Date: January 6, 2013, Title: Stay Salty! Scripture: Matthew 5:13

 “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage." – The Message

- Why do we use salt today? Salt has many uses: it lowers the boiling point & the freezing point of water, which makes it indispensable in cooking (& in making homemade ice cream), as well as helping to keep ice off the roads.

- If you've ever made pickles of any type, then you'll know that pickles need to be soaked & stored in pickle juice or brine, which contains a high concentration of salt.

- Why do we add salt when we are canning & pickling fish, meats & vegetables?

- We add salt because it is a preservative; it kills dangerous & unwanted germs & extends shelf-life so that these foods can be eaten at a later date.

- When we are sitting down to a meal we often sprinkle a little salt on it because it brings out the flavors.

- The main uses of salt in the first century A.D. were also in food, to preserve it & to enhance its flavor.

- Eugene Peterson in the Message translates the words of Jesus, saying, "You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God- flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage."

- According to Matthew, why did Jesus instruct his disciples to stay salty?

- Jesus instructed his disciples to stay salty because salt which loses its taste is of no benefit to the world.

- Much of the salt we use today is refined, so it's 100% salt, sodium chloride, but in Jesus' day that was not the case.

- Household salt & commercial salt used to preserve fish around the Sea of Galilee was not refined like ours & contained all the various trace minerals that you would naturally find in it because it was most often taken from the salt beds around the Dead Sea.

- So over time with humidity & use when you got down to the bottom of your container of salt what you would have left would not be salty, &, therefore, useless & it would be foolish to keep it.

- Just like salt loses its flavor, disciples of Jesus that lose their God-flavor are not able bring out the God-flavor of the world as enemies of corruption & injustice, & keepers of wholesomeness & purity.

- "You are," says the voice of Jesus, "the salt of the earth."

- Salt that loses its flavor is not only useless, Matthew actually wrote foolish, much like the five foolish virgins who didn't take enough oil with them, so the Christian must not allow him/herself to become useless to God's mission because that is utter foolishness.

- Jesus has a very strong warning for us that we must not allow the power of the gospel in our lives to become diluted by the world or we shall be fit for nothing but the trash heap.

- That brings me back to the title of this morning's message, which is a simple direction: Stay salty!

- If I could paraphrase the words of Jesus with one simple sentence, I would say this: You are the salt of the earth, so stay salty.

- That brings up another question: how do we stay salty?

- Pickles stay salty because they are saturated in pickle juice.

- Ham stays salty because it is saturated with brine.

- Christians stay salty when they are saturated in God's Word with Jesus.

- Stay salty by spending time with Jesus in the Word, then obeying his teaching.

- Quite often we think, "I'm a mature adult; I won't be influenced by the world," when nothing could be further from the truth.

- The Scriptures tell us a true story about human nature. We are warned over and over again to be on our guard against the devil & his schemes because he masquerades as an angel of light, & we are reminded again & again that we are to look to God as the source of our life & for guidance & direction.

- It's time we all got honest with ourselves. When we don't spend enough time in God's Word with Jesus, then we are opening up our lives to be watered down & diluted by the influences of the world.

- If you take pickles out of pickle juice & soak them in water, then what happens? Their flavor is diluted.

- If you buy a ham at the grocery store & it is too salty. What do you do? You soak it in a pot of water overnight to dilute it because water leaches out the salt.

- Friends, the one thing we must not do is water-down & dilute the power of the gospel in our lives by spending too much time in the world & not enough time in the Word.

- Dear people, I believe God has a new vision for Millville Baptist Church & the first part of that vision requires us to be devoted to spending time in the Word with Jesus so that we stay salty.

- I believe that: Our mission is to be the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus in and for our community until the light of Christ shines in every home.

- If we are going to carry on with God's mission, then we must stay salty.

- God's vision for us is a reflection of the values that this church holds dear.

- I believe God's vision is that: As a church, each member will be involved in ministries that reach out to each other, our families and community with commitment, compassion, and teamwork as we strive to meet needs and grow through evangelism and discipleship.

- If God's vision is going to be accomplished, we need to stay salty.

- Stay salty by spending time with Jesus in the Word, then obeying his teaching.

The Figure of Advent: Jesus, the New Israel Matthew 2:13-23

- The title of this morning's message is: Jesus, the new Israel. Now you what you might be wondering to yourself: why did he call Jesus the new Israel?

- & that's a good question, & in order to begin answering that question we need to look at the key things in this passage that really jump out at us.

- For me, there are three key things that jump out of this passage, that make this passage exciting & come alive.

*- The first thing that stands out in this passage is Matthew's continued attention to the fulfillment of prophecy. (This next part is for you detail oriented people)

- The first prophecy is in verse 15, where it says: out of Egypt I have called my son. This is Hosea 11:1 and clearly has to do with Israel. Where is Matthew going with this?

- The second prophecy is of the voice in Ramah, Rachel weeping for her children, which is verse 18.  This has to do with the exile and return of Israel. Where is Matthew going with this?

- The third prophecy is found in verse 23 that he will be called a Nazarene. This prophecy is a summary of Isaiah 11:1 and Judges 13:5: Is. refers to the Branch= nezer & Judges is about  the birth of Samson who took Nazirite vows & who will save Israel from the Philistines. Notice the repetition of NZR which Matthew understands (among other things) as pointing to Nazareth.

- Now, we remember that Bible scholars tell us that Matthew was a Jew writing his gospel for Jews & that's why Matthew was so concerned about the fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

- & the other thing we need to remember is that in Matthew's mind, "God will act in the future the way he acted in the past" (Evans 2012).

- & for me that's one of the things that makes this passage so exciting, knowing that God's ways & his plans don't change.

- Now, you might be wondering why I think it's exciting that God doesn't change his ways or his plans.

- Well, you see, Matthew is showing his readers that there are parallels between the life of the Messiah & the life of God's people Israel, & that God is repeating Israel's history in the life of Messiah as a sign to Israel that Jesus is the Messiah.

- Just as God led Israel down to Egypt to escape famine & certain death, so God also lead the holy family down to Egypt to escape Herod's designs for Jesus' certain death.

- Just as a new Pharaoh ordered the slaughter of Israel's baby boys, so Herod ordered the slaughter of the baby boys of Bethlehem.

- Just as God called Israel out of Egypt & brought them to the Promised Land, so also God called Messiah Jesus out of Egypt to Nazareth.

- "God will act in the future in the way he has acted in the past" (Evans 2012). That is how Matthew understands the Hebrew Scriptures & interprets them & explains how the great story of God acting in the world through Israel is being acted out again in the life of Jesus.

- I think that's exciting & it's exciting because if God acted through Israel, & then God acted through the life of Jesus in a similar way, then what does that tell us about our lives & about the church, God's new people?

- God will act in the future the way he has acted in the past.

*- Because God acted through Israel, & because God acted through Jesus, then it only stands to reason that as we seek to follow Jesus, God will act through us. That's exciting!

- Now, this brings me to the second thing that jumps out at me from the story.

- Who led Israel down to Egypt to escape famine? God did.

- Who appointed Moses to deliver God's people out of Egypt? God did. 

- Who led the holy family down to Egypt to escape Herod? God did.

- Who let the holy family know that it was safe to return to Israel? God did.

- Who is the main character, the chief actor in the account of Israel's sojourn in Egypt, their Exodus, & their conquest of the Promised Land? God is.

- Who is the main character, the chief actor in the account of the birth of Jesus? God is.

- God is the chief actor, the main character; he is the focus of this passage of Scripture.

- God is the one Matthew wants his readers to pay attention to.

* - That's the second thing that jumps out at me from this record of the birth of Jesus; that God acts; God carries out his plans.  God is at work; he is in control.

- God delivered Israel from slavery; God delivered Jesus from death.

- That brings me to the third thing that jumps out at me about this passage.

*- Because Matthew understood the Hebrew Scriptures as foreshadowing the coming Messiah, Matthew also understood God's action surrounding the birth of Jesus to be foreshadowing the new Exodus, the suffering, death, & resurrection of Jesus for the sins of the world.

- Luke's thinking about this is the same as Matthew's mainly because there is no other way to understand it.

- Listen to this scene from Luke's account of the transfiguration: And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:30-31 (ESV)

- Now, what's really interesting about here is the word that's translated as "departure" in the ESV is really the Greek word, "Exodus."

- Moses & Elijah were talking to Jesus about his Exodus that he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

- What else could that possibly mean, but his suffering, death, & resurrection for the sins of the world, just as Matthew foreshadows in his birth account?

- So, just as Israel experienced an Exodus from Egypt, just as the infant Jesus experienced an Exodus from Egypt, so also the adult Jesus experienced an Exodus from this world, an Exodus of suffering, death, & resurrection, which ultimately accomplishes our Exodus from sin & death.

- God delivered Israel from slavery; God delivered Jesus from death; ultimately, God will deliver you.

- That's what Christmas is all about!

- Christmas is all about the unchanging God, who acts in the future the way he acted in the past, in order to accomplish his unchanging plans to save people from sin & death.

- That, according to Matthew, is what Christmas is all about!

- Allow me just to say one thing about the massacres of baby boys under both Pharaoh & Herod.

- Last week we talked about fear being the driving force behind Herod's decisions. It was also true of Pharaoh, & it's true of dictators & tyrants today.

- God wants us to know that the atrocities & brutalities of the bullies & dictators & tyrants of this world will one day come to an end.

- God also wants us to know that the everyday common sorrows & griefs of this world will also one day end.

- The message of the birth of Messiah Jesus stands even in the midst of sorrow, tragedy, injustice, & persecution.

- That's what Christmas is about!
- You can know that deliverance today by placing your life in Jesus hands and trusing in him.
- Romans 10:9 says, If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 

*- God delivered Israel from slavery; God delivered Jesus from death; ultimately, God will deliver you.
 

The Figure of Advent, 2: Jesus, the New King Matthew 2:1-12

The Figure of Advent Two: Jesus, the New King

Matthew 2:1-12

- In the account of the birth of Jesus, Matthew deliberately sets out to contrast Jesus, who is the true king of the Jews, with Herod the Great, the Roman appointed King of the Jews.

- By setting up this contrast, Matthew is encouraging his readers to draw comparisons between Jesus and Herod.

- Matthew wants his readers to see that we can either choose the way of Herod, which is paranoia and fear in response to the birth of Jesus or we can choose the way of the Magi, which is the way of seeking out the Messiah in faith and paying him homage.

- And by setting up this comparison between Jesus and Herod, Matthew begs us to answer a question, which way will we choose, the way of Herod or the way of the Magi?

- Will we choose the way of fear or the way of faith?

- If we choose the way of fear we will fight tooth and nail to keep the power and control that we think we have and we will use whatever tactics we think are necessary to keep that power and control.

- That's what Herod did, whatever was necessary to maintain power and control. That way is the natural response of the sinner's heart.

- Herod the Great was notorious for his paranoia and jealousy. As history shows, his fear and suspicion were at the root of his murder of his wife, Mariamne, and two of his sons (Osborne, 2010).

- Let's notice Herod's immediate response to the inquiry of the Magi, where is the new born King of the Jews? We have seen his star as it arose and have come to worship him.

- Herod's immediate response is one of fear. He was filled with fear over the possibility that the real anointed king of Israel might be born because the anointed king of Israel was a threat to Herod's power and control, a threat to his throne.

- Herod knew that he was only a usurper.  Also, because he was aging and his health was poor, he knew that his time on Israel's throne would one day come to an end and it terrified him.

- Herod's fear also disturbed the residents of Jerusalem, most likely because they feared how Herod would respond to this news and what kind of brutalities he would commit to protect his throne.

-While Herod was King of the Jews, he was no Jew and was ignorant of their Scriptures, which is why he called all of Jerusalem's religious leaders together not just the Sanhedrin to learn where Messiah would be born.  They told him about Micah 5:2 & 2 Samuel 5:2

- And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
    are not least among the ruling cities of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
    who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.

- Matthew highlights these Scriptures as a reminder to his readers that Christ will rule and that no Roman appointed ruler can take Christ's place because God himself will shepherd his people.

- The Messiah, the true king, will shepherd God's people and restore them to a right relationship with God.

- But Herod was already hatching a secret plot to rid himself of the threat of this so-called new born king of the Jews.

- He called the Magi to a secret meeting so he could ask them the exact time the star appeared, which became influential in his scheme to murder all of the male babies 2 years and under in Bethlehem.

- Let me ask a risky question: How far are we willing to let our fears take us?  How often do you operate out of a sense of fear? Fear leads to taking control, where it's God place to have control.

- Herod was ruled by his fear.

- When we try to control situations out of our fears, then we are plainly failing to trust God.  Trusting instead in ourselves because we sometimes think we know better than God.

- You know something, I'm guilty, you are guilty, all of us are guilty of this sin and all of us need to repent and trust God.

- Instead of trying to control everything from a place of fear, we need to move to a place of simple trust and surrender, a place of faith.

- There's only one way to do that, which is to actively, regularly meditate upon the greatness of God and to see ourselves in light of his greatness.  When we truly know that his will is perfect, we are better able to surrender our wills.

- Now what about the Magi?  They came seeking the new born king of the Jews in good faith.

- As to why, we are not told, but it is assumed that they came because of Balaam's prophecy of the star rising out of Jacob, which is recorded in Numbers 24.

- Also, as to how many Magi there were, we are not told, contrary to popular belief, but this we can safely assume, that they represent the non-Jewish world coming to Messiah Jesus.

- Matthew's first readers may have guessed that the Magi knew more than average people in those days & would also have celebrated the infant Jesus as more than an earthly king, but the King of Kings.

- The Magi came to Jerusalem seeking the one born king of the Jews.  They were honest seekers, looking for this new born king in good faith.

- They met with Herod in good faith, Herod who desired to know the exact time of the star's appearance and requested they return to him with the exact location of this child.

- But because their search was in good faith God warned them not to return to Herod.

- The Magi may have undertaken what was by ancient standards a long journey to pay homage to a king, but the final leg of their journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem was only about two hours.

- As the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire led Israel through the desert, so the star led the Magi to Jesus.

- This was a God thing and God is still in the business of leading honest seekers who are searching for him in good faith to Jesus.

- In fact, Matthew tells us that when they saw the star they were filled with great joy.

- They could not be certain that they would see the star again having first understood the sign and been told where the prophet said the child was born, but they continued their journey on in faith and their faith was rewarded with supernatural guidance.

- Upon seeing the child with Mary his mother, falling on their knees, they worshipped him, and opening their treasure chests, worshipping him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

- These gifts were lavish, costly, and fit for a king.  These three gifts represent the most valuable things available to the Magi and the only things suitable as gifts for a king, even the one they very likely understood to be King of kings.

- These verses also reflect OT prophecy.

- The psalms proclaim that Kings will fall down and worship him, giving gifts.

- Isaiah proclaims that the nations rejoice and bring their riches.

- Their honest seeking in good faith is rewarded.  They worship the king of kings and they are warned supernaturally by God not to return to Herod, probably for their own protection as well as for the protection of Jesus.

- How about us?  Are we honest God seeking people?  Do we look for him in our daily lives out of good faith?  Do we listen to his guidance and obey his interventions?

- OR are we like Herod?  Allowing our fears to control us, do we try to control things to our will rather than following God's will?

- Those who seek Christ in good faith worship and obey when they find him.

- When we submit our wills to King Jesus, then we will worship and obey.