Grace to you and peace from our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
The text for this meditation is written in the 5th Chapter of
the Gospel according to St Matthew: Verses 13 – 20:
Salt and Light
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how
shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be
thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but
on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so
that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in
heaven.
Christ Came to Fulfill the Law
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I
have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass
away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
19 Therefore whoever relaxes
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. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of
the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
This week’s Gospel comes right after
the Beatitudes that we read in last week’s Gospel. These two Gospels lie right at the beginning
of that long section of Matthew’s account of the Gospel that is known as the
Sermon on the Mount. There is so much to
cover in the Sermon on the Mount that the Gospel readings for the rest of the
month all come from that sermon. Even
then, we won’t even come close to a complete explanation of this significant
Biblical account.
Last week’s Gospel provides
important context for the Sermon on the Mount.
The Holy Spirit inspired Matthew to begin His account this way: [Matthew
5:1–3] “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat
down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught
them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven …’” and so on through the rest of the beatitudes as we read them
last week.
Notice that although there were many
crowds, it was his disciples who came to Him.
That means that The Sermon on the Mount is a teaching lesson for disciples. His teaching is not intended for the general
crowd, but for those who believe. His
teaching is for the Holy Christian Church.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches the His Church on earth is the salt and
the light.
Notice that Jesus did not say, “You should
be the salt of the earth,” or “You should be the light of the
world.” Instead, He said, “You are
the salt of the earth,” and “You are the light of the world.” Too often, these words are taken as commands
instead of descriptions. We seriously
doubt ourselves and our measure of faith because we are not salty enough or we
are not shining our light. We make it
all about ourselves instead of about Jesus.
The evil threesome of the devil, the
world, and our own sinful nature want us to believe that the primary goal of
Christianity is self-improvement – the focus being on the self. That evil trio wants us to think that being
salt and light means living such a perfect life that everyone will want to be
just like us. If we can convince others that
the Christian life is really, really great, then they too might want to become
Christians. Our evil foes want us to
believe that the Christian faith is about an improved life with the Bible as a
guide book for living. They want us to
believe that this is the faith that will be salt and light to others.
This misguided marketing sounds
pretty good at first. It seems doable
and what a boost this would be to our egos if we pulled it off. This is the problem that the Pharisees had. They had taken the teachings of Moses and
twisted them into a law that they claimed was doable and they pointed to
themselves as the ones who did it the best. In their arrogance they portrayed
themselves as human perfection, second only to God Himself.
The only problem is that, over time,
it becomes obvious that no human being can achieve perfection, our sinful
nature grounds us in the reality of our plight.
There are days when we leave our homes with smiles pasted on our faces
that in no way portrays the way we actually feel inside. There are tragedies that strike us to our
core. Cancer, strokes, and heart attacks
– accidents on the road and in the home, these things and more remind us that
we are mortal. How can we possibly make
ourselves salty and shine our own light when that mortality really hits home?
Then there are those annoying Bible
passages that tell us that we can never live the life of salt and light. [Isaiah 64:6] All our righteous
deeds are like a polluted garment. [Romans
3:23] All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. [1 John 1:8] If we say we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. In just a fleeting examination of the Ten
Commandments, we realise that we are totally unable to achieve their commands. When we add to that the last verse in today’s
Gospel: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and
Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Despair sets in. We will never be salt and light, and once
again, we see the wonderful Gospel of Jesus Christ twisted into the law.
But Jesus said, “You are
the salt of the earth,” and “You are the light of the world.” He said this right after the Beatitudes. He had just taught them, saying: ‘Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’” Even though we are spiritually bankrupt,
Jesus blesses us as He performs the deeds of God among us and for us. Just as the blessings of the beatitudes
depend, not on us, but on Jesus, in the same way, it is Jesus who makes us salt
and light.
Christianity is not about us. Instead, it is about Jesus and what He did
for us. We do not earn God’s blessings,
but He gives them to us freely for Jesus sake.
We cannot become salt and light.
Instead, the word of Jesus makes us salt and light. We are salt and light, not by what we do, but
by what Jesus does in us.
The first Chapter of the Gospel
according to St John announces that the salt and light begin in Jesus Christ as
the Holy Spirit inspired him to write: [John 1:4–5] In him was
life, and the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. From these words we learn that Jesus is the
light of the world that no darkness can overcome. The Holy Spirit also inspired John to write
these words: [Revelation 21:23] the city has no need of sun or moon to shine
on it, for … its lamp is the Lamb.
From these words also we learn that Jesus is the light of the next
world.
Jesus is the light of the world
because He is its salvation. Jesus works
salvation by fulfilling the law and the prophets just as He says in the second
half of today’s Gospel: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or
the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.” These words tell us that Jesus placed himself
under the law. As Paul told the
Galatians: [Galatians 4:4–5] When the fullness of time had come,
God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive
adoption as sons. In this way, Jesus fulfilled the
law for us.
Fulfilling the prophets also meant
fulfilling His role as the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One. Jesus Himself said, [Luke 24:46]
“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise
from the dead.” The light shines out
no brighter than when Jesus poured Himself out for the forgiveness of the sins
of the world as He hung on the cross.
Even as the world was plunged into darkness, Jesus, the light of the
world, was overcoming the darkness. As
He hung on that tree He earned the light of salvation for us so that we can be
free from the darkness of sin and death.
By his work on the cross He gives us His righteousness. This is the only righteousness that exceeds
that of the scribes and Pharisees – the only righteousness that gains entry
into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus, the light of the world,
triumphed over darkness on the cross and three days later He confirmed that
triumph as He rose from the dead. With
His resurrection, He demonstrated that He really is the light of the world. All His promises will come true, especially the
promise that all who believe in Him have everlasting life.
Jesus is the light of the world and
by His suffering, death, and resurrection; He has made us the light of the
world. All who believe in Him have
forgiveness, life, and salvation. We
regularly confess that we are poor, miserable, sinners who have sinned against
God in thought, word, and deed. As we
confess our sin, He absolves us, He gives us His light. We regularly come forward to His altar, and
He gives us Himself as we receive his body and blood in the bread and wine.
Now, Jesus says that we are the salt
of the earth and the light of the world. As human beings, we are not super
saints who live a life that others envy.
Instead, we are forgiven sinners who have a loving Saviour. As salt and light, we point, not to
ourselves, but to our Saviour.
There is a promise hidden away in
our Lord’s description of us as salt and light.
Since we cannot be salt and light without Him, He must always be with
us. Through the power of the Holy
Spirit, He works in us and through us so that we are salt and light wherever we
go. We are salt and light in our
families as children of our parents and as parents of our children, as husbands
and wives, as Grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins and all
the other ways that we can be related to people. We are salt and light in the work place as
employers and employees. We are salt and
light in our communities as friends and neighbours – as citizens of town, city,
state, and nation. In all these roles
Jesus has promised to be with us so that we are the salt of the earth and the
light of the world. Amen
The love and peace of our Great
Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds
in Christ Jesus. Amen
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