Loving God, you have made us your own through our baptism into Christ and have called us to let our light shine.  Empower us by your Holy Spirit to be faithful witnesses, living our lives in your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    “You are the salt of the earth” (Mt. 5:13) – Did you know that that’s a good thing?  You are highly valued.  You can heal and you can stimulate and you can preserve.  You are inconspicuous and ordinary and yet so very useful!  You are the salt of the earth. – Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “If you do this, this, this and this, then you will be the salt of the earth.”  He doesn’t say, “If you are good enough, then you will be the salt of the earth.”  Instead, this is a statement of fact.  Those who believe in Jesus and follow him are the salt of the earth.

    What do we do, then, with this bit about salt losing its taste?  How many of you have ever had salt go bad on you?  It’s just not going to happen, right?  Pure sodium chloride does not deteriorate.  And so, why are there three different passages in the gospels that all talk about salt losing its saltiness and being trampled underfoot?

    Some have suggested that there was impure salt in Syria that would deteriorate under certain conditions.  Others have said that if you mix salt with common earth, it won’t be useful any more.  Still others have suggested that this is a ridiculous statement intended to get people to say, “That’s never going to happen!”

    In fact, it is just as ridiculous as lighting an oil lamp or even a candle and placing it under a bushel basket.  What’s going to happen if you put a bushel basket over your oil lamp? – You’re going to start a fire!  What a silly thing to do!  Of course you’re going to put it on a lamp stand where it can give light to the whole house.  “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Mt. 5:16).

    Once again, Jesus does not say, “You are the light of the world if you do this, this, and this.”  He also does not say, “If you do all of the right things then you might be considered to be the light of the world.”  Instead, it is a simple statement of fact – once again.  “You are the light of the world” (Mt. 5:14).  What an exalted position!  Yet, I have to wonder how many people listen to today’s gospel and hear only law.  How many of you listen to it and think, “Uh oh.  What am I not doing that I should be?”

    Today, I want to invite you to hear the affirmation in what Jesus says.  You are the salt of the earth.  You are the light of the world.  You are highly valued, and you are out there letting your light shine and bringing zest and healing.

    This week I tried something a little bit different and asked some people in the congregation how God had been working through them lately.  I asked how God had been working through them - and you - in order to help others.  I expected that a lot of people either wouldn’t respond or would say that God hadn’t been working through them at all.  After all, we’re supposed to avoid pride, right?  And yet, is it prideful to allow ourselves to be used by God?

    The responses that I got from people were actually pretty cool.  You are the salt of the earth, and you are the light of the world, and here’s what God has been doing through you lately: You have been caring for relatives and friends and have opened your homes to relatives who needed a place to stay in Winnipeg for a week or two.  You have helped your neighbours clear the snow from their sidewalks and driveways, often without being asked.  You have visited people who are sick or shut-in, and you have fed hungry people who needed a meal.

    You have been teaching Sunday school and washing feet.  You have listened as others have vented their frustrations and have assured them of God’s grace.  You have sat with dying relatives and held their hand and comforted them.  You have allowed God’s Spirit to work through you in your work, helping to lessen people’s pain.  You have shared your faith with others from your hospital bed, inviting others to join you for Communion.  You have prayed for family and friends and have watched the answers to those prayers unfold right before your eyes.  You have even given the pastor a ride when her car got stuck in a snowdrift.

    God has been doing all kinds of things through you lately, because you are the salt of the earth and you are the light of the world.  “Salt is good,” proclaim Mark and Luke (Mk. 9:50; Lk. 14:34), but then there is that odd bit about it being thrown away.  Light is essential to our health and well-being and allows us to see what is there.  However, light, too, can be extinguished, or turned off, or hidden away where nobody can see it.

    However, it is not God who is about to do this.  God has made us to be salt and light, and the only way we can be otherwise is to reject Jesus Christ and throw away what God has given us.  Otherwise, it is simply a matter of growing into what God has already declared us to be.

    Of course, this may seem difficult at times, but that’s where the Holy Spirit comes into the picture.  It is the Holy Spirit who works through us in order to make us the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  It is the Holy Spirit who makes us “more righteous” than the scribes and the Pharisees.  It is the Holy Spirit who adopts us as God’s own children and covers us over with the love of Jesus and helps us to grow into the people whom God has created us to be.

    At the same time, I have to think that the Holy Spirit is also at work to help us as a congregation to grow into the community that we are intended to be.  After all, aren’t we also collectively the salt of the earth and the light of the world?  In fact, next week at our annual meeting, we will have some opportunities before us where this congregation can let our light shine in the wider community and in the world.  It continues to be true that we can do so much more together than we could simply as individuals.

    And so, continue to let your light shine in your day to day interactions with other people.  Let your light shine in the way in which you treat one another and in every decision that you make.  Let your light shine in your work and in your family and among your friends.  Allow God to continue to work through you, bringing light and hope and healing into this world.

    You are the salt of the earth.  You are the light of the world.  Your faith in Jesus Christ says so.  Amen.

Epiphany 5(A)                                Matthew 5:13-20
February 6, 2011
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2011 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved