To access a video of the sermon, please visit this link. The sermon starts around 33:20 with the reading of the gospel lesson.
The lesson is found in the Matthew 5:13-20, and read in the CEB
It is an interesting image the one that Matthew paints of these first moments in Jesus’ ministry. At the end of chapter 4, Matthew describes the calling of the first disciples followed by the beginning of the ministry of Jesus in Galilee. Beginning in Galilee – an economic, social and political margin of first century Palestine – was no coincidence. It is important for Matthew to portray a Jesus that is the fulfillment of the Jewish prophecies about the Messiah – the anointed one. Throughout Matthew you will often read something like, “this happened to fulfill what was written by…”
News of what this Jesus was doing spread, it seems, quite rapidly throughout the region. And how could it not – the man spoke nicely, let alone speaking a message of reconciliation and justice, of love and peace. Jesus also healed all manner of ailments, which in a time when many would work all day and barely had money to provide a decent roof and food for their family, and when healthcare was expensive, often inaccessible and usually inadequate… this would catch people’s attention (and, of course, I’m talking about first century Palestine, not the US in the 21st century). Matthew describes that crowds started gathering from near and far, and that when he saw the crowds “he went up a mountain and sat down with his disciples.”
Chapter 5 of Matthew begins what is known as the Sermon of the Mount. Whether you’ve read some, all or none of it, I commend it to you. And I also suggest that you read the whole sermon on one sitting - it goes through chapter 7. However biblical scholars think this collection of teaching came about – whether it was actually shared on one sitting, or whether it’s a literary tool to collect multiple teaching moments – Matthew has the intention to collect these for his community in one place. I think Matthew wanted to paint a picture of the gathering power of the presence and message of Jesus during his ministry, and also in the time of the church of Matthew. You see, Matthew wrote this gospel without even imagining that it would become a fundamental guide for Christians in the future (let alone 21 centuries later). I wonder what Matthew’s purpose for his community was in organizing the Jesus story in the way he did. But what seems to be clear is that, in describing the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, Matthew wanted to caution the folks in his church about building expectations about the gathering power the messages and actions of the gospel. I think Matthew wanted to caution the Church from a “build it and they’ll come” mentality – as if the gospel were a series of steps towards gathering multitudes. Indeed, the news of Jesus not only spread far, but folks started arriving from afar to see, hear and touch and be touched by Jesus. But the purpose of the good news of the gospel is not the proclamation of the gospel in and of itself. The purpose of the Gospel – proclaimed and acted – is pointing to God as the source of salvation and reconciliation.
So what does Matthew do – he narrates that in the midst of folks coming from all over, perhaps as crowds were gathering or in preparation of the crowd that ended up gathered at the end of chapter 7, Matthew paints a picture of Jesus going to the top of a mountain, sitting down, and his “disciples” coming to him. And this perspective in the image Matthew is paining in his gospel has been essential in the way I approach scripture and the way I am convicted about the calling we share as a community of faith. You see, the Sermon of the Mount, and perhaps indeed the whole of the gospels and of the biblical narrative, is meant first and foremost for the followers of Jesus. Having all this commotion around him – folks coming from all over to listen, see and be touched by the healing hand of Jesus – what he does is to step aside, even if for a moment, to teach his disciples (you and me) what this thing he begins calling the kingdom of heaven come near is all about.
The Kingdom of Heaven is far more than a philosophical or theological construct. It is about being near and dear to the circumstances that surround people’s reality. This Kingdom of Heaven come near is about the fulfillment of the message of God to humanity as far back as the creation moment itself. The fulfillment of the law and the prophets is most certainly not a checklist Jesus is carrying around keeping tabs on everything we do. God is most certainly all knowing. But fulfilling the law and the prophets is not about our adherence to them, but about how the stipulation of the law and the messages of the prophets continually challenge our most fundamental nature – as humans and as children of God. It is all about how we relate to each other, how we engage with our less known other (our neighbor), and how we allow ourselves in those sets of relationships to be fully ourselves. It is in that being in genuine relationship that propels us to do what is just. The lesson uses the word “righteousness”, but the original in Greek has a deeper meaning than simply being a person or doing an action of moral character. Justice, in the way Jesus teaches it throughout the Gospels, is about an ethical mandate that beyond doing things correctly for oneself and for those one holds near, is a being and doing that is committed with the transformation of the life circumstances of everyone in the community and of the systems that advantages one over others. For the kingdom of heaven is not about getting there first. It is about all getting there.
Curious the images of salt and light as examples of this commitment to relationship and justice. Very few of us may have experience what being in the dark, at night, with little or not light means. And even when some of us might have experienced a black-out over one or more nights, we always have the expectation now a days that the power will be restored, and the lights will come back on again. Certainly not the case in the first century. When Jesus describes us as light, Jesus was describing an expensive resource and one that was not readily and easily available. There is no sense in wasting a good candle or a good fire in the first century, especially during the night. Not only does light in the dark provide illumination. More fundamentally, light makes things visible and provides a reference point. That is why a city cannot be hidden. For those who live outside of a city, looking at the distance at night and seeing the lights of the city gives them direction. If we are followers of Jesus, we are lights in the world. There is no sense in hiding who we are becoming in Jesus Christ, for that is good news. We have been lit by the power of the Holy Spirit in baptism, in communion, in community.
Salt is a staple in most of our homes. I am not a betting man, but if I were, I’d wager that we can readily find salt in this building. And as many of us know, salt has many uses – cooking, healing, melting. We are the salt of the earth. I like that it says “of the earth” because I believe it challenges not only our relationships with fellow humans, but also our relationships with the environment.
We are salt for cooking. Too much salt in one spot will make that part of the meal too salty and inedible. But if we spread it around it can bring out the full flavor potential of most anything we eat. We are called to spread around beyond this place for we have the call and capacity to bring out the full potential of this community we have been called to be in and serve.
We are salt for healing. Salt is one of the oldest and most effective agents to clean and heal wounds. Too much salt in a wound and it would do the same as scratching it with sandpaper. In the right amount it can purify water and in a wound with water it can clean while actively healing that wound. We are called not to scratch the wounds of sin and injustice. We are called to clean injustice and to restore the health and dignity of the community.
Salt in the ground after a snowfall – especially when the light of the sun hits the salt – can melt snow and make pathways safe. We are called to open the ways for folks all around us to safely know about Jesus. But notice that salt in and of itself is nothing. Salt enhances the flavor of food, but by itself it’s just… salty. Salt can heal, but it needs to be diluted for it to be truly effective. Salt can melt, but in many circumstances, it will need the power of the sun to accelerate it potential. We are the salt of the earth, and always in service with and for others… and empowered by what makes us salty and bright – the Holy Spirit.
Be fully yourself – salty and bright. All that we can do and all that we will continue to be sent to do will be made possible by the God who calls us into community. And you and I are called to that work by the grace of God. Let’s not be a staple in a cabinet – let’s give flavor, heal and provide safe ways. Let’s allow ourselves to shine. It is being fully ourselves as disciples of Christ that the world will see “the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven.”