Salt and Light

Anglican Church Noosa February 5, 2023 Ma hew 5:13-16 BEST. SERMON. EVER. - Salt and Light Rev’d Lynda Johnson We’re doing a three week mini-series looking at a por on of just one chapter. Not even the whole chapter. Just a few verses from Ma hew chapter 5, which is part of the famous Sermon on the Mount. In Ma hew, there are ve major teaching episodes from Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount is the rst one. It’s basically a condensed descrip on of how someone who belongs to the Kingdom of God should live. Ma hew 5, 6 and 7. I’m guessing that you’d agree that living as a Chris an in our blip of an era is an increasingly tough gig here in the West. Remember what Andrew Thorburn went through last year, and I’m sure he’s s ll going through the repercussions of his hasty departure from being Essendon CEO for about a day. And what does our world look like at the moment? There are so many destruc ve habits, a tudes, and new norms that we’re seeing, and alongside that, many of the freedoms we’ve taken for granted, like freedom of speech and freedom of associa on, are slowly but clearly disintegra ng before our eyes. And we have the Sermon on the Mount. Here’s what Jesus says to his people Blessed are the poor in spirit Blessed are those who mourn Blessed are the meek Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness Blessed are the merciful Blessed are the pure in heart Blessed are the peacemakers Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness. Blessed are you when people insult you and speak evil of you. Really?!? And in that context he said - you are salt, you are light. Salt stops things going bad. Light gets rid of the dark. It’s that simple really. Salt stops things going bad and light gets rid of the dark. During this week, as I was thinking about salt, my mind went to all the di erent types of preserva ves there are these days. Preserva on and conserva on are words we hear just about every day. And we live in a world that is full of preserva ves. And most of them are addi ves to our food in the form of chemicals. Some of them may be natural preserva ves, but there’s plenty of ar cial ones. I did a quick bit of research to try to understand all the food addi ve numbers that we nd on labelling. It’s a bit overwhelming. But some people have to check all these numbers before they buy a product, because of food allergies. Perhaps that’s your experience and prac ce to keep yourself safe. I scrolled through a list and here’s what I found …… There are well over 300 di erent addi ves here, and many of them are preserva ves. But for millenia, there have been just a handful, and the two important ones were sugar and salt. Jesus said to his disciples - You are the salt of the earth. tt fi ti fi ti ti ff fi ti ti ti ti ti ti ti tti ti ti ti ti ti ti tt ff fi ti ti tt tt Page 1 of 3 Pliny, who was a Roman naturalist and philosopher, lived in the same era as Jesus, and he said "Nothing is more useful than salt and sunshine". Salt and light - such common things. Salt was used in the ancient world to avour food and even in small doses as a fer liser, but above all, it was used as a preserva ve. It was rubbed into meat, and it would slow down decay. But it needed to be used wisely, or salt could actually be detrimental. It could heal, but it could also make you sick. Small doses could fer lise, but large doses would cause a eld to become infer le. In fact if a country invaded another country, they would o en would put salt on the elds to make them unusable, and the people, unable to provide for themselves, would be dependant on the conquering na on. Salt was highly valuable. In fact, in ancient mes, it was used to pay soldiers. And that is where the word salary comes from. 'Sal’ is La n for salt. So if someone 'was not worth his salt' they hadn’t earned their pay! Salt is one of the most common substances on earth. It can’t be destroyed by re; it can’t be destroyed by me. I must admit that I have a bit of a laugh when I read the label on the salt I buy today, and it tells me the use by date. Trust me, you can ignore that one. The salt we buy has been around a very long me. I don’t think it’s going to go o in my pantry. So why in this passage does Jesus say that salt that has lost its sal ness needs to be thrown out? Well, it’s because in many places where salt was sourced in those days, like salt marshes, and not by evapora on of salt water, there were lots of impuri es mixed in with it. The actual salt, which was more soluble than the impuri es, would leach out, leaving a residue so weak, it was of li le worth. The residue s ll looked like salt, but wasn’t actually salt. The point is that, if Jesus’ disciples are to act as a preserva ve in the world by living out the kingdom norms and values, we can only achieve that if we hold on to those kingdom values and not succumb to the norms and values of this world. You see, these few short verses are about mission. They are about being on task for Jesus wherever we are, whatever we do, every day of the week. This isn’t just talking about what we do in church, or what church ministry we might have. This is talking about our everyday existence. Who do we meet? Who do we talk to? Who do we email? Who do we phone? What people do we engage with when we call up a company? What sort of conversa on do we have at the school gate? at the checkout, at the gym, at the dog park, on the boat, in the library, in the pub or the restaurant? at the beach? in the co ee shop? on the bike ride? As a Jesus person, you are salt, you are light every day of the week. It’s not just about coming to church, it’s also about what we do for the other 6 1/2 days of each week. The coming together as the gathered people, is so vital. We need it. And we need it regularly. In the big group on a Sunday, and in smaller groups during the week. From being the gathered community here on a Sunday, we become the sca ered community for the week, and that in that sca ering, we are on mission, we are his salt and his light. And that’s one of the reasons we end each worship service commi ng ourselves and commissioning ourselves for mission. We are living sacri ces, we say, commi ed to love and proclaim Jesus. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord we say. ff ti ti ti ti tt ti tti ti fi ti fi ti ti tt ti fl ti ft fi fi ff ti ti ti ti ti tt tt Page 2 of 3 Have a look at this video, it’s obviously from the UK so just be aware of that context and how it’s described. You see the gospel has penetra ng power and we are to be transformed by it. Salt and Light. Salt has to be salty. and Light needs to shine. The sermon on the mount generally, and this sec on speci cally, is a radical call to radical discipleship. In his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, the great John Sto says "This sermon is the most complete delinea on anywhere in the New Testament of the Chris an counterculture. Here is a Chris an value-system, ethical standard, religious devo on, a tude to money, ambi on, lifestyle and network of rela onships - all of which are totally at variance with those of the nonChris an world." In the 21st century, with its post-modernism, or probably more accurately its post post-modernism, and its allconsuming materialism, a life of faith doesn’t come easily. As followers of Jesus we need to be constantly reminded that God loves and cares for us, and will provide. So as we trust him, we don't have to priori se those things, but we can learn to focus on the true priori es that we need to - which is being the salt of the earth and the light of the world. What a challenge that is! This seems to be saying that wherever Chris ans are, life should be more interes ng and pleasant. Isn’t that what salt and light does? As you re ect on your sal ness, and the shining of your light, are you making life more pleasant for those you engage each day? Are we making the good things be er, and the bad things less bad? That is our task as we live out our kingdom lives. We are to bring light to the world, and we are to bring the world to the light. Jesus uses the metaphor of a city on a hill. It’s impossible for a city on a hill to be hidden. And, o en the buildings were made of white limestone, so even in the day me with the sun shining on them, the city would shine out. And of course, at night me, the lights would be seen through the windows. He con nues with the absurd illustra on of ligh ng a lamp and then covering it up. Nothing could be more ridiculous. If we make the light of Christ invisible in our lives, then we are just as useless as salt residue, or a light under a bowl. We are to let our light shine, so we glorify our Father in heaven. And as we grow in our character, so we should grow in our in uence. Our character should be shaped by the bea tudes, and our in uence is through being salt and light. When we grow in those things, we will nd blessing, the world will be well served, and what’s the result of that? The Father is glori ed. These short 4 verses we’re looking at this week, put mission at the heart of the disciples’ lives. These 4 verses should put mission at the heart of our lives. We are directed to transform the world. I want to nish with a quote from Tom Wright … "This was truly revolu onary, and at the same me deeply in tune with the ancient stories and promises of the Bible. And the remarkable thing is that Jesus brought it all into reality in his own person. He was the salt of the earth. He was the light of the world: set up on a hill-top, cruci ed for all the world to see, becoming a beacon of hope and new life for everybody, drawing people to worship his father." Lord, help us to be salt. Help us to be light. Amen. ti ti tti ti ti ti tt fi fl fl fi ti ti ti ti ti ti ti ti fi ti ti tt ti ti ti ti fi fl fi ft ti ti ti Page 3 of 3