Jesus employs two metaphors to characterise the essence of discipleship: salt and light. These metaphors point to what the disciples do for others rather than to what discipleship does for the disciples themselves. It is the Spirit and power of God that work the wonders, and God works them through mundane elements of life such as light and salt. True disciples are the light that shines forth in the darkness of ignorance or faithlessness. They enlighten others not by words but by their manner of living. Jesus teaches us that what we do flows from who and what we are. We can enlighten the world with the message of the gospel, because our lives have been transformed by that gospel and now we ourselves are light for others. We can serve others in various ways, only because we have been saved by God’s grace and now we are agents of that grace in the lives of others. Our own renewal becomes the means through which God renews the world. We may not be asked to perform extraordinary feats, but all disciples of Jesus are called upon to do the ordinary things of life in an extraordinary way. It is this manner of living that declares to the world that the reign of God has indeed been established in their midst, and that the age of fulfilment has dawned.