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The Joyful Sacrifice of Love in Suffering | John Piper · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome to Reformed Thinking. We're the show that takes a,
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  well, a deep dive into ideas that really shape how we think
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  about life, purpose, and our connection to God.
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  That's right, today we're zeroing in on a really core
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  command from Jesus. It's one that maybe at first
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  glance seems pretty simple, but as we'll see, it's got layers.
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  Oh, there's only layers. We're digging into the Matthew
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  chapter 5, specifically verses 11 through 16.
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  It's all about what it means to well, to let your life shine,
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  and how that actually points people to God.
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  And for you listening, our goal here is pretty clear.
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  We want you to get a solid handle on Jesus call to be, you
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  know, salt and light, salt and light.
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  And we'll unpack some surprising things about what that light
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  actually is, especially when things are tough, and maybe see
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  why living this way is actually the most loving thing you can
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  do. It sounds like it connects
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  everyday life, even the hard stuff, to something much bigger.
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  Exactly how ordinary moments, especially challenges, can
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  showcase God's glory in a really powerful way.
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  It's quite an invitation, really.
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  OK, let's jump in then. The starting point is Matthew 5
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  verse 16. It's a command a.
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  Direct command. Jesus says let your light shine
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  before others so that they may see your good works and give
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  glory to your Father who is in heaven.
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  It's not really a suggestion. No, not at all.
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  It's a directive. And notice that word let.
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  Let. Yeah, what about that?
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  Well, it kind of in plays. The light is already there,
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  doesn't it? It's not create light or
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  generate light. It's let it shine, permit it
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  uncover it. Oh.
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  OK, so the light exists before the shining happens publicly.
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  Precisely, and the purpose is incredibly specific.
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  It's not about us getting noticed.
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  Right, it says, so that they may see your good works and give
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  glory to your Father. Exactly.
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  The whole point is that people end up making much of God, not
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  us. They see the good deeds, sure,
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  but they look through it, as it were, to the source.
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  What's redirecting the attention?
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  Completely. It aligns with everything we
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  know about God's own desire. Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
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  They want to be praised, glorified through our salvation,
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  through our lives. It's all about His worth, being
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  seen. That's central to Reformed
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  thinking, wouldn't you say? God's glory is the ultimate
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  goal. Absolutely.
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  The chief end of man and all that.
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  So if we're told to let this light shine and it's already
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  there, what is the light is just being nice, doing good deeds.
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  That's the $1,000,000 question, isn't it?
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  And Jesus gives us the answer. Just a couple of verses earlier,
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  verse 14, He says plain as day, you are the light of the world.
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  He doesn't say you have light or you carry light.
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  No, he says. You are the light.
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  It's an identity statement. It means the light isn't
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  something external we pick up. It's intrinsic to who we become
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  as his followers. OK, that's a big shift.
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  So the light comes from the inside out.
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  Exactly from the inside out, the good works people see are the
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  outward expression, the visible part, but the source, the actual
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  light shining. That's the light of God, His
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  glory revealed in Jesus. We're reflecting Him.
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  Reflecting him and you mentioned earlier this connects to the
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  Beatitudes, right? Matthew 5.310 just before this.
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  How do those qualities being poor in spirit, meek, mourning,
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  how do they form this light? They seem kind of passive maybe
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  or inward looking. That's a great point because
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  they do seem countercultural. But think about it.
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  Poor in spirit, recognizing your utter dependence on God in a
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  world screaming self-sufficiency.
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  That kind of humility, that reliance on grace, it stands
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  out, doesn't. It yeah, it definitely goes
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  against the grain. It's like salt adding flavor
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  where everything else is bland and makes people notice
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  something different, something sourced outside the self.
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  Or mourning. Not just sadness, but grieving
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  over sin, over brokenness, yet finding hope in God.
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  Instead of just despair or distraction.
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  Right. That hope filled grief is a
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  light in dark places. People see that peace, that
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  comfort even in sorrow, and they wonder what's the source of
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  that? It points beyond the immediate
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  circumstance. So these aren't just virtues,
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  they're like indicators, signs pointing to a different reality.
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  Exactly. They are internal realities that
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  produce an external witness. Being poor in spirit, mourning,
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  being meek, hungering for righteousness, being merciful,
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  pure in heart, peacemakers, even suffering for righteousness
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  sake. Which we'll get to.
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  Yes, which we definitely need to talk more about.
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  All these together paint a picture of a life plugged into a
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  different power source, reflecting a different kind of
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  glory. It's unusual.
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  It's noticeable like, well, like light and darkness.
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  OK, so the good works are the visible evidence.
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  The light is this inner reality shaped by the Beatitudes
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  reflecting God, and the purpose is crystal clear, so that they
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  may give glory to your Father, not to us.
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  Couldn't be clear. The glory goes to God because
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  the light originates with Him, The identity is given by Him,
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  the works are empowered by Him. It belongs to Him.
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  And that sets Christian good works apart then from just
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  general philanthropy or trying to be a good person.
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  Absolutely. The motivation and the ultimate
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  aim are different. It's not about earning points or
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  feeling good about ourselves or even just making the world a bit
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  nicer. In human terms.
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  The entire orientation is God word, your mirrors redirecting
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  the praise to him. OK, now this context thing you
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  mentioned earlier, Jesus says all this about salt and light
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  right after talking about persecution verses 11 and 12.
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  Yes, immediately before it's crucial.
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  He says blessed are you when others revile you and persecute
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  you. Rejoice and be glad, for your
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  reward is great in heaven. Linking blessing, rejoicing,
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  reward, persecution. And then he says you are the
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  salt, you are the light. Why that order?
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  I think the order tells us something profound.
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  It suggests that what is most salty, most distinctively
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  flavorful, and what is most brightly visible in a world
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  that's often paceless and dark is the joy of Christians when
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  they are suffering. Wow.
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  Not just regular joy, but joy in the midst of hardship.
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  Exactly. Think about the world's typical
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  reaction to being insulted, lied about, persecuted.
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  It's anger, despair, bitterness, self pity.
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  But when people see followers of Jesus responding with well, with
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  joy and gladness because their hope is fixed on a heavenly
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  reward, that's baffling. It's completely
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  counterintuitive. It really is.
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  It stops people in their tracks. It's not just goodness and easy
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  times, it's the supernatural response when life gets
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  incredibly hard. That's maybe the brightest light
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  of all. So why?
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  Why does suffering make the light shine brighter?
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  What is it about adversity that has this unveiling effect on
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  God's glory in US? Well, think about it.
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  Just being say, merciful or kind when things are going well,
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  that's good. People might notice, but it
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  might not make them think about God specifically.
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  Right, you might just think, oh, that's a nice person.
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  Exactly. But when there's a significant
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  obstacle, persecution, illness, loss, deep disappointment,
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  something that you'd expect to crush someone's spirit or make
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  them lash out, and it doesn't, when instead people see
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  continued joy or steadfast peace or unwavering hope, that makes
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  them pause, that makes them wonder what is keeping this
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  person going? What are they hoping in,
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  especially when all the usual supports are gone?
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  Because the earthly reasons for happiness have been removed.
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  Precisely. And Jesus gives us the reason
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  right there. For your reward is great in
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  heaven. It means Jesus himself, and the
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  future he guarantees, has become more valuable, more real, more
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  precious to us than anything the world offers or can take away.
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  So when trouble strips away worldly comforts.
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  We still have Jesus, and because we have him, we still have joy.
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  Maybe not happiness in the circumstances, but deep, abiding
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  joy in Him. And that response, so different
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  from the norm, awakens people. It helps them see God's reality,
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  His sufficiency, his glory, shining through our weakness.
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  It's the saltiness in the light and sharp relief.
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  That's powerful. It shifts the focus from just
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  doing good to being sustained by God through hardship.
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  But does that mean the good works are enough on their own?
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  If people see this joy, this perseverance, will they
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  automatically understand the gospel and glorify God?
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  Or is something else needed? That's a really important
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  clarification. And no, the works alone, even
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  works done with supernatural joy and suffering, aren't typically
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  enough for someone to come to a full saving understanding.
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  While these actions definitely glow with God's light, they
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  prepare the ground. They make people curious.
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  They authenticate the message. Jesus himself shows us that
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  verbal testimony is essential. We need to actually tell people
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  about Him. So the works create the question
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  and the words provide the answer.
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  That's a great way to put it. Think about it.
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  Seeing someone endure hardship with grace might make you admire
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  them, but it doesn't explain the cross or resurrection or sin or
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  redemption. It doesn't explicitly name Jesus
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  as the source of their hope and the object of their faith.
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  Right, it could be misinterpreted.
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  It could. That's why when Jesus sent out
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  his disciples like in Matthew 10, he told him to both preach
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  the Kingdom and heal the sick, cleanse lepers, raise the dead,
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  do good works. It was both hand.
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  Always both hand. A life of salt and light love
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  demonstrates the reality of the message.
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  But the message itself, the good news about Jesus, needs to be
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  spoken. We live it out and we speak it
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  out. That's how people truly come to
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  see and give glory to the Father.
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  OK, that makes sense. This brings us to a common
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  objection. You hear this sometimes people
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  say, well, if you're doing good things in order to get people to
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  praise your God, isn't that kind of using them?
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  Isn't there an ulterior motive there?
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  Yes, that's a frequent pushback. How do we respond to that?
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  Because Jesus does say the purpose is that they glorify
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  God. He does, and the charge of an
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  ulterior motive really comes down to a failure, I think, to
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  grasp what the glory of God actually is.
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  If you don't see God's glory, His beauty, His goodness, His
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  worth as the ultimate good, the highest possible joy, the
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  greatest gift anyone could ever receive.
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  Then yeah, aiming for it might seem self-serving, like you're
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  just trying to win points for your team or something.
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  Exactly. But if you have experienced,
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  even in part, that seeing and savoring God is the peak of
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  human existence, the very thing we were made for, the source of
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  eternal, overflowing happiness. Then wanting others to
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  experience that isn't using them.
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  It's the absolute opposite. It's the most loving goal
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  imaginable. You're aiming for their highest
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  possible good, their ultimate satisfaction, their eternal joy.
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  It's not ulterior, it's ultimate.
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  We're inviting them to the feast, not using them as
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  decoration. So reframing it, the motive
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  isn't hidden is the whole point, and the point is their ultimate
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  blessing. Precisely.
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  It's the very essence of love. Think about it.
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  What does love want for the beloved?
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  It wants their greatest, most lasting happiness and
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  well-being. And if we believe, as Christians
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  do, that the greatest, highest, most joyful good is knowing and
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  enjoying God forever through Jesus.
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  Then leading people towards that is the most loving thing we can
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  do. Absolutely.
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  To lay down your life to serve someone, to do good for them,
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  specifically so that they might come to share in that infinite
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  joy of knowing God forever. How could that be anything but
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  love? It flips the objection on its
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  head. It does.
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  Any aim less than that, any goal that stops short of wanting them
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  to find their eternal satisfaction in God, would
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  actually be a failure of love. It would be settling for
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  offering them something temporary or secondary when the
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  ultimate gift is available, like giving someone a painkiller when
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  the cure is available. That's a helpful analogy.
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  So aiming for God's glory is aiming for their ultimate good.
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  And the supreme example of this has to be Jesus himself.
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  Without question, his whole life was oriented around this.
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  How did his life demonstrate this constant aim of glorifying
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  the Father? Well, from start to finish, his
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  mission was to reveal God's splendor.
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  John tells us his first miracle, turning water into wine, was
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  done to manifest His glory. Right at the wedding in Cana.
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  Every teaching, every healing, every confrontation with
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  darkness was designed to show people who the Father is, what
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  His Kingdom is like, even how He taught us to pray.
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  Hallowed be your name, glorify your name.
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  It was His driving passion. He let His light shine
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  perfectly. And this culminates, you're
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  saying, in his death, which seems like the opposite of
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  glory, at least from a human perspective.
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  How was the cross the ultimate good work for God's glory?
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  It seems like the opposite, but it was the absolute pinnacle.
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  Remember His prayer right before the cross in John 12?
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  Now is my soul troubled? And what shall I say, Father,
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  save me from this hour. But for this purpose I have come
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  to this hour. Father, glorify your name.
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  He chose glorifying God over saving himself.
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  Yes, his death was the greatest good work ever done.
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  Why not? Just because of the immense cost
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  to him laying down in His life, as John 15 says, the greatest
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  expression of love. But because of what that
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  sacrifice achieved, it obtained freely for undeserving sinners,
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  the greatest gift possible, access to God, the ability to
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  see His glory. Remember Jesus's high priestly
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  prayer in John 17. He prays, Father, I desire that
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  they also, whom You have given me, may be with me where I am to
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  see my glory, That seeing that sharing in His splendor is the
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  ultimate gift His death purchased.
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  So his death wasn't just paying for sin, it was opening the door
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  to God's presence and glory. Exactly.
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  It removed the barrier. Now again, this only resonates
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  deeply if you've come to see God's glory as the supreme
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  treasure. If you value other things more,
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  the cross might seem foolish or just tragic.
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  But God's glory is the ultimate good.
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  Then Jesus paying the ultimate price to bring us into that
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  glory is the most profound act of love imaginable.
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  He bought our eternal satisfaction in God with His own
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  blood. Wow.
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  OK. And that standard, that call to
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  glorify God, it extends even to our own deaths.
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  That's challenging. It is challenging but also
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  deeply meaningful. Jesus told Peter, specifically
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  predicting his martyrdom, that by his death he would glorify
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  God. He just assumed Peter's death
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  would serve that purpose. He did.
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  It implies that for followers of Jesus, even the way we die can
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  be a testimony. It can make God look good, show
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  His worth, display His faithfulness.
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  How so practically? By facing death, not with terror
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  or despair, but with peace, with hope fixed on that great reward,
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  with confidence in God's promises, It shows those
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  watching that our hope isn't ultimately in this life, but in
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  Him. Remember what Jesus said about
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  sparrows? That not one falls without the
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  Father knowing. Right, Matthew 10.
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  If God sovereignly overseas the death of a Sparrow, He certainly
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  overseas ours, and He can use that moment, our ultimate moment
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  of dependence, to shine His light through US one last time
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  on earth. Our trust in Him, then, can
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  speak volumes. It gives incredible purpose even
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  to the end of life. And it all points forward,
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  doesn't it, to his return? Absolutely.
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  The final ultimate display is yet to come.
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  Jesus second coming. How will that be a display of
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  light and glory? He Himself said He will return
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  with his angels in the glory of His Father, and another place
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  says He'll come with power and great glory.
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  It won't be subtle like His first coming, It will be the
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  undeniable universe filling revelation of His Majesty.
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  And he comes to judge, but also to bring his Kingdom fully.
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  Yes, to remove all sin and lawlessness, and to usher in the
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  new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells, filled
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  with His glory. So what does that mean for us?
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  For believers in that future Kingdom?
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  What's our role in? Does the command to let our
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  light shine still apply? Amazingly, yes.
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  It becomes our eternal vocation. It's what we'll be doing
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  forever. Our eternal job is shining.
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  In a sense, think about it. We were made to be satisfied in
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  God's glory. In eternity, that satisfaction
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  will be complete, perfect, overflowing, and out of that
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  infinite satisfaction in Him, we will naturally, joyfully reflect
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  His worth, His beauty, His love. How's that look?
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  Well, Jesus gives us a picture in Matthew 13.43.
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  Then the righteous will shine like the sun and the Kingdom of
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  their Father. It's not about individual ego.
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  It's a collective radiance, like countless mirrors reflecting the
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  one source of light, Jesus himself.
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  So our shining contributes to the overall glory.
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  Yes, and deepens our mutual joy in Him.
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  We'll be seeing His glory, savoring Him, and reflecting Him
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  in acts of love towards each other and in worship towards Him
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  for error, causing more praise to arise.
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  It's a glorious, unending cycle of joy and reflection.
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  That's an incredible vision. OK, We've covered a lot of
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  ground from the initial command to our eternal destiny.
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  Can you maybe pull it all together, Summarize this bright
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  command, as you call it? Sure.
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  I think you can see it as a three-part call from Jesus,
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  really for everyone. First, find your ultimate
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  satisfaction, the splinter you were made for in Jesus himself.
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  See him as the supreme treasure. Start with seeing him rightly.
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  Exactly. Second, turn away from trusting
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  in anything else the world offers for security or
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  happiness, and bank your hope entirely on the great reward,
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  which is everlasting joy in His presence.
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  Shift your hope. Right and 3rd, fueled by that
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  hope, that joy, that satisfaction in him, let that
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  light shine out. Let it be visible and
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  sacrificial acts of love and service towards others.
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  And the goal the. Explicit goal is that they would
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  see these works be drawn towards the source and ultimately come
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  to see and savor and join in spreading the praise of God
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  themselves. It's finding joy, hoping and the
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  reward, and shining for His glory and their good.
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  Find splendor, bank, hope, shine and love.
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  That's a great summary. So for you listening the
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  challenges to think about what living this out looks like.
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  What does it mean for you to find and express that kind of
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  radical joy, especially when things are hard?
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  Yeah, and maybe ask yourself this.
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  How could you start viewing every situation, every
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  challenge, every interaction, every opportunity to show
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  kindness, even your thoughts about the future and the end of
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  your life? How could you view all of it as
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  a chance, an opportunity to help someone else catch a glimpse of
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  God's infinite worth in Jesus? That really reframes everything.
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  We'd encourage you maybe reread Matthew 5, those key verses,
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  1116. Ask God how your life can become
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  more distinctly salty, more visibly bright, by trusting more
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  deeply in that great reward he offers in Jesus.
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  It really. Is a rich passage for reflection
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  and, more importantly, for living out.
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  Absolutely. Well, thank you for joining us
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  for this deep dive on reformed thinking.