Being People of Salt and Light - Sermon for Epiphany 5A (Matthew 5)



Matthew 5:13-20

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount opens with eight words of blessing. Jesus tells us that God blesses the poor, those who grieve, the meek, the hungry, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted. With these eight Beatitudes, Jesus reveals to whom the Kingdom of Heaven belongs (Mt. 5:1-12). 

Now that Jesus has revealed who is first in line when it comes to entering God’s realm, he tells his followers how they, and we, can be useful to God’s realm. He issues two declarations that define our identity as Christians:  “You are the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” If we accept our calling to be salt and light, then we’ll be useful to God’s realm.  

When I arrived in Troy nearly fifteen years ago, I was told that Troy is an affluent, diverse, and forward-looking community. In many ways this is true. We are ranked among the nation’s safest and most livable cities. But even here in Troy, we can find pockets of poverty and despair. So, what does it mean for us to be salt and light as individuals and as a faith community here in Troy and beyond?  

Before we explore what it means to be salt and light, I want to drop down to the final paragraph of our reading. This is an important word because Jesus reminds us that he might interpret and apply the Law and the Prophets a bit differently than many of his contemporaries, but he didn’t intend to abolish the Law and Prophets. Therefore, his message stood in continuity with what had been taught for centuries. So, rather than loosening the rules, he was actually strengthening them. Therefore, even though the Pharisees were committed to living holy lives, Jesus raised the ante. If we’re going to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, our righteousness needs to exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees. In other words, Jesus sets a high bar. Yes, grace is the foundation, but that doesn’t mean we get a free pass in life. As Paul reminds us, all things are lawful but not everything is beneficial. That is because not everything builds up the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:23). To put it in terms of the Sermon on the Mount, we might be free in Christ, but not everything builds up God’s realm. That is our calling as followers of Jesus.

Getting back to being agents of salt and light, what does Jesus have in mind here? When it comes to salt; it has a number of helpful properties. One of those properties is one that Jesus’ audience would not have thought of but which we know well. That is, salt is really good at melting snow and ice. Since that wasn’t a concern for Jesus’ audience, we can set that one aside. Salt can also be used as a preservative, and that’s something Jesus’ audience would have understood. After all, before the advent of refrigeration, curing meat with salt was the best way of preserving food. Jesus also gives us a hint here when he talks about salt losing its flavor. When it’s lost its saltiness, it’s not very useful as a flavor enhancement. If salt loses its saltiness, you might as well throw it on the ground. 

When Jesus told his audience that they were the salt of the earth, he envisioned his followers enhancing or adding value to God’s realm, which encompasses God’s creation. The problem is; if we don’t use our saltiness to enhance creation that salt loses its usefulness. Ron Allen and Clark Williamson speak of salt’s usefulness as a preservative. They suggest that in our identity as the salt of the earth, we “act in the world in ways that will keep it wholesome, that will prevent it from going to rack and ruin.” In other words, by living out our calling to be the “salt of the earth,” we help preserve the well-being or common good of our communities. [Preaching the Gospels without Blaming the Jews,  p.  18].  

Not only are we the “salt of the earth,” but, according to Jesus, we are “the light of the world.” This word about being light fits with our season of Epiphany. If we’re going to be the “light of the world” then we’ll need to let that light shine. Jesus tells us that we are like a city on a hill that can’t be hidden. Jesus might not have had Las Vegas in mind, but I think we can imagine a city, even a first-century city, sitting on a hill, all lit up, shining in the night, and serving as a beacon of safety to weary travelers. That’s who we are unless we hide that light, so it can’t be seen. Jesus’ message to us is that we should let our light shine with the intensity of a city set on a hill so that God’s glory will be revealed in and through us.

Jesus addresses a temptation that we all face. That temptation is to hide this light, to use Jesus’ analogy, by covering it with a bushel basket. If we hide the light of God from being seen by the world then the light God plants within us through the Spirit loses its usefulness. So instead of hiding the light of God, in the words of a children’s Sunday School song, may this little light of mine shine. Yes, “let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!” This is our calling as Jesus’ followers. 

We live in a world that is filled with darkness. That darkness comes in many forms, ranging from fear to hatred. It can be angry and self-centered. If we’re to be agents of light, then we must let go of these signs of darkness. We can only do this if we join together as a community of faith committed to living in God’s realm. This little light of mine can shine, but like one small flashlight or candle, that light doesn’t go very far. However, when we combine our lights we can illuminate a much larger swath of God’s creation pushing back on the darkness. So let us combine our light sources so that God’s glory shines forth in the world around us! 

As agents of salt and light, we can enhance creation and reveal the glory that is God. This is what God intended for us to know through the Law and the Prophets. Jesus reinforces their message so that we might know and understand something about the nature of God’s realm that is already present but not yet fully revealed.   

The reading from Isaiah 58 helps frame Jesus’ message. The prophet reminds the people that God isn’t impressed by their piety. What God is impressed by is the people’s commitment to pursuing justice. According to the prophet, God wants the people of God to be repairers of the breach. We might use the Hebrew phrase Tikkun Olam here, to repair or heal the world. That is our calling as the people of God. The prophet warns us, as Walter Brueggemann points out in his reflection on Isaiah 58, that too often worship becomes self-indulgent. He calls this “a violation of neighborliness.” The worship  God desires from us seeks to construct the common good. It looks “advantage and disadvantage square in the face, and urges gestures that bind haves and have-nots together.” He goes on to say that “knowledge of God is acknowledgment of neighbor.” [Brueggemann, Journey to the Common Good, WJK, 2010, pp. 110-111].  

    Like the prophets before him, Jesus reminds us that we can’t separate out the love of God from the love of neighbor.  Our fasting and prayers won’t do us any good if we oppress workers or quarrel with one another. Therefore, if our worship is to be meaningful, then Jesus wants us to accept our calling to be agents of salt and light. We accomplish this when we share bread with the hungry, house the homeless, and clothe the naked. Then, according to the prophet, the “light shall break forth like the dawn and . . . healing shall spring up quickly”; so that even as our vindicator goes before us  the “glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.” Then, when we cry out to God, God will answer “here I am.”  (Is. 58:8-9a).  

As we hear this call to be salt and light, may this word from Cornelius Plantinga guide our pathway toward the Kingdom of Heaven:

Love your neighbor as yourself. Love brings life. When you or I reach out to our neighbor with a word of encouragement, or with a question that is clearly thoughtful; when we rejoice with one who is rejoicing and weep with one who is weeping (Rom. 12:15), we are like God. God is always breathing life into everybody, so much life that all the stars feel like shouting for joy. God knows how to vivify, and our calling is to act like God.  [Under the Wings of God, Brazos Press, 2023), p. 131].


Preached by: 
Robert D. Cornwall
Pulpit Supply
First Presbyterian Church  
Troy, Michigan
February 5, 2023
Epiphany 5A

Moyers, Mike. Shine, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57144 [retrieved February 4, 2023]. Original source: Mike Moyers, https://www.mikemoyersfineart.com/.

Comments

Popular Posts