Matthew 5:13-20
“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. People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it 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.
“CHRISTMAS. IS. RUINED!” That’s what my wife, Paige, exclaimed on Christmas morning when she realized my brother had brought unsalted butter for Christmas dinner. “Unsalted butter,” she said, “has absolutely no purpose.” Now, you may or may not agree with Paige’s extreme position on salted vs unsalted butter, but I think we can all agree that salt changes the flavor of things. I don’t know anyone who wants to eat salt by itself, but without it things can be missing flavor. Salt brings out the flavor of whatever you are eating. It really changes our experience with the food. This was true for people living in the first century and is still true for us today. It’s why I think Jesus uses this example. Salt is a simple compound yet it serves so many purposes.
As I mentioned before, today’s passage picks up where Becca left us last week. Jesus is in the Sermon on the Mount: the most famous sermon ever told. This is positioned at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry. It’s one of his first public ministry acts and so it sets the stage for what is to come. And we are in Matthew’s gospel account which has a bigger focus on how this whole Jesus thing fits into the Jewish narrative. You might recall that in Matthew’s gospel account of Jesus’s birth, there are no shepherds at Jesus’ birth, only wise people or kings. So Matthew’s gospel account uses small moments to remind us that Jesus is the Messiah that the Jewish people have been waiting for by calling back to the Old Testament texts and a variety of other illusions that would have been commonplace for first century Jews. So here, Jesus makes a point to tell us that salt is good for flavor and preservation. Jesus is trying to be clear – you have to be all in on this thing. You can’t just be followers on the Messiah on days you feel like it or when it fits nicely into your schedule. In fact, Jesus is saying something really interesting in this salt and light analogy. Jesus is saying if you want to follow me you have to be salt AND light.
Here, Jesus is addressing two sides of the first century people. On the one side we have early Christian followers. They wouldn’t have called themselves that but by the time Matthew is recording the story of Jesus, they would have been trying to figure out how to characterize themselves. These early Christians want to help the widow, the orphans, the poor, but they also want to throw out the entirety of what it means to be Jewish. They don’t want to follow any of the Jewish traditions and customs. They believe Jesus has come and it’s a blank slate. There are no rules. Everything has been made new. The book of Acts and Paul’s letters are full of early Christians wrestling with what to do about their relationship to Judaism. And Jesus here is saying, “our history is important. There is no me without all of this. The stories of the people in slavery, captivity, and exile are our stories. They remind us of how we got here and that matters!” This is why Jesus says “salt that has lost its flavor is thrown out.” It has no use because salt is not only for flavor but also preservation. On the other side the Pharisees and other Jewish religious leaders know the scriptures. They have studied them. They understand them. They teach them to others. But that is where things stop for them. They live their lives to hold so tightly to the letter of the law that they are like a light that is lit and hidden under a basket. So Jesus reminds them that both groups need a little more of each other. We need to know our stories. They matter. In fact without them, why does Jesus matter? But we also can’t just sit here. We have to have hearts and minds that know the stories and the scriptures of the people of God AND the hands and feet to get up and do it. Together. Not just one, but both.
You’ve heard a lot about Faith250 over the last few months. A series of interfaith gatherings with discussions around the founding documents of America. This week, on Tuesday, this room will hopefully be filled with people from different faith traditions discussing who they are and what it means to be a person of faith in this time and place. We are not that dissimilar from the first century Jewish people: at a crossroads. We have a choice. We can read our scriptures. We can know our rules and follow them well. We can do things the way we always have because we’ve always done it that way. We can be good salt, preserving our history. Or we could go out and change the world. We can give food to people in need. We can show up at protests. We can clothe the naked. We can be “good” people. We can be lights up on a lampstand lighting the whole place. OR we can follow a different way – the way of Jesus. The way that doesn’t choose either/or, but both. A way that holds our history in the tension of the here and now. The way that provides light to a broken and hurting world. The way that brings out the flavor of the kingdom of God in this world. That’s the stuff that changes the world. Salt and Light. Together.
This is one of the reasons I love our Presbyterian polity. If you aren’t a polity nerd like me, you may remember that we have the Book of Order, the Book of Confessions, and the Bible that make up our Constitution. The Book of Order itself really spells out our theology and also how we will live, worship and care for each other. The Book of Order has four main sections: The Foundations of Presbyterian Polity, Form of Government, Directory for Worship, and Church Discipline. The Foundations are at the beginning. They remind us of who we are and what we believe about God. It is from there that our governance, worship, and discipline is created. We didn’t start with discipline and then go on to figure out our theology. Everything that the PC(USA) does stems from the Foundations of our Faith. The Foundations tell the story of who God is – that is our salt, preserving our past. The rest of it tells us how we will live and be church together – that’s our light, calling us into action. We trust that the Spirit continues to guide us in being salt and light together in this world. In the important work that we need each other for. It’s that important work that will change the world.
I don’t have to tell you all that we’ve been dealing with snowcrete for almost 2 weeks now. It’s been hard to move. The Friday after the storm as Paige and I pulled into our neighborhood, we saw a car stuck at the edge of a driveway. Our neighborhood has some narrow roads and behind us was a Kubota doing its best to remove excess snow, ice, and sludge. We were stuck. We wouldn’t be able to fit around the car half in the driveway, half in the street with its wheels spinning out and we couldn’t go back because the Kubota had blocked us in. I looked at the car that was stuck and then back at Paige and she said, “we should help them.” Despite the fact that it was frigid and I had no gloves, I felt compelled to get out of the car and help my neighbors. I started to help two of my neighbors pull snow away from the tires. We used our shoes and bare hands to pull snow away from the tires, then we’d try to help the car get traction – no luck. Paige went and grabbed our shovels and the 3 of us kept working. After about 20 minutes of trying with no avail, another neighbor joined us, an elderly man, with a small shovel – one of those little short utility shovels. Together the four of us were sharing ideas of how to get the car unstuck. Eventually, we were able to break up the block of ice that was directly under the engine and there was great rejoicing! We were thrilled that we had freed the car, but we were exhausted. My neighbors thanked me and as I started to walk away the elderly neighbor looked at the three of us and spoke up. He asked if we could help break up the end of his driveway. He had been struggling with his small shovel to make any progress. So we joined together working to break up the ice at the end of his driveway. With four of us and our various tools it only took us a few minutes. I think this is what it means to be “salt and light.” To break up ice. To be the neighbor who spoke up and asked for help. To be the neighbors who joined together when someone was in need. This is who Jesus calls us to be. To be people who are moved into action. People who have hearts, minds, souls, and entire beings called to be the kingdom of God on earth.
Let’s get to it.
Amen.