February 11, 2024 "We Are Like Salt And Our Lives Are Precious"

ReNew Ames Messages

Pink Himalayan Salt. Yeah, it's all over my TikTok right now and seems to be a thing. Maybe I'm wrong and people will be like, "Dude, what the hell are you talking about?" Don't care. Gonna talk about it anyway because we're thinking about salt. Salt is important today - the ancients knew this, too, for a variety of important things. Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth." We're gonna stay with that one line for the rest of our time. What was Jesus getting at? 1) Jesus was giving them and us our identity. We ARE salt. Whether we like it or not, we will spiritually impact the world around us. 2) Jesus telling them and us that our lives have a ton of divine value - we are precious. In this story, Jesus is telling the poor, the marginalized, the pushed out that their lives are valuable - precious. 3) Salt is meant to be poured out - used up - given away. We can't stay locked up inside our saltshaker. We're meant to enhance - not cluster up and preserve ourselves. 4) Salt works best when it enhances and destroys when it dominates. Biscuits and gravy, Christian Nationalism, and book banning. What do we do? It's tempting to hide, to not say or do anything. But Jesus warns against losing our saltiness. So we need to live with more patience, wisdom, a willingness to listen and learn with empathy so that we can enhance and make better and pour out our lives for the thriving of the world. Speaker: Aaron Vis Scripture: Matthew 5:13-20 http://bible.com/events/49212317