Rev. Dr. Rebecca L. Kiser
What Do Salt and Light Have in
Common?
2//9/20 Epiph 5A
Doug found
a great graphic, didn’t he? A salt
shaker paired with a light bulb….
At first
look, these 2 brief parables don’t seem to have anything in common - I mean,
light? And salt? It takes a fanciful graphic to put them
together. (Point to screen) Ah, rather,
it’s their MEANINGS that are the same - 2 parables to say the same thing from a
different point of view. That’s Jesus’
point in using them.
I’m still
in my sermon series about the church, and these two illustrations from Jesus
are actually quite a challenging call to us as the church in the world. Each and both challenge us as believers to
offer a gift to the world, to offer the benefits of God’s love and God’s
kingdom to the world. A gift that’s like salt, a preservative and a seasoning;
a gift that, like light, enlightens the darkness and shows the way. AGAIN, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
we are hearing that faith is not just something that will protect us from hell
and get us to heaven - no, my friends, faith is a calling for right now, no
matter our age, no matter our country, no matter anything - as Christ’s
followers, the CHURCH, we are to make a difference right now and right where we
are. We are citizens of another country
- God’s realm, God’s kingdom. We are
ambassadors for God in a world of people that pretty often act as if God is
either remote, unconcerned, or nonexistent.
We are to walk the Jesus path while we’re alive, and show that it is
different, that it is possible, and that it is good.
Let’s take
the illustrations in order - salt. My
salt shaker sits just above my stove - I’d have it on the table, but my cat
likes to knock it over and sometimes knock it off the table. As salt is something that we might have to
watch, letting people salt food at the table is more and more the norm, rather
than salting things as we cook. As it
sneaks in in all kinds of pre-packaged foods, we often get a lot without
knowing it. Salt is in almost
everything, because it makes foods taste better. It ENHANCES flavor. In the old days, salt was also used as a
preservative. It kept meat and fish from
going bad, so people could keep the meat around until the next hunt or the next
slaughtering time. Nobody had
refrigerators, or even ice boxes that used large blocks of ice. Salt, or brine, was used. Humans HAVE to have a certain amount of salt
- when athletes take heavy exercise and sweat a lot, they may take salt tablets
to renew their bodies, keep water in. I remember taking a salt tablet on a long
hike at Girl Scout camp. Our blood,
which is similar to sea water, is salty.
So it’s important to our human life.
Syracuse knows about salt - our
nickname is Salt City, because of salt being mined here. We have Salina Street, which I initially
wanted to pronounce Saleena, like saline.
Salt was important to ancient spice merchants - you may recall, from
your English classes reading Shakespeare, that King Lear’s daughter Cordelia,
when asked how much she loved her father, said she loved him more than
salt. She meant it as a huge compliment,
but unfortunately he didn’t hear it that way….
So salt preserves things, and
enhances things. If salt loses its
saltiness, Jesus says, it’s thrown out and no good; it’s good for salt to be
salty.
We the CHURCH, and we as believers,
act as salt when we follow Christ, and bring the values of the kingdom of
heaven into our culture and our society.
Try and imagine the world without the message of God that came through
the Jewish people and Jesus and Jesus’ followers -- think of what this tradition of faith in
God has preserved in the world. Yes,
other religious traditions also have had ethical codes and wisdom. Yet our 10 Commandments, the knowledge of God
and the worship of God through the Scriptures of our Bible, both Testaments -
these have had a HUGE impact on our civilization. I don’t think it’s too strong a thing to say
God’s teachings have been a preserver of society, a preserver of civility, a
preserver of a way of behaving towards one another, a preserver of the
expectations of respect and honor among people, even if they aren’t church-goers.
And when the influence of faith wanes in individuals and societies, like it is
in our current society, behaviors and standards collapse. And we get taken over
by power-mongers, liars, barbarians, greediness, those who take advantage of
everyone, and a total disregard for truth.
What makes people think of the good of others? What makes people have
the courage of their convictions, and stand up to evil? It’s faith. And the Holy Spirit of God
working in souls. Without the salt of
the CHURCH carrying God’s message in our Western world, where would
civilization be?
As an enhancer of flavor, faith also
teaches us that God the creator called everything “good.” The world, the
universe, earth, people, relationships, trees and animals - God pronounced it
all “good,” and urges us to care for it all.
This is foundational to the way we as people of faith look at the
physical world. The joys of life are
enhanced by faith, and we enjoy this creation where God has set us. We enjoy the winter skiing, skating, and snowmobiling,
the scenery of snow on evergreens. The change of seasons, the blaze of color is
the fall as well as the new greens of spring.
We enjoy each other, our friends, our spouses, our loves, our children
and extended family. These are all
“good.” The universe is not just a bunch
of mechanical operations that somehow came into being, and despair is not a
logical outcome. God is in it, God
called it good, God set us in the midst to love God and enjoy God forever. (By the way, that’s the answer to a question
in the Westminster Shorter Catechism - what is the chief end of humankind?)
So we are “salt” when we are living
according to the truths of God, living according to the kingdom of God, living
in faith. We are preserving humanity
from barbarism; we are enhancing our enjoyment of the gifts of God. Isn’t that a cool way to imagine the gifts we
bring when we follow God?
Okay, now the illustration of light.
Light is the first thing God created, according to the creation story in
Genesis 1. Let there be light! And there
was light. Light has been important to
humanity since the beginning - in order to see in the dark nights, in order
to know when to plant and for those
plants to grow - plants “eat” sunlight, you know, it is their food; and plants
are the beginning of the whole food chain.
We talk in illustrations and metaphors of light and dark all the time -
that lightbulb that goes off over heads in cartoons when they have an idea,
when they “see the light.” Our celebration of the birth of Jesus, who we call
the Light of the World, is set at the winter solstice - the time of the longest
darkness, and the beginning of the return of more light. We have flashlights and hurricane lanterns to
show what is out there, and reveal the path when we are lost. Fire, even, that transformative thing that
both lights and cooks. All we need is a
few hours when the power lines are down in a snow storm, in order to
re-appreciate light. I like lights to
come on when I leave my office here at night to walk to my car.
This week my car had an issue with
the lights, and I got pulled over and told my car had no tail lights. That was
scary, because I had to drive on 81, and I was fearful of cars coming up on me
and not being able to tell I was there - fortunately my blinkers and flashers
were working, and I drove home with my flashers on. And got my lights repaired. Many roads don’t have street lights around
here - being a suburban girl myself and used to street lights everywhere,
nights are pretty dark - good lights on our cars are vital.
So we believers, we faithful ones,
we Christ-followers, we are to be like lights.
We are to illumine what is here, show the truth, light the path of life
for the world. Shine light on lies,
shine light where darkness is taking over in injustice and injury. Shine light on what is good, what are the
true purposes of living. Shine light for
those who are confused, who have let the shadowy things lead to bad decisions. Shine light for those who are struggling to
make it at all.
We can’t be salt or light if we are
not ourselves living according to what God has said, seeking to walk closer to
Christ, seeking God’s wisdom in prayer and meditation. We will lose our saltiness and hide our light
under a cover if we are let other concerns overwhelm our faith. Our calling is to live our faith and help
bring God’s message to preserve the world and show the way. We live up to these illustrations of salt and
light when the Spirit of God is working in our own lives - working to reveal
places we need to open more to God, nudging us to walk more in God’s light
ourselves. We need the Spirit’s courage
and strength - and wisdom - if we are to
stand up to bullies and racists and sexists and polluters and liars and
cheaters; if we are to tell the truth of our souls when so many don’t; if we
are to be the person God created us to be, if we are to live the wholeness and
the depth of personhood that God is calling us to. So today, and this week, hear the challenge as
well as the invitation from the Scriptures, and from our savior Jesus the
Christ - Be salty. Show light. Walk with God. AMEN.
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