Sermon preached at St. Alban's on February 09, 2014
The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Year A
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann
This Morning’s Gospel passage from Matthew, which is part of the Sermon on the Mount, has the potential of providing enough material for at least three sermons or perhaps a single one of longer duration. But before everyone begins to squirm in their seats let me assure you that my homiletics professor always cautioned us against preaching multiple sermons at one time, not only at the risk of losing the primary message, but the congregation as well.
However, at the risk of breaking any unofficial rules of content and length, I would suggest that the first two themes of salt and light go hand in hand even though they appear to be two different metaphors; they are two sides of the same coin, if you will. So what did Jesus mean when he told his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world”?
Aside from being necessary for our existence and the only mineral that we take directly from the earth to consume, salt has traditionally been used as a preservative for food. When applied properly and in proportion, salt also enhances the natural flavor of meat and vegetables.
Historically, salt has been held in such high regard that in certain cultures it was used as a form of currency; roads were constructed to transport it; some of the earliest recorded taxes were imposed upon it; and wars were fought to acquire it.
Besides dietary use, salt also had utilitarian purposes. For instance, salt was mixed with animal manure and dried in the sun to create briquettes for the cooking fire. The presence of salt increased the longevity of the fuel and evenness of heat on the cooking surface. In addition, a thick bed of salt was placed beneath the stones of an oven to help retain the heat. When the salt was spent of these heat enhancing qualities, it was dug out and thrown onto a muddy road to harden the surface. (Keep that in the back of your mind when you hear Jesus say, “You are the salt of the earth”; there will be days when you feel like a dung heap or beaten down like a well worn path!)
Theologically, especially in Judaism, salt was a symbol of purification and permanence. God instructed Moses to formulate incense from various components and to season it with salt, pure and holy (Ex 30:35). God instructed the priests to never omit salt from their grain offerings (Lev 2:13) to the end that all sacrifices were offered with salt. The dependent relationship of the Levitical priests to the remaining tribes of the Israelites is described as an unbreakable and everlasting “covenant of salt” (Num 18:19) which was the same term later used to symbolize the covenant between God and the royal house of David (2Ch 13:5).
So when Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth” these were not idle words; the word ‘salt’ conjured up all sorts of imagery in the minds of his audience.
Likewise, when Jesus said, “You are the light of the world,” he followed it with the statement; “A city on a hill cannot be hidden,” which would have immediately brought images of Israel and Jerusalem to the minds of his audience.
You see, the prophet Isaiah instructs Israel to walk in the light of the Lord (2:5), the source of which comes from the Temple in Jerusalem. By following God’s word and instruction, Israel will become a fire (10:17) and a light to the nations of the world (42:6) so that the Lord’s salvation shall reach the end of the earth (49:6). Jerusalem is the lamp stand and the people of Israel are to be a beacon of light piercing the darkness of the pagan world. They themselves were not the source of the light, but were called to reflect the light of the love of the Creator God as an example of covenantal relationship between God and His people.
But Jesus’ implication of salt having lost its taste and a lighted lamp being covered by a basket is that Israel had failed as a nation to keep their end of the covenant with God. Israel herself, and Jerusalem, that shining city upon the hill, were no longer an illuminating light beckoning and guiding the world into a relationship with God by warning them of the effects of evil and darkness. Like salt that has lost its propensity of preservation, purity, and improvement, Israel had become hardened, which led to their being repeatedly trampled underfoot by occupying pagan governments.
But look closely at what Jesus is telling his disciples. You are the salt of the earth! You are the light of the world! In the Greek language this is not singular, but plural with a sense of corporate embodiment! Y’all are the salt of the earth; not for yourselves, but for the earth! Y’all are the light of the world; not for closed fellowship, but for the whole world! And we don’t become salt and light; we are those things right now! But as salt and light who follow Christ Jesus, we are activated into bringing a joyful zest to life, shining the love of God upon everyone we encounter.
You see, as Christians, being salt and light is not about membership status, but that of function! Yes, we are called together each week to worship the Triune God and to give Him thanks by offering our souls and bodies to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice, so that by partaking of the most precious Body and Blood of Jesus the Messiah we may be filled with God’s grace and blessing, and brought into communion with Him. This physical and spiritual recharging is necessary in order for us to function as salt and light.
But after the Mass is over (and for most Episcopalians, that means after coffee hour), we are dismissed to go out into the world! Having been fed and nurtured with spiritual food we ask God to send us out to do the work He has given us to do, which is to love and serve Him with gladness and singleness of heart as faithful witnesses of Christ Jesus our Lord. Loving and serving the Lord is the good work which gives glory to our Father in heaven. When we love and serve the Lord, the world can see the fire of God’s love working in and through our lives.
However, it’s important not to misrepresent or misappropriate the source of the light. The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church; the corporate and mystical Body of Christ, is a window through which the light of God’s love is seen or perhaps a mirror by which it is reflected upon the world. To be a light of the world is not to say, “Look at me,” but rather to say, “Look at Christ within me.”
In other words, it’s not about us! It’s not even about St. Alban’s! It’s not about all of the things we have accomplished in the past nor the things we are doing right now. It’s about what God will accomplish through us when we walk out of these doors! To paraphrase Winston Churchill, if we constantly compare the past with the present we shall find that we have lost the future.
In closing, let me point out something that we have available to remind us of being salt and light. At the right of the door from the narthex into the nave and to the right of the first door from the hallway into the nave, you will find Holy Water stoops mounted on the wall.
Now in making Holy Water holy, a priest offers the creatures of salt and water upon the altar, and prays over them asking God to exorcise all spiritual impurities from their midst. They are then mingled together and prayed over again, asking God’s blessings upon the mixture so that wherever it is sprinkled in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, all unclean spirits will be driven away and the presence of the Holy Spirit be granted to all who ask for Divine mercy.
By dipping one’s fingers into the stoop and making the sign of the cross while invoking the Name of the Triune God, we are reminded of our baptismal vows. By this simple gesture, we recall that by being baptized into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are willing participants in an unbreakable and everlasting “covenant of salt” between God and ourselves.
And even though most of us were too young to remember, our parents were given a candle at the time of our baptism, which was lighted from the Pascal Candle. The Pascal Candle is a symbol of Christ as the true Light; the Light that came into the world to overcome darkness, and the Light whose life was the light of all people. Jesus is the source of our light and life. So I would encourage each of us to light that candle on the anniversary of our baptism to remind us of the day we were reborn into the life of Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, at the dismissal when you hear the words, “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord,” give thanks to God by dipping your fingers into the Holy Water as you walk through the door, touching it to your forehead and making the sign of the Cross, remembering that in Christ we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. In Nomine Patris
However, at the risk of breaking any unofficial rules of content and length, I would suggest that the first two themes of salt and light go hand in hand even though they appear to be two different metaphors; they are two sides of the same coin, if you will. So what did Jesus mean when he told his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world”?
Aside from being necessary for our existence and the only mineral that we take directly from the earth to consume, salt has traditionally been used as a preservative for food. When applied properly and in proportion, salt also enhances the natural flavor of meat and vegetables.
Historically, salt has been held in such high regard that in certain cultures it was used as a form of currency; roads were constructed to transport it; some of the earliest recorded taxes were imposed upon it; and wars were fought to acquire it.
Besides dietary use, salt also had utilitarian purposes. For instance, salt was mixed with animal manure and dried in the sun to create briquettes for the cooking fire. The presence of salt increased the longevity of the fuel and evenness of heat on the cooking surface. In addition, a thick bed of salt was placed beneath the stones of an oven to help retain the heat. When the salt was spent of these heat enhancing qualities, it was dug out and thrown onto a muddy road to harden the surface. (Keep that in the back of your mind when you hear Jesus say, “You are the salt of the earth”; there will be days when you feel like a dung heap or beaten down like a well worn path!)
Theologically, especially in Judaism, salt was a symbol of purification and permanence. God instructed Moses to formulate incense from various components and to season it with salt, pure and holy (Ex 30:35). God instructed the priests to never omit salt from their grain offerings (Lev 2:13) to the end that all sacrifices were offered with salt. The dependent relationship of the Levitical priests to the remaining tribes of the Israelites is described as an unbreakable and everlasting “covenant of salt” (Num 18:19) which was the same term later used to symbolize the covenant between God and the royal house of David (2Ch 13:5).
So when Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth” these were not idle words; the word ‘salt’ conjured up all sorts of imagery in the minds of his audience.
Likewise, when Jesus said, “You are the light of the world,” he followed it with the statement; “A city on a hill cannot be hidden,” which would have immediately brought images of Israel and Jerusalem to the minds of his audience.
You see, the prophet Isaiah instructs Israel to walk in the light of the Lord (2:5), the source of which comes from the Temple in Jerusalem. By following God’s word and instruction, Israel will become a fire (10:17) and a light to the nations of the world (42:6) so that the Lord’s salvation shall reach the end of the earth (49:6). Jerusalem is the lamp stand and the people of Israel are to be a beacon of light piercing the darkness of the pagan world. They themselves were not the source of the light, but were called to reflect the light of the love of the Creator God as an example of covenantal relationship between God and His people.
But Jesus’ implication of salt having lost its taste and a lighted lamp being covered by a basket is that Israel had failed as a nation to keep their end of the covenant with God. Israel herself, and Jerusalem, that shining city upon the hill, were no longer an illuminating light beckoning and guiding the world into a relationship with God by warning them of the effects of evil and darkness. Like salt that has lost its propensity of preservation, purity, and improvement, Israel had become hardened, which led to their being repeatedly trampled underfoot by occupying pagan governments.
But look closely at what Jesus is telling his disciples. You are the salt of the earth! You are the light of the world! In the Greek language this is not singular, but plural with a sense of corporate embodiment! Y’all are the salt of the earth; not for yourselves, but for the earth! Y’all are the light of the world; not for closed fellowship, but for the whole world! And we don’t become salt and light; we are those things right now! But as salt and light who follow Christ Jesus, we are activated into bringing a joyful zest to life, shining the love of God upon everyone we encounter.
You see, as Christians, being salt and light is not about membership status, but that of function! Yes, we are called together each week to worship the Triune God and to give Him thanks by offering our souls and bodies to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice, so that by partaking of the most precious Body and Blood of Jesus the Messiah we may be filled with God’s grace and blessing, and brought into communion with Him. This physical and spiritual recharging is necessary in order for us to function as salt and light.
But after the Mass is over (and for most Episcopalians, that means after coffee hour), we are dismissed to go out into the world! Having been fed and nurtured with spiritual food we ask God to send us out to do the work He has given us to do, which is to love and serve Him with gladness and singleness of heart as faithful witnesses of Christ Jesus our Lord. Loving and serving the Lord is the good work which gives glory to our Father in heaven. When we love and serve the Lord, the world can see the fire of God’s love working in and through our lives.
However, it’s important not to misrepresent or misappropriate the source of the light. The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church; the corporate and mystical Body of Christ, is a window through which the light of God’s love is seen or perhaps a mirror by which it is reflected upon the world. To be a light of the world is not to say, “Look at me,” but rather to say, “Look at Christ within me.”
In other words, it’s not about us! It’s not even about St. Alban’s! It’s not about all of the things we have accomplished in the past nor the things we are doing right now. It’s about what God will accomplish through us when we walk out of these doors! To paraphrase Winston Churchill, if we constantly compare the past with the present we shall find that we have lost the future.
In closing, let me point out something that we have available to remind us of being salt and light. At the right of the door from the narthex into the nave and to the right of the first door from the hallway into the nave, you will find Holy Water stoops mounted on the wall.
Now in making Holy Water holy, a priest offers the creatures of salt and water upon the altar, and prays over them asking God to exorcise all spiritual impurities from their midst. They are then mingled together and prayed over again, asking God’s blessings upon the mixture so that wherever it is sprinkled in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, all unclean spirits will be driven away and the presence of the Holy Spirit be granted to all who ask for Divine mercy.
By dipping one’s fingers into the stoop and making the sign of the cross while invoking the Name of the Triune God, we are reminded of our baptismal vows. By this simple gesture, we recall that by being baptized into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are willing participants in an unbreakable and everlasting “covenant of salt” between God and ourselves.
And even though most of us were too young to remember, our parents were given a candle at the time of our baptism, which was lighted from the Pascal Candle. The Pascal Candle is a symbol of Christ as the true Light; the Light that came into the world to overcome darkness, and the Light whose life was the light of all people. Jesus is the source of our light and life. So I would encourage each of us to light that candle on the anniversary of our baptism to remind us of the day we were reborn into the life of Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, at the dismissal when you hear the words, “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord,” give thanks to God by dipping your fingers into the Holy Water as you walk through the door, touching it to your forehead and making the sign of the Cross, remembering that in Christ we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. In Nomine Patris
