Being Light and Salt

Being Light and Salt

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas

February 9, 2014; 5 Epiphany, Year A

Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

(Matthew 5:13-20)  Jesus said, "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.

"You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 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. 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.

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 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. 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. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

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Let’s start with the part of this gospel passage that I find most problematic:  “…not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law….  Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least…; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great….” (Mt. 5:18-19)  Maybe that bothers you as well.  What do we make of it?

It is a passage that is unique to Matthew.  It gives us a hint of the character of Matthew’s gospel.  Matthew’s is the most Jewish of our gospels.  It is also the gospel that is most hostile to Judaism.  Only in Matthew do we hear the Jewish crowd cry, “His blood be on us and our children.” (Mt. 27:25)  Energized by that verse, centuries of Christians have committed acts of terror.  Matthew’s community of Jewish-Christians is in bitter conflict with the Jewish synagogue. 

It is important to Matthew to assert that Jesus is the true fulfillment and culmination of the Law and the Prophets.  Matthew constructs his gospel to present Jesus as the new Moses.  At his birth, Jesus is threatened by Herod much like Moses was threatened by Pharaoh, and like Moses, Jesus is rescued, then comes out of Egypt with a new Exodus story. 

Matthew collects Jesus’ teaching into five major blocks of material, similar to the five books of the Pentateuch.  And here, in chapter five, Matthew takes Jesus to a mountain to teach the people, just as Moses taught the Law on Mt. Sinai. 

Matthew insists, to his Jewish audience, that Jesus fulfills and completes the Law of Moses, and further, Matthew claims that the traditions of Israel now belong to the new Jewish community following Jesus, not to the scribes and Pharisees, whom he calls “hypocrites!” “blind guides,” “blind fools,” “serpents,” and “brood of vipers.”

Matthew tells his readers, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  And beginning with the Beatitudes as the opening of the Sermon on the Mount, then continuing with the stories of Jesus’ compassion for people the scribes and Pharisees would shun and never touch – his healings on the Sabbath, the story of vineyard workers where the last receives the same as the first – Matthew presents Jesus’ gospel which fulfills and completes the Law and the Prophets under the commandment “love… God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and “love your neighbor as yourself.”  So when Jesus apparently breaks the law according to the Pharisees, as when he heals on the Sabbath, Matthew tells his Jewish critics that Jesus has actually fulfilled the law. 

The new righteousness is about radical love, which fulfills the Law.  Love is the righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees.

So now, coming to today’s gospel reading, you followers of Jesus, are to be salt and light:  Love incarnate.  You are the salt that “brings out the God-flavors of this earth,” as Eugene Peterson translates.  “You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world…”  Jesus announces, “We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill.” [i]

So what are we going public about?  How are we to be salt and light? 

Here’s where the context speaks so brilliantly.  Today’s reading about salt and light and about fulfilling the Law and Prophets, comes right after the Beatitudes, the thrilling opening of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

I’m guessing you’ve heard the Beatitudes before, maybe frequently enough that they are familiar.  Familiarity does two things, it seems.  First, familiarity often plants things deeply in our hearts.  We hear something familiar, and we re-live its impact and meaning to us.  But secondly, familiarity sometimes inoculates us like a vaccine.  We’ve heard that before.  Nothing new here.  Been there; done that.  No fever left in those old words.

So in the context of the expectation that we are to be light and salt, I’d like to do a bit of parallel reading, verse by verse.  I’m going to read the familiar translation of the Beatitudes that we use here in church season after season.  Then I’m going to read the same verse as rendered by Eugene Peterson in his idiomatic translation of the Bible, called The Message. 

Peterson was a teacher.  He was bothered.  He felt that the adults in his Bible Study class “weren’t feeling the vitality and directness that I sensed as I read and studied the New Testament in its original Greek.”  So he tried to “bring into English the rhythms and idioms of the original…”  Peterson simply began with the text in its original language, and, he says, “I just typed out a page the way I thought it would have sounded to the [hearers].”

So listen again to the Beatitudes, verse by verse (Matthew 5:3-12):  Familiar New Revised Standard Version first, then Eugene Peterson’s version from The Message. 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule”

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

“You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.”

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.”

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

”You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.”

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”

“You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.”

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

“You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.”

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

“You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.”

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way the persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

“You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.  Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.”

So salt-shakers and light-makers!  Let go at the end of your rope.  Be lost and let God embrace you.  Be content with just who you are – no more, no less.  Have a hearty appetite for God.  You are blessed when you care.  Open your mind and heart to see God’s presence everywhere.  Cooperate instead of competing.  And delight whenever people try to discredit you because the truth is too close for their comfort.

Trust God, and love your neighbor as yourself.  There’s nothing to worry about.  Just be light.  And a little bit salty.  Life is so blessed.

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[i] Matthew 5:13f.  Eugene Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, an idiomatic translation of the Bible.  NavPress, 2005.  My thanks to parishioner Tom Christian who pointed me to this in an email this week.

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