Sermon 5th Sunday after Epiphany

Sermon Epiphany 5 2011

Text: Matthew 5:13-20

Last week we heard Jesus begin his Sermon on the Mount with a pronouncement of blessing upon those listening to him, both then and now. We heard Jesus declare us blessed, and tell us to work to tell others of their own blessedness.

This week we get two little sections of the Sermon. One finishes the introduction and the other is itself an introduction to the core of the Sermon on the Mount.

It is also Super Bowl Sunday today, a high point in the American Secular “Church,” if you will. How do we connect these sections of a large Sermon both to the sermon and to ourselves on this day.

Contrary to the song from “The Sound of Music,”which says “the beginning is a very good place to start”, I am going to start with the ending of our passage today. It is very important, but without connecting it to what it introduces in the coming weeks, we can miss some of its meaning. In this section, often called “The Law and the Greater Righteousness,” Jesus states the focus of the majority of his sermon. He declares: “Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”Jesus is clear that he is not removing the law or the prophets, but he is, and will in the next sections, declare that the methods of the Pharisee's and the Scribes are misguided. The Law referring to the Torah or Pentateuch the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible and the Prophets referring to the writings following the late prophets of Israel and Judah. In the language of Jesus' time, the scriptures. Jesus contends that what is important about the Law and the Prophets, about scripture, is not rote obeying or repetition of what the law says, but looking at what they mean. To go beyond blindly following to understanding what it truly means. To Jesus the Law and the Prophets show a way to mediate the will of God, to enunciate the principle that “mercy, justice, love, and covenant loyalty are the weightier matters of the law by which the rest must be judged.”1 Jesus is echoing what we heard last week from Micah. What is important is not doing directly what the law says, but what the law was written for, to help the Israelites and ourselves work to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with [our] God? (Micah 6:8)” We will see in the coming weeks how Jesus shows that to gain greater righteousness than the pharisees and scribes we need to see the Law and Prophets in a wider sense than they do.

This core of the Sermon on the Mount is surrounded by two references to the Law and the Prophets. The one we just heard of fulfilling the Law and Prophets, and then Matthew 7:12. "In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.” What Jesus speaks of as fulfilling the Law and the Prophets is to see them as the Golden Rule, working to do to others as we would have done to us.

But What do we do? And maybe more importantly who are we?

It returns us to Jesus' initial message in our passage. “You are the Salt of the Earth”, “You are the Light of the World.” “A city on a hill.”

Directly after declaring blessings upon the disciples and those listening to him, Jesus again announces something about who they are and who we are. Jesus does not say you who want to be, you are the Salt of the Earth and Light of the World. Jesus straight up decrees that we are salt, we are light.

Salt is a necessity for life, without salt, we will die, it is required. We cannot go without it. Salt is the seasoning of life, it is the preserver, it has weight and worth. But, Salt by itself does nothing. Salt works on things beyond itself. “Salt does not exist for itself, nor do the disciples, their life is turned outward to the world.”2 Our lives are to be turned not towards ourselves, but towards the world. To be salt means to be in the world, seasoning, preserving, giving the world weight and worth. Giving those who have no life, … life, no hope, … hope.

And this is all through what Jesus has done for us, we are Salt only because Jesus has made us Salt. We are light only because the Light of Christ shines upon us. Just as Salt is for things beyond itself, light is only worthy when it works to show the path to others, to show others the way.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday, a day of feasting and partying, looking in upon ourselves, our own joys and strengths. But we also mark Soup-er Bowl Sunday A day when we look out upon the world, seeing the places that are racked by hurt and destruction, hunger and thirst. ELCA World Hunger and ELCA Disaster Response work to be Salt and Light to those in need. It is one place, of many, where we are Salt and Light to others.

Meet one helped through ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Response.

Jauvalda Francique is 3 years old and eager to go to school—especially since the school she’ll be going to is brand new and her parents helped build it.

The school building in Jauvalda’s home town of Léogâne in Haiti was nearly destroyed in the January 2010 earthquake. With help from ELCA Disaster Response, a new school building has risen from the rubble, designed to withstand earthquakes, floods and hurricanes. To help students feel safe within its sturdy walls, families were invited to participate in the planning meetings and were kept informed throughout the construction of their new school.

Parents were hired to help with construction. Children chose the colors. School families asked that the shutters be painted with words in Creole, French, English and even Finnish, a nod to the construction manager. Natural ventilation and plenty of light make the new school a cheerful, comfortable and safe place for children to learn.

Josette Jean Pierre, age 11, is delighted to be studying again. She says, “I’m happy to be back at school.” Her little neighbor Jauvalda can’t wait to get started herself.

Those are to whom we are Salt, and Light, those are who we bless, those are who we do to, and hope that they do to us in the same. Give to help those who need it. In the midst of your celebrations pray for those underprivileged, oppressed, reviled, and hurt in this world. Pray for the people of Egypt, overcome by violence, for those of Australia, overcome by floods and storms, for those here at home, overcome by winter. Do not hide your Light, let it show forth into the world.

We are Salt and Light.

We cannot be anything but.

We cannot help but be salty, giving life to the world, and we cannot help but be light shining brightly forth the love, mercy, kindness, and justice of Jesus Christ. The Light through which Jesus fulfills the Law and the Prophets. And we can only do it through Christ our Lord. Just as others long for help, so do we. We cry out for worth, for weight, for meaning, for life. We cry for light for our paths, we fear the dark. And it is through Christ that we are fed, nourished, and given light. Our prayer as we end is two verses from the Hymn Christ, Be Our Light.

Let us pray,

Longing for light, we wait in darkness.

Longing for truth, we turn to you.

Make us your own, your holy people,

light for the world to see.

Many the gifts, many the people,

many the hearts that yearn to belong.

Let us be servants to one another,

making your kingdom come.

Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts.

Shine through the darkness.

Christ, be our light!

Shine in your church gathered today.

Amen