Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.” These are words that we probably know quite well. We hear them on a fairly regular basis. At least some of them. Whenever a person is baptized here Jesus’ words are shared as the candle which is lit from the Christ candle is passed on to the newly baptized. “Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
But what do these words of Jesus mean? And why are we suddenly talking about them now? What exactly is going on here? Well, for starters it is the assigned text. That makes it pretty simple. These verses were selected for this Sunday in the season of Epiphany. They fit well for the season of Epiphany because, as we have said before, the season of Epiphany is a celebration of God revealing himself through Jesus. But it doesn’t stop there. Because, for whatever reason, this same Jesus has chosen to reveal himself through his people, his body, the church. Jesus, who is the light who shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it, reveals himself through his people, through you and me, who are the light of the world, therefore let your light so shine before others… You are the salt of the earth… it’s really a very cool kind of a thing.
You see, these verses are part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. They go together with the verses we read last week and with the ones that we will be reading over the next three weeks or so. They were meant to be read all at once, or better yet to be heard all at once, but time does not allow for us to do it that way, and doing it bit by bit also gives us a chance to unpack and appreciate it a little more. But you don’t want to lose sight of the context that Jesus is speaking in.
Here he is, kind of new on the scene. It wasn’t that long since he was baptized and tested in the wilderness. Now he is going around talking about the kingdom of heaven and healing people, forgiving sins and driving out demons. In addition to that he is teaching. And his teachings are very important. Because what Jesus is teaching about here is life lived in the kingdom of God, and as you have heard me say so many times before, and will continue to hear me say, this is life the way that it was intended to be lived. This is the only real way to live. This is life full and abundant. This is life with purpose. But it is not life about us. It is not life where we are number one and most important, so living the kind of life that Jesus talks about here is a struggle. But it is also well worth it.
We saw the beginning of Jesus’ teaching on this last week with the beatitudes. Jesus was talking about the blessed life and how that life looks so very different from what the world would look for, want or consider to be blessed. And, yet, there is no other way to live. Do you remember what the last beatitude was? Blessed are you when people revile you, and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad.
Why? Why on earth would we rejoice and be glad over this? Why would we want this? Because, this was the way they treated the prophets and you are the salt of the earth. These words of Jesus come down through time and they are also for you and me. You are the salt of the earth. This is what you are. This is not; you have the salt of the earth. This is not; you should really try to be the salt of the earth. But it is; you are the salt of the earth.
You are the salt of the earth because that is what the Holy Spirit has made you to be. In the waters of Baptism, where God made you his own dearly loved sons and daughters, he made you salt. Now you don’t ever have salt for the sake of the salt. Salt is best when it is out of the salt shaker and is in use. To be the salt of the earth means that we are salt for the sake of the earth. It is almost as if Jesus has an eye on the great commission that he will give to the church at the end of this Gospel. Being salt is for the world, not for the sake of the salt. In other words it s seasoning. It makes something better.
This is not a status thing. This is not Jesus saying that you are the best people in the whole world. In fact you are better than anyone else out there. Rather, being the salt of the earth is a statement of function. You are in the world to add zest to the life of the whole world. You are like the red hot pepper of the world. We, the church, are here in this world, not for the sake of the church, but for the sake of the world. We are here because God loves the world. He loves the world so very much that he sent his only son, that whoever believes in him, might not parish, but have everlasting life.
You are the salt of the earth. Pretty cool huh? By the way, do you know how the salt greets the pepper? “Season’s greetings.” Maybe we should start to greet one another this way. It would remind of us why we are here. It is no mistake. It is no accident. This is the work of God. You are the salt of the earth.
But if the salt loses its saltiness, than it is useless. If we, as the church, are here for the sake of adding zest to the life of the whole world; that is, if we are here to make known, and to show God’s love and grace and mercy and forgiveness in Jesus and we get caught up in and focused on anything else, well than we are about as useless as un-salty salt. Now that is not necessarily a threat, although it is a warning. It is easy for us as sinful human beings to get caught up in things that are less than what God has in mind for us. It is easy for us to seek our will and what we want, especially in matters of church life. But it is not about us. It is not our will be done.
If life in the church is all about you and what you want and what makes you happy, then you are missing the point. If we are here because we like to consume this particular brand of Christianity, then we are here for the wrong reasons. If we are here to preserve the past, or at least our selective understanding of the past, and to keep things in our image, then we are not living out Jesus’ words here.
But if we are here because we understand that we are a broken and imperfect people, and that we need the grace, love and forgiveness that our God freely gives us in Jesus. If we understand that we are here because our gracious God calls, gathers and enlightens us, and that he daily and richly forgives us all our sins. If we are here because we are people who need that love and forgiveness, and who humbly receive it and all the wholeness and life that our God abundantly gives us in Jesus.
Then it is when we live in this reality that we understand what it means to be salt. Because our world is broken, it is a world that is tragically filled with suffering, and injustice. It is a world where sin and selfishness reign. But in the church we live with a different reality. We live in a reality where there is healing and hope and forgiveness. We live in a reality where there is the promise of a day where there will be no more of that brokenness, where there will be no more suffering or sickness or injustice.
The hope that we have of that reality fills our lives today, right now, and it impacts the way that we live. It impacts the way we live life together, and the way that we live life with the other people that God has placed into our lives. This is what it means to be salt. This is why being salt is so very important. It is who you are, by grace, in Jesus to be.
In the same way you are the light of the world. Therefore let your light so shine before others that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven. The light that shines in you is not light that comes from you as much as it is light that shines through you. Because when people see your good deeds they give glory, not to you, but to your Father in heaven.
I believe that if the church firmly grasped and sought to live out this identity, as much as it is possible for imperfect people to do, that we would have a different role in our world. I would love for the church to be such a place that when people in the community drove by the building they would say, “This community is a better place because those people are here.” I would love for the church to be a place where anyone can walk through our doors and know and see and be reassured that God loves them.
That love is for you and me too. God gives it to us constantly. He then uses us to share that with others. The great thing in all of this is that we don’t have to wait to get our act together first. It’s not that you have to go to salt and light school to learn how to do it. It is simply who you are in Jesus. So be what God has created you to be. Be about the things that God has placed you here to be about. And as you live this out you will know a joy and peace that surpasses all human understanding. You will know life that is really, truly and fully blessed.
Season’s greetings. Amen.
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