Matthew 5:13-16
“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt - the seasoning that brings 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.
“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
This scripture is in that category I think of as "so familiar we don't really bother to hear it anymore." Everybody knows this one...we can all sing all fourteen choruses of "This Little Light of Mine." But do we truly understand what it is saying? This is no simple little reading -- in fact, in these two short similes Jesus makes what may be his most serious demand on us.
This week was another "discussion sermon." Here are the questions given in advance to provoke thinking about the scripture:
1. Have you ever – honestly, now – EVER thought of yourself in such terms that this reading describes YOU?
2. Jesus says it does - so how do you deal with that?
3. Salt is used in cooking to bring out the other flavors – to make them more. How do we go about helping others to be more themselves?
"Let me tell you why you are here," Jesus tells us. And the answer is not even close to living my own quiet life, minding my own business, taking care of 'me.' You're here to be salt" -- and it better be flavorful salt, tangy salt, or we're not much good for God's purposes.
"You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world." [BTW - I am enjoying using The Message translation lately because the change of vocabulary forces me to really hear past the familiarity of the reading.] Not only are we to be light but we are to be up on a stand, shining the light of God out brightly into the world.
The consensus that came from our group discussion is that while this sounds terribly grandiose and somewhat frightening, we are not called to be grand -- God's light of love and goodness is grand -- we are simply required to be willing vessels, in big acts or small ones.
We have taken in our Sunday gatherings to sharing what we call Moments of Grace -- stories we've heard or seen during the previous week of people acting in ways that let God's light shine out into the world. Some of these folks may be acting consciously for God, others may think of it simply as 'the right thing to do' -- but the light that shines through is God's nonetheless. These acts can range from setting up a soup kitchen to buying a pair of shoes for a barefoot homeless person to simply taking the thought to smile at a store clerk harried by rude customers to giving some time to truly listen to a lonely older person who is mostly ignored.
We are called to be light and salt, yes, but we do not need to be perfect ourselves in order to do these things -- just willing.
This week was another "discussion sermon." Here are the questions given in advance to provoke thinking about the scripture:
1. Have you ever – honestly, now – EVER thought of yourself in such terms that this reading describes YOU?
2. Jesus says it does - so how do you deal with that?
3. Salt is used in cooking to bring out the other flavors – to make them more. How do we go about helping others to be more themselves?
"Let me tell you why you are here," Jesus tells us. And the answer is not even close to living my own quiet life, minding my own business, taking care of 'me.' You're here to be salt" -- and it better be flavorful salt, tangy salt, or we're not much good for God's purposes.
"You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world." [BTW - I am enjoying using The Message translation lately because the change of vocabulary forces me to really hear past the familiarity of the reading.] Not only are we to be light but we are to be up on a stand, shining the light of God out brightly into the world.
The consensus that came from our group discussion is that while this sounds terribly grandiose and somewhat frightening, we are not called to be grand -- God's light of love and goodness is grand -- we are simply required to be willing vessels, in big acts or small ones.
We have taken in our Sunday gatherings to sharing what we call Moments of Grace -- stories we've heard or seen during the previous week of people acting in ways that let God's light shine out into the world. Some of these folks may be acting consciously for God, others may think of it simply as 'the right thing to do' -- but the light that shines through is God's nonetheless. These acts can range from setting up a soup kitchen to buying a pair of shoes for a barefoot homeless person to simply taking the thought to smile at a store clerk harried by rude customers to giving some time to truly listen to a lonely older person who is mostly ignored.
We are called to be light and salt, yes, but we do not need to be perfect ourselves in order to do these things -- just willing.
“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.”
One of the clearest statements of our call, from poet/songwriter Leonard Cohen's Anthem. We will never be perfect ourselves, we're all cracked -- but ring out anyway -- shine out anyway -- be generous with your lives and let God's light shine through. Amen.
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