Father Riley's homily from February 9, 2020 at Christ Episcopal, Bastrop

5 EPIPHANY - A - 20                             MATTHEW 5.13-20

Today’s gospel follows Jesus having called his first disciples by the Sea of Galilee. He has begun his ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing in that region. Along with the four fishermen, large crowds have now begun to follow him.

The crowds are so large that it is impossible for Jesus to stand in the midst of them and be heard. Therefore, Jesus takes to the high ground over looking the sea. Matthew’s fifth chapter begins with the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus begins his sermon with the blessings of discipleship we refer to as the “beatitudes.” Next, he speaks of the roles of those who will choose to follow him. That’s where our passage picks up today.

In doing so, Christ uses the metaphors of “salt” and “light” to describe his follower’s roles. They are to be witnesses to his teaching and to him as the one God has sent to redeem Israel.

His use of salt and light, however, is not a new teaching, but a reiteration of Israel’s role. God chose Israel to be salt and light of the world. That is, to preserve his word and to be a light in the darkness pointing the way to the one true God. However, she had failed to live up to her God given role.

Now Jesus had come to fulfill the law and the prophets and to create a new Israel. He does so in his words and actions. He calls for a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees and scribes. That is, one that goes much deeper than mere outward appearances.

In essence, he echoes the prophet Isaiah in today’s first lesson who chides Israel for serving their own interests in their fasting and yet wonders why God had not recognized their so-called righteousness.

The goal of the Law is righteousness. However, true righteousness means one’s acceptance of God’s requirements and one’s being accepted by God (LK 18.10-14). Obviously, this was not the case for God’s people in the time of Isaiah or in the time of Jesus.

The righteousness of salvation Jesus is calling us too is one of communion in Him of one’s heart, soul, and mind. Jesus’ words in today’s passage, then, affirms the law as the foundation of the church’ teaching.

We all know the values of salt, at least before the days of high blood pressure. Salt was thought to be essential for life. It preserved food and kept it from spoiling. It was traded by caravans in ancient times. In some cases, salt was equal in value to gold or precious stones. Nothing could take its place.

If, however, it lost its saltiness, it was worthless. Christ also uses the concept of light to describe his followers. We all know about light. Without it, we cannot see in the dark. When we turn on the light, it is not the light we look at but what it points too.

Light, then, is something that points beyond itself. For Jesus salt and light had a particular meaning. When he says that his disciples must be “salt”, he means they are to preserve his teachings as they have received them.

When he says that we are to be “light” he means we are to point beyond ourselves to Him who is the true light - the one who is the light and life of the world, even Jesus Christ our Lord.

If we give in to other values, other teachings, other gospels, if we water his teaching down so as to be more acceptable to the masses, then, our salt has lost its taste.

In addition, if we point to self, if we are concerned only with self-interests, self -preservation and the maintenance of the status quo, then, we are no longer the “light” we have been called to be.

Jesus, then, is presenting a challenge to his would be followers not to fail to be what God had created them to be. God had chosen Israel to be the salt of the earth, but Israel was behaving like everybody else, with its power politics and factional squabbles.

How could God keep the world from going bad, the main function of salt in the ancient world? If Israel, his chosen salt had lost its distinctive taste?

In the same way, God called Israel to be the light of the world. Israel were the people through whom God intended to shine his bright light into the world’s dark corners, not simply to show up evil but to enable people who were blundering around in the dark to find their way.

But what if the people he called to be light-bearers had become part of the darkness?

That was Jesus’ warning and also at the same time his challenge. His was a warning not to depart from one’s God-given role and at the same time a challenge to re-commit oneself to that role.

Jerusalem, the city set on a hill, was supposed to be a beacon of hope to the world. Jesus’ followers were to be like that by keeping God’s laws as a sign to the world that God, the creator, was God indeed, and He alone should be worshipped.

In Jesus the law and the prophets was fulfilled. He was the salt of the earth God had sent to preserve his law. He was the light of the world; that would be set upon a hilltop, crucified for all the world to see. He would become the beacon of hope and new life for everyone, drawing people to worship the one true God.

That is why these sayings originally applied to Israel, now apply to all those who would follow Jesus and draw on his life as the source of their own. Can we be what God in Christ has called us to be?

Can we be what the church was instituted to be - the depository of faith and the dispenser of truth based on the teachings of Christ without compromising the essence of the His teaching to satisfy the world?

Can we, as Church, that is, corporately and individually, by what we say and do in living the new life to which we have been called always point to Him who is the True Light and the Life of the world? Can we be salt and light? AMEN+