Salt & Light/The Law – SOTM Series (4)
Having taken a week off our Sermon on the Mount series to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis, we are back at it, this time wrestling through Matthew 5:13-20. Again, it is critical as we move further into this central teaching of Jesus that we are mindful of what we have already explored in the previous sections (see above). The Beatitudes inform (and transform) who we are as His followers. The community described in the Beatitudes (and the verses to come) are not examples “super-Christians”, but images of who we are all meant to be, without exception.
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”
What does Jesus mean by “salt of the earth”? From that time up until today, people the world over have been using salt to cure meat, preserving it against decay and rot. In the same way, we are called to be agents of preservation against decay and rot in the world. How does this happen? As we embrace the way of Christ, especially as put forth in the Beatitudes, we will impact the world around us in this way.
However, it is also critical that we see that while we play a significant role in preserving the world, we are also distinct from it. Being the “salt of the earth” is to be actively and essentially IN the world while not becoming OF the world. This is not about being superior, but rather that we are called to be something new, something other than what has become the status quo in the world. Discovering what this is without alienating ourselves and world is one of our most critical challenges as the Church.
If we attempt to be Christ’s followers apart from the world, separated from it, our “saltiness” ceases to have purpose. What good is salt if it sits in a pile unused? The very nature of being “salt” means that we must proactively engage in the work of being IN the world as agents against the rot and decay of sin. Jesus makes no mistake about what becomes of salt that is no longer of use. Therefore, the obedience to the mission of God is linked to our very identity and how we will be judged. This sets a much higher standard than many of us have been used to.
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
That our faith is proven authentic in the inevitable acts of public service, sacrifice and love is undeniable in these statements. These are the visible, embodied fruits of the Beatitudes. How, then, can we live these out without making it all about our pride? Again, in understanding the Beatitudes we see a people of humility and brokenness whose works are expressed in way more akin to a 12-Step support group than the religious externals of apparent “perfection”. What is made clear here is that we have been created and called to be the VISIBLE community of Christ. This is not optional. It is not an ideal some might achieve. This is the base-line standard for all of Christ’s people. Again, we see the standard set higher.
Jesus does not say that we become the “light” as we do these things. If we are His followers, we ARE the light. Therefore, whenever we do not live lives worthy of being His light, we are hiding it “under a bowl”. There are not on times and off times of being the light, we called to constantly be the light of Christ. Failing to do so robs the Gospel we live and proclaim of its authority. After all, the truest meaning to using Christ’s name in vain is bearing that name, yet living lives unworthy of the Lord from whom we received it.
These two images of salt and light intentionally compliment and inform each other in important ways. Just as the salt fights death and decay, so too light brings life. It is far too easy for us as Christians to focus on one or the other. If we fight the dangers of sin to the exclusion of being light, we become legalists who are defined more by what we are not than the God in whose image we are created. If we seek to be the light of life and hope to exclusion of being salt, we expose ourselves and others to the very real and insidious corruption of sin and selfishness. Together, this synthesis of salt and light, of morality and ministry, of righteousness and justice- it is here that all the law and the prophets hang. It is here, again, the Jesus Creed is proven central.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who 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 practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
When Jesus described the people of the Beatitudes, the suffering Jews of His day would easily identify with lives of suffering and persecution. Then, when Jesus described them as being the salt and the light in the world, born out of that identity, it would have stood in stark contrast to what was lived and taught by the religious leaders of their day. They might even have been tempted to use Jesus teaching to reject the law-based fundamentalism they saw around them, rejecting even the law itself. Jesus, however, gave to room for such a move in these verses.
We are often tempted to do the same thing. How many of us have used Jesus’ radical grace to justify moral compromise? For many of us, this kind of response is a natural reaction to having lived under legalism elsewhere in the Church. However, God’s grace must NEVER be used as license to compromise. Jesus rejected the abuse of the law, never the law itself. Again we are reminded that loving God and loving others is the ultimate fulfillment of His law. Jesus is not teaching us a new law or an addition to the old, but demonstrating the ultimate intention behind the law all along. We cannot fulfill the law without becoming like Christ. Yet we cannot become like Christ unless we also embrace the law as He intended it.
Again, we see Christ’s teaching leading us to an obedience at the Cross. More than that, He is leading us to an obedience ON the Cross. If we are Christians, there is not a moment when our lives are not the embodied and expressed salt and light of the Gospel. Yes, God’s grace will forgive us our inevitable failings as we seek to be His Body, but that is NEVER license to compromise. To do so is ask Christ to die anew upon the Cross for our own convenience and pleasure. Our freedom in Christ is a treasure too easily abused. We must ever be mindful of what is at stake, both for us and for a waiting and watching world.
