You are Salt & Light The Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5:13-20 Sunday, February 9, 2014 The Rev. Sharon Snapp-Kolas, preaching

Transcription

1 You are Salt & Light The Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5:13-20 Sunday, February 9, 2014 The Rev. Sharon Snapp-Kolas, preaching Scripture. Prayer. Opening. In his book Led by the Carpenter, D. James Kennedy writes: A man walked into a little mom-and-pop grocery store and asked, Do you sell salt? Ha! said Pop the proprietor. Do we sell salt? Just look! And Pop showed the customer one entire wall stocked with nothing but salt. Morton salt, iodized salt, kosher salt, sea salt, rock salt, garlic salt, seasoning salt, Epsom salts, every kind imaginable. Wow! said the customer. You think that's something? said Pop with a wave of his hand. That's nothing! Come look. Pop led the customer to a back room filled with shelves and bins and cartons and barrels and boxes of salt. Do we sell salt? he said. Unbelievable! said the customer. You think that's something? said Pop. Come! I'll show you salt! Pop led the customer down some steps into a huge basement, five times as large as the previous room, filled floor to ceiling, with every imaginable form and size and shape of salt, even huge ten-pound salt licks for the cow pasture. Incredible! said the customer. You really do sell salt! No! said Pop. That's just the problem! We never sell salt! But that salt salesman? Hoo-boy! Does he sell salt! 1

2 I. Salt and Light. Salt, of course, has many uses. It can be used as a preservative; this was especially important in biblical times. Salt has healing properties, as well. We have all heard the cliché, Pouring salt on a wound. The idea is that we shouldn t add pain to a hurt that is already painful. But pouring salt on an actual, physical wound, while painful, is also healing. It can prevent infection and help damaged skin cells to rebuild. Pouring salt on emotional and psychological wounds could also conceivably promote healing, although one has to be careful not to cause further pain unnecessarily. In ancient times, salt was often used to ratify agreements. God speaks to Aaron in Numbers chapter 18, providing for the levitical priests out of the offerings of the people. The reason for this is that the priests are not given an allotment of land to farm. Their livelihood is to come from the offerings of the people. In verse 19, God says to Aaron, All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the Lord I have given to you it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and your descendants as well. And in 2 Chronicles 13:5, during the time of the divided kingdom, King Abijah of Judah said to King Jeroboam of Israel, Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? Israel has a covenant with God, to be salt; to be a sign to the world of God s promises. Through Christ we have joined that covenant. We, too, have promised to be salt in the world. Jesus is using salt as a symbol of God s covenant with Israel. And Jesus is talking to us, too the Gentiles -- when he teaches his followers to be salt. Jesus emphasizes salt as a flavoring agent. If it has lost its saltiness, what good is it? Salt brings out the flavor of other foods, and it adds an edge of its own. Jesus reminds his listeners not to lose their edge. 2

3 Light is also a symbol of covenant in the Jewish community. Isaiah 42:6 reads, I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations. Israel is to be salt and light to the Gentiles. God has made a covenant, a promise, an oath, that the Jews will be such a sign to all the nations of the world. And how are they to be salt and light? By doing good works. Through the example of their care for the poor and the outcast, they show the world how God s law is to be fulfilled. They show by example what the kingdom of heaven is all about. It s about God s love, shared with all people, Jew and Gentile alike. II. A note about the Pharisees and the Law. A brief note about the Pharisees. The Pharisees get a bad rap. Matthew has a bias against the Pharisees that is not historically accurate. In reality, the Pharisees had, as one of their goals, to make the keeping of the law simple and possible for all people, even the poorest of the poor. As we read the gospel of Matthew, we need to be aware of Matthew s bias against the Pharisees. We should also note that Jesus does not throw out the law. Christians often make the mistake of characterizing Jesus as throwing out the law and the Jewish faith. Jesus is a Jew. Jesus, by his own words, comes not to abolish but to fulfill the law. As Christians, we are tempted to understand Jesus as bringing a law of love, in opposition to the harsh, legalistic law of the Old Testament. Jesus brings an interpretation of love; he does not reject the law. He represents a stream of Jewish interpretation of the law that emphasizes concern for the poor and the rejected. It is with that stream of interpretation that we are to light the world. One night at the end of a special Saturday night worship service, writes Warren Hudson of Ontario, Canada, a thunderstorm unleashed a bolt of lightning that plunged the church into darkness. With the congregation seated in total darkness, the pastor felt his way to 3

4 the kitchen to find some candles. The pastor handed out the candles to everyone present. People lit their candles in much the same way as many churches do on Christmas Eve, each person lighting the candle of the person next to them. The worshipers then made their way through the church's winding hallways to the front door. Peering out, we could see the rain coming down in sheets, Warren remembers. With traffic snarled, people were running for the nearest shelter. Looking around they realized that the entire city was in darkness. There in the darkness we stood, Warren writes, a little band of Christians, each clutching a light, not sure whether to venture out into the storm or stay inside the church in hopes that the storm would soon blow over. There in the darkness the light of truth struck him. In this most dramatic way he realized what it means to be the light of the world. He writes, It occurred to me then that this is the temptation I face every day. It is easy to play it safe and be a good Christian in church. It is a lot harder to venture out in faith into the storms of the world. (Warren Hudson, adapted by King Duncan) II. A little goes a long way. Jesus tends to call people who are rejected by the larger society. He has a preference for the poor and the outcast, the lepers, the prostitutes and the tax collectors. They are special in God s kingdom. They have an important purpose in the world to make his kingdom known. Isn t that amazing? That the lowest are the highest, in God s kingdom. The least are the most, in Jesus viewpoint. The rejected are the accepted, in the family of God. Do you ever feel ordinary? Do you ever feel unimportant, or forgotten, or ignored? Jesus says, You are salt and light. You -- no matter how small and insignificant you may feel at times you make a huge impact in the world, as a follower of Jesus. You are a sign, a symbol, of God s promises being fulfilled in the world. 4

5 A little salt goes a long way in a pot of soup. The tiniest of night lights turns a stumble through a dark house into an illumined path. Leonard Sweet, United Methodist preacher and author, writes: Jesus lifts up two metaphors of how disciples of the kingdom will be known to this world. They will be the salt of the earth, they will be the light of the world, a light that will shine before others. Salt sharpens flavors. Light sharpens both sight and insight. Jesus is calling would-be followers of the kingdom to sharpen lives by living on the sharp, the cutting edges, the places where new perspectives, new tastes, and new visions are embraced. Light does not just banish darkness and illuminate corners and crevices. Light also works to provide a new perspective. Salt Light Jesus says that s you and me. The tiny dash of salt we bring to a bland world, devoid of God, has a huge impact. The weak, almost failing light we shine in the world s vast darkness makes all the difference. Do you remember the scene in one of the later Harry Potter movies, the scene where Dumbledore has just been killed? He falls from the tower and lands in a courtyard below. Harry goes to him, gently straightening the hair on his face, fighting back tears. The whole school gathers round, professors, students, staff. Above them is an angry, blackened sky, with the evil magic of the Dark Mark emblazoned on it. The assembly stands in shocked silence, quiet tears running down many of the faces. Slowly, Professor McGonagall raises her wand. The tip of the wand glows with the tiniest of lights; less light than the end of a cigarette or the tail of a firefly. The light from McGonagall s wand has little, if any, visible effect on the darkened sky above her. But one by one, others in the crowd raise their wands, as well. And gradually the 5

6 darkness is overcome. The Dark Mark fades away. The clouds disperse, and the sun shines once more. Professor Dumbledore is still dead. But the school is united in a statement of love, honor, and commitment to a cause. Closing. Jesus calls you and me to that kind of action. The raising of one tiny light. The tossing of one little pinch of salt. Alone, we have little if any power. We may even feel, what s the use? Especially in those times when we feel small and powerless, when we feel like giving up. Jesus says the smallest of lights the tiniest bit of salt can change the world. Don t lose your edge. Don t lose your perspective. Remember who you are. Remember whose you are. Remember you are not alone. God in Christ Jesus is with you. Your brothers and sisters in the faith are with you. A cloud of witnesses surrounds you. Be the salt of the earth. Be the light of the world. Be brave. Do it for Jesus, in honor of all he has done for you. Amen. 6