“You are the Salt…You are the Light”

by Pastor Sonja Dalglish

February 6, 2011, Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Isaiah 58:1-12, Psalm 112:1-10, 1 Cor 2:1-12(not used), Matthew 5:13-20

focus:  On our true identity, what we were designed by God to be.

function:  To encourage people to find their gifts, develop them, and use them to benefit the world and to glorify God.

Introduction:

This past week, Doug and I went to Austin for the mid-Winter lectures at the seminary.  Michael Jinkins, once an Austin professor and now President of Louisville Seminary,  spoke about “The Reformed Project.”  This is an understanding of who we are as Presbyterians, beginning with our roots in the Reformation.

 

Several things that he said fit in well with this week’s scripture and with the life of this church and our denomination in general.  As Presbyterians we believe that you do not have to be stupid to be a Christian.  We believe in education and in putting our minds to work in the service of God.  We also use our education to try to understand the best we can what God is saying to us in this day and age, by understanding the best we can what Jesus was teaching the disciples.  We study scripture, both Old and New Testament and listen for God’s word to us, asking God to transform us.

 

Isaiah Passage — Serve God and not Yourselves

Isaiah is reminding people that doing holy things in one part of life, such as Bible Study, fasting, and worship, does not excuse you from living a just life the rest of the week.  There are ways of being religious that can help people feel better about themselves, but do not serve God or make the world a better place.  This is not the kind of church that God wants us to be.  We do not come here to check a box off of a to-do list, but to confront God and to be changed.  When we leave, we share the gospel – the good news of Jesus Christ by living good lives.

 

Isaiah says that God desires just behavior more than weekly worship.  One of the actions that serious religious people did in Isaiah’s day (and in Jesus’ day) was to fast.  I seem to remember Wednesday being the day of fasting.  Isaiah reminds us that fasting is not enough.  We can even forgo the fast on food, if we treat others with respect and justice.

 

The Gospel

As we turn to the Gospel, Jesus is talking to his disciples about how to understand their part in the sharing of the gospel.   He tells them they already have what it takes to live a good life, sharing the gospel, and participating in the Kingdom of God.  They are like salt, he says.  We know how much we love salt.  What would popcorn or French fries or even a good steak be without salt.  Eugene Peterson, in the Message, says, “You’re here to be the salt-seasoning to bring out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.”

 

So, we have to guard against losing our saltiness.  Back in Jesus’ day, salt could sometimes get mixed with other things, so that you might think you were getting a teaspoon of salt, but you were not, perhaps half of it was some other granular substance like sugar, or worse yet, sand.  Imagine putting that on a steak!  It would ruin the steak.  Do that only once, and you would want to throw away that shaker of impure salt.  Jesus tells us to be who we are.  How would this happen to us?  How could we fill your life with things that don’t matter?  Could we change into something other than we are? Jesus tells us to be ourselves because God needs us in this world, just the way we are.

 

If you are outgoing and love to talk and be with people, reach out, with love.  If you are a studious bookworm, study with love.  If you are a writer, write.  If you are mother, or husband, or teacher, be the best you can be at it.

 

Jesus also likens the disciples to light and tells them not to hide their light under a bushel.  He asks us to be our best and be generous with our lives.  If you play the piano well, continue to do it, and don’t stop because someone is envious of you and your talent.  If you are good at math, use that ability to serve God and the community.  Don’t ever pretend that you are dumber or slower than you are.  If you are salt, be salt.  If you are light, be light.

 

I can think of a few faithful people immediately, and I know between us, we could name many more who used their gifts well.  C S Lewis used his imagination and writing ability to create the Narnia Series.  Madeleine L’Engle used her love of science and faith to write for children.  One of my favorite books is Wrinkle in Time.  Bach wrote music to be used in churches.  Rembrandt and Michelangelo used paints and marble to make beautiful pieces of art.  Ann Sullivan taught a deaf and blind Helen Keller to talk.

 

What could you do by being exactly who God made you to be?  Perhaps you will not do anything on the magnitude of these people – but perhaps you will.  “If you cannot do great things, then do small things with great love.”  I believe Mother Teresa said that.  She also said, “Love begins by taking care of the closest ones – the ones at home.”

 

Modern Examples of Salt and Light

There was a woman in the community named Polly, who loved musicals, and was a member of the Pilots Club.  The Pilots support research and care of people who have had brain injuries.  She developed an annual musical each year using show tunes, and rewriting lyrics to create comedies.  She involved as many people in the play as possible.  She enlisted the ministers from the community.  She usually made them lawyers and had them wear bow ties and carry briefcases.  This encouraged the parishioners had to come and see their pastors.   Each year, the play would draw more people than the last.  The crowds grew so much that the plays were moved to a larger auditorium.  She used what she loved to benefit her community and those with brain injuries.  Perhaps, she is a good example of salt, bringing out the God-flavors of the world.

 

Another example of someone being himself was Ned.  He knew he had a talent for driving.  He was a retired long-haul trucker.  He started a service at his church of driving people to doctor’s appointments.  He felt it was a very small thing to do, but it was greatly appreciated.  In his giving his time, he also lived his faith.  Because he did this, a group of people joined with him and publicized their willingness to help in the church newsletter.  Ned became a light that showed the community a new way of caring for others.

 

Ned and Polly are gone now, but the plays continue, as does the service that takes members to their appointments.  You, too, have gifts that you can use for others.  Be yourself.  Be the best self you can be as you show the love of God to others.

 

At the Mid-Winter lecture, Michael Jinkins talked about the Reformed Project.  He was talking about the Reformed theology that came out of the Reformation and is the basis of the beliefs of the Presbyterian Church.   My husband, Doug and I created a bookmark about fourteen years ago with what we believed on it.  The first four parts are what we hold in common with other Christian churches.  Only the fifth is what is especially Presbyterian.  However, what Jinkins said was that what we were trying to do in the Reformation was to strip away all the Tradition and get back to the Jesus of the Scriptures.  What a relief, Doug said, that we look back at that bookmark, that is where we started.

 

Then, if we think about this text as it applies to the church, we need to be serious as Presbyterians to continue to study and return again and again to the Scripture.  Michael Jinkins said that in order to do this we need to continue our emphasis on education so that each person can read and understand the Bible.  Each of us must spend time with God, in study and in prayer, growing in faith, and understanding enough to continue to critique the church.

 

Conclusion

Each of us must be who we were created to be, using our gifts for the glory of God, the community of faith, and the world.  With writing, art, music, or science we can make a difference.  Visiting nursing homes, growing gardens, working for Habitat for Humanity, serving in the Peace Corps or Americorps can be a way of sharing the love of God with this world.  But perhaps the biggest difference we can make is by treating those around us with kindness and compassion, being the best workers, spouses, parents, children, or friends to those who are closest to us.  In this way, we can spread the Gospel.

 

We can be the salt that brings out the God-flavors in the world around us.  We can be the light that encourages people to love others.

 

You are the salt of the earth.  You are the light of the world.

 

 

Let us Pray:

Help us to be the salt and the light that this world needs.  Help us to identify and hone our gifts so that we may be blessings to this world and to one another.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen
First Reading Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12)

¹ Shout out, do not hold back!

Lift up your voice like a trumpet!

Announce to my people their rebellion,

to the house of Jacob their sins.

² Yet day after day they seek me

and delight to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness

and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;

they ask of me righteous judgments,

they delight to draw near to God.

³ “Why do we fast, but you do not see?

Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”

Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day,

and oppress all your workers.

⁴ Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight

and to strike with a wicked fist.

Such fasting as you do today

will not make your voice heard on high.

⁵ Is such the fast that I choose,

a day to humble oneself?

Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,

and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?

Will you call this a fast,

a day acceptable to the LORD?

⁶ Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of injustice,

to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover them,

and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

⁸ Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up quickly;

your vindicator shall go before you,

the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

⁹ Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;

you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,

the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,

¹⁰ if you offer your food to the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,

then your light shall rise in the darkness

and your gloom be like the noonday.

¹¹ The LORD will guide you continually,

and satisfy your needs in parched places,

and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water,

whose waters never fail.

¹² Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;

you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

you shall be called the repairer of the breach,

the restorer of streets to live in.

Psalm Psalm 112:1-9 (10)

¹ Praise the LORD!

Happy are those who fear the LORD,

who greatly delight in his commandments.

² Their descendants will be mighty in the land;

the generation of the upright will be blessed.

³ Wealth and riches are in their houses,

and their righteousness endures forever.

⁴ They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright;

they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.

⁵ It is well with those who deal generously and lend,

who conduct their affairs with justice.

⁶ For the righteous will never be moved;

they will be remembered forever.

⁷ They are not afraid of evil tidings;

their hearts are firm, secure in the LORD.

⁸ Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid;

in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.

⁹ They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor;

their righteousness endures forever;

their horn is exalted in honor.

¹⁰ The wicked see it and are angry;

they gnash their teeth and melt away;

the desire of the wicked comes to nothing.

Second Reading 1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16)

²When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. ²For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. ³And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. ⁴My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

⁶Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. ⁷But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. ⁸None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the human heart conceived,

what God has prepared for those who love him” —

¹⁰these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. ¹¹For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. ¹²Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. ¹³And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.

¹⁴Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny.

¹⁶ “For who has known the mind of the Lord

so as to instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ.

Gospel Matthew 5:13-20

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.”