The sermon that changed the world

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared: “You are the salt of the earth [and] the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13, 14). 

• You is plural, including all Christians. 
• Are is in the present tense, describing a fact, not a prediction or a supposition. 
• The makes it clear that we are the only salt and light of the world.

Salt purifies; light dispels darkness.

From our Lord’s statement, we can know that if our culture is decaying and darkening, the answer is for God’s people to become the change agents he intends us to be. In short, what America needs most is a movement of culture-changing Christians.

But what characteristics define someone God is using to impact the culture for Jesus?

Before our Lord defined our calling as salt and light, he first gave us eight statements that answer our question. The Beatitudes tell us precisely how Christians who are changing the culture live—the values and commitments that motivate and inspire them.

Jesus launched into his Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes. The sermon covers a wide range of topics that encompass nearly every facet of what Jesus expects of those who claim to follow him. As St. Augustine notes, the Sermon represents “a perfect standard of the Christian life.”

It must have come as a shock when Jesus began his sermon by stating, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” When he continued with a series of seven additional blessings, all of which were countercultural to the society of his day (and ours as well), it would have been impossible to avoid the response of those who first heard him: “The crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:28–29).

You see, contrary to the way in which the Law was presented by most religious leaders of his time, Jesus began his moral instruction by focusing on character rather than commands. Until we understand why, we’ll never fully grasp the gravity of all the instruction that comes after.

Even if we somehow managed to keep every command found in this sermon but did not exhibit the characteristics described in its first twelve verses, we would never fully experience the blessing of God in our lives. 

Nor would we become the salt and light our culture needs.

Today, slowly read through Matthew 5:1–16 and pray through this question: Does my life reflect these characteristics?