Dr. Roger Parrott, Belhaven University Chapel Series

When faith shows up. Parable of salt and light. Now, Thursday this week is career and calling Career fair on campus. And I hope you got your resume ready.

And there are going to be a lot of companies here, a lot of organizations here. Great time to start planting seed to get the right job. And I hope you got a good resume. You know, I look at an awful lot of resumes.

I look at hundreds of them through the years. And a good resume can make a huge difference in how it's formatted. So get help in our Career and Crawling center if you haven't done that.

But you've got amazing qualifications and gifts. I've been thrilled what our alumni have done through the years. You're going to be the same.

I hope somebody in here is going to go into higher education administration. I can't do this job forever. And one of you got to come take my place one day so somebody get called into higher ed.

But wherever God's calling you, your most important resume is not the one you're going to have in your hand on Thursday Accruing calling day. The most important resume comes from the Sermon on the Mount. It's the standard that Jesus gave us of success.

And he described it in what's known as the Beatitudes. Now, a couple years ago, I did a whole series of chapels through the whole semester on the Beatitudes.

If you were here, some of you might remember the Ladder. Do you remember the Ladder? You remember Baby Peach showing up? That was fun. But I can't do that whole thing.

But I'm going to give you a quick summary of it. But the Beatitudes are really God's summary of his evaluation of our value and worth in the world.

It starts with blessed are blessed are means to be approved. This you are approved of God.

Blessed doesn't mean your life is going to be all happy and perfect and everything's going to line up and God's going to give you lots of good stuff. It means your life is aligned to God's calling and purpose.

You know, one of the things I love about the south is a lot of times people just say, have a blessed day. Go to the grocery store, have a blessed day. Go to the bank, have a blessed day. And that's nice. And I know what they mean.

Might good things happen to you. But what if every time we heard that, that was a good checkpoint to say, am I aligned with God's purpose?

Because that's really what being blessed means. So have a blessed day means, is this day aligned with God's? Purpose.

And in the Beatitudes, where he said, blessed are those who are, and he gives us eight standards of success. I just want to give them to you quickly. And these are the paraphrase, because we don't have a whole series of chapels to do on this.

But blessed are those who are dependent on God, and blessed are those who are broken by the cost of sin and confident without ego driving them and hungry for what's right. Blessed are those who are merciful when others are not. Blessed are those who are guided by integrity.

Blessed or aligned with God are those who are peacemakers, not agitators. And blessed are those who are faithful even when it costs. Jesus said, this is the purpose of our calling. This is our job.

These are the people who are really successful, not the ones in a corner office getting a big salary. This is the standard of success. And then Jesus goes on to say, but just doing this being this is not alone.

If you don't do something with it, you've got to be engaged in the world.

So right after he gives these eight Beatitudes, he says this on the Sermon on the Mount, he said, you are the salt of the earth, but what good is salt if it's lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It'll be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. Then he goes on, you're also the light of the world.

Like a city on a hilltop cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand where it gives light to everyone in the house.

You see, our calling goes way beyond our career. Our career may be a framework or an access point to the world, but our purpose and our calling is much more significant than that. And.

And that is to be the salt of the earth and to be the light of the world. Now, these are two different images, but Jesus gives them together because they're really, in many ways the same thing.

Jesus gives also warnings with both of these. And I just love the complexity of the metaphors Jesus uses.

Now, when he said to people, you're the salt of the earth, they had all kinds of understanding of exactly what that meant. We don't, because salt doesn't mean that to us now. And he said, you're the light of the world, they had all kinds of understanding.

Jesus could use these simple images and just project such truth into their lives. So he said, you're not only these things, but there's also a warning about being both of those things or not showing up to be those things.

He says, you're the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it's lost its flavor? You're the light of the world.

A city set on a hilltop cannot be hidden, but no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket. You see, salt was very valuable, very valuable. In that time. Salt was used like money.

Often Roman soldiers were often paid by with salt, not with coin, because you could trade. Because salt was so valuable, you could trade it for other kinds of things.

And salt, Jesus says that's no longer distinct, goes from being extremely valuable to worthless, absolutely worthless. Throw it away. He's talking here about the danger of assimilation.

Faith that blends in so completely with the world, it no longer flavors anything, no longer makes a difference. Where it's sprinkled is worthless, absolutely worthless. That's a pretty heavy mandate for what Jesus is calling us to do.

And then he says, the light of the world is designed to be seen, not so you can see, but so everybody in the house can see. You see, faith that retreats into privacy, maybe to avoid it being costly, maybe to avoid paying attention, is worthless.

Each fails the salt and the light in different ways, but the same outcome.

Both result in a loss of influence and missing the purpose of why God made us and why God builds us up in these eight beatitudes, not just for our own sake, but so we can be salt and light to the world.

You see Jesus warning here in the Sermon on the Mount about faith without impact, about belief without perseverance, about conviction without visibility, not because the world needs louder Christians. That's kind of the last thing they need is louder Christians.

They need faithful Christians who will actually show up and make a difference in the environment they touch. Jesus links salt and light because both exist for the sake of other people. They don't exist for themselves. They exist for the sake of other people.

They're only valuable when they're given away. They have absolutely no value if they're not given to others.

There are three characteristics interesting about salt and light that they have in common. Verse is both are defined by function, not by appearance. You know, salt is valuable for what it does. Light is valuable because of what it reveals.

And Jesus is teaching that discipleship is not primarily how faith looks, but how it functions in the world. What's the outcome? How does it actually operate in the world that you touch?

That's why, again, I like he used salt and light metaphors because they're so bringing faith to the real world. Now, your expression of faith can look very different from mine.

In fact, I hope it does, because if it does, you'll reach into places that I can't reach. And they can look very different as long as the outcome is to flavor the world and to light the path for others.

I think there are some people who think, well, I can't really be that kind of a Christian because I can't be like them, or I can't be like them, or I can't be like them. You don't have to be like anybody else. The standards are the Beatitudes. The outcome is how you flavor the world, how you light the path.

But faith that does nothing, Jesus is really clear is absolutely worthless. Throw out the salt. It's no good. Who hides a light under a basket? He says both salt and light are defined by function, not appearance.

Second thing that we will see about them is, here we go. Both must engage their environment to matter. Salt has to be mixed in. Light has to be exposed. You see, isolation neutralizes both.

And there are some people who live their Christian life so fearful of the world that they isolate. And in doing so, you're missing God's calling and purpose. Are you fearful your faith can't stand up to temptation?

If you get out in the world, yeah, you're going to get tempted. That is going to happen. Are you worried that your faith can't stand up to questioning?

If you get out in the world, yes, you're going to get questioned. Faith can't stand up to ridicule because you're different. Yes, you're going to get ridiculed. Jesus even talked about that straight up.

But there's no purpose of our faith unless we're mixing it into the world. And Jesus is absolutely clear about this. We've got to be part of the world. Unused salt is absolutely pointless.

And a light that's hidden contradicts its design. God designed you as a light to show the path for others. And if you hide that light, you're going completely against God's design for your life.

This warning he gives is really sharp. Faith that remains private or inactive is a failure of our calling. It's a missing of our purpose.

You may say, well, you know, I just want to be a really devout Christian and not push my faith on anybody. And yeah, don't go preach in our faiths. We don't need any of that. You know, don't point out their faults. That's not your job. It's obnoxious.

But isolated. Faith is useless in God's standard of success.

So, yes, you want to build up your life so it's strong enough to interact with the world, but then you've finally got to go. Both must engage their environment to be of any matter.

And then we see the third characteristic they have in common is both transformation without drawing attention to themselves. Salt changes the flavor of things substantially. But after a great meal, you don't push back the plate and go, man, I love that salt.

That was really good. No, you didn't even mention the salt. The salt's what gave it all flavor, but it wasn't the focus.

You see, it transforms the meal without being the focus. Light reveals simply by being present. People don't look at the light. They look at the path. I'm looking at these bright lights up here.

They're driving me nuts. Every time I get up here, you don't see those lights. You see what it lights up. The focus is on the function, not on the salt or the light.

Jesus is describing a life of influence, not trying to control. Describing a life of service, not ego. Probably one of my most important mentors in my life. He has a Leighton Ford, and Leighton has a. He's 92 now.

I think Leighton has a theme for his life and ministry. He says, I want to be a friend on the journey. A friend on the journey. That's salt and light. I want to be a friend on your journey of faith.

I want to be a friend wherever your journey is. That's salt and light. It transforms without drawing attention to itself. Salt really forgotten after the meal's over. Light's pretty much unnoticed.

Once everybody sees clearly, you see the end goal is the same. To glorify your Father in heaven, the scripture says.

And so the question Jesus is asking us to evaluate your resume or standard of success that he's giving. I think they come down to three questions as I study salt and light. So let me give them to you. First, is this.

Do you give off enough light to create contrast? Do you change the flavor enough to be of value? See, light only matters in darkness.

If it's light outside and you turn another light on, it doesn't really make any difference, does it? But when it's dark, it makes all the difference in the world.

Salt only matters if it's present, but if it's absent, it makes all the difference in the world. Sunday was Super Bowl 60. I hope some of you watched it. Good game. If you like defensive football.

I watched my first super bowl when I was 15 years old.

It was a year after the jets beat the Colts, which nobody thought could ever happen because the Colts had the famous number one quarterback ever, Johnny Unitis. And the jets had this upstart quarterback from Alabama named Joe Namath, who promised the week before the game, we will win.

The thing was, there were two separate football leagues at that time. They weren't the NFL, they were two separate leagues. And the jets were in what was considered the inferior league.

The Colts were the big league, and the jets won. Well, after that, the super bowl became famous. So I counted it up during the game and I've watched 56 Super Bowls. That's a lot of Super Bowls.

But I have kind of a tradition of Super Bowl. I like to get something special to eat. And last few years it's been chips and salsa.

I don't know why, maybe because I've tried to watch what I eat and I just don't go crazy with a big bag of corn chips very often. But at super bowl you can do whatever you want. So game was ready to start. I'd run into Whole Foods real quick.

I saw the restaurant style chips like you get at a really good Mexican restaurant. I thought, that's exactly what I want. Grabbed it, checked it out. It's the only thing I bought.

Took it home day before the game, game's ready to start, kickoff's ready to start. I got my chips there, I got my salsa, Diet Coke, I'm ready to go. I open the bag, taste the first one.

I spit it out, and I looked at the bag and it said, no salt. Heartbroken. My super bowl was ruined. Why watch the game of that? It's terrible. No salt. They tasted terrible. Who would eat that? Oh, boy.

When you put salt on the exact same chip, they're fabulous. You see, faith that doesn't show up is really harmful. Faith that doesn't show up tastes terrible to people around you.

Faith that doesn't show up leaves others in the dark. Faith that doesn't show up stops influencing. Do you give off enough light to create contrast? Do you change the flavor enough to be evaluated?

Good evaluation questions when it comes to the standard of success Jesus has. Second questions. Do you help others to see the right path? And does your addition preserve or decay?

If you're going to shine a light for people, don't shine it in their eyes. There are a lot of Christians who do that. I'm going to point out your sins to you. I'm going to shine this light straight in your eyes. No.

First of all, it's obnoxious. Second of all, it's not biblical. And third, conviction is the job of the Holy Spirit. Don't take the Holy Spirit's job from them. It's not your job.

Your job is to light the path. Light the path. Don't shine the light in their eyes. It's not an examination of a prisoner of war thing.

The light is to illuminate the way for people not to try to expose them. Salt preserves what otherwise would decay. See, in those days, they didn't have refrigeration. There were no refrigerators.

There was no air conditioning, which we had a little bit more, but there was none of that. So what did they use to make things last? They used salt.

Salt preserved it, slowed corruption, didn't preserve it forever, but it slowed the corruption. Being salt means resisting to the moral drift of the world around us.

Not loudly, just consistently, not in a way that brings attention to you, but just builds things up. Integrity when cutting corners would be easy. Honesty when nobody else is checking. Faithfulness in the small, unseen decisions.

Both cost something to be salt and light cost something. Light shining out others for their needs means you've got to be plugged into the source of the light.

Or you got to keep your batteries recharged, or you won't be able to provide the light because the light will go out. Salt dissolves to do its best work. Being salt often means it's an inconvenience. It means creating a misunderstanding.

At times, it means quiet sacrifice. But Jesus said, you are the salt of the earth.

Well, you know, I think so often as you look at people and you look in this image of salt, which either preserves or decays, People really fall into two categories. Are you a preserver? Are you to care? Do you protect and strengthen the places where you interact in your life, or do you make things deteriorate?

Salt preserves, but it costs faith. That never costs us anything. Is probably not lighting much, and it's not preserving very much. Well, the third set of questions.

Do you light up where you are now, and does your faith mix in where you are now? You may look at those questions and go, no, not really. But when I get out of here, when I graduate, I'm going to really make a difference.

That's not what scripture says. Scripture says you are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth. You are you.

Each one of us, not all y', all, but you, each one of us are called into this responsibility. He says, you are. That's not future tense. That's present tense. You are the light of the world. Our is now, not just someday.

And he Illustrates that by saying, you are a city set on a hill. What does that mean, a city can't move? A city's light is where it is, and it's got a light there.

You can't just say, I don't want to wait until I light someplace else. No, you got a light right there. That's our responsibility. There's a light wherever we are.

Salt is to be a preserver and a flavor adder right where we are. A lump of salt alone is horrible. I think the worst thing, if I have a sore throat or something.

I just hate it when the doctor says, you got to gargle with salt water. Like, no, anything but that. Please, give me a pill, give me a shot, but don't make me gargle with salt water. I hate the taste of that.

It's too much salt. And too much salt by itself does nothing. It's got to be mixed in.

Followers of Jesus are called to be a faithful presence, blending in and making a difference. In classes and residence halls, on teams at your work, bringing influence, influence that's built on your faith.

Christian influence happens by purposeful connection. Purposeful connection. You have to look for places to have influence and to serve. I want to tell you a story. I told it a couple years in chapel.

So if you've been around here a while, you've heard this one before. But it was so impactful in my life. I not only told it in chapel, I've told it to all the faculty and staff.

I wrote it in a book that I published because it was such a significant moment for me. I was at Kroger. Now in my house, I've always done the grocery shopping ever since we got married.

So much work to put it all away and make the list and all that stuff. So Mary Lou does all that stuff. She's terrific at it. But I go get it. And one day I was at the grocery store, and my daughter Madison went with me.

And it was busy. Like, super busy. And so we got in the line, waited, waited, waited, waited. Got up to the front, and something was messed up in the cart.

I kind of forget what it was now. But they didn't charge me the right thing. And I was really frustrated, really frustrated.

And I kind of said more than I should have to the checkout person. And I could tell she wasn't happy, she wasn't crying. It wasn't good. And we kind of made it through.

And we're going out to the car and we're putting stuff in the car. Madison says, dad, I love you, but you just look past the people in the aprons. You don't even respond to the people in the aprons.

They're working hard. They're just trying to make it, dad, you've got to be nicer to the people in the aprons.

And I had horror in my heart at that moment because I had never even noticed the aprons, the people who serve in those places, they all have aprons. I made a commitment in that moment. I'm looking for people in aprons, and when I do, I'm going to brighten their life.

I'm going to encourage them, I'm going to talk to them, I'm going to ask them how they're doing, not just how their job's doing.

And I've had some, through the subsequent time, had some of the most pleasant interactions in line at Kroger, because I'm purposely looking for people in aprons to share just a little bit of joy, a little bit of love, and to build up their life, not tear it down. Wherever God has you, you're to be salt and light.

Because wherever God has you right now is where you need it the most, even if it's in the checkout line at Kroger. You see, this was the bottom line of success for Jesus. He said, you're the salt of the earth. You're the light of the world.

Be salt that changes the taste of everything. Be light so others can see their path. Not that they're going to be impressed with you, because Jesus makes this very clear.

Because look at how this passage ends. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone will praise your Heavenly Father.

The purpose of being salt and light is not to bring attention to you and say, oh, isn't he so nice? Isn't he really wonderful? No, it's to honor God by your good deeds.

May God be lifted up so that people will experience the love of Jesus in small ways or in big ways wherever you interact. And when you do, you will be shocked at how God uses you. Well, I hope on Thursday you have a great career fair.

But this is successful by heavenly standards. And when you achieve at this level, you will be amazed at what God will do.

Because the truth of our benediction verse we're going to say together is so real. If you will be salt and light, no eye is seen, no ear is heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. God bless.

Have a good day. Get outside where it's a little cooler than here.