The following is the sermon given by Rev. Christine Ng at Central Congregational Church on February 9th, based on Matthew 5:13-20.
You are salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. You are. You. Salt. Light. Not you can be, or you should be, or you will be. You are. Salt of the earth. Light of the world.
The Season after Epiphany is a time to think about how God is revealed – how God shines forth, like the star that guided the magi to the Christ child. This Epiphany we’ve been exploring our 2014 theme of “Come, Grow Share,” and in the process we’ve looked at how God is revealed in us: in who we are, and in how we are together. And from the scriptures we’ve discovered our true names: Beloved, Blessed – and we’ve considered how we can grow into those names to help make the kin-dom of God visible on earth.
Today’s scripture is also about our identity, about who we are in God, in Christ. But instead of describing us by name, Jesus describes us by our function. It’s like when we describe ourselves by our occupation or vocation: I’m a teacher – or I’m a nurse – or I’m a mother. Because what we do is part of who we are – though not all of it. It’s not a complete description, and we are often several things at once.
The descriptions Jesus gives of us here is also incomplete – but we can still learn something from it about ourselves, about who we were created to be: We are salt of the earth. We are the light of the world.
Let’s talk about salt. It can be a little harder to hear this description of us as positive today, given the messages we are being given all the time about how bad salt is for us – that we need to cut back on salt, go on low or no salt diets. But it’s only in modern times that an excess of salt has become a problem.
Through most of human history, salt has been something special, something precious. Saltworks, where salt is extracted from the water or earth have been found dating back to 6,000 years before the common era (BCE). The quest for salt led to the development of major trade routes around the world. Some cultures traded salt for gold – equally by weight. Makes a little more sense of the phrase “worth his/her salt” doesn’t it? Our word “salary” comes from a latin word used to describe trading for salt.
The Celtic word for “salt” means “holy” or “sacred,” and salt is used in the rites and rituals of many cultures and religions. For the Hebrews, salt was a sign of the covenant with God: it was sprinkled on offerings to show their trust in God. In Christianity, it was even traditionally used to consecrate a new church.
Why was salt considered so important? Think about what salt does. It gives flavor to what would otherwise be tasteless or bland. It helps make food come alive for our senses. It also preserves food – and is one of the first ways humans learned to do this. When we eat salt, it encourages us to drink water; it regulates our thirst.
Modern science has also discovered that the human body contains about 8 ounces of salt, it’s in our very cells, and we need salt to live. It helps our nerves and muscles function correctly. And as a society, we’ve learned that salt helps our cities function, by melting snow on roads and walkways.
Salt is distinctive, precious, and necessary. It helps bring out the flavor of life and makes things function smoothly. And we, Jesus tells us, are salt. Hmmm.
And then there’s the next description. Light. I remember when I first really read this passage it shocked me. “Light of the World”? It says we are “light of the world”? I thought that was another name for Jesus.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” True. But in Matthew’s Gospel, written much earlier, Jesus looks right at his disciples, right at me, right at you, and says, “You are the light of the world.” Who me? “Yes,” Jesus says, “you.”
A few weeks ago, we saw how for the prophet Isaiah we are mirrors, reflecting God’s light on the world. A beautiful image. But in Matthew’s Gospel, this is no reflected light we are shining. It’s light that is within us, each of us.
John Philip Newell describes how Christian writers out of the Celtic tradition thought of this kind of light as being the light described in the first creation story in Genesis. God said, “let there be light,” and there was light, before God created any external sources of light like the Sun or the stars. That light of the first day of creation could only come from one source, from God – and they believed that divine light permeates all of creation, including us – connecting us with each other, with all of creation, and ultimately with the One Source, with God.
Our modern creation story tells a similar tale -- of the Big Bang, and of how all the elements of our bodies were created in that process, so we are all connected, we are all stardust.
As an aside, it has been amazing to me this week to hear about Bill Nye, the Science Guy’s debate with Ken Ham about evolution verses creationism. It astounds me that in the 21st century this can still be considered debatable. It seems to me that placing religion and science as opposites shows only ignorance about both.
Which brings us back to light – the light that banishes the darkness of ignorance. Jesus says we are to let our light shine before others, placing it up high where everyone can see it. As Jesus describes it, our light is like a lamp that can illuminate a whole house, or a shining city that provides a beacon, like a lighthouse, to travelers on a darkened road. It’s a light that can make visible how God is working in the world, and so bring hope.
And all this matters, says Jesus, for the kingdom of heaven, the kin-dom of God. It matters. We matter. What we do matters. We are salt. We are light. Distinctive, precious, necessary, bright. This is how we live into God’s commandments to love God, to love each other. It matters, because without it – if the saltiness of life is gone, if the light is hidden – we will not see the kingdom of heaven here on earth.
But there is much both within us, and around us, that works against this – that leaches away the saltiness, that covers up our own bright glow. And it can be frightening and alarming, how easily and how quickly we can accept the blandness of life, accept the dimming of our light. Because so often we hear the message – who are we to spice things up? Who are we to shine? And we begin to think: I’m small – just one small person – insignificant. What can I do? Small things. So, it doesn’t matter, anyway. Why bother? Why try?
And as I was thinking about this, it occurred to me that what Jesus is talking about is integrity. Integrity means being honest and true to what you are – as in having personal integrity. Integrity also means being complete and whole, functioning well – as in a building that has structural integrity. Salt and light are elements that provide spiritual integrity to our world – making it complete, distinctive, living – that make earth function as it functions in heaven. And each of us plays a vital role in that.
It’s like those balsa-wood bridges kids make in school. Did any of you make those? You take small pieces of balsa wood and glue them together, connect them to build a bridge – and then there are competitions to see how much weight the bridge can hold. I remember them using books – piling them on the bridge. Apparently now more often they use a more accurate weight scale to measure force, but the concept is the same.
And if the bridge is engineered well, if it’s architecture is sound, if all the small parts are connected, and performing their proper function, then the force or energy put on it just flows through the structure – the bridge holds. But no matter how impressive the bridge looks, if even one necessary piece is out of place, is missing, isn’t thoroughly connected, then the bridge will collapse and isn’t good for anything. Being balsa, it’s probably not even good for kindling.
It seems to me that the kin-dom of heaven Jesus is talking about is like one of those bridges. We matter, each in our own way supporting the whole – providing spiritual integrity to the structure – making the kin-dom work. And if all the parts are connected in this divine architecture, then the Spirit flows through us unimpeded – and out into the world; and no matter how much stress is put on it, it holds.
But for this to happen, for us to see the kin-dom at work, for us to play our part, we need to have spiritual integrity ourselves. We need to be true to who we are – we are beloved, we are blessed; we are salt, we are light. Not just on Sundays – but in all aspects of our lives. And we need to be connected to others, in spiritual community, working together for the kin-dom, working for, as the scripture says, the glory of God.
And this begins by recognizing that Jesus wasn’t giving us a command – you should be salt, you should be light; and Jesus wasn’t talking about sometime in the future – you will be salt, you will be light; and he didn’t make it conditional – if you do this, then you can be salt; if you do that, then you can be light. Jesus said you are salt, you are light. Now. Right now. Just as you are. See it. Recognize it. Grow into it more and more.
Because the stronger each one of us becomes spiritually, and the stronger our connections to each other in this divine architecture we call the life and the life of faith, the more the Spirit’s energy can flow through us and the kin-dom of heaven with it’s love and compassion and justice becomes more and more real in our world.
So take a moment and think about what you’ve done today, this week. How have you been salt or light this week? Did you make someone laugh in joy? Did you smile at the cashier in the grocery store until they smiled back? Did you give a gift? Call a friend? As you sat in traffic, did you wave to someone who was waiting, letting them get in front of you? Did you see something that needed doing at home or around the church, and just do it yourself? Did you welcome a guest? Did you make something beautiful, or delicious, or special and share it? Did you volunteer to help? Did you lift up or praise someone else who did something nice, something good? Small things, maybe, but each small thing providing spiritual integrity to our lives, to our world.
You may not have thought of it that way at the time – but if you can start seeing everything you do through God’s eyes, with God’s vision; see how what you do is salty, how it’s bright; you will see how it’s all connected – connected to your faith, connected to God. This is one of the things we mean when we talk about “spiritual growth,” because the more we see this, the more we will live with spiritual integrity – the more we can find ways to make things more salty, more light. And the kin-dom grows.
So the next time you sprinkle salt or other seasoning on your food, the next time you turn on a light, let that act remind you of who you are: you are salt, you are light. Amen.
