Salt and Light (Part 1)

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.

Jesus says with profound simplicity, “You are the salt of the earth.”

Reminds us that essential to our human purpose and identity is a quality found in salt and light.

What does this series of statements regarding the taste of salt and visibility of light mean for us today?

This is a call for us to stand and be counted as leaders within ourselves, homes, communities and countries.

In a world full of evil, hatred, malice, jealous, greed and spiritual darkness, this becomes an increasingly vital responsibility for us. To stand up as leaders.

Not about titles, or positional kind of leadership. Not political or govt kind of leadership.

You do not need a title to be a leader

Among us we have people:
– Who are struggling with all sorts of challenges who do not have someone to give support that they need
– Or some of us have friends pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right
– It takes you and I to stand and take necessary actions to protect our planet
– Story of 8 year old feeding chameleon to siblings
– A number of mental health challenges,

That’s why today I am calling on all of you to stand up and be counted as leaders.

Whether it is in your departments, in your class, in your boarding house or in your friendship circles

We must do everything we can to grow as leaders. We must commit to it and work at it.

Sometimes we get that sense that I cannot stand up and be counted as leader. That it is for other people

Some of the most impactful leaders are the ones who never had a title. Who failed at it so many times. These leaders who had no title succeeded because they understood that you can’t just sit and turn a blind eye to all things going wrong around them.

We must let the salt and light in us show others what to do differently.

Everything else fails if we fail in this responsibility. To stand up and be counted as leaders.

Leadership is about providing hope. Hope consists of a goal you can see, a path you can walk and faith that you can take that path.

No one is born being good at all things, you become good through hard work.

You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song, we have got to nurture our leadership potential.

And even when you are struggling and when you are discouraged and you feel like others have given up on you, don’t ever give up on yourself in your growth as a leader.

We must always strive to be good role models, set a good example to that young sibling growing up.

If you know somebody who is not on point go back and get them along. That’s the kind of leadership I am talking about.

Those who have been left behind maybe because of poor choices. They need to hear from you.

So if you have been quietly watching things from the periphery and refusing to take your place as a leader.

This reminds you to wake and be the salt and the light of the world.

Part 1 of sermonette from 17th November Assembly Mike Okidia who is a teacher at St Andrew’s Senior School.