Rise Daily: April 4

Rise Daily: April 4

THIS WEEK’S THEME & PASSAGE

Counter-Culture for the Common Good – Matthew 5:11-16

This week’s sermon from the series “Where We are Going: The City and the Mission“

THIS WEEK’S MEMORY VERSE

Memorizing scripture is a way to keep God’s word close to our hearts. Each week we will select one verse of scripture to remember as a community.

Matthew 5:14

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

THE WORD

Each day’s devotion will focus on one part of the week’s passage.

Matthew 5:13

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.

MEDITATION ON THE WORD

In our busyness and distraction, it is easy to skim through our reading rather than taking it in. Yet we believe this is the inspired word of God. Take a moment to pause, thank God for the scriptures and ask him to speak to you through them today.

Jesus says these words to his disciples during his famous Sermon on the Mount. They follow his list of beatitudes,1 which begin with “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” and end with “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

The words we are looking at today continue to be addressed to those who follow Jesus, both then and now. They are called “the salt of the earth.” Salt was not only a precious and costly spice because it added savor to food, but also because it preserved meat from spoiling—not to mention prevented dehydration in hot climates.

But what if salt stopped acting like salt? What if it tasted and performed like sand? No one would bother to spend money on buying it, and if it was in your spice rack, it would be thrown out to make room for something more useful.

By analogy, what if believers in Jesus stopped acting like believers? What if they failed to mourn or be meek, or to show mercy and be peacemakers? What if they imitated the culture in which they found themselves, rather than imitating their Lord and master, who came to serve and redeem culture?

Jesus has harsh words for those who profess faith, but do not have the saving, preserving, zestful lives of those who truly have become like him. “Not good for anything.” “Thrown out.” “Trampled under foot.”

1. The Beatitudes, which begin the Gospel of Matthew’s account of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, are a series of encouragements to Christians that declare a present and future condition of blessedness (i.e., full experience of the benefits of union with God) for those who by grace reflect the moral character of Christ (e.g., compassion, humility, justice, love).

THIS WEEK’S RISE REFLECTION

Since Redeemer’s earliest days, God has worked through the deep, passionate, urgent prayers offered up by people across the country and around the world on our behalf. Today, we are in need of your prayer support like never before. We cannot accomplish a plan of long-term gospel renewal in our city without thousands of people, inside and outside of Redeemer. We need you. Will you join us to pray for this movement and your role in it? Sign up here to join thousands of our friends for a special day of unified prayer on Saturday, April 16.

TODAY’S PRAYER

For your Heart: Ask God to search your heart and show you ways in which you may have taken on the qualities and values of your culture, rather than added hope, mercy, peacemaking and truth within your sphere of influence.

For your Church: Pray for our church’s leaders, pastors, and brothers and sisters in Christ, that all may add health and resist the decay in the culture and in our own hearts.

For our City: Pray that gospel-believing people will disperse throughout every sector, profession, industry, home, and business at every level, so that the qualities of love, mercy, kindness and goodness will proliferate in the city.