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- [00:00]
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Well, hello, church. It's good to see you. I have the pleasure of introducing our guest speaker this weekend. And we had an incredible night on Friday night with all the women of our church. And Holly Wagner spoke a message. Yeah, the ladies in the house are excited, and we just had such a great night, and we wanted her to stay for the weekend. Now, Holly and her husband Philip, are great friends of ours. We've known them for almost 20 years now, and they planted a church in Los Angeles in 1984, and it is an amazing, thriving church there. And Holly is also. She wears many hats. She is a wife and a mom and a gigi, and she is an author and a speaker and a pastor and so many things. And we're just so honored to have her here this weekend. Fun fact. She grew up in Venezuela, Indonesia, and England before coming to Los Angeles, where she was an actress for almost 10 years. And so she just is such a fun person. I call her my spicy friend. And she. Yeah, so she gets me in trouble sometimes. But we do have a lot of fun. And I just want you to help me welcome this weekend to the stage Holly Wagner.
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Yep. I'm your spicy friend. Love you. Oh, my gosh. Wait, wait, wait. Everybody, stand up. This is your exercise for the day. Don't pretend like in all the campuses, you hope you're standing up. Okay. I am so honored to be here. Thank you for being in church. Thanks for having me, and thank you for being my friend for so long. I just want you to know, those of you that are planted in this church, it's a good place to be. They are the real deal people. We've had great conversations, real conversations over many years about a lot of different things, and they're good people. So I'm honored to be here. And as you mentioned, we pastored a church in Los Angeles for 35 years. And so I'm. I've got some California sass in me, so I can be a little bit naughty. So I'm just warning you right now. Prepare yourself. Okay. All right. Why don't you take a look at that person that you're standing next to? Yep. They need prayer, don't they? Okay, we're going to pray for them. If you'll just put your hand on their shoulder. Just don't be weird. Like, we don't do weird here. Father, I thank you for this person I'm standing next to. And I thank you, God, that today your kingdom is established in them. Today it's your will that's done. And I Ask God that they would sense your favor. Now, in Jesus name, amen. All right, high five. Now you can have a seat. If somebody stopped you in the lobby and asked, like today and asked, why are you here, like really here on the planet at this moment, in this crazy world, what would you say? Some of you might say, well, I'm here to, you know, pay bills and drink a lot of coffee, or I'm here to survive my kids sports schedules. Or I'm here because someone promised me a meal after church. And we, as you know, we live in a world that is obsessed with influence. We literally have a job category today called influencer. People build their entire careers around getting other people to notice them. You know, like their posts on social media follow their lives. And most of that influence is built on filters and angles and algorithms. But I want to say, long before Instagram and YouTube and blue check marks, Jesus already had something to say about influence. He actually looks at ordinary people, people like you and me. People like you and me who are just trying to follow him in the middle of real life. And he tells us why we're here. Not why we're here at church for an hour and a half, but why we're here in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces, in our schools, on our teams, in our families in 2026 and this cultural moment. And he does it in one simple sentence. Jesus leans in and says, let me tell you why you're here. And so let's go to Matthew 5, Matthew 5, beginning verse 13. He says, Let me tell you why you're here. He said, by the way, you're here to be salt seasoning that brings out the God flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? Because you've lost your usefulness and you'll end up in the garbage. So I think this is amazing. So when Jesus is telling us why we're here, he doesn't start with something glamorous, right? He doesn't say, you're here to be CEOs of the world. No. He doesn't say, you're here to be superheroes. You know, including capes and theme music. No, he starts with salt. Salt. Which. Come on. To be honest, this does not sound very impressive, does it? There are no superheroes, you know, salt man here to save the day. Right. And if you were launching a global movement, this would not be your branding choice, I imagine. Salt. But in Matthew 5, Jesus is looking at his followers and he's saying, you're here to be salt. So what is it about salt? Well, in ancient times, actually, salt was seen as a necessity of life because of its seasoning and preserving qualities. It was actually one of the most highly prized minerals. And in many societies, it was so highly valued that it was used for money. The English word salary is derived from the Latin word salarium, which refers to payments that were made to Roman soldiers with salt. So salary comes from these Roman. The payments that were made to Roman soldiers with salt. And so, Katrina, I'm gonna borrow you right now. I wanna give you your salary for the week. You did such a great job at the women's event, and you did awesome. So here's your salary. There you go. And actually, you get a bonus. You did so great. There you go. Don't spend it all in one place. Okay? There you have it. You're welcome. So the point that Jesus is making. I love it. Cause she has no idea what she's gonna do with that.
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Now.
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The point that Jesus is making is that salt is valuable. And he's saying, you and I need to be the salt that the world needs. So I'm gonna talk about some of the benefits. Why is it that he's talking about salt? Well, we think about salt. It heals, doesn't it? I mean, come on, when you had a sore throat, what did your grandmama tell you to do? Gargle with salt water. That's right. And one of the definitions of healing is to alleviate distress. So what he's saying is that you and I should be able to step into a situation and alleviate distress. We're not supposed to be the ones causing the stress, by the way. We're supposed to be the ones that can step into a situation and relieve distress. What an amazing. An amazing quality that we've been given. And then what else is it about salt? Well, it seasons, doesn't it? Makes things better. I mean, have you ever tasted something that so desperately needed salt? I mean, I have tasted chicken that made me question my will to live. But one sprinkle of salt, right, and poof, hope returns. So we're supposed to add flavor to the world around us. We should make the world better by our presence. So I'm supposed to. Because I have salt inside me. I've been entrusted with this. Wherever I go, when I, you know, stand in that really long line at the restaurant, when I'm out to dinner with my husband, I should make it better. When I'm at the grocery store, I should make it better. When I'm at school, I should make it better, or wherever I am, I've been entrusted with the ability to make that place better. Colossians 4, 6 says, Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. And what I've discovered is that it's not always necessary to preach to everybody or debate with them. In fact, stop. Just stop. But oftentimes, the way we talk, the way we act, the way we love life, the way we react to stress, whether it's at work or at home or at school, actually makes a difference. Number of years ago, I was in a little car accident. I was just driving through an intersection, and I was in the right lane, and the person in the middle lane decided to turn right, so they turned right into me. Not a big deal, but we needed to stop, so we pulled over, and this car pulled in front of me. And I look through the windshield, and I can see there's two women in that car. And both of them are just going like this. Like, there. Lot of stuff's happening in that car. And one woman, she jumps out of the car, comes back to me and says, are you okay? Oh, my gosh, it's not even my car. I'm going to be in so much trouble. Are you okay about this? Terrible. I went, hey, hey, hey, hey. We're good. I'm good. Are you good? Yeah. So we exchanged information, and she just like. And got back to the car. And so I would be speaking with her over the next few weeks because obviously she's paying to have my car fixed. And so about three weeks after, in what would be our last conversation, she asked me, she says, you know what? My friend and I had a little bet about what you do for a living. And I said, what do you think I do for a living? And she said, well, I think because you didn't get angry, you weren't frustrated, I'm pretty sure you're a psychiatrist. I said, no, no, that's not it. And she goes, oh, well, then my friend must be right. I said, really? She says, yeah, my friend. Thanks. Because you were so calm and you just smiled a lot. My friend's really convinced that you were a yoga instructor. Yeah, no, no. She goes, ah, then what do you do for a living? I said, well, actually, I'm a Christian. My husband and I pastor a church here in Los Angeles. Yeah. She was like, you crickets. Just, like, very quiet. And then she couldn't wait to get off the phone. And that made me so sad because, see, our reputation as followers of Christ around the world is not what it should be. It should be. Is there a marriage in stress? Call a Christian, cause they'll know what to do. Is there a family in crisis? Call a Christian because they'll know what to do. Is there a community suffering? Call the Christians because they'll know what to do. But that has not been our reputation. And if you're in here and you're not a Christ follower, or you're watching and you're not a Christ follower, can I just say I'm sorry. I'm sorry because there are times when we have not behaved as the salt filled people that we should be. But we're gonna be different, aren't we? We're gonna be different. And so Jesus is saying to us, we're supposed to be the difference that the world needs. We're supposed to be the change. Okay, Back to Matthew 5, 13. Jesus said if we lose our saltiness, we'll be thrown out with the garbage. Now it's maybe hard to understand how salt could lose a saltiness because if you were paying attention in chemistry class, you learned that sodium chloride, which is salt, is a stable compound. But in Jesus day, salt was often collected from the Dead Sea and it was often contaminated with other minerals and impurities. And since the actual salt was more soluble than the impurities, then rain could just wash away the salt. So what was left was unsalty salt and it was worthless. Now the Greek word for unsalty salt that's found in Matthew 5 is the word moreno, which is where we get the word moron. So I'm just saying maybe a Christian who has become a little unsalty or a moron has simply let themselves be contaminated. And the thing about contamination is it doesn't happen all at once. It happens gradually. One compromise, one numb response, one drift at a time. And then we realize that we become deluded. So now I'm not giving you permission to walk around and call each other morons. Okay? But maybe just say you unsalty thing and we'll know exactly what you mean. Okay, so here we are. Today, we're gathered. We're gathered in the house of God. Just a bunch of salt shakers in the house of God. Which is a good thing. But you know what? We're not supposed to just salt each other. How you doing? Oh, I'm fine. I'm blessed. Are you good? I'm blessed. I love us. I think we're amazing. I just love us. No, we're supposed to take the salt out there where it's needed, not just do this right. We're supposed to change the world. We deny the salt function when we totally withdraw. You know, Jesus said that we're supposed to be in the world, but not of it right in the world and not letting contaminate us. We're supposed to be flavoring it. And that can be tricky because we think, oh, we don't want to be contaminated by the world, so then we just withdraw. In the Middle Ages, there were certain priests and monks who would shut themselves away in monasteries so they could stay completely pure. And that might have worked in some ways, but it also caused the church to lose the influence in the everyday lives of most people, which is why we're here. You know, both of my kids, as I mentioned to the ladies on Friday night, both of my kids played basketball growing up. And one thing I've learned as I've watched thousands of games, other than the fact that every referee is blind as a bat and. And needed this mother to tell him what the call should really be, what I learned is that games are not one with just a good defense. You have to go on the offense. You have to score baskets. So the church can't just be in a defensive posture. We have to go on the offense. We can't just remain in our little bowl. We have to be on the offense. Salt is not designed to stay in the shaker. The church was never created to remain insular. And if we don't get involved, if we don't become the salt that makes things better, then who will? We're supposed to be the influence. And here at River Valley Church, there's so many ways you can use your salt. You just heard Pastor Davey talk about a lot of them, right? Christianity is not a behavior modification program. It is about transformation. Our relationship with Jesus should not be defined by what we're not doing. Right? I'm not getting high. I'm not sleeping around. I'm not getting drunk. But rather, our Christianity should be defined by what we are doing. I am making a difference. I am being salt. I am being light. We move from being the church to just doing church. When we stop salting and seasoning the world, when we stop adding flavor and healing, and then Jesus continues this challenge. He says this and Matthew 5:14, he said, well, here's another way to put it. You're here to be light, bringing out the God colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. And If I make you light bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. And now that I put you there, on a hilltop, on a light stand, shine, keep open house. Be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. So you think about the functions of light. He's calling us light now. The functions of light. Well, light serves as a guide, right? And darkness is expelled as soon as you hit the light, right? Darkness has to flee. And then when it serves as a guide, you think about an airport Runway. It helps planes see where to land. Headlights on a car show you where to go or not go. So we're supposed to be guides to people who are in darkness. So how do we do this? How do we do this? Well, one translation of this verse, Matthew 5:16 says, in the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Ephesians 2:10. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do, to do, to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do. So it is me doing the very thing I was created to do that can lead others to encounter the love of God. And what I've noticed is that the world pays way less attention to our words than our deeds. And oftentimes it is our doings that can cause other people to encounter God and light. Light is to be seen. There is no such thing as a secret Christian. We're supposed to be light all the time. And light. Light shines not so much that people see the light, but they see other things because of the light. So our light shines not so that people will be attracted to us, but to the light. Jesus Christ in Los Angeles. So many people move there looking for fame, whether it was the entertainment industry or the music industry, the sports industry, dance. I mean, all of it. So many people moving there looking for fame. But I'd like to suggest that that's not our job. In fact, our DNA as human beings is not designed for fame, just like our DNA is not designed to live underwater. Our DNA is not designed for fame because only he is famous. Now. We all want to do great at our job. We all want to hear, add a boy, add a girl, good job. But in the quiet place of our heart, we have to deflect it to him, because only he is famous. And just like me, you've probably Seen so many people who are keeping clamoring for fame, and this amount of applause isn't enough. And so then it has to be this much. And then it has to be more and more and more. It's like this hungry. You can't feed because we're not designed for fame. My light is to lead the way to him, not make myself look good. And our light is to shine all the time, not just when we're feeling good. Right. But all the time. And sometimes I think. I think our light can shine the brightest in our own challenging time. Twenty years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and kind of began that journey. And one of the treatments that I had was radiation. And I was angry. I was angry that I was dealing with cancer. I was really angry about this whole radiation thing. I remember showing up to the treatments, and some of you might have had it or had family members who have. And you are aware that it's about seven or eight weeks of a treatment, and you're there every day at the same time. And so I show up on day one, and my hands are folded. I'm just mad. I hate this. I hate this whole thing. So they call my name. I have my treatment. I go home. Day two, I come in, I just look down. I hate this. They call my name, I have my treatment. Day three, are you getting the idea? It's just mad. Have my treatment, go home. Day four, I come in, I have my hands folded, and I'm looking down, and I sense the spirit of God say to me, holly, look up. No, you look up. I didn't want to know the. I didn't want to know these people. I didn't want to be here. But I knew what he was asking. It's like, holly, Holly, can you shine my light here? I mean, I really didn't want to. And people would have understood, because, after all, I'm dealing with cancer myself. But it didn't change the mission for me. And so I knew what he was asking. I'm like, oh, okay. And she said it so willingly. So the next day when I came in, I brought cookies for everybody. Now, they were the disgusting, healthy kind that nobody really wanted, But I inflicted them on people. And then I got phone numbers from people, and. Because when I looked around that room, I saw fear in everyone's eyes. I saw hopelessness in most of their eyes. And some of the people, I listened to conversations, and this was their last chance. And so I knew God was trusting me with these people. Could I be his light here? And so for weeks, I prayed with people, I connected with people. We had conversations. These were my people. Did I want it? No. So I think sometimes our light shines the brightest when we're in our own dark moment. You know, you think about it, you might feel like your light is no bigger than, you know, my little iPad right here. You can hardly see it. But I'm gonna ask them to turn the lights off in this room. Everybody stay seated. This is your safety announcement. Stay seated. Everybody stay seated. Okay, now, guys, you can turn the lights off, but now. Now, look at how bright this is. It's pretty bright, right? Even gives you a little bit of a reference. Even a small light grabs your attention. So here's our light. See, our light that we've been entrusted with is to be a guide. It's to lead people on the path to Jesus. It's not to blind someone, but oftentimes. What happens now? Not you. None of you here, because you're all practically perfect. But sometimes we take the light that's been entrusted to us and we take it to other people and go, you're a sinner, going straight to hell.
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You're bad.
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You're bad. We demonize people. We make them bad. And that's not what this light is for. And this light isn't to go. Aren't I amazing? I'm so awesome. No, the light that he's entrusted us is to lead people to him, is to take broken people by the hand and go, come on. Here's how we go. Oh, get back up again. Let me get your hand again. Oh, no. Come on. Here we go. It's to lead people to him, not point out their flaws, right? Okay, now you can turn the lights back on now. It's not always easy to shine brightly or, you know, stay salty. On our own, we're designed to spend time in community, which is why you're gathered together. God's plan for us is to be a city on a hill. That's why it's crucial that we gather. Hebrews 10 says, Let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up, stimulate and insight to love and helpful deeds and noble activities. I actually love this translation. Your job as you gather, is to encourage each other to do noble things. Isn't that beautiful? It says, not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together as believers, as is the habit of some people, but not you people, but admonishing, warning, urging, encouraging one another, and all the more faithfully, as you see the day approaching when we shine together, we can reach far out into the darkness. See, when the church shines together, when every daughter and every son steps into their real identity, then darkness doesn't stand a chance. Not here, not now, not ever. Jesus didn't ask that his followers be taken out of the world. In fact, in John 17, he specifically prayed that God would not take us out of the world, but that we would be protected in it. Because the world, with all of its problems, with all of its violence and sin, was never supposed to be a threat to the church, but rather the mission field of the church. So he is sending us into this world, this 21st century world that is filled with immorality and iniquity and crime and greed and violence and heartbreak and pain. And the list goes on and on. And he's saying, be the salt, be the light. See, Jesus didn't say try to be salt, or if you're having a good week, shine a little. He said, you are the salt. You are the light. That means your life carries influence you may not even recognize. Your presence shifts atmospheres. Your kindness disarms anger. Your generosity breaks chains. Your courage gives someone else courage. And listen, family, God does not have a plan B. We're it. I mean, there isn't another team warming up on the bench. We are his strategy to heal a hurting world. We are the ones who are supposed to carry his hope into the grocery store, onto the freeway, into the office, into the basketball bleachers, into hospital waiting rooms, into our homes. So today I want to ask you, are you willing to shine again? Are you willing to shake out the salt that he's put inside you? I mean, some of us might have hidden our light under a bucket of fear or a bucket of disappointment or a bucket of comparison. Or some of us might have let our salt get diluted with distraction. But the world needs the flavor you carry. The world needs the healing you carry. The world needs the light you carry. Come on, River Valley Church. God planted you here not to survive culture, but to shape culture. So right now, right where you are, can I just get everybody and all the campuses, everybody just lift your hands like this. Jesus, I'm praying that you would make us salty again. Let us shine again. Use us, God, in a world that is so filled with division and heartbreak and fear. Use us. Forgive us where we might have tried to stick our head in the sand or hide our light. Forgive us, God. But from this moment on, we're choosing to be your church. In the city you've called us to be in. To be the salt and be the light. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen.