Shining (Mt. 5:13-20)

HOMEGROUP STUDY NOTES                 WALKING IN THE LIGHT

w/c 16th January 2022

SHINING (Matthew 5.13-20)

What do you understand by the word “community”? What factors are involved in making a “community”? Where do you find a sense of community in our village? Is our church a “community”?

READ Matthew 5:13-20

Why does our church exist? How is it distinctive from any other collective group? How would you “sell” our church to someone asking what we were about?

A primary function of the church is to worship God – and not just on a Sunday when we gather together. Worship includes a kingdom lifestyle, enjoying fellowship and witnessing in word and action.

Jesus used 3 metaphors to describe the essential nature of his kingdom community – salt, light and a city set on a hill. Metaphors are never exact parallels so do not push the links too far! The church can only be a corporate expression of what we are individually.

Verse 13          What are some of the uses of salt, both contemporary and from the past? Do these uses help us to understand what Jesus was saying? Can you give any examples of our church functioning in this way?

A preservative; provides flavour; makes roads safe …

Salt needs to be thoroughly mixed into the food it flavours or preserves. Are we involved in our village life – or do church activities take up all our spare time?

Too much salt is unhealthy! Salt can be corrosive!

If salt becomes contaminated with impurities then it becomes useless. To be effective we must maintain our Christlikeness. If we are indistinguishable from the world we are useless! We are called to be a “moral disinfectant in a world where moral standards are low, constantly changing or non-existent.” (R V G Tasker)

Verses 14-16   What different types of light are there? What purposes is light used for? Are there parallels between these lights and the work of the church?

Light illuminates (e.g. lighthouse, a symbol of safety, pointing out dangers)

Light enlivens, expressing life and energy. Do we bring light and colour into the world?

Light exposes, revealing what is in the darkness

Light reveals – do people see anything of God in us?

What does it mean to say we should be a city set on a hill?

Visible all around. A place of safety. Also a beacon for travellers.

We want people to praise the light and not the lamp which bears it (i.e. me and you).

Mahatma Gandhi (Hindu founder of the modern state of India) was once asked by a Christian missionary why he often quoted the words of the Sermon on the Mount yet refused to follow Jesus. His reply: “I don’t reject Christ. I love Christ. It’s just that so many of you Christians are so unlike Christ. If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today.”

Reflect on these words. Do they contain any truth? This is what Jesus promised in verses 16.

Verses 17-18 (Christ and the Law).

Why might some people have thought that Jesus came “to abolish the law and the prophets”?

Already there were those concerned about Jesus’ attitude to the Jewish Law, e.g. Sabbath healing (Mark 3.1-6). Was Jesus setting himself up as an authority against the sacred law? So Jesus makes it clear (17). Jesus came to draw out/fill the full meaning of the Old Testament. “The Old Testament is the Gospel in the bud, the New Testament is the Gospel in full flower. The Old Testament is the Gospel in the blade; the New Testament is the Gospel in full ear.” (Bishop Ryle)

Verses 19-20 (The Christian and the Law)

Do these verses give even a suggestion of salvation by good works?

Jesus seems to be saying that to enter the kingdom of God/heaven our conformity to the law must exceed even that of the scribes and Pharisees – those whose obedience to the law was the great passion of their lives. Are we not close to a doctrine of salvation by good works?

The Pharisees assumed that the temple sacrifices merely wiped the slate clean for them to try harder for God. But no matter how hard we try, our own efforts will never get us into the kingdom of God. It is only by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we can live out such commands. We will never become sinless in this life, but by the grace of God we can sin less. (Ezekiel 36.27)

Jesus disagreed with the Pharisees’ INTERPRETATION of the law, but he never disagreed with their acceptance of its AUTHORITY. Jesus in the strongest possible way asserted the law as God’s written word, and he called his disciples to accept its true and deeply exacting interpretation.

You may like to hand out some small packets of salted nuts! As we use salt during the week, ask for God to give us openings to be salt in our daily lives.

PRAYER

That our church may truly be a community of Christians who (a) offer a genuine welcome to all who come, and (b) reach out into the world with “salt” and “light”.

For ongoing wisdom as a nation and as a local church we seek to deal effectively with the issues raised by Covid.

For ourselves, that the way we live may point people to Jesus.

As we think about God’s standards of righteousness it will make us aware of our own failure to live up to them. A time to reflect on this may be appropriate at some point in the session.