"Whats With Salt & Light"

Feb 5, 2017   readings: 1 Corinthians 2: 1-12, Psalm 112: 1-9   Matt 5: 13-20

We often hear Jesus using metaphor to bring truths to our minds or our imaginations.    After presenting the eight Beatitudes, Jesus begins his Sermon on the Mount by making the analogy that his followers are like salt and light. 

To say that we who follow Christ are the salt of the earth implies that we bring “a distinctive flavor” or at least we should to our relationships with others.  Salt not only has a satisfying taste but it also has an edge you know.  Salt has the ability to preserve or to keep from decay.  If our salt or {our faith as it was intended to imply} has not lost it saltiness, we can bring an aliveness to what would otherwise seems tasteless and bland.  That is what Jesus is implying to his disciples of yesteryear and to us today.  We who follow and represent Him are the faithful, and we are responsible to preserve the faith for generations to come.  Not an easy task especially if we are relying on the church as we have known it.     Here, I truly believe, we are being challenged to take a good honest look at how we are doing church folks.  Especially if we intend to accomplish the responsibility of preserving our faith for future generations, for we are to Jesus the salt of the earth folks!

Salt has many properties but one of the most important is its ability to extend or preserve the shelf life of anything it comes into contact with.  How many have ever noticed the salt content on the label of canned soups.  Check it out, some brands have so much salt content they really don’t need to put an expire date on the can, cause they will last forever.    Now think about this folks for Jesus also uses the illustration of salts preserving properties to show us that we who remain salty or faithful, will also last forever.  And that we are responsible to pass our saltiness {faithfulness} to others so that the next generation can be part of the eternal existence we all long for.  Salt is also used to stimulate thirst.  Can you see how this imagery can be used in our practice of our faith, and how it can also stimulate others to thirst for what we have? 

May I suggest that for at least the past thirty years much of the population in the west has been greatly influenced by the therapeutic movement or what I might call the self-help craze which focuses mainly on psychology insights to deal with the human condition. Two prime examples would be Oprah or Dr. Phil.   Generally speaking these books are helpful but often the deeper insights found within the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament often take second place or in some instances are left out completely in the healing process.   Support and affirmation for the human condition has its place to be sure, but, there are times when what is needed is a good swift kick in the pants to wake us up to a better choice, which for the Christian is to follow Christ.  Do you know the lyrics to "Seek Ye First The Kingdom of God"?
We have many illustrations where Jesus is both affirming to the human condition and confrontational as He challenged the behavior of the person he has befriended or administered to.   Jesus accepted the rich man but on the other hand challenged him to sell all his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor, illustrating that true riches are not founded in materialism.  Mark 10: 21.    He came to the rescue of the women who had committed adultery but then instructed her to turn away from her present situation and make better choices for herself in the future.  Something many of us may need to consider.  John 8: 11.  Jesus illustrates for us that a balance of both psychological and spiritual healing are needed within the human condition.   Affirming the person upholds their dignity regardless of the circumstances and that is good but challenging ones behavior invites self- examination and change for a better life.   Saltiness keeps our faith alive but there should always be room to grow both spiritually and personally.  Blind faith may be good but having the lights turned on now and again makes us a better person. 

Now think about this for a moment folks.  The Good Sheppard’s staff has two ends to it.  The hook of the staff is for saving His sheep who have become lost, while the pointed end is used to prod, to keep us moving in the right direction and the Sheppard just may poke us now and again to challenge our thinking and or our behavior.

The use of light as a metaphor allows Jesus to express that as followers of His way we need to light up the pathway for others to see and follow.   Our faith should not be hidden under a bushel or bucket, meaning we shouldn’t keep it to ourselves as some may feel.  Song “This Little Light of Mine”

 We need to put our light on the lamp stand so other can see it.  Our faith was meant to be shared not hidden or horded.  The idea that my faith is private between me and God is not true to the gospel.  It takes great courage to express your faith with others not in just words but in actions.  “Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” the bible tells us, Matthew 5: 16  In other words let us not be shy or ashamed to announce our allegiance to Christ.   Let us never forget that without light darkness dominates.   Jesus encourages us to bring light to a dark and broken world.  The light He refers to here is the light of the Gospel and it draws all people to its warmth and radiance.  It is not just for the members of the church as some would believe, and by the way, church is not a building but a body of believers.  Church is the only organization on earth that exists for those who are not its members says Archbishop William Temple,   Did you hear that, let me repeat it then? --------------------------------because the church is wherever two or more are gathered in my name sayth the Lord.    

 In order for the light to be seen, we must go where the darkness exists.   We are to engage and walk through the darkness, so that in time the light can overcome it.  Light is less likely to be noticed or appreciated where only light exists.   A word of cushion here for this truth must be understood before we can become carriers of Jesus’ light.  You must look at and accept the darkness in your own life.  We can no longer pretend we have none.   Parker Palmer refers to this process as looking or reading our inner landscape.   While looking inward is never easy, but it is essential because,  you cannot give good advice to others if you are ignoring it in your own life.  You cannot truly love and care for another if you are lacking or weak in self care, self respect and self love.    When we become light for others, we are more likely to fulfill the commandment “love the Lord your God with all our heart, strength and mind and love our neighbor as ourselves”.