he says but the spirit of the living god verse 4 and we have such a trust through christ toward god now that we're not sufficient of ourselves on our own we're just salt without a taste on our own we're salt with no seasoning we're we're worthless we're we're to be trampled underfoot by men but he wherever we have a sufficiency he says which is from god who made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant paul says you're an epistle a letter from jesus christ known and written by all men not only that

but because of the covenant that you walk in the new covenant you're also a minister of that new covenant because of what god has done in you your makeup and your life are no longer the same now you're a living letter in billboard telling the world about jesus christ in this new covenant and this new life we have with him so yes today i would say unequivocally that our world needs jesus more and more each day we need the god of all grace we need the king of all glory in our city in our neighborhoods but it stands to reason that the way that he has decided to reveal and to disseminate himself is by spreading salt anywhere and everywhere he can he's sending salt

you and i in every place every community we can reach he's diffusing and distributing the salt of the earth the lie of the world which are both the part of his plan for salvation for humanity mr amber said it wednesday night that god often uses humanity an imperfect people to help alter and change the destiny of other members of humanity and other imperfect people what a calling we have when you receive the holy ghost something in your makeup change let me pause here and tell you today if you've not yet received the holy ghost if you've not repented of your sins and been baptized in the name of jesus and and received his spirit by the infilling of or by the evidence of speaking other tongues

you can receive it today you can have it at this altar today your life will be changed and something in your dna starts to change and salt is added to your spiritual dna luke says it like this but you'll receive power after the holy ghost comes upon you and you're going to be a witness inherently not by anything that you did but just your life is going to be a witness in the places far beyond where you currently stand your salt now and your light a city that cannot be hidden they're going to look at you and think what in the world happened to you what's changed what's different what's so different about you what's going on you're god's instrument now in his method of dissemination of the gospel

and the power of god along with it you are salt and if we look back again and i'm coming close to a close at the properties of salt we mentioned we know that wherever it's used and wherever it's placed wherever salt lands it's always effective it's always instrumental the truth is when salt is really salty it's extremely effective i would even use the word potent we've all bitten into a dish that had some salty salt on it right probably will around thanksgiving don't tell them that though you know what i'm talking about salt has a way of causing a reaction even a chemical reaction to whatever object or entity within which it comes into contact wherever it falls and whomever it comes into contact with

it starts causing this change in this reaction salt starts to change the makeup of other things around it just because it's close and if you pour enough salt on something that thing is salty now it it it just seeps in you put enough salt on a steak i know it's lunch time it's getting close it absorbs it it has noise now some will fall off some will get brushed off i don't want it you mean i don't want any of that but you put enough salt on something it start it doesn't it can't help but there's this reaction that happens this is the way that god has made there will be a reaction this is what it says in zechariah 8 and verse 23 this is what can happen thus saith the

lord of hosts in those days ten men from every language of the nations will grasp the sleep of one jewish man's shame let us go with you for we've heard that god is with you just by being around you god where are you going i know that god's with you we can see there's something different about you we can tell you've been with god we can see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven we can see the light of the world in you we can taste the salt of the earth because of your actions and your conduct and your disposition and your spirit we can tell you've been with jesus how many times has this happened to us someone walks up to us at work

and they said hey you go to church right you never even said anything about it hey you you pray right could you pray for me how many times has this happened has that ever happened to anyone raise your hand if it has and you didn't say a word but they started getting around you and something there's this chemical reaction was taking place something was happening in their spirit just because you were in proximity with him salt has a way of changing things we had an encounter a couple weeks ago we're up at floor and decor took our family up there looking at some tile i met a man up there named jarrett he was helping us sell some he's selling us some tile telling us what

we needed we got over to the grout section of the store it's a great place to share your life story about five ten minutes into the conversation mariah can tell you he starts telling us about his family you could see the brokenness he had so he's telling us about his family about his brother who's who's walking through a trial in his life he i mean poured everything out like i had known him for years i got in the car i started thinking why did he have that reaction to us i didn't tell him i was a pastor i didn't tell him what church i went to i didn't tell him i was apostolic why did he have why was there that why was there that comfortability

well what happened in that moment this morning i cannot take any credit for his reaction all i can say is something in our spiritual makeup ought to draw others to jesus and make him them hungry for him all the more something in my life and my heart ought to make others want to walk with me because they can tell i've been walking with jesus something ought to compel them to recognize that i'm his and i'm a light to those around me something in me ought to be salty enough to make them hunger and thirst for him so let your speech be always with grace season with salt you may know how to answer each one and be ready peter says to give a reason for the hope that's within

you why because there's a jared out there there's a tile salesman there's a neighbor there's a classmate there's a co-worker there's someone whose life has been devoid of salt and light and god's put you in their path in their proximity there's a city in need of salt salty christians whose speech actions conduct and attitudes are full of grace and season with salt that they may see our good works and glorify our father which isn't him so i ask you again today as musicians come are you salty are your words seasoned with salt healing preservation cleansing etc every conversation you have do your actions point others to him are you salty and if so how salty are you today we can with you mention i've obviously been challenged personally along these lines of lake

i want to be a salty christian in a good way i want to be someone that points others to jesus that they see me and think there's something about him truthfully today i want to be salty like one of the saltiest people i know come on up here sister [name redacted] why don't you stand right here you can turn face on him [name redacted]'s salty she's a disciple maker last year the chambers moved into a new neighborhood didn't know anyone on the street totally new environment but for [name redacted] it was an opportunity to be salt and light in a new place she started greeting everyone on the street and then come home in between trips from the house to the car she remember their names she remember their dog's names

she remember their cat's names i got a picture of my office one of them's hulu simbu she drove me a little picture some of those dogs sister creston told me they get home from school or church at the grocery store [name redacted] gets out of the car starts looking for neighbors what do i do when i get out of the car i get my stuff and i head in the house i don't look around okay gets out starts looking for people to this point she has personally met and connected with 26 neighbors on the street now bear in mind this is all in the last year all during covet all in passing but with intention but michael and sister cressa said they will literally wait outside with her while

she talks to neighbors and her friends not only that but she talked to a neighbor across the street a little while back right in the middle of the conversation they weren't talking anything about jesus and [name redacted] stops and says do you know jesus she said well yes i do okay he said that's great now you just need to get baptized and you go to heaven salt and light this last month another neighbor kate decided she wanted to spend some time with [name redacted] there's something about [name redacted] there's something inherent within her that causes others to want to spend time with her because of the schedule of their week kate decided to come to connect group that night when she arrived to be with [name redacted] sister michelle mcclure opened the door

and kate told her she said i need a spiritual moment tonight i need a spiritual moment how many people on your street need a spiritual moment how many of your co-workers have not had a spiritual moment in weeks and months and they're looking for someone i need a neighbor that can point me in the direction of a spiritual moment that's exactly what she got they started teaching on the love of god in that connect group they said kate sat there with tears flowing down her face and she felt the presence of god in the chamber's living room and all of this has happened because of a salty spirit-filled anointed seven-year-old who decided i'm gonna go looking for neighbors i'm not waiting till they come to me i'm gonna go find someone

and all i got to do is ask them do you know jesus well if you don't why don't i point you in his direction oh this morning i feel the call of god sureness i want to invite you to stand i think we all want to be a little saltier after today and if the holy ghost hasn't compelled me to be salty enough [name redacted] has i want to be the salt and light i'm going to ask you right now if you feel the lord calling you and you feel stirring whether it's in your neighborhood or god's going to give you some specific instructions i believe it today if you want to be the salt and light would you just step out of where you are

and come and lift your hands and pray and ask the lord for his help i'm inviting you i'm not going to make you wait any longer would you step out of where you are and come and lift your hands and ask the lord for his help god help my life to be so salty that other people want to know you and they hunger and thirst after you i wonder if you come and just lift your voice and lift your hands right now in the name of jesus ah if god's calling you like he's calling me would you pour out your heart to him and tell him you desire lord you lift your voice and pray for that person who's looking for a spiritual moment that person who's looking

for an interaction with god i don't want to be contempt to be solved without season help me to reach your neighbor help me to reach a friend or co-worker i pray there'll be a reaction because of my actions and my speech me my is yes i say yes i'll say yes i say yes i will i be you're praying continue on i asked okay she's already doing this right now to pray for us how many know that when a child prays that faith it can be so powerful she was too shy to pray in the microphone that's okay i'll leave this prayer but i want her to pray over us we'd have that same desire we'd have that same desire be the salt and the light

i wonder if you lift your hands this is more than a formality but i believe god's going to use the prayer of this spirit-filled seven-year-old girl he's going to help us would you lift your hands and pray together oh god as a church we receive the prayers lord of our kids and [name redacted] i thank you for her life lord i thank you for her example help us jesus to be the salt and the light just like she has been lord lord jesus we're here and feel you calling we see your calling that's on her life we want the same calling the same anointing the same passion to see the lost saved to find people who are in need of a spiritual moment i'm gonna point them

in your direction so we receive this prayer and we offer our own prayers lord for those around us and for our field we're trusting in you jesus we're trusting in you jesus we're trusting you thank you lord for the call that's on our lives thank you jesus amen amen so thankful for god's help the example you know this is a generational calling one of my favorite stories to this day sister marsha reaver walked into a restaurant one day walked past the table sat down a man got up and ran over to her he said ma'am you must be an angel she probably loved that she said no i'm not he said when you walk by me i felt something different i just picture her walking by

in my mind and throwing a little salt on that guy that was what was happening in the holy ghost there was a reaction that took place you've been with jesus can i walk with you can i go with you i thank the lord for her example and i thank the lord for three four generations later and [name redacted] who's reaching people being the salt and light around her i know and recognize the majority of the application of this message happens beyond this place but i'm hoping that god has sealed something in our hearts to remind us who we are especially as we enter this holiday season we need a little more salt at thanksgiving and christmas and i mean this salt too but god's going to help us as a reminder

i asked the ushers if they would give everyone a little gift on their way out not one of these one of these put this somewhere where you remember if you can put it in your wallet put it on your dashboard whatever someone might even get in your car and say what's that all about let me tell you what that salt packet's all about put it somewhere you remember who you are god's going to help us i thank the lord for what he's doing during this season