Matthew 5:13-20 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Salt and Light
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 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.
The Law and the Prophets
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
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The following is the sermon originally preached by me, Rev. Sarah Locke, at Redeemer Episcopal Church for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany on February 9, 2020. You can read the manuscript below, or listen to the sermon (with infusions from the Spirit) at this link. You should definitely listen to the sermon, though, because it's way better than this manuscript.
God of everlasting light, encourage us to reveal your love and Christ’s holiness to the entire world through our actions every day. Sustain us by your own grace and mercy. Amen.
I think I have said it in every sermon during this season, but it worth repeating: the season of Epiphany is all about Jesus being revealed as the Son of God and the savior of the world. This season is about the proof that God came into this world to save this world through Christ Jesus. It is a joyous season, and one that is full of good imagery of light and revelation.
But this gospel text doesn’t seem to have much of anything to do with Jesus. On the contrary, the text is part of the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus teaches his followers. It seems that this text is less about Jesus and a whole lot more about us.
For a season that is supposed to focus on the spreading of the gospel to the whole world that Jesus Christ came into the world to save the whole world, this text doesn’t really seem like it fits.
But when Christ comes into the world as a tiny baby on Christmas morning, it is not Christ himself who goes around telling people what has happened. It’s all of the faithful people witnessing the night— it’s the wise men and the shepherds, it’s the innkeeper.
When Mary brings Jesus to the temple for presentation, it’s not Jesus himself proclaiming that God has done marvelous things, it’s those who have waited and watched for so long, Simeon and Anna.
When Jesus begins his ministry near the Jordan, he is not the one pointing to himself and causing a raucous. It’s someone else, this voice in the wilderness called John the Baptizer.
It seems, throughout history, there are countless voices calling out and proclaiming that Christ is the savior of the world, come to save the world. Even now, we hear people proclaiming this truth in every aspect of our lives.
Our very own mission statement for Redeemer is “Love God and bring people to Christ.” We are called to proclaim this truth as well. But how to we do it? I think it’s one of those questions that might take the entire year to tackle, and I definitely know I’ll be talking about it again next week. How, exactly, do we bring people to Christ?
During our first dinner on campus this semester, I bought tons of pizza and drinks for the students and we had a party. It was wonderful. People had caught wind of the pizza party— or they could smell it from down the hallway— and we had over twenty students at our very first dinner. It was wonderful. As we were eating and catching up, another student walked in and asked if he could grab some pizza. “Of course!” We exclaimed! “Come join us!” He grabbed four pieces of pizza, a cup of soda, and promptly left.
My students were furious. But not for the reason you might think. You see, they wanted desperately to share their fellowship with him. They wanted him to join because they love the community they’ve created there.
The students wanted to tell this student about their love and their community, but instead they had to simply demonstrate it by allowing someone to come into their community and be welcomed, regardless of his response. All they could do was let their light, the light of Christ, shine through their radical hospitality for this student. About twenty minutes later, in the middle of our conversation about this radial hospitality we are called to share with all people we encounter, the student came back— with his girlfriend— and grabbed two more slices of pizza. But instead of being angry, or perhaps in spite of being angry, our students smiled and greeted them, inviting them to take a cookie or two as well.
There’s no telling whether or not that student and his girlfriend will come back to any of our gatherings or if they could name their experience as a proclamation of the fellowship of Christ Jesus, but that is what our group students demonstrated that evening. Instead of simply saying we are a welcoming community, they demonstrated it. They put their light on a lamp stand for the whole household to see and let their light shine before others, so that they may see their good works. Good works that reflect the love that Christ has for the entire world.
It does, of course, matter what we say and what we believe. This is of utmost importance. It is why we spend so much time learning about Jesus on Sunday mornings, in our small groups, and in catechism class. But what the world sees are the things that we do.
What Jesus describes in his sermon on the mount is not about the proper way to talk about the coming of the kingdom of God. He doesn’t give us an outlines of how to construct a good sermon or the points we need to make to convince someone of the gospel truth. Perhaps it would be easier for us to talk about our faith if he had. “Top seven things to say to convince someone to become a Christian!”
No, what Jesus teaches in the sermon on the mount is not about words. It’s about action. There’s a reason the bishop’s Way of Love consists of seven VERBS. Revealing God’s love in Christ Jesus to the entire world has very little to do with our words, and almost everything to do with our actions.
I’ve been here at Redeemer for almost a year, and I am so encouraged by how we share God’s love with the world through action. The light of Christ shines so brightly through ministries like the food pantry and the support you give to the campus ministry. You can taste the good wonderful saltiness of this congregation in the HOPE outreach ministries the partnerships nurtured there. It would be easy to hide our light under a bushel basket or keep it to ourselves, but instead we have Ladies Night and Grill and Chill that invites people in from the community. We have a youth ministry that so faithfully shares the love of God with young people.
And in our individual lives, I have heard beautiful stories of God’s light shining through you. And what I think he truly beautiful about this community is that we do it because we want to share the love of Christ with people. We are truly devoted to the mission of the church in loving God and bringing people to Christ.
Let us continue to go forth into the world, revealing to the world God’s incredible light, the son God gave to us and to the whole world for the salvation of all people. Amen.
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