The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
February 9, 2014 - Pastor Adam Moline
Isaiah
58:3-9a 1
Corinthians 2:1-16 Matthew 5:13-20
Grace, mercy and
peace to you from God the Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text today comes from the Gospel lesson just read, especially these
words, “You are the salt of the earth.”
Thus far our text.
Dear friends in
Christ. The words of today’s Gospel
lesson are spoken by Jesus as a part of his famous sermon on the mount. And in them today he tells us that we are the
“Salt of the earth” and the “Light of the world.” In other words, we as Christians
fundamentally change the world at is core.
As salt, we season the earth, adding a flavor of love that was never
present in this sinful world apart from Christ, a flavor of compassion and care
for all people everywhere. As light, we
lessen the darkness of the world by caring for those who have no one else to
care for them. We shine light into all
the dark recesses of this world that the true light of Jesus can shine on the
people walking in darkness.
We see this in our
mission work, as we build orphan rescue centers in Africa, as we care for those
who are suffering from Malaria and other diseases, as we preach the gospel and
baptize those in all walks of life who have never heard about his death for
them. We, through our mission offerings, support
schools and universities, hospitals, nursing homes, missions in China,
Madagascar, and around the world. In all
of these things we are the Salt of the Earth, and we are the Light of the
World, as Christ himself says in our text today.
But yet, so often we
lose our saltiness, don’t we? We hide
our Christian faith in our conversations with friends and family here in
town. So often we hide our light under a
bushel, afraid what others might think of our Christian Confession, afraid that
they might disagree, that they might criticize us for the hope that is within
us. And so, it is here, in our local
community that it is most difficult for us to be salty, light-filled
Christians.
Instead, our most
visible and egregious sins are shown forth as we deal with the people we care
the most for in our local families and with friends. We curse, swear, steal, gossip, and fight
with the people we know best here. We
share information that was shared with us in private. We judge others as “Not worthy of my
concern.” We ignore people who are truly
hurting, saying, “They can take care of themselves for goodness sake.” And as we do these sinful things, we trust in
our own works to save us. “I go to
church every week, so I’m better than that person. I know I don’t sin as much as John Doe down
the street, so I know I’ll get into heaven before them! Good for me!”
Dear friends in
Christ. We cannot view ourselves through
these un-salty, un-light of the world eyes!
We cannot save ourselves. We
cannot do enough good, even in all the positive missions and work we do, to
save ourselves! All of these good works,
all of these things done overseas cannot overcome the sin that we commit right
here, in Hankinson, ND. Jesus says we
must have a righteousness that surpasses even the most “holy of people” –
something we are unable to do. We need
something more salty. We need a light to
enlighten our lives as well.
And dear friends,
that’s exactly what Jesus Christ does for us.
He entered our world and showed compassion on all, being the light for
all, even you and me. He flavored to
whole world with a forgiveness bought by his blood and suffering. He made all things well in our life, by
taking our sin on his own shoulder, and giving us his holiness in its
place. We are the salt of the world, not
because of ourselves, but because he gives us his saltiness. We are the light of the world because he
shares his light with us. We love others
because he loves us first. And dear
friends we ought to care for our local community, because he first cared for
us.
He delivered this
gift and love to us here in this building in water and the word, in body and
blood consumed under bread and wine. He
delivered this gift to you in his Holy Precious Word, which we strive not to
despise, but to read, learn and inwardly digest.
And so, you are
the light of the world, from Kenya to Fargo to Hankinson, not to earn from God,
or to please him in any way at all, but instead because Jesus is your light and
your salvation. You are the salt of the
earth, because Christ has flavored you with himself, and his own gifts and
blessings. You share with the world what
Christ has first shared with you. You give what Christ first gave to you. You are not righteous in yourself, but only
in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
You are the Salt
of the Earth in Jesus, so be that salt to your neighbor. You are the light of the world, because
Christ shines forth in you, so you too shine on those around you – showing compassion,
showing love, showing Jesus forth in your life, both here, and throughout all
the world. Amen.
