Salt and Light!

Salt and Light

"You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?  It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot."

"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 the bushel basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.  For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter will pass away until all is accomplished.  Therefore whoever breaks one 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 until your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and the Pharisees you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:13-20

Today's text might bring to mind many a sermon you have heard on the properties of salt and light, on their usefulness in daily life, and our purpose as Christians in the world.  Perhaps you even had an enthusiastic Sunday School teacher bring it home with a salt shaker and a lamp and a bucket.  I remember one quick witted friend of mine completely dismissing a lesson on salt and light after declaring that extolling the uses of road salt was completely irrelevant to the text! (she went on to become a successful lawyer).

Salt and light are two metaphors for who we are as Christians. Note that Jesus says, You folks are the salt of the earth.  You folks are the light of the world.  The blessing comes first, this is who you are - now become it!  Or put more succinctly: Become who you are.  Just as salt is meant to enter into food and bring out the flavour of the dish, we are to help creation be its truest self, what it was meant to be.  Just as salt is a preservative in food allowing it keep, we are to preserve the goodness of creation.  We are light to the cosmos!  Take note folks - you are to shine in the world.  Your good deeds are a signpost to something greater, something truer, something even more beautiful, a kingdom yet to come.  Don't hide under the bucket - let the world see God at work in you!

However, we notice that with each of these statements about our identity as God's people come with a warning.

"But if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?  It is no longer good but is thrown out and tramped underfoot."

"No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on a light stand.  In the same way let your light shine before others, so they may see your good works and give glory to your father in heaven."

These are important words to pay attention to.  Can the church lose its flavour? Can we become useless and even be thrown out? This sounds a kind of dramatic but the truth is the road to getting turfed is rarely dramatic, more often it is subtle and unremarkable. These words of caution might be especially apt for the North American church who too often is unrecognizable from the rest of the world.  When we lose our distinctiveness what good are we? Are we able to help creation be its truest self when we are trying to preserve a way of living that might even be in opposition to gospel living?  Are we preserving the goodness of creation when we are existing to preserve our communities, our ways of worshipping and being? When we are living cautiously are we bringing out the flavours of creation or are we just bland and tasteless?

How about light?  You Folks are the light of the world, why are you hiding?  Don't be anxious.  You are important people; let people see your good works and see God at work in the world.  This isn't about getting glory for ourselves this is about showing the world who God is, being his people and working for his kingdom here and now.  Too often we are afraid to live as God's people because we are aware just how different - just how mind-bending it is.  Truth be told we don't want to stand out as Jesus followers; we want to follow him in a way that is comfortable, in a way that doesn't create conflict internally or with others.  And yet the way to really live is to become who we are: the light of the world; a city on a hill.

So how is the church salt and light in the world?  Well even as we gather in worship on Sunday mornings we are remembering who we are and we are becoming who we are created to be as God's children; as his people in the world.  As a church we pray for people and for our city, country and world, we pray for and seek justice right relationships with one another and with our neighbours.  As we read and learn the scripture we are formed by the story of God. When we go from this place into our daily lives we bring forth the beauty and goodness of creation and glorify God with our whole lives: when the students care for others at school, when they show kindness to their siblings and other children, when they offer forgiveness, confess their need for and ask God to be their help, when they work to get along with others, to include others, when they pray for people in their class.  When they place God at the centre of their very lives loving him with heart, soul and mind.  This is the way we are to posture ourselves in the world and it is not easily done. In fact maybe this is why this text is speaking to "you folks" instead of to us as individuals.  We cannot do this alone.

I remember as a child being quite shy about my faith or perhaps more truthfully being a little ashamed, wanting to slink under my desk every time religion was discussed or whenever the dreaded topic of our parents careers came up.  I remember a few instances over the years when people asked me very pointed questions, one person asked me: what makes you so happy?  Another asked: why do you talk to the girl, she's nasty?  Immediately, I knew in my heart that this was the work of Jesus in me.  But like a lump in my throat the words stuck there and I just shrugged my shoulders like it was some big mystery I didn't have the words for.  It is a big mystery and it is both simple and profound, revealed and obscured, lived out in the daily. May our actions and our words be both salt and light in this world.  May our sabbath practice remind us who we are and may we become who we are created to be.

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A word on metaphor!

I love metaphors because they work on our imaginations, because they are fluid, they come to us in different ways at different times.  Don't worry about spelling them out to directly, you can certainly highlight the purposes of salt and light and establish the relationship that Christians are to the world what salt is to food; that Christians are to the world what light is to darkness. You can use examples, bring in props if you like, have an unsalted potato chip vs. a salted one Or have a lamp on your table and put a bucket over it.