Light, Salt, and Law- Matt 5

 

Isaiah 58: 1-12; Psalm 112: 1-10; 1 Corinthians 2: 1-16; Matthew 5: 13-20

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells us what it means to be citizens of the Kingdom of God. Jesus describes a person who is not controlled by the destructive force of anger; who treats lust as seriously as adultery; who doesn’t abandon their spouse (in a culture where that would leave them very vulnerable); he describes a person whose word can be trusted without extra oaths and contracts; who doesn’t seek revenge; who loves their enemies; who gives to the needy secretly without needing to be recognized for it; who doesn’t serve money as the most important reality in life; who is not anxious about the necessities of life; and who doesn’t judge others because they recognize they still have much to correct in their own lives. … This is what a citizen of the Kingdom of God is like. Jesus is describing the way of life for those who want to be his disciples. …

The German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer thought the Sermon was the hope for the future of the church, he says, 

“the renewal of the Church will come from a new type of monasticism which only has in common with the old an uncompromising allegiance to the Sermon on the Mount. It is high time people banded together to do this.” 

 Bonhoeffer is saying that this sermon would be central for the future of the church, so the Sermon on the Mount should not be ignored.
Ignoring this teaching comes with a frightening warning for his followers. It is at the end of the Sermon that Jesus says:

“‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?” Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.” (Matt 7:21-23)

It is a warning that comes as the period at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, which is a sermon that doesn’t talk about casting out demons, or prophesying, or doing deeds of power. Those might be impressive acts, but they don’t mean much to Jesus if his teachings are ignored. He will not be concerned with those flashy dramatic, ministries, if they ignore his teaching in his Sermon. It is central to what he is calling his followers to be. …

Our gospel reading last week began the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes, and this week we are still at the very beginning of it. Jesus has called his disciples up a mountain to give them his teachings, and we should have images of Sinai flashing in our minds. And we should remember that he is talking to us. He is talking to you, as his disciple. He is telling you who you are- 

"You are the salt of the earth” (Matt 5:13). 

In the ancient world there were no refrigerators and salting meat was the way people preserved it from rotting. For Jesus to call you “salt” means you are a preservative- You are a force against decay. … Salt also brings out flavor that is hidden in the food. For example, eggs taste very different with a dash of salt. So maybe we can say that something beautiful about the world is revealed by the presence of the disciples of Jesus.

How does this apply to us though? The world was created to be a beautiful place. It was created to be good. We read that when God created, 

“God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen 1:31). 

Sin entered the world and had a decaying effect. If we are a preservative for God’s creation, then we are preserving that original goodness against the rot of sin. We are a preservative, but we are also to bring out the “flavours” that are originally part of creation, but are maybe hidden by the presence of sin.

How that works is going to be described in the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. It happens by not being controlled by anger, not allowing lust to fill our minds, by taking the breaking of relationships seriously, by speaking truthfully, by not seeking revenge, by loving enemies, by giving secretly, by using money as a tool to be used rather than a master to be served, by trusting God in such a way that we are not taken over by anxieties about life, by recognizing we all have things to work on and not judging others for their part. … What Jesus is describing in the Sermon is life as it was meant to be. Someone living the way of the kingdom of God is a person living as they were created to be.

We are made to be salt- to both preserve creation against the rot of sin and bring out the original flavors of creation. If we are not doing that then we are 

“no longer good for anything” (Matt 5:13) 

just like salt that has not its saltiness.

Jesus uses another metaphor. He says to his disciples, 

“You are the light of the world” (Matt 5:14). 

He is probably referring to Isaiah 49:6 which records God as saying, 

“I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” 

 We might feel intimidated by this. We would perhaps prefer to turn back to Jesus and say he’s the light of the world, not us. In the Gospel of John, he says as much, 

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12). 

Jesus turns this back on us telling us that we are the light of the world. Since we are the body of Christ, both things can be true. It is an intimidating and inspiring teaching. …

Some of us have been given a form of the Gospel that expects very little from us. We say don’t look at me, look at Jesus. I’m just a forgiven sinner. True as that is, the Church should manifest a different way of being in this world. St. Paul had the boldness to say, 

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). 

Most of us wouldn’t dare say that. And yet, Paul does. Jesus tells us we are the light of the world. We are to be different. True, we can’t be the light of the world all on our own. … I remember a story about a little boy who was asked what a saint was and he pointed to a stained glass window of a saint and said, “it’s those people the sun shines through”. It’s a beautiful image. Just as the “sun” shines through the window, so the “Son” of God shines through the lives of the saints. That is really the only way we can be who Jesus is asking us to be. … And to hide that light makes us as useless as salt that has lost its saltiness.

To be a saint means to so focus ourselves on Jesus and his teaching that we become amazed by his love and the beauty of his life. When we have that vision of Jesus as the focus of our lives then everything else falls into place. … We will see our experiences through the reality of Jesus. When we get into an argument with someone, Jesus will be the way we look at that situation. When we realize how much Christ loves us and how he forgave those who were crucifying him, it becomes natural to live a life of forgiveness. How dare I take offense or hold a grudge. Whatever enemy I think I have, they haven’t crucified me. The more we focus on Christ, the more the kingdom character Jesus describes in the Sermon makes sense.

The alternative starts to look hellish by comparison. The opposite is a life controlled by destructive anger, and filled with unbridled lust. It is a life of broken relationships and lies. It is a life full of the desire for revenge, and the inability to trust someone at their word. It is a life of service to money, and full of anxiety about the necessities of life. It is a life full of judging others and ignoring our own failings. That sounds like a hellish life. It is the opposite of the kingdom life that Jesus describes.

Those who live the Kingdom life Jesus describes are light to the world. When we light a candle in the darkness, we see the beauty of the flame itself, and it draws our eye in a dark room, but that flame also allows us to see what is hidden in the darkness. We stub our toe more often in the darkness. We stumble and trip in the darkness. In the darkness we see a garden hose, and we think it’s a snake. Light shining into the darkness removes illusions and shows us where to plant our feet as we walk.

Jesus tells us to let our light shine before others. What is our light? It is our “good works” that cause people to “give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:16). It doesn’t mean showing off. In fact, if you are getting the glory for it, you probably aren’t doing it right. As we live the kingdom life that Jesus describes, people should become caught by the beauty of it. The world that seemed dark- uncaring, vicious, and meaningless- suddenly seems to be filled with beauty and there is a desire to live that way.

Jesus is not necessarily teaching something completely new. Jesus is showing us what life was supposed to be like. This is the life described in the Old Testament Law, if properly understood. We tend to think of the Law as a set of rules, but at the time of Jesus, the “Law” (nomos) referred to the covenant that God made with Israel, and the way of life that flows from that covenant. So, the Law describes the identity and calling of God’s people. Jesus says he has come to fulfil the law, not abolish it, which means that he is bringing the covenant to its intended goal. He is embodying Israel’s calling. God’s calling of Abraham and God’s covenant with Moses are flowing through Jesus. Jesus isn’t doing something out of line from that story. Jesus is bringing the covenant to its intended purpose, and his teaching reveals the deeper intention of the Law. The Law was always meant to form people to reflect the character of God. Jesus is restoring the Law to its divine purpose, which is to form a holy people. The Law is to be properly understood through the teachings and character of Jesus.

Jesus is recapturing the original creation. Jesus is showing you who you really are. … When you hear Jesus teaching the Sermon on the Mount doesn’t your heart leap a little? Even just for a moment? Before you start critiquing it and wondering how you could possibly live like this, isn’t there a moment when you are caught by the beauty of it? … In that moment, you are recognizing yourself as you are created to be. You are recognizing the world you were made to live in. … As your gaze rests on Christ, may you find yourself and your true home as you become salt and light to a world that so desperately needs you. AMEN