Welcome back to Backyard Conversations, the blog format of One Hundred-Fold Ministries. It is no secret that, at the website and in the deep places of our ministry, our priority is celebrating and exploring the Gospel of the Kingdom. This is the very good news that Christ has burst upon the scene as King of kings, challenging the Evil One’s stolen authority over this world. He has been calling the faithful to come and abide (make their home) in His Kingdom, and to participate in advancing the Kingdom of life and light and love against the falling dominion of death and darkness and fear. We do this by employing the ‘weapons’ of Kingdom – which are formidable!

2 Corinthians 10:4
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

Apparently, we Kingdom citizens have a job to do right here, right now! It is best we get at it! But how?

Greg said to me recently in a spirited conversation:

“Dave, this is not the first time I’ve heard something like this, but I need handles. What exactly are these weapons of divine power and what strongholds are we tearing down? Where do I fit in? I don’t feel like I fit in anywhere.”

This series is about spiritual “handles”! The last time we were together here at Backyard Conversations I invited you to . . .

Pray Kingdom: Ask God to direct your heart and attitudes toward Kingdom priorities and Kingdom values. I believe you will be spiritually refreshed and meaningfully directed into daily Kingdom expressions, yielded to His commandment to love one another.

Think Kingdom: Scripture exhorts us to meditate on the scriptures. I think that means to linger over the words and let them sink in. Think about them, and ‘put yourself’ into the passage. We tend to read past words we don’t fully understand. When we examine the Scriptures through our ‘Kingdom lenses’ we tend to see them popping out more often and in a more compelling manner!

Act Kingdom: As we move through this series, consider with me the consequences of radically obeying our Kingdom charge. Let us consider together how practically choosing to act in the name of Jesus moment by moment might change not only our world but the heavens as well!

Over this series that will finish out year 2024, we will chat through some important passages in the Sermon on the Mount. If you were looking for handles, look no further. The problem with the Sermon on the Mount isn’t that Jesus isn’t practical and specific in the how’s of Kingdom living. The problem is that he is very specific! – and His instructions on Kingdom living found in Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7 seem impossible.

It is not that we don’t have handles, it is that we don’t like them!

We promised to start this time around in our Backyard Conversations with this famous passage, so here we go;

Matthew 5:13-16
¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

It is a challenging passage and best understood in the context of first century Israel.

Let’s start with trying to understand what these analogies meant to the people of the first century. Let’s start where Jesus did, with the idea of being “the salt of the earth.”

It is a grand generalization, but it largely holds true. There were two things that civilizations needed in the years leading up to the time of Christ: those were salt and a fresh water supply. Water seems obvious, which is why so many ancient cities were founded near rivers or fresh water springs. Ya gotta have water! But salt?

Salt was important for two things – preserving and flavoring.

Salt was critical for preserving meats. That has been true in human history until we found artificial preservatives (that apparently aren’t great) and refrigerators (mostly great till they’re not!). Meats and fish packed and cured in salt were protected from decay, so they could be available for more than a few days. And of course salt enhances the flavor of our foods. It makes something that is good for us, taste good to us!

So, when Jesus declares us to be the “salt of the earth,” He is asking us to stand against the moral and spiritual decay of our culture. He is asking us to live lives that bring hope and joy into places that have been infected with lies and false gods. That turns out to be my world. My neighborhood, my school setting, my work environment, my . . . family. I bring preserving truth and the flavor of God to our world in the hope that others may find that the Psalmist words are indeed the truth:

Psalm 34:8
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

And of course, from the beginning of time until Edison came along with his light bulb, humanity has been held hostage by the darkness. As long as the sun shined we could work. But the unrelenting darkness set the parameters. What little bit of household light to be found when Jesus was unpacking these Kingdom truths was found using little, hand held lamps that burned olive oil. If you go to Israel today, you will find these in every shop!

Jesus is reminding us who we are! He is confronting the fact that we were designed to stand against darkness. Jesus reminds us that a covered lamp does no good in defeating darkness. Lamps are designed for the dark! In fact, who lights a lamp in the light? The only purpose of a lamp and the light it brings is to push back against darkness. Jesus is reminding his listeners of ancient passages that reference this new Kingdom that Jesus’ presence ushers in:

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Light in the scriptures is often a metaphor of truth. So as “lights in the darkness” we speak the truth in love, we live generously, and we forgive with intentionality.

So again as we close:

Pray Kingdom: Pray that the eyes of your heart would be open to His life and light in a moment by moment manner.

Think Kingdom: Make it a top of the mind purpose for your life. It was Jesus’ purpose – It should be ours.

Act Kingdom: Choose today to live “Intentionally Kingdom.” Be “in the world” bringing light into the darkness – not be “of the world” by covering your light! Because a covered or unwilling lamp is the same as darkness.

This is Backyard Conversations, hosted by One Hundred-Fold Ministries and I am Dave Scherrer, President and Founder. Say “Hi” to me at Dave@100foldministries.org!

Peace to you!