Living Your Blest Life Now - Part Five

Encountering Jesus

Allen Snapp

Grace Community Church

May 24,2026

Living Your Blest Life Now Part Five

Let's turn together to Matt. 5 and read vv. 10-16.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

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. ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matt 5:10-16

The first seven beatitudes are about kingdom character: being poor in spirit, meek, merciful, pure in heart, peace-makers.But the last two beatitudes, while continuing the theme of the blest life, shift from kingdom character to kingdom influence and the price we may have to pay to be a kingdom influence in this world.

The idea of influence is having a resurgence these days with the rise of “social media influencers”. Someone is considered an “influencer” if they achieve a certain level of social media fame and people go to great lengths and even take dangerous risks to get more followers and subscribes. Every years dozens of influencers are badly injured or die trying to get that one photo or video that will keep growing their audience. What their influence on their audience is isn’t as important as that they have an audience to influence.

But for Jesus, how we influence others is far more important than how many we influence. Jesus calls us to have a kingdom influence on the world and in the lives of the people around us. We are to be salt and light. Jesus calls us to influence people towards righteousness rather than towards sin. We are to be witnesses for the saving power of the name of Jesus so that others might come to know him too.

Influence is a massively big part of a life well lived. Just last week we said goodbye to our dear sister Marilyn Berkey and at her memorial service I was touched by how many people were affected by her life. Family and friends stood to share about the difference she had made in their life. I had to cut it short because we would have been there for hours. Yes, we would dearly love it if Marilyn was still here with us and we miss her. But she left this world surrounded by so many family and friends, and with a wake of people who have been touched by her love and grace. That is a life well lived. Marilyn leaves behind a good legacy because with her life and gentle witness she influenced us to love Jesus and each other more.

And that’s what a legacy is: influence. Wealthy people might leave an inheritance but that’s not what makes a legacy. A legacy is made by the ways we made a difference to the people in our lives. A good legacy isn’t determined by how many people we influenced; by how many clicks and likes and subscribers we got. A good legacy is determined by what kind of influence we had on others.

Jesus also gave strong warnings that influence can go in a bad direction too. Jesus said that the person who influences a child to sin would have been better off having a millstone tied around their neck and thrown into the sea. The consequences of influencing a child in the wrong direction will be worse than dying a horrible death. Jesus spoke a terrifying judgment over Judas saying it would have been better for him if he had never been born. It would have been better if Judas had never existed. If his life had left no legacy at all because he never lived. That, Jesus said, would have been better for him.

But Jesus speaks a better word over us! He calls us to be his witnesses. To testify of the saving power and loving grace of God! To be salt and light! To influence others for the sake of the kingdom.

1. The reward for kingdom influence is worth far more than the cost

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

I don’t know about you but I don’t normally associate being persecuted with being blessed. What Jesus is talking about is being physically or verbally abused. Being mistreated, lied about, insulted, even to the point of losing your job, being imprisoned, or even being killed. So it doesn’t seem to make sense for Jesus to say we’re blessed and we should rejoice and be glad when these bad things happen. Until we believe the promise Jesus is making that there is a reward awaiting us that it will far outweigh the suffering and sadness. That being lovingly and gloriously accepted by God will make the rejection of man seem like so much dust on the scales.

When we see things from the perspective of the kingdom, the rejection of man – if it’s for the sake of the kingdom, if it’s for the sake of righteousness, if it’s for the name of Jesus – can’t touch our sense of identity or worth. Because we don’t get our sense of identity and worth from people. We get it from God.

Last year a 19-year-old influencer took her life after writing that the haters and online bullies were getting to her. There’s a lot about the internet that I appreciate but honestly I think if social media went away tomorrow the world would be a better place. Something about the anonymity and separation makes it easier for people to be hate-filled bullies. It’s wrong and evil and no one should ever be
subjected to that kind of abuse.

Jesus is telling us the world will always be full of hate-filled abusers and bullies and persecutors and if we stand for righteousness, if we hold fast to the name of Jesus, there will be people who hate us and revile us just because they hate Jesus and they hate biblical righteousness. But when our identity and sense of value is rooted in Christ, when we know that this world isn’t our home, that we await a better country and a better kingdom, then we can rejoice and be glad as we look forward to the reward that awaits us there.

We all have a circle of influence. If you’re not sure what your circle is, just look around you. Your spouse, your kids, your family, your friends, your church, your co-workers, your neighbors, even strangers you run into at the store or post office. Don’t worry about the size of your influence, be concerned about the direction of your influence. God might give you a large circle of influence, He might give you a small circle. Direction is always more important than size. Make every effort to influence people towards righteousness. Towards Jesus.

But how do we do that? What do we mean by “kingdom influence” and what does that look like?

2. The salt and light nature of kingdom influence: grace and truth

“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. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16 ESV)

Jesus used two common metaphors to describe the nature of our kingdom influence: salt and light. As a seasoning and a preservative salt helps food taste good and preserve it from going bad. That’s what kingdom influence should do in society: do good and slow it down from going bad. It makes me think of Col. 4

⁵ Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. ⁶ Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Col. 4:5-6

Let your conversation – that is how we talk but also how we live be full of grace. Seasoned with grace. Your words are very powerful, they influence people more than you know. Proverbs says the power of life and death is in the tongue. So be careful that your words aren’t tearing people down. That your words don’t land in someone’s heart and begin to rot away at their soul. Give people grace. Speak life over them.

The other metaphor Jesus uses is light. If salt speaks of grace, light speaks of truth. Jesus said “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but have the light of life.” So when Jesus says to us that we are the light of the world, it’s not because of any source of light we have within

us, it’s because we reflect the true light of the world, Jesus.

I often think of it in terms of a lighthouse. A lighthouse shines the light on dark and stormy nights helping to guide ships to safe harbor. We aren’t the harbor, Jesus is the safe harbor for every lost soul. Jesus shines his light through us to help people find him. That’s really what being his witnesses means.

At some point storms enter everyone’s life. And there are dangerous rocks and shoals out there. Paul says the devil disguises himself as an angel of light. He is able to make lies look like bright gems of wisdom. He loves to lead people to shiny looking philosophies and ideologies and beliefs and lifestyles with the promise that they will illuminate their lives, only to find they cover the soul with darkness. Only to find they are sharp rocks that break lives apart and marriages apart and families apart and souls apart.

The Bible contains countless truth claims and as Christians we are to shine them with warmth and grace in a dark world. And there will be some who hate us for it! Jesus says, don’t bend the truth to appease the haters, stand firm and be glad, knowing you will be rewarded for your faithfulness.

The primary truth, the truth that we are to shine more brightly than any other truth, is that Jesus is the only name given under heaven by which man can be saved. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him. Someone says, “that’s too exclusive. There must be other ways to God. All religions lead to the same God.” The Bible says there’s only one way. I want to shine that light – Jesus is the only way to be saved. Some will hate that light for sure. John 3 says that many hated the light because their deeds were evil. Jesus tells us some will hate the light and persecute us – rejoice and be glad! But some will see the light, taste the grace of God, and come to Jesus.

I want to close with one more point about kingdom influence: There’s always a temptation to isolate and insulate ourselves from other people. The problem is we can’t influence and isolate at the same time. Salt and light has to be close and permeate to be of any use. An isolated life might feel satisfying in the moment, but it misses the point of life. The point of life isn’t to make it to the end without being bothered or inconvenienced by other people’s mess. I met some guys who work with a ministry called 8 Days of Hope. They send teams of skilled and unskilled workers to make a difference in people’s lives at the point of need. He said his favorite thing is going as first responders to places of need. It’s messy. It’s inconvenient. It’s hard work. But they touch lives and make a difference. And that’s what life is about. That’s what makes a legacy. That’s what kingdom influence is about.

Salt and light don’t do any good unless they get close and bring that salt and that light to the situation.

1. Who has God put in my circle of influence right now?
2. Pray for them! One of the most powerful ways we can influence people’s lives both for time and eternity is by praying for them.
3. Shake a little salt and shine a little light through your words and actions. Don’t blind them and choke them – a little can go a long ways.
4. Do good. Notice that Jesus says they are to see our good works. Not our many words. Not our constant nagging. Not our angry tirades. Not our religious snobbery. Our good works. Do good – as biblically defined, there is such a thing as toxic empathy that is well intentioned but does more harm than good (that’s another message).
5. Be careful about your life. We lose our saltiness and hide our light when our lives contradict our message. Be a good husband, parent, friend, co-worker, church member, neighbor, person. For the glory of Jesus!