Salt & Light

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Shall we pray together? Beloved God, source of all light, by your word, give light to the soul. Pour out upon us the spirit of wisdom, understanding and obedience that being taught by you in Holy Scripture, our hearts and minds may be open to know and practice the things that pertain to life and holiness through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Today's scripture reading is from Matthew, chapter 5, verses 13 through 16. If you're reading from the Pew Bible, the page number is 786. 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 underfoot. 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. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. [00:01:52] Speaker B: So, as I look out on you all this morning, in fact, when I look at you, I don't see an ordinary person. I see a giant. [00:02:03] Speaker C: When I look at you, I don't. [00:02:05] Speaker B: See a subject of some other realm. I see real royalty. [00:02:11] Speaker C: When I look at you, I don't see some person who might be a crew member of a ship. [00:02:16] Speaker B: I see a captain. [00:02:19] Speaker C: When I look at you, I see a king. When I look at you, I see a queen. I see somebody mighty and powerful, somebody who is awesome. [00:02:32] Speaker B: I see you doubting. [00:02:34] Speaker C: I think I hear you over there saying, wait, I went to the doctor and I was measured, in fact, at 5 foot 2. [00:02:44] Speaker B: I'm not a giant. [00:02:46] Speaker C: And I hear you saying, I'm not a captain of a vessel. In fact, I don't know even how to navigate boats. And I haven't been on one in a long time. And I hear you saying, I'm not sure I feel quite so awesome. And so let me help you all by introducing you to some reading material. [00:03:05] Speaker B: That might alert you, in fact, to your awesomeness. [00:03:13] Speaker C: You might check out books like these. You. [00:03:18] Speaker B: You are a warrior. You are a warrior. [00:03:24] Speaker C: And you can read it by one of these three authors, or there are of host other authors too, who have. [00:03:30] Speaker B: Written books that go by that title. [00:03:34] Speaker C: Or if you'd like another title, you might check out, you are not a warrior. You are a warrior. [00:03:42] Speaker B: Or you are a lion. [00:03:44] Speaker C: 30 days to unleashing your inner roar. And then you might check out, you are royalty. Adjust your crown. And if you want a more gender specific take on that, you might check out you are a king by either Dr. Miles Monroe or or True Niowitch or a host of other authors. Or you are a queen by any of these authors as well. And if you doubt your royalty, there may be other books you want to check out instead. Like check out you are the best by Scott Major, because you know you are the best, right? Or you can check out instead you are the captain by Olivier Bernhardt. Or there's yet other works you can check out. You are a hero or why stop it. You are a hero. Go for you are a superhero. And then you can always check out. If you have a fantasy flair, you are a great and powerful wizard, self care magic for modern mortals. Or if you want to read a book that sold more than a million copies, check out awaken the Giant within by Tony Robbins. Or if you want to check out a book that sold 4 million copies, check out you are a badass or just my personal favorite, you are awesome. [00:05:15] Speaker B: You are awesome. [00:05:17] Speaker C: Now given the popularity of these kinds of titles and you can find them in the self help section of your bookstore, given their popularity. When we finally sit down to listen to Jesus sermon on on the mount, when he finally teaches the disciples, don't we expect to hear something like that, like, you are awesome and what do we get? This is what we get. You are table salt. You are a lamp. [00:05:52] Speaker B: Where's the awesome in that? [00:05:56] Speaker C: Where's the awesome? And Jesus doesn't even say, you individually are salt or you individually are a lamp. Jesus uses this phrase, called you all, or as Dale Bruner translates it, you folks or you plural. He's saying you all together. I want to hear him say, matt, Matt, you are a king, you are mighty. You are a giant, you are a badass. You are awesome. [00:06:27] Speaker B: But he doesn't, does he? He says, you are, along with all of them, table salt and a house lamp. I want to say, jesus, where's the awesome in that? [00:06:42] Speaker C: But before I can even get that. [00:06:44] Speaker B: Question out, this is what Jesus does. [00:06:49] Speaker C: He gives those little everyday things salt and light, a sense of global impact. He says to his listeners, you are the salt, the earth, you are the light of the world. Those little everyday things are connected with global impact. It's a remarkable linkage of something small and something global. It's like saying, the poor in spirit are blessed and theirs is the kingdom of God, or blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Those were, of course, the very words Jesus said just before today's passage on salt and light. [00:07:34] Speaker B: Now, salt may not sound big and badass. [00:07:40] Speaker C: You know, a grain of salt is about as tiny a thing as we can imagine. That's still visible to the naked eye. But if you think about it, what. [00:07:50] Speaker B: Power and value salt has. [00:07:55] Speaker C: A little sprinkle of salt can season a whole meal. [00:07:58] Speaker B: I don't know about you, but that's kind of awesome. [00:08:03] Speaker C: Salt was used back in Jesus time and still is today, as a preservative to allow food to avoid spoilage. In Second Kings, we read of how salt was used by the prophet Elisha as a purifying agent for water. We read in Ezekiel of how salt was used in for an offering to sprinkle on a burnt offering to God. It's like a precious offering, as we. [00:08:29] Speaker B: Might offer tithes and gifts to God. [00:08:34] Speaker C: History books tell us that in the Roman Empire, Roman soldiers were paid in what was called in Latin a salarium. That's the word from which we get the English word salary, a salarium that's literally translated into salt money. Now, we aren't sure. There's some debate as to whether soldiers were literally paid with salt or whether they were paid with currency, much of which would then go to paying for salt. But salt was of such value that it was referred to in the very salary soldiers would pay. And if a soldier served well or was thought to be really worth their service, they would be said to be, of course, worth their salt. It implied the value that salt held. [00:09:22] Speaker B: Then. [00:09:23] Speaker C: Salt was just about the tiniest metaphor Jesus could have pulled with which to describe his listeners. But it was also a metaphor for something precious and with power. Maybe not to destroy and conquer. Saul doesn't really have that power, but. [00:09:41] Speaker B: Salt can season, preserve, purify, and be. [00:09:46] Speaker C: A precious offering to God. [00:09:48] Speaker B: Salt was ordinary, but also pretty awesome. [00:09:54] Speaker C: And Jesus says to his listeners, you are the salt of the earth. That, of course, foreshadows the great final words Jesus will say to his disciples atop the mountain. At the very end of Matthew's Gospel, he'll say to them, go and and make disciples of all nations. Go with the power of God. He might as well say to season, preserve, purify, and be a precious offering to God. But Jesus says in today's passage, don't lose your saltiness. For without saltiness, what is salt good for? When Jesus refers to his disciples saltiness, I would argue he's speaking of their tie with their teacher and savior, Jesus. [00:10:40] Speaker B: And With the kingdom, he proclaimed those. [00:10:44] Speaker C: Elements, Christ and his mission, those are what give the disciples as salt, their saltiness. Without those ties to Christ in kingdom. [00:10:53] Speaker B: Salt is, well, no longer salt. [00:10:58] Speaker C: And then Jesus takes another everyday metaphor, light. The kind of light a lamp might provide. And he reminds his listeners of how a simple lamp, when placed on a lamp stand, can give light to a whole house. A city lit up with lamps can't be hid. Jesus says it shines for the whole world to see. [00:11:21] Speaker B: Well, just a couple weeks ago, a. [00:11:23] Speaker C: Number of us had the chance to attend a candlelight vigil on the Sunday following the one year anniversary of the. [00:11:29] Speaker B: Eton and Palisades fires. [00:11:32] Speaker C: The vigil was held in the parking. [00:11:34] Speaker B: Lot of the Altadena Town and Country Club. [00:11:37] Speaker C: And after hearing from government officials and then from some local pastors, we listened. [00:11:43] Speaker B: As the names of 19 people killed. [00:11:46] Speaker C: In the Eaton fire were read. We reflected on the many other lives lost to health issues emerging from the Eaton and Palisades fires. And we recalled as well the houses. [00:11:57] Speaker B: And businesses that burned to the ground. But, but holding that little light, little battery operated candle and having others around us holding those lights too. As we did that, and as these pastors led us in prayer, it left us thinking, you know, with God's help, by God's strength, a community like Altadena can rise again from the ashes. [00:12:29] Speaker C: Just as he did with Saul, Jesus gives this ordinary object, light, a sense of global significance too. Jesus calls his listeners not simply light, he calls them the light of the world. [00:12:42] Speaker B: There's a great story that comes out. [00:12:44] Speaker C: Of Athens, Georgia about the impact of. [00:12:46] Speaker B: One small lamp, one modest bulb in a lamp, and how it can impact the whole world. [00:12:54] Speaker C: Some of you know, my wife Jill is from Athens, Georgia. Her dad taught mathematics at the University of Georgia in Athens. And she was the one who first alerted me to a world famous music. [00:13:07] Speaker B: Venue in that city. [00:13:09] Speaker C: It's a music club like CBGB's or Whiskey a Go Go here in Los Angeles. And it served as a launching spot for bands that would bring punk rock and indie, alternative music and new wave music to world. This venue in Athens, Georgia got its. [00:13:27] Speaker B: Name for a little bulb that used to hang overhead in a loft apartment. [00:13:33] Speaker C: That loft is where a drummer named Curtis Crowe played with his band called Strictly American at its first gig back. [00:13:42] Speaker B: In 1978 for a few friends, Crow would later play for a band called Pylon. [00:13:48] Speaker C: And the only light provided in that loft, Crow says, came from a four. [00:13:52] Speaker B: 40 watt bulb that hung from the ceiling. But that 40 watt club now draws. [00:14:00] Speaker C: People from all over the world. Last year, one of the many Athens bands who got their start at the 40 Watt Club came back to do a reunion concert. REM, a band known around the world today, performed their 1985 album Fables of the Reconstruction in its entirety last February. [00:14:20] Speaker B: Where at the 40 watt club. [00:14:24] Speaker C: It switched locations a number of times, but it's always remained in Athens, and people all over the world travel to see it. [00:14:31] Speaker B: That's the power of a house lamp or a 40 watt bulb. [00:14:38] Speaker C: As Christians, we believe the most awesome thing God did was send the very one proclaiming the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus Christ presence, His proclamation, his teaching, his healing, his confrontation with forces of evil. They're portrayed in Matthew's Gospel is the very end breaking of God's realm into this world. They are salt and light. They're described with these words from the prophet Isaiah. The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who sat in the region in the shadow of death, light. [00:15:13] Speaker B: Has dawned the glory of God. [00:15:16] Speaker C: The presence of God, the peace of God finds at its heart and center the one Matthew's gospel calls the Messiah, the Savior. Emmanuel, God with us. Some fishermen were brought into the Savior's orbit. And Jesus declares to them, you're not just fishermen, you're fishers of people. [00:15:36] Speaker B: You are salt and light to the world. You're ordinary and you're awesome. [00:15:44] Speaker C: You are small, meek, poor in spirit, thirsting for righteousness. And you are amazing for an awesome, amazing God is at work in you, in Christ, in your lives. Every deed you do can now bear witness to that God who has been. [00:16:03] Speaker B: So awesome to you. Well, yesterday I had a small acting. [00:16:10] Speaker C: Part in a film that was shot over at Circle Thrift on Lake Avenue. The part I had in this film was, and I'm quoting here, goon number two. That was actually what I was called. I've had small roles in productions before. I was in a munchkin in the wizard of Oz. But even there I had a line and I had a name. [00:16:34] Speaker B: I was called the Barrister. [00:16:36] Speaker C: But in this film, there were only two goons. And guess what? [00:16:40] Speaker B: I was goon number two. [00:16:42] Speaker C: I didn't even have a line. I sat for three hours out in the cold, waiting for my moment in the sun where I simply sat at a little round table holding two cards and never said a word. [00:16:54] Speaker B: But you know, it was the best role ever. [00:16:59] Speaker C: Why? Because my daughter Lucy was the writer. [00:17:04] Speaker B: And director of this film and I got to play a part in it. [00:17:09] Speaker C: Along with all These other film students. [00:17:11] Speaker B: From other colleges who were a part of it as well. A humble role second goon but it was awesome because of who the director was. [00:17:26] Speaker C: Jesus speaks of his disciples connection to the great creator and director in this way he says let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. However small our roles, however small our actions, if they can point to God. [00:17:44] Speaker B: The God we know in Christ, they're the best roles ever. I thought of that phrase let your light shine this past week as I. [00:17:54] Speaker C: Saw members of this church making coffee. [00:17:57] Speaker B: And bringing food and setting up tables for our third Wednesday gathering. Thanks to their effort, young and old got the chance to eat together and pray together like one big family and learn about discipleship, practice discipleship together. [00:18:15] Speaker C: I thought of that phrase let your light shine right after that third Wednesday gathering as some other members of Knox. [00:18:21] Speaker B: Went out and got to visit with. [00:18:25] Speaker C: People in our neighborhood and local community. [00:18:28] Speaker B: Who were experiencing homelessness. [00:18:30] Speaker C: Volunteers for the homeless count were not just from this church. They consisted of people from churches all. [00:18:35] Speaker B: Over this community and those who were not a part of churches. [00:18:40] Speaker C: But all together we had the chance to get to know our neighbors, to survey them, to hear their stories and if they wish to even offer them vaccinations. Some of our neighbors said that would be great. And then a team came in less. [00:18:53] Speaker B: Than 15 minutes to give people vaccines if they wanted them. I thought about that phrase let your light shine. [00:19:02] Speaker C: And I thought about that phrase too. Let your light shine when like you. [00:19:06] Speaker B: I read of events and in Minnesota, and especially when I read of pastors kneeling at the Minnesota airport in sub zero weather to call upon Delta and other airlines to stop cooperating with the federal immigration enforcement surge. I thought of two kinds of power when I saw those images. [00:19:27] Speaker C: On the one hand, there was the. [00:19:29] Speaker B: Power symbolized by a police force carrying weapons. That is power and it can be used to protect and serve and keep. [00:19:39] Speaker C: A community safe from harm. [00:19:41] Speaker B: And it's a power that sadly can be used to do great harm. [00:19:47] Speaker C: In the case of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carrying weapons in Minneapolis this weekend. [00:19:53] Speaker B: We know Yesterday that a 37 year old nurse named Alex Preddy, who worked for the Minneapolis Veterans Administration health care system, was killed by agents yesterday. It made me think of my nephew who recently graduated from nursing school and is a veteran himself and is right now serving as a nurse at a veterans hospital. There are so many others than just me who mourn Preddy's loss today. Weapons and those who wield and deploy them do possess a kind of power. But I also thought of the power I saw in those kneeling. I thought of the power of prayer, of compassion for the immigrant and the stranger, the power of joining with others in a common sense, of God's call and claim on us. And I thought of things as small as salt and light. I thought of that phrase, let your. [00:20:57] Speaker C: Light shine this past January 7th, when. [00:21:00] Speaker B: Some of you read scripture or played music or sculpted at an evening service commemorating the Eton fire. And you reminded us of God who comforts those who mourn and lifts up the poor in spirit. And I remember with tears how my family and others impacted by the fires had been touched by the good deeds of so many in this congregation around the country. Just one act of giving to another. It's like being salt, light. As disciples of Jesus Christ, any. Any small act of service, an act of worship to God. An act of healing, of stewardship, of offering, of peacemaking, of mourning the loss of someone dear, of care for our. [00:21:54] Speaker C: Neighbor, of proclaiming the love of Christ. [00:21:58] Speaker B: Being salt and light. Such actions are so small, like kneeling and praying or passing on a meal to someone in need. But they are glorious, too, for they point to the glorious God we worship. So hear the words of Jesus, friends, however, you are called to love and serve the Lord, whatever that looks like for you, all of you, you, all you folks together. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. You are humble, modest, meek, and you are awesome. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Amen.