Fifth Sunday After Epiph…

Fifth Sunday After Epiphany | Sermon on Matthew 5:13-20, by Brad Everett |

It’s early in Jesus’ ministry and his time with the disciples. He’s called them from their various places and they have followed him, all around Galilee, listening to him teach and preach in the synagogues and watched him heal every disease and infirmity—all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics and paralytics.

The result of all this is that great crowds were following Jesus, people coming for the towns and villages around Galilee, as far away as Jerusalem and all the countryside in between.

The disciples have had a front row seat for Jesus’ ministry and getting a sense of his mission. They heard him preach, watched the miracles, and seen the impact he had on individuals as well as the crowds.

All of which was well and good—a vital part of a disciple’s formation was simply to follow, watch and listen to their master and teacher. But Jesus didn’t call the 12 to simply be spectators or interested bystanders of his ministry. He called them for much more and the Sermon on the Mount (where today’s gospel found) is where Jesus sets out for them in detail what this life of discipleship will look like.

Now the Sermon on the Mount is three chapters long and what we have here are 8 verses from the beginning of this particular teaching. So while today’s passage isn’t an exhaustive explication of discipleship it does lay a foundation for understanding what it means to follow Christ. And to be clear, while Jesus originally addressed the 12 with these words, he is speaking today through his word each one of us who would follow him by virtue of our baptism.

To begin with, Jesus’ comparison of the disciples to salt and light shows that he expects them to have an impact in the world.

There are a couple of items that need to be unpacked here. First of all Jesus is speaking in declarative statements here—“You are the salt of the earth”, “You are the light of the earth”—not ‘you might be…’, ‘someday you could be…’ or ‘try your best to be…’.

“You are the salt of the earth”, “You are the light of the world”­—if one is a disciple of Jesus, this is non-negotiable. By your baptism and gift of the Holy Spirit, you are salt and light. Really the only thing we can “do” here is to refuse to be salt and light and if that’s the case then we are refusing the gift of our baptism and turning our backs on the promises of Christ.

“You are the salt of the earth”, “You are the light of the world”, means these are not qualities we create in ourselves, in our own strength and wisdom, rather it is God working through us in the power of the Spirit. As we live in the promises of our baptism we can’t help but be salt and light.

Second what does it mean to be salt and light?

Salt and light are necessary for life. For them to do the work and have the impact they were intended to have, they can’t be contained or hidden away. So having salt sitting in a shaker in the cupboard or on the table does nothing for the food until it is shaken out. Likewise you don’t light a lamp or turn on a light and then cover it up, you let it shine.

So just as salt and light impact their surroundings when allowed to do what they were created to, so too for us as followers of Jesus, when we live in the promises of our baptism we can’t help but have an impact and influence on our surroundings.

It’s at this point that some of us, for a variety of reasons, start to get in our own heads and psych ourselves out, getting caught up in speculation as to what we might be called to do and how it would be impossible for us to do so.

But here’s the thing, Jesus’s declaration ,“You are the salt of the earth”, “You are the light of the world”, are not conditional on our age, skill set, gifts, abilities finances, personalities or anything else, other than just following him. If you are following him “You are the salt of the earth”, “You are the light of the earth”, how you go about doing that is unique to you. If you are following Jesus you can’t help but be salt and light—perhaps not in ways others or even you may regularly notice but God is working in and through you nonetheless.

Just as salt and light do their works in the world by being salt and light, you are called to do the work of Christ in the world by being who he created you to be and made you to be in his power in your baptism. And doing so is quite simple (not necessarily easy but simple). In the words of St. Francis “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” Start with doing what’s right in front of you. And as you focus on that God will direct you to what might be next.

Which leads to the next part of Jesus’ teaching, which concerns the law. If you read this carefully you’ll note that there nothing but action in these verses. Jesus is coming to fulfill the law. His disciples are called to keep, to do the commandments—the two greatest being to love God and love our neighbour. This is what being salt and light look like—doing the commandments of loving God and our neighbour.

Concerning the commandments, Jesus tells his disciples to do them and teach them. Note well the order here. Doing comes before teaching. Action before words. Or to put it bluntly, our priority is to do the commandments of loving God and neighbour and then the important work of talking about them.

Because following Jesus is a way of living, a way of being in the world, for which God the Holy Spirit empowers us so we and those around us might know Christ.

Jesus intended and intends his followers to be active in the world in deed and in word thus he declares—“You are the salt of the earth”, “You are the light of the world”. We are salt and light, not by virtue of our own goodness, cleverness, wisdom or strength, but by the grace of God.

It is by this grace we have been saved, are being saved and will be saved. It is in this grace we live out Jesus’ calling “You are the salt of the earth”, “You are the light of the world”.