Last week I stood up here and preached about the beatitudes or as some people call them the

Transcription

1 Matthew 5:13-20 Epiphany 5 Traditional/Blended Sarah Raymond 13 You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. 14 You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. 17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Last week I stood up here and preached about the beatitudes or as some people call them the Blesseds. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are the meek for they will see God. We talked about how these are not if/then statements. It s not if you are meek, then you will see God. Nor are these statements about how we should live. These are not morality statements to say we should live to mourn and be meek and be a peacemaker and be poor in spirit. What I proposed last week is that these were promises from God... that God promises to bless those who find themselves mourning or poor in spirit or being persecuted for the sake of Jesus. But not bless them in the ways of this world, but bless them in the ways of God... in ways that only God can 1

2 give. And that someone told me this week...don t let our blessings get in the way of our blessings don t let our earthly blessings keep you from seeing what are God s true blessings. As much as I love the beatitudes and the message they bring, I also think they are utterly ridiculous. I mean... really... blessed are those who mourn? We had 3 funerals this past week, and I can tell you that the families involved probably don t feel all that blessed right now. Earthly or otherwise... And isn t it ridiculous to be blessed to be meek or poor in spirit or persecuted for rightousness sake? Then we turn to this week s text. You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? Can salt really lose its taste? I m no chemist, but if salt is not salty, doesn t that mean it s not really salt anymore? Ridiculous And on we go to the light of the world... and a city on a hill. Duh. Of course we don t cover a light. And of course, we can t hide a city on a hill. That s ridiculous too. And finally we have this last part where Jesus says he comes to fulfill the law, and he says, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same, they will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. This whole last section just strikes so crazy to me. Is there then a hierarchy in heaven? And how can we ever have righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, so that we can enter the kingdom of heaven. It s ridiculous. 2

3 So I looked up the word ridiculous to see what the dictionary said it meant. It says, The ridiculous is that which is highly incongruous... sometimes deliberately so to make people laugh or get their attention... (wikipedia) It didn t really make me laugh, but it certainly got my attention! All of what we are talking about today is a part of the most famous sermon of Jesus called the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes are the introduction... the opening statement, if you will. Then Jesus moves on to this salt and light passage as it is called, next will come warning and then instruction. This salt and light passage is short and to the point and familiar...maybe not as familiar as the beatitudes, but nearly. Jesus uses two familiar images here "You are the salt of the earth" and "You are the light of the world." Notice it says, YOU ARE not you ought to be or should try to be. Both salt and light are so basic and essential to human life that Jesus felt no need to spell out what this meant. Salt itself is so essential to life. It is part of every cell in our bodies and part of the cells of all living things. It was mined in ancient times as a precious commodity left in the earth by seas long dead and gone. In Jesus day, the mining of it made empires rich while working slaves to death. At great banquets, distinction was made between those who sat above and below the salt, a notable dish on the table. And Orthodox churches use salt in the baptismal liturgy, pouring some on the wet infant with the words, May you be preserved for eternal life. And light.. in the time of Jesus, light is not assumed as it is for us today. We are so far beyond those days, that we may not remember being at the mercy of wherever the sun happens to be. Some of you here with a bit more experience may remember what it was like before electricity lit up our nights. We 3

4 live within the illusion of being able to control light. For most of human history, this has not been the case. And we all know how a shortage of sunlight can affect us... especially here in the north. When Jesus speaks of salt and light in the Sermon on the Mount, he is implying a very important kind of precious worth. When Jesus calls them salt and light, he is immediately following the last verses of the beatitudes where he has shifted from saying Blessed are the those who are to Blessed are you (all) plural you. He is talking to the disciples directly, but he is also talking to all of his followers throughout the ages. He is talking to YOU to us! Jesus is talking about a life that makes a difference for others in the world. We are the tastiness that adds salt to lives around us. We are the light that makes plain the justice way of the kingdom of God. In the message, Eugene Peterson says it this way, 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 therefore, live a tasty, lit-up life. Many of you read a book that was published about 8 years ago now, called same kind of different as me. By Ron Hall and Denver Moore. The story is about a dangerous, homeless drifter who grew up picking cotton in virtual slavery and an upscale art dealer accustomed to the world of Armani and Chanel. Throughout the book, we learn how their lives intertwine. Ron Hall, the art dealer, began his journey away from selfishness and greed by helping his wife Deborah at the mission on a weekly basis. Deborah dreamed up Beauty Shop Night and movie night and birthday night all different ways to bring some humanity to those who were living on the edge of it. Ron came along to help his wife and as he got to know the people there, he began to notice a man named Denver. One night when Ron and Deborah planned a night out for the homeless, they drove up to the mission and saw about 15 men and women standing on the sidewalk dressed in their handout 4

5 best ready to go to the concert. Among the 15 was Denver. They were shocked to see him standing on the mission steps, solemn and rigid like the statue of a dictator. He was scrubbed so clean that his ebony skin shone against a dark blue secondhand suit that almost fit. But he stood alone, at least twenty feet from anyone which did not surprise Ron since the other people always treated Denver like a bad dog on a long chain. Well, Denver went along to the concert and even agreed to go to breakfast with Ron the next day. During that breakfast, Denver asked Ron a pointed question. Denver said, What you want from me? Ron thought hard and decided to give him a completely unvarnished answer. I just want to be your friend, he said. And Denver responded, Let me think about it... And Denver did think about it. About a week later, Ron asked Denver to go out for coffee. Denver was amazed that people would stand in line to pay two or three dollars for a cup of coffee that had to be ordered in a foreign language. To be honest, I think many of us wonder about that too. It was during this visit over expensive, foreign sounding coffee that Denver finally gave Ron his answer, and Ron tells it like this... He stared down at the steam rolling up from his coffee cup. I ve been thinking a lot about what you asked me. I had no idea what he was talking about. What did I ask you? Bout being your friend. My jaw dropped an inch. I d forgotten that when I told him at the Cactus Flower Cafe that all I wanted from him was his friendship, he d said he d think about it. Now, I was shocked that anyone would spend 5

6 a week pondering such a question. While the whole conversation had slipped my mind, Denver had clearly spent serious time preparing his answer. He looked up from his coffee, fixing me with one eye, the other squinted like Clint Eastwood. There s something I heard bout white folk that bothers me, and it has to do with fishin. He was serious and I didn t dare laugh, but I did try to lighten the mood a bit. I don t know if I ll be able to help you, I said, smiling. I don t even own a tackle box. Denver scowled, not amused. I think you can He spoke slowly and deliberately, keeping me pinned with that eyeball, ignoring the Starbucks groupies coming and going on the patio around us. I heard that when white folks go fishin they do somethin called catch and release. That really bothers me, Denver went on. I just can t figure it out. Cause when colored folks go fishin, we really proud of what we catch, and we take it and show it off to everybody that ll look. Then we eat what we catch...in other words, we use it to sustain us. So it really bothers me that white folks would go to all that trouble to catch a fish, then when they done caught it, just throw it back in the water. He paused again, and the silence between us stretched a full minute. Denver looked away, searching the blue autumn sky, then locked onto me again with that drill-bit stare. So, Mr. Ron, it occurred to me: If you is fishin for a friend you just gon catch and release, then I ain t got no desire to be your friend. But if you is lookin for a real friend, then I ll be one. Forever. I think Ron not only got a big helping of humble pie from Denver, but I think he learned a big lesson about being salt and light in the world. So often, we are like Ron, thinking that we are going out and helping others by bringing the light of Jesus to them. I think sometimes we forget to look for the light of Jesus in them. 6

7 There is a commercial on TV right now that says the human eye can see the light of a candle from a distance of 10 miles if it is dark. I m not saying that we shouldn t let our light shine, but I am saying that we were made to see light. It took Ron quite a while to stop thinking about his own light and to start seeing the light that Denver was shining. Near the end of the book, Ron writes it this way: I was embarrassed that I once thought myself superior to him, stooping to sprinkle my wealth and wisdom into his lowly life. An art dealer and a homeless drifter as friends ridiculous. I we have told you all time and time again to go be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. We have a saying for the Mission Blitz to Be the Church. But when we are out there in this world of ours that is filled with brokenness and darkness don t forget to look for the light of Jesus in those around us. 7