Shine On

A sermon based on Matthew 5: 13-20

Here’s the thing about Jesus–he was not the simple man that we think he was.   Sometimes he was sarcastic, or funny or angry.  His words were complex and ran deep in the cultural understanding of the people.

I have to admit, it’s taken me a while to figure this out–I feel like I have to re-learn this every time I read the scripture.  There’s a lot of Jesus words in this text that are confusing if they are read with a straight face.  There has to be a bit of a bite to these words, a rolling of the eyes, and a wink here and there for the meaning to come through.

“You are the salt of the earth;  but if the salt has lost its taste, how can it be restored?  It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.”

Here’s the thing about salt.  It doesn’t lose its taste.  There’s no expiration date on salt.  And one in Jesus’ time would ever throw out salt–it was too valuable.  It was as valuable in Jesus’ time as gold or diamonds are as commodities in our time.  Roman soldiers were often paid in salt–it was usable like roman coin.  In fact, that’s where that old adage comes from–“worth your salt”.

There was a practice of Roman soldiers “salting the earth” as a way to purify or consecrate a place.  After Roman soldiers would conquer and demolish a city, they would “salt the earth”–a reclamation of the land that now belongs to the conquering people.

You are the salt of the earth–it has to be read with a bit of a wink, with some knowing laughter.  Because this is not as straightforward as it sounds.

“You are the light of the world.  A city built on a hill cannot be hid.  No one after lighting a lamp, puts it under a bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all the house.”

No one puts a light under a basket because…..that will create a huge  disaster!  A light under a basket will not put the light out, but it will set the basket on fire and burn your house down.

This portion of the Sermon on the Mount has to be read as a bit of a comedy routine.

We take these words of Jesus so seriously that we fail to see the irony of what he’s saying, the preposterous nature of his assertions.

If we need Jesus to cut to the heart of his message, and get past the sarcasm, this is what he might say:

“You are the salt of the earth.  You will never lose your flavor, people of God.  You are used to flavor, to consecrate and to bless.”

“You are the light of the world.  Friends, your light it bright, and it illiminates the way for everyone around you.”

From this declaration that we are all salt and light, Jesus moves into a sticky place, a place that feels to us like judgement, and that smells a bit of works-righteousness–that notion that we have things to do things to prove that we are part of the reign of God..

First, he announced this bit of news: “I did not come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish, but to fulfill.”  But Jesus was saying this to a crowd of outsiders–the poor, the sick, those for whom this word of news has never been addressed.

In fact, the fulfillment of the law feels less like a confirmation of the law, and more like a re-casting of the law.  Instead of the fulfillment of the law happening around the observant and law abiding faithful, the fulfillment of the law is to be understood around those who are generally labelled as victims,as outsiders.

Not only does Jesus declare that the outsiders are the ones to be blessed in the Beatitudes a few verses earlier, but he declared that the fulfillment of the law would come through and in the outsiders.

So, hear these next words in the context of what we already know:

–The outsiders are already the salt of the earth, and cannot lose their flavor.

–The outsiders are already the light of the world.  Their light cannot be hidden.

–Jesus has come to fulfill the law, not from the center of the religious community, but from the edges.  That is where the fulfillment of the law will take place.

From this place, Jesus says:

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 not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Here’s the thing we know about the reign of God–there is no least or great in the reign of God.  There is no center or outside in the reign of God.  All who follow in the way of Jesus are part of the reign of God.

This is not a competition, or a race a better than others. This is a reign where the poor in spirit are blessed just as much as the meek or those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.  All are blessed.  All can enter the reign of God.

Which makes what Jesus said in verse 20 very funny, and quite sarcastic.  After Jesus declared that the outsiders are in, he joked that “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  It seems like a challenge at first glance, but given all that Jesus has said up to this point, it’s pretty funny.  We’re not supposed to be acting with the righteousness of the religious authorities.  We are already the salt and light, the blessed ones of the reign of God.

This is the upside-down kingdom we hear about.  That the people outside of the religious center are the ones that are ones to whom God’s reign belongs. That the people who are broken and untouchable are God’s beloved, that the despised and rejected are God’s glorified, that those who can’t step foot into the temple have a better understanding of God’s reign than the learned and pious.

This is good news.  This is hopeful news.  This is the kind of news that helps us to see the broad welcome of the reign of God.  But it’s also troubling.  Because speaking for myself, I often feel the inclination to be good, to be pios, to be righteous.  I try hard, I work hard, I feel urges to do more, and to be better.

But we hear from Jesus this counter-cultural word of good news.  We don’t have to be righteous like the pharisees and scribes.  We don’t have to be perfect.  God blesses us for the broken people we already are.  God blesses us to flavor and to shine.

Arise shine, you broken, blessed people of God.  The reign of God is not for the pious and the learned, for the powerful and strong, but for those of us who are weak and broken, who are mourning and poor in spirit.

You are the salt of the earth. You are the light for the world.  Shine on people of God.  AMEN.