Lent 1 – 1 March 2020 – Year A

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this morning’s meditation is written in the 4^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Matthew: Verses 1 – 11:

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. ³ The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But he answered, “It is written,‘One does not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
    and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; ⁹ and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,
    and serve only him.’”

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

A common mistake Christians make when it comes to today’s Gospel from Saint Matthew is that they make it all about themselves.  They listen to the account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness and what they take from it is that Jesus is a good example.  Jesus was tempted by the Devil and what He did was this, this, and this and He came out on top.  So now, whenever we’re tempted by the Devil, all we have to do is this, this, and this, and we’ll come out on top as well.

So, let me ask you.  How is this working for you?  Not so good, right?  Satan called Jesus’ status as the Son of God into question with his temptations, “If you are the Son of God…”  But we know Jesus is the Son of God, so of course, He can handle any temptations that come His way.  For us, it’s harder.  The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, and Satan loves this about us and so he comes after us just like he did Jesus.

Jesus had been fasting for 40 days and nights.  He’s hungry, thirsty, tired and that’s when Satan makes his first appearance in our Gospel, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”  In other words, “You don’t need God.  He’s probably forgotten about you anyway.  Don’t trust Him, do it yourself.”  You and I can’t make stones into loaves of bread, but it’s a constant temptation for us to not fully rely on God. It’s tempting to think He’s forgotten about us, that we don’t need Him because we’re doing just fine on our own, that we can handle problems our way and not His.  In each and every case, we’re succumbing to Satan’s temptations.

Although rejected, Satan didn’t give up with Jesus; “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down off the temple.”  And then to make it better, the Devil quotes Scripture, ^{(Psalm 91: 12)} “He will command his angels concerning you and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”  He challenges Jesus with a Bible verse, but what you may not know is that Satan left part of the verse out.  He left out where Psalm 91 says that ^{(Psalm 91: 9 – 11)} “⁹ Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”

God will send His angels to bear up His people when they walk, not just in any way, but in His holy ways.

The Devil does the same thing to us.  He twists God’s Word to cause us to doubt and to question God.  ‘I’m struggling with my health.  I feel as though God has forgotten about me’.  ‘My family are experiencing so many problems’  ‘I must not be praying hard enough or believing with your whole heart.”  Daily we are attacked by such thoughts.  Satan is constantly looking for a moment of weakness so that he can influence us to question God’s Word.  We’re all sinners, humans are born in sin.  But our illness or our troubles aren’t because we’re not a very good Christian, it’s because Satan lied to Eve, and he keeps lying to us today.

What Satan really wants, with all his temptations, is to get us to lose confidence in God’s plans for us.  He comes to Jesus and he says, “All these [kingdoms of the world] I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”  He’s saying that Jesus doesn’t have to live a hard life.  He doesn’t have to wander around looking for disciples.  He can have all the glory and power He deserves, right now.  All Jesus has to do is worship him.  The Devil wants us to question God’s plans and will for our lives.  He wants us to go for the quick and easy, avoid the struggle that comes from being a Christian, chase after material things and then we’ll be happy.  We’ll have everything we could possibly want.  In this modern world times are tough and that is a serious temptation that challenges many.

Luke’s Gospel hints that Jesus was tempted for the entire forty days, so He wasn’t tempted just three times but repeatedly.  We just have three instances in the Gospel to show us the battle that Jesus fought with the Devil.  It shows our lives too because Satan is going to tempt us for our entire life.  As Christians we just can’t let our guard down, because he’s sneaky, and he’s constantly coming up with new and seemingly harmless temptations .  Sadly there are times, because of our human condition, we’re going to fall for them.

The subtle nature of Satan is that not every temptation that he comes up with is “You should rob that bank” or “You should cheat on the test.”  Sometimes, it’s just a whisper that you should doubt God’s love. In C S Lewis’ Book ‘The Screwtape Letters’, ‘Screwtape’, the Devil’s advocate advises ‘Wormwood’ his nephew and tempting angel of the devil that  “the safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts"

Sometimes that it is a cloud of despair, a fleeting moment of jealousy or rage, a quick thought of something unkind. You see, it doesn’t matter what temptation trips us up, it doesn’t matter if it’s a “big” one or a “little” one, we’ve sinned.  And by doing so, we’ve been unfaithful to God, and this is what Satan wants.  He wants us to sin.  Any sin, it doesn’t matter to him.  “It seems that the odds are against us”,  - well, that’s what Satan wants us to think anyway.   How do we defend ourselves in all of this?  We can’t.  We need a Defender, and that’s what this Gospel reading is all about.

Jesus our Saviour was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness.  He went into the wilderness to be tempted.  We live in the wilderness of this world, constantly assailed by the Devil, so Jesus went into the wilderness to face the Devil for us.  He was tempted, just as we are, and remained faithful.  As the author of Hebrews says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

He was tempted to satisfy His earthly needs, but He trusted His Father.  He was tempted to manipulate His Father, but He turned to the Word.  He was tempted to pass by the cross entirely and to take up the glory and honour that were rightfully His, but He worshipped His Father alone.  In the end, He said, “Be gone Satan!”, for He was victorious. Jesus ‘exhorted’ the evil one; in New testament Greek the word ‘Parakaleo’ means both to admonish and to encourage. In His ‘admonishment’ Jesus displayed His power over the Devil; In His display of power over the Devil, we are encouraged to ‘cling to Jesus’ as our champion of righteousness and eternal salvation.

Satan didn’t give up.  He came back in the form of demons who tried to thwart Jesus.  He came back in the form of Pharisees who tried to kill him or to trip Him up or to scare Him off.  Finally, he came back with the same words that were spoken in the wilderness, “If you are the Son of God, come off the cross.”  

This last temptation had to be hard.  It would’ve been easy to hop off the cross and prove to everyone that He was the Son of God.  Yet, Christ remained faithful and in His death, most of all, He serves as our Champion.  He never sinned, but He took on Sin and the Devil, He took Sin onto and into His body, for us.  That’s how we are saved!  On that cross, it looked to everyone that He had lost.  But He didn’t!  For it was there, on the cross, that He fought for us and was victorious for us.  We now have the spoils of His victory; forgiveness, peace with God, strength in the face of temptation, and hope.  From the waters of the Jordan River to the wilderness to the cross to the tomb, He fought for us every step of the way, and He’ll never stop, for He is our Champion.

As long as we live on this earth, we are in the midst of a battle, day after day.  We were baptised and sent out into the wilderness and Satan’s going to attack us, torment us, tempt us. Thanks be to God we have not been sent out unarmed or alone. In Holy Baptism we received the Holy Spirit of God Himself; God in us, God with us; at the Alter of Grace, in the Holy meal, we receive the true Body and True Blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; and in our hands we carry the Holy inspired Word of God that we are told in Hebrews 4 is “living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword”.

So adorned with the ^{(Ephesians 6)} “Armour of God” we can confidently and faithfully go forward into the wildernesses of this world, in the knowledge that we have High Priest who will walk with us every step of the way, and if we, in our humanity do fall into temptation at times; we can be confident that the victory is still ours because Jesus has paid the price for our eternal forgiveness. Let us now go forward into the Lenten season in fervent worship of our Great Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen 

The Love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus now and forever. Amen

Transfiguration of Our Lord – 23 February 2020 – Year A

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is written in the 17^th Chapter of the Gospel of  St Matthew: 1–9:

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. ² And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. ³ Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. ⁴ Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁵ While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” ⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. ⁷ But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” ⁸ And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

To get some context here we need to go back to Matthew 16: (Matthew 16:21) tells us “As Jesus went about teaching and healing, there came a time when He began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised”. This teaching was very confusing for the disciples.  ^{(Matthew 16:22–23)} Peter [even] took [Jesus] aside and began to [scold] him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” ²³But [Jesus] turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” The disciples simply did not yet understand that Jesus came to die on the cross and save them from their sins.  They were very confused. They did not know Mary was a virgin; to them Jesus was a man with very special God given gifts that allowed him to do miracles, heal and teach with such wisdom. In their heart of hearts they thought that Jesus was there to overthrow the Romans and set up a utopian style independent Jewish nation. 

So it is that Jesus showed His true identity to three of the disciples in a very special way.  ^{(Matthew 17:1–2) “}Jesus took with him Peter and James, and his brother John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ²And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light”.Jesus is both God and man.  Up until this time, Jesus had hidden His Divine glory within His human body. Then, on this mountain … Jesus allowed Peter, James, and John to see a little bit of His glory as the Son of God.  Jesus wanted Peter, James, John, and us, to have a clearer understanding of who He is.

As Jesus shone in glory, two new figures appeared.  ^{(Matthew 17:3) “}Moses and Elijah, talking with [Jesus]”. Now both Moses and Elijah had been dead for centuries.  This is the Moses who established Israel as a free nation by leading them out of Egypt and giving them the Law; and the “Elijah who did not die in the normal way, but went up by a whirlwind into heaven”. With the appearance of these two men, Jesus clearly showed that He reigns in both earth and heaven; a physical demonstration of eternal life.

Now, Peter had this bad habit of putting his mouth into action before he thought about what to say.  Peter said to Jesus, ^{(Matthew 17:4)} “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Peter was overwhelmed; perhaps this was paradise central, the goal of Christ’s mission to this earth. The thought of living here was appealing, it was a good place. There are times in our life where we want to ‘stay in the moment’ away from worry over past and future.

It was then that God the Father interrupted Peter.  ^{(Matthew 17:5)} [Peter] was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” It is as if God the Father said, “Hey, Peter, you can’t learn a whole lot with all that noise coming out of your mouth.  If you want to learn, here is my beloved Son; be quiet and listen to Him.”  The Father identified Jesus as His Son, the Eternal Word in the flesh.  Pay attention to Him.

You see, up to now, when Jesus told them of the journey He was on, they refused to listen.  They recognised Jesus as ^{(Matthew 16:16)} “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” but they could not comprehend the idea that the work of the Christ was to suffer and die to take away the sin of the world.  If they could not understand Jesus’ work as their suffering saviour, then they could not understand Jesus at all.

Jesus chose this extreme demonstration of His glory to teach His disciples that He was indeed the Christ, the Son of God and that He came into the world to save sinners with His suffering, and death, and then rise from the dead on the third day.  The way to eternal glory is through the cross.  If the disciples were to learn this, then they must listen to Jesus.

It is no surprise that the Disciples  ^{(Matthew 17:6)} “fell on their faces and were terrified”.  The Children of Israel encountered God in His glory.  (Exodus 20:18–19) “When all the people saw the flashes of lightning and heard thunder and the  sound of the trumpet and saw the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off ¹⁹and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” The Children of Israel saw God from a distance … the base of the mountain and they were afraid. Peter, James, and John encountered the bright cloud and voice of God … right there on the mountain.  I can’t even imagine how terrified they were.

There is only one person who removes that kind of fear.  Jesus came and touched them, saying, ^{(Matthew 17:7–8)} “Rise, and have no fear.” ⁸And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only”. Jesus touched them.  He spoke the word.  He removed the fear.  They looked up and only Jesus was there.  Jesus was there with His mercy and comfort.  Jesus is still the true Son of God, filled with splendour and glory, but that glory was hidden in His humanity.  Jesus is the one and only saviour and comfort from the terror of sin.

In this time far removed from the Old Testament times, we talk about, even write children’s stories about the times when God showed His glory in the Bible.  God spoke to Moses from the burning bush.  God smoking away at the top of Mount Sinai. God thunders from the cloud and tells us that Jesus is His Son.  We are drawn to a God who is large and in charge.  We like that kind of power and majesty. 

We like an awesome God who has thunder in His footsteps and lightning in His fists. Some more fundamental type denominations preach about a God of thunder and lightning.  Kind of like a Marvel Movie with Thor, the Hulk, Wonder Woman and Spider Man and the rest of the gang. We like our sovereign God, He is our Champion. 

But before we get too excited about our relationship with God in all His glory, we should take time to read about the people who actually DID encounter the glory of God.  Adam and Eve tried to run away and hide. Other people who encountered the glory of God fell on their faces.  Others became as dead men.  Others trembled and were not able to stand.  Isaiah cried out, ^{(Isaiah 6:5)} “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” The common element in all these encounters with God is fear.  Even angels who only reflect the glory of God must say, “Fear not,” before they can deliver their messages.

It is easy to forget the words that God said to Moses, ^{(Exodus 33:20)} “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” You see, in order to stand before God without fear, we must be just as perfect … just as holy as He is.  We must be blameless … innocent … sinless.  Our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees.  We must be perfect even as our Father in Heaven is perfect.  In order to stand before God in His glory, we too must be glorious.

For some, like the Pharisees, it is easy to think that we can be glorious when we stand before the false god of our own making. But the truth of God’s law reveals that we are anything but glorious.  Instead of being sinless, we are sinful.  Instead of being innocent, we are guilty.  Instead of being holy, we are profane.  Before God, we, like the disciples, can only lay prostrate in terror.

We need the Jesus who came to the disciples and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.”  We need the Jesus who led these three disciples down from the Mount of Transfiguration.  We need the Jesus who made His way to another mountain … Golgotha, the place of the skull.  On that mountain, Jesus will express the inner most being of God in sweat and blood, pain and suffering, and, ultimately death and burial.  It is through that suffering and death on the cross that Jesus earned our justification.  It is through that suffering and death on the cross that Jesus took away our sin and replaced it with His righteousness.  It is Jesus working through the cross who offers us forgiveness, life, and salvation.  It is Jesus who takes away the burden of our sin and makes it possible for us to stand in the presence of God.  It is the glory of Christ on the cross that gives the glory of eternal life to us.

Through the cross, Jesus became the death of death and the life of life.  As the life of life, He rose from the dead.  It was not until after that resurrection that the disciples finally understood the true mission of the Christ.  Then Peter, James, and John could properly tell about their experience on the mountain where Jesus revealed the glory of heaven. Then it was that they could proclaim that they had seen the divine glory of Jesus Christ.  They could point to the glory of His Transfiguration that terrified them and then they could point to the even greater glory of His death on the cross.  In this way, they could proclaim the magnitude of His salvation.

God the Father proclaimed Jesus as His Son and commanded us to listen to Him.  The great fear of the apostles was calmed by Jesus touch. At the Baptismal Font Jesus touches us through the Holy Spirit; When we gather at the alter rail in Holy Communion, Jesus physically touches us in His body and blood. In the water of Baptism and the holy feast Jesus says to us “get up and do not be afraid”. Free from fear, we hear the proclamation of Jesus’ words, and the Holy Spirit produces and sustains the true faith in us … the faith that receives Christ’s great salvation.  That great salvation will carry us through not only the mountain top experiences, but also through the valleys in between until our last hour comes and our Father in heaven gives us a blessed end and carries us from this valley of sorrows to Himself in heaven.   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

Epiphany 6 – 16 February 2020 - Year A

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for our meditation is written in the 5^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Matthew: Verses 21-37:

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. ²³ So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵ Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.

³¹ “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³² But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

This is now the third week that we have been invited to gather around Jesus listen to listen to His Sermon on the Mount. Two Sunday's ago, we followed Jesus up the mountain, and listened as He opened His mouth and poured out those wonderful Beatitudes upon His disciples – one blessing after another, like the waves of the ocean breaking on the beach.

Last Sunday, we heard Jesus tell His disciples that they are the salt of the earth and they arethe light of the world. This is not a command to become salt and light or even strive to becomesalt and light. "You are the salt of the earth." "You ARE the light of the world." 

As we said last week, it's important to get the order here right. They are not to be a blessing so that they may win Christ's blessing. He blesses them before they've done anything at all. Now, they are simply to be what His blessing has made them. They are blessed to be a blessing. That's what discipleship is all about. It's simply being the person that Jesus Christ has made us when He called us through our baptism to be His disciple. 

Now this morning, we hear Jesus continue His sermon by describing just what it means to be the "salt of the earth" and "the light of the world." He is sending them into a world that has lost its saltiness and that is covered in darkness. They are to be the preservative and the shining light in the midst of decay and darkness. They are to be the spring and the fountain of God's blessing to a world that lives under the curse of sin. 

It's not that the world is anti-religion or irreligious. In fact, the way that Jesus describes the situation, it's actually a very religious world that is under the curse of sin. People are by nature, religious beings. For the most part, most people believe that there is a god to whom we are all accountable and who will determine our eternal destiny to either heaven or hell. 

But the problem as Jesus presents it, is that their religion is misguided and misinformed. It misses the mark. Which by the way, is the literal meaning of the Greek word for 'sin.' "Hamartia" means, 'that which misses the mark.' 

The question is, how do these religious perceptions of the world miss the mark? 

The most general way of putting this is, religion misses the mark when it gets the order wrong. When religion says, 'we must be a blessing so that we may be blessed,' it misses the mark and it is a religion that is in desperate need of 'salt' and 'light.' 

At the most basic and fundamental level, there are only two types of religion in the world. One religion believes and teaches that one is saved by their works; because they are a blessing. And the other religion believes and teaches that one is saved by the grace of God alone, because God has blessed them, apart from any works. The first kind of religion goes by lots of different names. But there is only one name associated with the second kind of religion and that is "Christianity." 

But even Christianity is subject to the corruption of sin. There are many who call themselves Christians, yet who believe that their salvation depends upon their own righteousness. That they must be a blessing in order to be blessed.

Due to human intervention, there are many different ways that even Christians miss the mark, but by far the most popular way, is the way that Jesus is pointing out to His disciples this morning. Christians miss the mark by adding things to God's Law that are not there. And we all do this. We add "exceptions" and "technicalities" and "loopholes." 

We do this because we believe that keeping God's Law, by being good enough, saves us. And yet we know that we cannot meet the impossible standards that God's Law demands of us. And so, we add 'exceptions', and 'technicalities,' and 'loopholes,' in order to make God's Law doable. 

Fundamentally, we do not trust that God saves us by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ who has fulfilled the Laws demands, right down to the very letter on our behalf. Original sin has so twisted our human nature that we don't trust God. 

It is to this religious world that misses the mark that the disciples are to be "salt" and "light." They are to establish a ‘standard’ on earth where true religion can be found. And from that ‘standard’, they are to preach and teach the correct order of things – ^(Eph.2:8-9) "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift from God, not a result of works". Through this power of the Gospel, men and women, boys and girls will turn from false religion to the one, true faith and eventually, they will overcome the world. 

Jesus message is to not to present a 'dumbed down' religion, with exceptions, technicalities and loopholes that make it possible to keep God's Law and present yourself to God as righteous apart from the cross of Christ. 

They are to preach that the righteous demands of the Law and the Prophets must be met, and that this is what Jesus came into the world to do on our behalf. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them." By His life and death, Jesus has fulfilled every iota and dot of the Law, without exceptions, technicalities or loopholes – for us, on our behalf. 

This is how we're to understand Jesus' words to His disciples in the portion of His Sermon on the Mount that was our gospel reading this morning. With six sweeping corrections, He wipes away all of the additions and subtractions that so many have been led to believe are consistent with God's Word. 

Six times, Jesus says, "You have heard that it was said…" And then says, 'But I say to you…"
* "You have heard it said, do not murder… but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother is liable to the judgment."
* "You have heard it said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her."
* "It was said, 'whoever divorces his wife must have a divorce certificate. But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife except for sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery."
* "You have heard that it was said, 'you shall not swear falsely… But I say to you, Do not swear at all."
* "You have heard that it was said, 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'… But I say to you, 'turn the other cheek.'"
* "You have heard it said, 'You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you."

Just to be sure we understand what He is doing here, Jesus is not 'taking the Law to a higher standard.' No, He is showing us how we have taken God's Law to a lower standard. The standard for God's Law is love; the love of God with all of your heart, soul and mind; and the love of your neighbour with the same measure of love with which God loves us. 

Each and every one of these "you have heard it said," statements are the way that we have reduced the Law so that we can technically keep it – yet never actually love. 

We believe that even though I'm full of anger against someone and I want see them suffer for what they've done, yet since I haven't murdered them, I've kept the 5th Commandment – 'thou shall not murder.' 

Maybe we're careful to keep our anger hidden inside of us so that no one can see it. We go to church every Sunday and everyone thinks that we're so righteous. But we don't love our neighbour, let alone our enemy. And so Jesus says, our worship is hypocrisy. It's false religion. It misses the mark. 

But against this, the disciple of Jesus Christ is "salt" and "light." It's not that we think we're perfect, but we do say that perfection is what God is aiming for with us – and nothing less. So we come to church, not to ask the Holy Spirit to accept our excuses or factor in certain technicalities. We come expecting that the Lord will convert the anger in our heart into love for our neighbour and our enemy – and nothing less. We come here to receive the gift from the altar that creates in us a clean heart and renews in us a right spirit and that empowers us to tear down that wall of separation that divides and alienates us from others be reconciled to them even as Christ has reconciled us to God. 

It's the same way with each of the examples that Jesus gives. 

We've added lots technicalities to the 7th Commandment – 'thou shall not commit adultery.'We say, 'it all depends on how you define the word, 'commit?' And with all of our technicalities and exceptions, we believe that we've kept this commandment even while we treat others as pure objects for our own pleasure. 

We've reduced God's wonderful institution of marriage to a matter of certificates. Whether it's a certificate of marriage or a certificate of divorce, we think we've kept the 7th Commandment as long as have the proper paperwork, even though there is no love. 

Jesus goes on to illustrate this same principle with three more examples. And we shouldn't think that if we get these six issues under control, that then our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. I suspect that Jesus could have easily listed 6 x 60 more of the same issues. 

If we think that the righteousness that Jesus is demanding here is hard, you're right. In fact, when Jesus finishes listing these six examples of how the righteousness of the disciples must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, He sums the whole thing up by saying, "you therefore must be perfect, as you heavenly Father is perfect." 

I know it sounds like an impossibly high standard that Jesus is setting for His disciples to take into in this world, but try to imagine a Christianity where everyone lived according to God's Law without the additions and subtractions. What salt of the earth, and what a light in the world there would be. 

Try to imagine a world where the One, Holy, Christian and Apostolic Church lived in the complete freedom that Christ has won for it by His cross and grave. What influence upon this world would His Church have if the men and women, boys and girls that professed to be members of it, actually believed that since He has kept the whole law for us we don't need to dumb it down so that we can keep it. 

And what if one day, this Christian Church so salted the earth and enlightened the world with this one, true faith, that it overcame the world? 

Try to imagine a world without anger, where everyone settled their difference out of love and respect for one another. In this world there is no adultery and no divorce but only holy marriages that in the image of the relationship of Christ to His bride the Church. Imagine this world where there is no need for oaths because everyone is true to their word, and the peace of Christ moves everyone to be reconciled with their enemy. 

It's hard to imagine I know. But this is precisely the world that Jesus has established by His life and death and resurrection from the dead. ^{(John 16:33)} "Take heart," He says, "I have overcome the world." ^{(Deuteronomy 30:20)}"This is the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, to give to them.". 

And so this movement of truth that God has established in this world to be "salt" and "light" goes back a long way and includes many. We are the beneficiaries of their witness to the one, true faith. May the Lord bless us to be "salt" and "light" in our generation and in generations to come. 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  

Epiphany 5 – 9 February 2020 – Year A

Grace and peace to you from God our father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is written in the 5^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Matthew: Verses 13–20:

“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.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵ No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, 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 in heaven.

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore, 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. ²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

This morning’s Gospel picks up where last week’s Gospel left off; the Beatitudes.  We are still in the first chapter of the Sermon on the Mount.  To more fully understand the teachings of Jesus that we heard this morning, it is important for us to review the context of these teachings.

Matthew sets the stage for the Sermon on the Mount with these words: ^{(Matthew 5:1-2)} “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” … Sometimes that word crowds diverts our attention away from the word disciples.  Matthew has begun to record the time of Jesus ministry when He is very popular.  So, there are crowds.  But, most importantly, Matthew also informs us that it was His disciples who came to listen to this sermon.  It is not clear from the context whether this is just the twelve disciples He has called to be His apostles or whether this is all His disciples.  What we do know is that Jesus is speaking to people who believe in Him.  While it is always good for believers and unbelievers to hear the Word of God, we should understand that the words in this sermon are primarily for believers.

Jesus began His sermon with the Beatitudes. ^{(Matthew 5:3–11)} “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.  We read through them earlier. With these words, Jesus comforted His hearers with the gifts that God gives to those who are utterly helpless.  God reigns for those who understand that they are “poor in spirit.”  God gives comfort to those who mourn over spiritual poverty.  God will give the earth to those who understand that they don’t deserve it.  And so, the blessings go on.  

Credible Bible commentaries have tied the Beatitudes to the Fifth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. (Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us): “We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace” Within the Beatitudes, Jesus reminds us that while we have nothing, God, by His grace, blesses us with everything.

Jesus has taught us that although we have nothing in ourselves, we have everything in Him.  In the section of the Sermon on the Mount that we heard in the Gospel reading, Jesus continued by telling us the effect His people will have on the world. ^{(Matthew 5:13–14)} “You are the salt of the earth … You are the light of the world.”

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, we take these words as commands instead of descriptions.  We start beating ourselves up because we are not salty enough or we are not shining our light.  We make it all about ourselves instead of about Jesus.  We want to be responsible for making ourselves salty and full of light.  But Jesus makes it very clear that saltiness and light are already ours in Him.

So, Jesus has said that we are “poor in spirit.”  When we stand before God, we’ve got nothing.  Then He told us that, although we are “poor in spirit,” He has blessed us with the reign of Heaven and all the other gifts of the Beatitudes.  Now we hear, that because of these blessings that He gives, we are salt and light to the earth.  What does it mean that we are salt and light?

Although doctors warn us about too much salt in our diets, it does have many good qualities.  For example: salt is a preservative.  Humanity has long known that food packed in salt will not spoil nearly as fast as usual.  Before refrigeration came along, salt was essential as a preservative.

Salt is also a disinfectant.  I remember learning from younger people a number of years ago who worked at McDonalds.  It was in the days that each restaurant made its own French Fries directly from raw potatoes.  They didn’t come frozen in boxes.  Making French fries was a full-time job.  That meant being exposed to hot fat and salt all the time.  Whenever hot fat would splash on bare skin it would create a burn, and of course in the random action of covering the chips with salt, the salt worked its way into the burn.  This resulted in two outcomes;  The salt caused the burnt area to sting like crazy, but the salt caused the burn to heal very quickly, and prevent it from getting infected.  So, as painful as the salt was, it promoted the healing of the burn.

When Jesus said that we are salt, He was thinking of the rotten corruption of evil in this world.  Just as salt disinfects and preserves, so also Jesus sends His people into the world to disinfect and preserve the world from sin.

Light is, more or less, the same thing.  When Jesus said that we are light, He was thinking of the darkness of sin.  Just as light dispels darkness and reveals the truth, so also Christ’s church is to dispel the deception of sin and reveal the truth of Christ’s salvation.  Certain frequencies of light also have disinfecting properties (ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, to be precise).  So, like the salt, this can also stand for disinfecting the world from sin.

I don’t think we truly appreciate how strange this is.  Jesus said, ^{(Matthew 5:16})  “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven”. … But, wait a minute.  Didn’t Jesus just remind us that we are “poor in spirit?”  Didn’t He just tell us that we come before God with nothing?  How, then, are we to bring glory to our Father who is in heaven?  How are we supposed to salt and light the world?

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.

The Bible, on the other hand, tells us that this salt and light are in Jesus.  The salt and light are in the Kingdom of Heaven that He gives to those who are “poor in spirit.”  The salt and light begin in Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit inspired John to write: ^{(John 1:4–5) 4}In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵The 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) 23”}And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb”. From these words we learn that Jesus is the light of the next world as well.

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: (Matthew 5:17) “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, ⁵to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children”. In this way, Jesus fulfilled the law for us.

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.

Our good works have nothing whatsoever to do with our salvation.  Jesus Christ, with His perfect life, His suffering and death, and His resurrection has already done everything.  Our salvation is a done deal in Him.  There is nothing left to do as far as our salvation is concerned.  Instead, our good works are the result of salvation at work in us.

Jesus does not ask us to be salt and light for our salvation.  Instead, He asks us to be salt and light for the sake of our neighbour.  This is what Jesus meant when He taught, ^{(Matthew 5:16)} “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Jesus commissions us to be salt and light so that our neighbour will come to know who God is so that the Holy Spirit may convert our neighbour to faith and discipleship.  He also commissions us to be salt and light for the education of our brothers and sisters in Christ so that we may encourage each other to grow in faith.

This is done as we live out our vocations as fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, teachers and students, employers and employees … that we work, play, and worship in a way that causes people to ask what makes us different.  Why do we strive for excellence in what we think, say, and do?  In this way, we will be salt and light to the world.

The devil, the world, and our own sinful nature will always accuse us of not being salt and light.  They will try to convince us that when we fail to be salt and light that we need to try harder.  We need to work on our saltiness.  We need to work at shining.  That is their constant lie: You need to try harder.  You need to work smarter.  You are the one who is responsible.  They know that no matter how hard we try or how smart we work, it will never be enough.  We are always doomed to failure.

Jesus says, “You are salt.  You are light.  It is not your work, but mine.”  Don’t listen to your heart.  Jesus says it is full of evil.  Don’t listen to the world for the world hates both you and God.  Don’t listen to the devil for he is the enemy of God.  Listen instead to the simple promise of Jesus Christ.  You are salt.  You are light.  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