“Salty and Sparkly” – Sermon on Feb 6, 2011

February 6, 2011
Scripture: Matthew 5: 13-20
Jesus said, “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. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 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. 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.
“Do not think that I have come to do away with the law or the prophets; I did not come to do away with them, but to give them their full meaning. 18Heaven and earth may disappear. But I promise you that not even a period or comma will ever disappear from the Law. Everything written in it must happen. If you reject even the least important command in the Law and teach others to do the same, you will be the least important person in the kingdom of heaven. But if you obey and teach others its commands, you will have an important place in the kingdom. You must obey God’s commands better than the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law obey them. If you don’t, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.

Sermon: Salty and Sparkly
by Rev. Doreen Oughton
There is a saying in Alcoholic’s Anonymous: If you want what we have, do what we do. So many people, when they reach the point of attending an AA meeting are more in touch with what they DON’T want than what they DO want. They don’t want to keep waking up after pay day with an empty wallet. They don’t want to have to look again at the disappointed eyes of their children after forgetting the after-school pick-up. They don’t want to feel so shaky and nauseous whenever they try to take a break from the juice. The don’t want to go to jail. So it takes awhile for this AA suggestion to get into one’s mind and under one’s skin. It takes awhile for a person to want anything more than to avoid the pain and problems of their addiction. WANT sobriety? Now that’s a real stretch. Think of what the word “sober” means! Serious, humorless, “sober as a judge,” judgmental. Not a very appealing prospect to someone who, before things fell apart, really enjoyed a party, liked to have a good time.
When I worked as an addictions counselor leading classes for people arrested for driving under the influence, it was so great to hear people’s reactions to the required AA meetings. So often they said, “I couldn’t believe how much people laughed at these meetings. I couldn’t believe how funny the speakers were, how welcoming and kind and helpful people there were.” These people who hadn’t bottomed out could see that sobriety was more than just avoiding pain and problems. It brought with it a whole new lease on life for people. It brought them integrity and compassion and courage and lots and lots of joy.
I got to thinking about these things this week as I pondered the bible passage. This reading is from the Sermon on the Mount, and comes immediately after the passage we explored last week, the beatitudes, where Jesus was pointing out the blessedness of broken and suffering people, and promising blessing for his followers despite hard times they were facing and would face. I suggested that Jesus and his followers had perhaps been exhausted, overwhelmed by the many faces of pain that came before them. Now I don’t know if Jesus preached all this at once, of if gospel writer Matthew took several of Jesus’ sermons and put them all together. My tendency is to allow for a little gap of time between last week’s passage and this one.
It is early in his ministry, and Jesus knows his purpose. He knows that he is here to bring good news to God’s people. He knows that God’s hand, extended in love and mercy to bring about full reconciliation, is the very best news. He wants people to hear this news and believe it. He wants them to turn their lives around because of it. He wants for his people all the fullness and richness and joy that God’s gift has to offer. And he wants them to want it. In a way he is saying to his disciples, if you want what I have, do what I do. And he is saying to the people to whom they all teach and preach and heal, if you want what we have, do what we do. He wants not just sight for the blind, hearing for the deaf, clear skin for the lepers, care for the widow and orphan. He wants everyone to have the full grace and blessing of a life turned toward God.
So what do people see that he has? Why would they want it? Sure, he has gifts for healing, but there’s probably not many people who would want to deal with hordes of sick people. That might not be a big appeal. What did he have? Why did those fishermen drop their nets so quickly to follow him? What drew 5000 men, plus women and children, to a mountainside to hear him? Why did little children break out of their ranks to approach him? My assertion is that he had a deep abiding joy that radiated from him. He had a sense of humor, a great laugh, and a way of pointing out people’s foibles that made them laugh. I assert that he had charisma and charm and a wonderful way with words.
So many times when we imagine Jesus saying the words in the gospels, we imagine such a serious tone, perhaps even anger or judgment. We hear, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” … instead of… (repeat)
I mean, really, what imagery! The man is a riot. Think of some of the other things he said, perhaps with a twinkle in his eye and an ironic smile on his lips. “If your hand offends you, cut it off. If your eye offends you, pluck it out.” “It is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get to heaven.” “If the people weren’t here then the stones would shout out.” “If you have the faith of a mustard seed you can command the mulberry tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea it would obey you.” He was a master of hyperbole, a word smith fashioning absurd images that would capture people’s imaginations. Too often people think of him as meek and mild, somber and dull, but I am certain he was far from it. He loved when the children came to him – he liked to play. He liked hanging out with the shadier characters – the sinners and tax collectors. He named the charges others made against him, that he was a drunkard and a glutton, very different from John the Baptist with his camel’s hair and locusts. He turned water into wine, the very best wine at that. He told his critics and his followers that there would be a time later to mourn, but while the bridegroom is with them, it is right that the celebrate. Not meek and mild, not somber and dull, but, I say, salty and sparkly!
If you want what I have, do what I do. “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.” This is what Jesus is. This is what Jesus wants for us – to be salt of the earth and light of the world. He doesn’t just invite us to be these things, he doesn’t promise us we will become these things after working and waiting. He declares it to be so right now. “You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world.” How remarkable. You, as followers of Jesus, spice things up. You add zest and flavor. You are not dull and flat. You, as followers of Jesus, positively shine. Because we follow him, we are like him, salty and sparkly. That’s just the way it is. Now, he reminds us, in some intriguing imagery, that there are things we can do or not do that make it hard for others to recognize us as salty and sparkly. There are forces that work against our being savory and shiny, against our savoring and shining. Jesus says that salt that has lost its flavor is good for nothing but trampling underfoot.
Now there’s some debate about whether salt can actually lose it’s flavor. It is a very stable compound, but some say the salt from the Dead Sea was less so, and could have lost it’s flavor. But really, it’s hard to imagine, isn’t it, salt that isn’t salty. It’s quite a provocative statement. Saltiness is the essence of salt. Likewise our character is the essence of who we are. Can we lose our character and still remain the essence of ourselves? Is this what Jesus was trying to say?
Likewise, could a lit candle hidden under a bushel basket still be a lit candle, which was the source of light in Jesus’ time. Wouldn’t being under a basket snuff it out? Is Jesus trying to say that if you try to hide your light, if you don’t let it shine, do you lose the light completely? Maybe you can’t try to keep that light just for yourself, but must let it flow out to enlighten others as well.
So Jesus says that you are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. You cannot hide these things without losing the true essence of who you are. I also hear it as a call to live a life that is zesty and bright. Let people sense the joy and goodness in you so strongly they can almost taste it. Being a Christian should be a beaming, inviting light to people. Our presence and our actions should draw people in. Following Christ ought to infuse us with joy more than anything else. Unfortunately, that is not our reputation. It is not how Christians tend to be seen. Too often Christianity is seen as a way to avoid hell and damnation. Too often it is seen as judgmental and exclusionary and legalistic. Too often it is seen as all about guilt and sacrifice, or hypocrisy and empty ritual. These are the very things that Jesus challenged in his day! He was most definitely trying to lead his followers in a different way, a way that included laughter and teasing, absurdity and play, and an abundance of joy.
These are not just ideas that I’ve adopted from reading or thinking. This has been my experience of the living Christ. In my efforts to be closer to Jesus I have called on him to be with me, sometimes when I’m out for a walk, sometimes when I am at the beach, sometimes when I am seeking his guidance or reading the scripture. And whenever I do that, I am overwhelmed with a sense of joy, with an over-the-top feeling of love for everything – Jesus, family and friends, everything around me, and even for myself in all my human foibles. I can feel the little nudge as he bumps up against me – “first take the log out of your own eye, Doreen.” He makes it easy to see my mistakes and know that my light still shines as brightly. He makes it easy to see the savory possibilities that await me.
Now the second part of today’s reading, where he talks about how he has come to fulfill the law, how not one bit of the law is to be avoided – it is easy to hear in a stern tone. But I don’t think it has to be. We can hear it as an important insight on what kind of joyful life we will lead as salt and light. Jesus is not promising worldly good times, worldly indulgences and hedonism. He’s not saying his yoke is easy because we can do whatever feels good in the moment. He is saying his yoke is easy AND God’s commandments can and will be obeyed. We can find joy in every comma and period of the law. We can find zest in every “T” that is crossed and every “I” that is dotted. That is the place we will find our joy, in God’s law. That last line, “if you don’t (obey the laws) you will never get into heaven” is not meant to be a threat, but a point of understanding. If you tell me you want to go to Florida, and I give you a map and directions and a GPS, but you tell me you don’t need those things, that you are booked on a flight to Hawaii and will take a boat west from there, I might say, “I promise you, you will never get there.” I’m not threatening you. I’m explaining to you the unlikelihood of it.
There is a saying that people plan and God laughs. I like to believe it is not a mocking laugh, but a laugh that comes from excitement and anticipation of seeing our reaction when we get that God’s ideas for us are so much better than our own plans. It’s like the parent laughing at his child who sulks that he can’t sleepover his friend’s house, not knowing he’s going to Disney World instead. We can’t possibly know just what God has planned for us. But we can know Jesus. We can experience his life-loving joy. We can laugh with him, at ourselves, at the absurdity of the world. We can know him all salty and sparkly, and bring our own unique flavor to the world, and let our light shine. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. May it be so.