10:30 am, Sun, Feb 5, 2023 - J G White / FBCA
(Is 58:1-9a; Gal 5:18-23, 25; Mtt 5:13-20)
“You are
the salt of the earth…” Salt was more important in the Middle East, two
thousand years ago, than it is to us today. They did not need it on the streets
in winter, but they needed to preserve plenty of foods. We don’t imagine salt
being unsalty – it is quite a point Jesus is making.
“You are
the light of the world.” Most of our light is electrical, today, but not so,
back through the centuries. Whatever the source, how hide the light of a town?
Or why?
There may
be a subtle critique here of a Jewish sect called the Essenes. They are famous
to us today for having kept many Bible scrolls in some dry caves, which were
found in the 1950s and we now know them as the Dead Sea Scrolls. In the time of
Jesus, the Essenes called themselves ‘The Children of Light,’ but they had
withdrawn from the world, living out in the desert in seclusion. They were a
light hidden away for no one to see.
In
contrast, the people of God are to shine with the goodness of Christ and season
like a pinch of salt our neighbourhoods. We have this mission, should we choose
to accept it. Jesus starts his preaching with this ‘you are the light’ bit;
then his final words, given to us by Matthew forty pages later, include: ‘Go
make disciples of all people, baptizing them, teaching them.’
So we all seem
to be given this role – when we claim to be Christians – the role of sharing
our Faith and spreading the News. Start
spreadin’ the news,
I'm going today
I want
to be a part of God
Gospel,
Good News
These
vagabond souls have all gone
astray.
Right for the very heart of them:
Good News, Good News…
‘Start
spreading the news.’ Despite this being deeply rooted in the culture and
history of Baptist Christians, it is not something very many of us seem to feel
confident about, I’d say. A few people stand out – behind the pulpit and from
the pews. A few of you are naturals: talkers, connectors, communicators, even evangelists
(a NT spiritual gift).
Someone was
talking about her adult son the other day and said he is a natural born
salesman. From childhood he could, and would, do things like: put on a
motorbike show, charge admission, and get the locals to come and pay to
see him drive around the yard. I’ve seen adverts this winter for a young fellow
with a hot chocolate stand set up in his front yard.
I’m not
a natural born salesperson. Though I’m the son of a used car salesman, and
grandson of a campground owner, I was different. A lot more shy. So I’ve often
thought of myself as an introvert, one of those quieter people, with fewer
friends, not the life of any party, happy to spend lots of time alone, and
getting invigorated and refreshed when on my own.
Sort of. I
may be somewhere on that end of the spectrum, but am a bit of a mix. I do like
social gatherings, often, and get energized there too. But to barge in on a
stranger and lead the conversation is not quite my nature.
So what of
this ‘salt of the earth’ bit, and being ‘the light of the world’? Perhaps it is
easier when you are given a script. Like Tammy’s today, from Isaiah. Shout
out, do not hold back!
Lift up
your voice like a trumpet!
Announce
to my people their rebellion,
to the
house of Jacob their sins. (58:1)
Isaiah’s
call to the people of the day was to treat one another fairly, instead of taking
advantage of the disadvantaged. Jesus’ call, in His ‘Sermon on the Mount,’ was more
comprehensive. Join His movement, and shine with good news for all. And as we
might see from following Christ, it is not all a matter of shouting out or
being in-your-face evangelists.
There is a
place for the quiet, the good example, the servant, the activist, and the
person of prayer. To be salt and to be light can be quiet work.
Presbyterian,
Rev. Adam McHugh, tells of learning to be an introverted minister. He
wrote, “I see my function less as walking people through a formula of faith and
more as dropping spiritual hints. In the first method, I am the one who
controls the conversation; in the second, I try to give glimpses of God and
enable the person to respond to the promptings of the Spirit who is already at
work.” (p. 175)
McHugh
says, “I began to pray differently. When I prayed for people who I knew were
not Christians, I prayed less that God would give me an opportunity to explain
the gospel to them and more that God would be touching those places of their
lives that only God can reach…” That’s from his book, Introverts in the
Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture. (2009, p. 177)
A better-known
pastor and author, Eugene Peterson, wrote, “The question I put to myself is not
‘How many people have you spoken to about Christ this week?’ but ‘How many
people have you listened to in Christ this week?’” (1989, The Contemplative
Pastor)
I think
that’s a great thing to remember. When you listen to someone, remember: you and
God can be listening together to that person. Consider how that changes your listening.
It changes
all sorts of things, as you know. Your thoughtful little gift for someone that
you baked in your kitchen becomes something you and the Spirit of Jesus give. Your
presence with people in a time of tragedy carries the awareness of Jesus
present there.
Now, I
titled this talk, ‘Salt, Light, Right.’ I have not yet mentioned the ‘right.’
Sounds quite demanding, where we ended, mid-sermon. “For I tell you, unless
your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will
never enter the kingdom of heaven.” We may wonder if Jesus was saying: you must
obey all the Jewish Old Testament laws completely to be accepted and
welcomed into heaven.
He's
talking about going beyond the teaching of this, into the doing
of it. Jesus is completing what Isaiah and other prophets of old started. Don’t
just preach about it: do it, do it, do it! Don’t just sing and pray about it: live
it.
We are
going to get quite a bit more from Jesus on this next week, from this chapter
and the next. He’ll show us more about being salt and light. It is not about
the rules. It is about the doing of something good.
It’s great
that these two images Jesus uses first are quiet. Salt is silent. Maybe, in
pure quietness, you can hear it crunching between your fingers. And perhaps you
have a fluorescent lightbulb that makes a faint hummm. Light is quiet.
Even the old hymn, ‘Immortal Invisible,’ says this about God:
Unresting,
unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor
wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Almighty
God can rule in this universe as silent as light. Surely a lot of your
impact for good, and mine, can be quiet too. Yet we must make our impact. We
cannot be salt that has little taste or power, light that is shaded and hidden
away. Shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give
glory to your Father in heaven. (Mtt 5:16) Others don’t even have to see you,
but people need to see good things happening.
Before I
finish, let me tell you about Mabel. Mabel was an energetic woman in here nineties
when I knew her. She came to services with her daughter. She came bowling with
us. She was quiet, she didn’t stand out in a crowd, but she had spunk. She went
through some miserable suffering in the days before she died. Then, at the
funeral, her nephew spoke. Brian is a devoted Christian layman. He talked of the
wonderful influence of his aunt, and how she brought him to the Windsor Baptist
Church. ‘Because of her,’ Brian said, ‘I met Jesus.’
The Fruit
of the Spirit, you may notice, in today’s ‘list,’ is not a litany of extroverted
qualities, or introverted. They are things that can grow in each and every one
of us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control. With these, we shine in our corner of the
world. With this, we season the place where we sit.
No comments:
Post a Comment