Rev. Joan Pell Byron United Methodist Church Sermon: 1/12/14 Series: Flipped Scripture: Matthew 5:13-20 Salt & Light Intro to Sermon on Mt series - 10 min to read - whole of it in next 6 weeks - manifesto for his ministry - flips our ideas upside down - last week looked at Beatitudes & situations we will find ourselves blessed in NOT rich, powerful, comfortable but poor, mourn, oppressed Come to this week s passage Will just read the first part of it now salt & light Later read the next few verses on law & prophets <Matthew 5:13-16> 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. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In 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. We live in a world that needs to hear the gospel news, world where there were 2 school shootings this week, where a 4 yearold girl found a gun shot dead her 4-year-old cousin. A world where people are hungry, people are sick. A world of darkness and struggle, where people are lost and need hope. And we are called to NOT be like the culture, and yet to be in the world, NOT to be in our own withdrawn enclave, but to engage, impact & influence. Jesus uses a metaphor to help us. Salt & light; two ordinary, natural elements that are essential to life. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. NOTE: Jesus DOES NOT say: You SHOULD be like salt/light, or You WILL be like salt/light. BUT: You ARE the salt of the earth / light of the world. You are. Present tense. Each one of you here are salt and light. -1-
Let s start with the salt metaphor. Looked it up in Wikipedia interesting! 1. Valuable. We overlook as humdrum. History of salt: shaped trade routes, government monopolies, popular protests Gandhi s Salt March in 1930. It is in our vocabulary: salary = Latin term soldiers allowance to purchase salt. We talk about workers worth their salt if did job well. Salt is a small thing of great value. You are the salt of the earth. 2. Preservative. Keeps things from decaying. Much more imp in 1 st Century. Still today beef jerky, prevents butter spoiling, kills microbes. You are the salt of the earth. You keep culture from decaying. Your impact is important. Your values make a difference. [Of course your wisdom is needed too.] 3. Flavors. Spices up. Brightens up other flavors too penetrates. Yes, we know today that too much salt can be a bad thing, but it is also why we love packaged foods, frozen tv dinners, cereals, canned goods, nuts, chips, condiments, etc. You are the salt of the earth. The way you speak and act makes a difference and flavors the world around you. And it penetrates further than just those you touch. One person casts ripples that move out. Sometimes it doesn t take much. Did you hear the story this week of Cardinal Sean O Malley who at an anointing at an ecumenical service suddenly asked UM pastor Rev. Anne Robertson to anoint him, accepting the authority of a woman although the Catholic church does not allow women to anoint? 1 In many situations, you only need a little bit of salt to make a difference. If you add a bit of salt to sea water, you won t notice the difference, but add a teaspoon to a cup of plain water! Makes a big difference! You are the salt of the earth. You are having an impact on many dark places. 4. Creates thirst. Drink salty water, you will be thirsty. As each of us walks through dark times, others will look to see how we are handling it. If people see you handling a difficult time with a peace that they do not have, then they will ask about it. You create a thirst. Others will want to be that way. Do you remember the story of John Wesley? He was on a ship in storm bound for America and saw how the Moravians handled it and the peace they had, and how they were not afraid to die, and wanted to know why he did not feel the same way. I am part of a private facebook page for UM clergy. Very few of those who post that I know personally. Names to me - that answer ministry questions that come up. Get to 1 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/17/anne-robertson-cardinal-o-malley_n_4617205.html. -2-
know them. There s a female pastor who has been in ministry for 20+ years and full of wisdom. My age, bit older perhaps. Sick for some time. Gave up her appointment mid-year and went on hospice, she shared her journey and physical struggles on facebook. Was posting up to a couple of days before her death this week. Incredibly grace-filled loving witness to the rest of us. She was truly the salt of the earth. And set such an example to be followed. That s who you are too. The salt of the earth. Each one of you are valuable, and you add flavor, create thirst and act as a preserver. You are influencing the culture by who you are. towards the light. Now our 2 nd metaphor light. Light shines in the darkness. In a bright room you can t really notice another light. In a dark place, with the absence of light, one light can make a huge difference. Even just a candle. Ever been in a cave? Xmas eve service is beautiful as see light growing. A light in the distance in darkness acts to show the way and draw you closer. We walk You are the light of the world. Our impact on the world is important. We are not just called to sit back and hide our light under a bushel. Sometimes it only takes one light. As MLK said: Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Light also exposes whatever is hidden in the darkness. It reveals what is hidden. We are called to have an impact and not keep silent when we see evil in the world. We take light for granted nowadays, but it wasn t like that in the 1 st C. Houses were dark at night, just lit by an oil lamp. When I was a child growing up in England in the 1970 s there was a period when the coal miners were striking and for several months we never knew when we would have light. Remember doing homework wrapped up in multiple sweaters by flashlight or candlelight when the batteries ran down, and none of those LED lights either, and the warm glow in the living room, and everywhere else was pitch black no street lights, no lights in other rooms. You had carry the light with you when you went into another room. You are the light of the world. Be who you are. Do what you are made to do. That s what we are doing here in this community. Kaleidoscope, started by Jan Page, 11 years ago, brings light to those with cancer. The many thank-you notes that were received at Christmas testify to that. Our Food Pantry here each Tuesday morning brings light to the lives of those struggling to put food on the table. You raised ove $1700 by giving away our Christmas Eve offering which will fund the pantry for 6 weeks. Thank you! Well done! We are the salt of the earth. We are the light of the world says Jesus. We are here to flip the culture of the world. Instead of despair, we are here to show the world what it looks like to live in hope, to live differently. As we live it, we WILL grow into this identity. -3-
Now we come to rest of the Sermon on the Mount that we are reading today, about the Law and the Prophets. <Matthew 5:17-20> 17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For 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. 19 Therefore, 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. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. In England, when we got to the top of the primary school (grade 5/6), the Gideons would come to visit. They gave every child a free Bible NT + Psalms. There s still 2 on our book shelf one is Adrian s and one is mine. Have you come across them here in hotel rooms? And that was great! And I don t want to diminish that at all. But there is a sense sometimes that the NT has superseded the OT/Hebrew Bible, and that other than praying a few psalms, we don t need to read the OT. Jesus said that he hadn t come to do away with the law or the prophets but to fulfil them. Jesus says the law, is important. 613 commandments in Torah. (Jews call the first 5 books of the Bible). Jesus came to fulfill the law. To live it out. To show us how to expand and update our understanding. To fulfill the law s intention. To live the Torahway. Jesus came to live in a way that the all-knowing Scribes & Pharisees still hadn t got figured out. And before we think bad thoughts about them, even today we have traditions that have become hardened into rules. And Jesus also made the parallel claim that he came to fulfill the prophets too. The prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Amos and so on) showed a willingness to suffer for their faith. They held out a vision of mercy, forgiveness and justice. Jesus claim to fulfillment doesn t mean that he only fulfilled particular OT prophecies. but that more importantly Jesus fulfills the prophetic vocation by his willingness to suffer, and in his restoring of relationships. What does it mean then when Jesus said: For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. We often think that righteousness means being a better more ethical person. For Jesus, it is concerned with mercy, forgiveness and justice And we are going to see those illustrated more in the next few weeks. -4-
The way I understand this is that: God does not need individuals to outdo the scribes and Pharisees in moral purity. God does not need people to pursue the kind of morality that divides the world into the righteous and unrighteous. God does not need people whose sense of righteousness denies the reality of grace. Instead Jesus has FLIPPED things again. God needs a people whose righteousness consists of mercy, of love of neighbor and enemy, and relationships made whole. In other words, he needs us to be the SALT of the earth and LIGHT of the world that we were created to be. So, let s live the tasty, lit-up life! 2 [With thanks to Lynn for the great cake last week!] Thanks be to God. AMEN. Let us pray. O God of light and wonder, help us to bring salt into the blandness of life, encouraging vitality and joy in living in a world that dares to hope for the future that you promise where all your children will know themselves to be loved and valued and treasured, created in your image, & bringing you glory forever. Help us to bring light into all the darkness of life, spreading hope for a better world - a world where justice is made real by your children living together in harmony. May we become the righteous people that you are calling us to be. May we be flipped. AMEN. Resources Jarvis, Cynthia A. and E. Elizabeth Johnson, Editors. Feasting on the Gospels: Mathhew, Volume 1, Chapters 1-13. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013. Morris, Mike. Flipped Week 2 Influence and Impact in Cornerstone Community Church. Galax, Virginia: Cornerstone Community Church, April 14, 2013. http://www.mycornerstone.org/multimedia-archive/flipped-week-2-influence-andimpact/. 2 http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1901. -5-