I remember my first job out of college. I was hired as a government social worker working with homeless families and street homeless adults in New York City. My job was to help these families and individuals address their immediate problems and issues so they could get out of homelessness and off government assistance.

Here’s what I learned as I worked my first job as a social worker:

• Some people are victims of other people’s darkness.
• Some people are casualties of their own darkness.
• As a result, some people know no world besides one that is dark.
• So, life is hard at best, like hell at worst, no matter how hard people are try, darkness is always lurking.

But here’s the thing, when you look into the darkness long enough, you become numb to the darkness. Just as your eyes adjust to the dark room once you stop scrolling at night. Darkness becomes natural, so you even resign yourself to it. I know when I was a social worker, working bad case after horrible case, I resigned myself to it.

That brings us to our scripture this morning. We can’t be resigned to the darkness lurking around in the world. It’s not the way we were meant to live. Matthew 5:13-16.

Scripture

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16 ESV)

Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, thank you for looking at the evil and fallenness in the world and sending your son to redeem it for your good. I ask that all of us sitting under your word this morning may take up the cross we’ve been redeemed with and carry it as we follow your son in his work of bringing renewal, revival, and new life to people and places that need him in the midst of their greatest plight. Thank you for loving us and thank you for an opportunity to live brand new lives, here in the midst of evil, brokenness, and darkness, so that we could be a light. So our actions and our words can flavor the places you put us and the people you have us reach. Help us live boldly into this calling. In Jesus name. Amen.  

Pew Research Institute did a study a few years ago and found this interesting trend about Christianity in the United States.  

• If you were born before 1964, the likelihood you’d belong to Christian church was something like 40-50%. Meaning about 40-50% of the people belonged to a Christian church.
• If you were born between 1965 and 1983, you were 20% likely to belong to a Christian church.
• If you were born in 1984 or afterward, you were less than 10% likely to belong to a church.

When you crunch the stats and combine all the generations and multiply it against the spread of the population, that equates to, depending on which state you’re living in, that the likelihood of a person being a Christian is something like 30-40% of the population. If you live in a state with lots of transients (like Maryland), that goes down to 30% and if you live in a state with more established residents who retire there also, that goes to 40% (Florida).

For us, that means probably 70% of the people you know and are around on a daily basis, number one don’t belong to a Christian church.

• If you have 10 neighbors on your block, 7 of them are not Christian.
• If you have 10 kids in your class, that means 7 of them are not Christian.
• If you have 10 co-workers in your department, that means 7 of them are not Christian

The good news is that 3 in 10 are living in the light of the gospel, but the remaining 7, they’re still wandering around in the darkness, trying to find the light. They represent an unreached people group. At Cedarbrook we talk about reaching unreached people (people who haven’t been exposed to the gospel), but this group of people are not in some foreign country, but right here on your block and in your offices, and at your schools. And as people of the light, we’re called to reach them with our words and our works with the gospel of Jesus.

Jesus is teaching us in Matthew 5 that if our redemption into the kingdom of heaven as sons and daughters of God are to mean anything, then our lives and our life’s work must

Big Idea: Bring light to the darkness

You see 7 and 10 people not having access to the truth, and power of the gospel of Jesus, explains a lot of the evil, darkness, and brokenness we see in our country.

You see, its not God allowing evil to prevail, its God’s people, who were once evil, and redeemed from evil, becoming so numb to the evil that we resigned ourselves to allow the darkness of evil stick around. The resignation is to the point where we forgot the truth, power, and word that redeemed us of evil can and will redeem the people and places where evil exists for the glory of God and it’s our job as citizens of the kingdom of God by the blood of Jesus Christ to bring the light of God to the darkness of this world.

In the gospel of John, Jesus talks about his mission to bring light to the darkness this way:

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹ But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:16-21 ESV)

Jesus, who is God, stepped into this world so that people who were dying in the darkness of this world could have faith in him and live without the condemnation of darkness. Jesus came on mission to redeem the world from the darkness.

If you are living in darkness, then place your faith in Jesus, he has come to redeem your life from that darkness. You no longer have to live in the darkness. Jesus is the light!

The precious, innocent, blood of Jesus was not spilled on the cross so that we could allow darkness trample out the goodness of God in our lives. Rather, the blood of Jesus was given to us on the cross so that in everything we do, that is the work we engage in most of the week, can shine Jesus’ light in the darkness.

Point 1. Our redemption in Christ calls us to bring cultural renewal

Let’s go back to Matthew 5:13

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” (Matthew 5:13 ESV)

Let me simplify the metaphor: if salt is not salty, then it’s not salt, it’s just another rock and rocks are meant to be thrown out and be trampled as part of the ground underneath our feet.

The work of salt is to be salty, that’s the purpose of salt. The purpose of human beings is to work for the glory of God? In Genesis 2, the Bible says God created the world, then he planted the garden of Eden, and “the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it (v15).” God did the work of creating the world and creating humans and placed humans at the center of his creation so that they can work it and keep it.

I want all of us to understand this: All of us work. Some of us call our work, a job, some call it parenting, some call it studying. And some of us are in the hardest type of work, retirement. You’re busier now than when you working a job, or had kids in the house. One thing is for certain regardless of what you call your work: you spend a majority of your time every week working.

If Jesus is calling us to be the salt of the earth and having purpose in our lives, then how we work matters. Our actions and words in our work must be flavored by our beliefs and values in the gospel we received at our redemption otherwise either our beliefs and values are meaningless or our work is. So if our redemption is going to matter here and now in our lives we are compelled to live out our faith through our work.

Let me make this correlation more direct… Jesus’ death on the cross redeems our work to be meaningful and purposeful.

Listen to what Jesus says again Matthew 5:14.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

You and I, when we step into faith and are adopted by God, he set you where you are so you wouldn’t be hidden. Jesus is reminding us that what we believe, as it manifests itself in our words and actions cannot be hidden. Verse 15.

¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. (Matthew 5:14-15 ESV)

“…gives light to all in the house.” You see, Jesus tells us to let everyone who is within your reach experience your light.

So who is within our reach?

Simple, the people who are around us when we are working whether directly or indirectly. The importance of this should not be minimized or misunderstood: 7 out of 10 people you interact or reach on a daily basis live in darkness and need you may be their only source of light.  

• But Jonathan, I’m an accountant, they hole me up in some windowless room with tax code and spreadsheets. How can I live my faith with tax code and spreadsheets? Sure there may be no faith involved with Excel Macros and tax code, but as an accountant, you should apply that tax code in that windowless room excitedly about that tax code lighting up the other people who are walking into that dark room.
• Maybe you work in government, there’s separation between church and state. Sure, the first amendment says government cannot establish a religion. And history tells us that state sponsored religion is generally bad anyways. But as you write policy and lobby over governance, your beliefs and values in the gospel should color how you write policy and execute that policy in practice.
• Maybe you’re a student, you don’t have authority over people or have responsibilities other than to study and do homework. Your task may be to memorize the multiplication table, but your work is to influence your peers, teachers, and administration with the redemption you received in the gospel. You can talk about how broken the school system is, or you can go about and redeem it in faith through the gospel.  
• Maybe you’re stay-at-home parent, you don’t work in the marketplace. Sure you may not work in the marketplace, but your work involves intentionally teaching, proclaiming, and practicing Jesus’ way with your kids, their friends, and their families. You have intimate access to the hearts of your kids, their friends, and their parents.  Don’t undermine the work of the gospel in your conversations and interactions with those very people who are within your reach.

We live in a culture and in a time, where Judeo-Christian values are not considered true or are even known anymore. It’s vital for us to live out our beliefs where we spend most of our time, at work. Our faith must drive how we work so that those we reach through our work can experience the light we have.

Point 2. Our work must cause people to see the darkness and change (vv14-16)

For this to happen, our work-ing must embody two characteristics.

1. Our work must worship God.
2. Our work must serve others.

How can our work worship God?

When you work, when you parent, when you study, you don’t do so to make a name for yourself, but to make a name for God. That is, you work with an attitude of worship. You apply yourself to the work that you do with a sincerity of heart, reverence, and love for God. Whether it’s cleaning the toilet or preparing the TPS report or selling widgets, you do all things because you are worshipping God through those activities. Some of us have a bad attitude when we have to do things that are beneath our job title or not the work that we get real excited for. Stop your complaining and instead do it with a worshipful attitude. I swear, it changes things. It wasn’t in Jesus’ job description as God to die for a rebellious human being in the most excruciatingly painful way possible, but he did it without complaint and for the glory of God.

That means when we work, it should be like we’re at church on a Sunday morning. We’re excited, we’re dancing, we’re praying, we’re passionate. That’s how we need to be working. Our TPS reports should be written with that type of wild excitement. Our widgets should be sold with that type of passion. Our toilets should be cleaned filled with the soap or prayer.

Second characteristic of our work so people can see the darkness and change: our work must serve others.

When Jesus came, he did not come to gain power because in fact, he left his power in heaven when he took on the form of man. He came to empower us who were living in darkness so that we could be saved by him in faith. So, our work-ing must seek the welfare and success of people within our reach and not just our own interests.

Matthew 5:16.

¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16 ESV)

Your daily work, as a teacher, consultant, plumber, doctor, whatever it is your work is, when it is rooted in the gospel of Jesus, that is his life, his death, and his resurrection, becomes a light that shines before others in our words and our deeds, that’s what works are. Just as Jesus’ words and his deeds of providing justice for people who didn’t deserve justice became good news for humanity, our words and deeds reflecting the good news we receive shines God’s light before others and gives glory to God.

Regarding words. Our speech must be light giving and life renewing because you receive the gospel and the light of the gospel allows you to articulate life with boldness and confidence because you can see in the light. If your speech cannot and does not reflect that you actually see something others cannot, you are no different than somebody living in darkness. The same way people understand accents from different parts of the country or from different nationalities, your speech will cause people to see you differently because you speak differently.

Regarding deeds. Our motives and actions must champion God’s justice and his love for people who are within reach of our work.

• For example, if you’re in the finance industry, you can champion gospel justice by finding ways for underserved people in the community you are in to be served with access to financial capital or education. Your deeds rooted in the gospel just brought light to area of systemic injustice.
• If you’re in marketing or in sales, you can create God-honoring designs and marketing aimed to mold human hearts instead of manipulating them.
• If you build or make products, then produce them with the best interests of the people using them as opposed to your interest in their profits.
• If you’re in the service industry, treat the people you work with and work for and serve them as if you’re entertaining angels. Glorify God through your irrational hospitality.
• If you’re an educator, disciple your students as if you were discipling your own children for a future, not bewildered by darkness, but able to get out of the darkness.
• If you’re a stay-at-home parent, then make your home the place where your own family can have a refuge from the storms of life, but also for others who may be your guests. Let it be a haven for the weary, a source of uplift for the discouraged, and a convincing testimony to a cynical world.

When people see how you work and they see how you speak while working, they will ask you why and they will wonder why. They’re going to want that same light you have. Now, that’s an opportunity to share your faith, the driver of all things in your work. We’re going to talk about how to share your faith effectively without being alienating in a few weeks, but really, by your words and deeds, 7 out of 10 people who are within the reach of your light now know who they can go to when their soul yearns for a life out of the darkness they live in.  

When we work so that our light, who is Jesus, shines through our words and deeds at work, there will be cultural renewal around us. The veil of darkness will be lifted away. Evil will be exposed. God will be glorified. The gospel will renew people by God’s power, grace, and love through us and our work.  

Let’s pray.

Lord, let our work glorify you. Lord, I ask that every endeavor we embark on as your radical followers will be an act of sacrificial worship and in service to you and to the people you place in our lives. Lord, we confess that our faith may have been hidden or veiled in our work, so please I ask that we all have opportunities to tangibly be the light that goes against the darkness and that through us, you would bring renewal to our world. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.