Matthew 5:13-20, The Message
13 “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.
14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
17-18 “Don’t suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures—either God’s Law or the Prophets. I’m not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast panorama. God’s Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God’s Law will be alive and working.
19-20 “Trivialize even the smallest item in God’s Law and you will only have trivialized yourself. But take it seriously, show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom. Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won’t know the first thing about entering the kingdom.
Our scripture came from the Sermon on the Mount, as did last week’s sermon. This lesson continues Jesus instruction for us. It tells us the best way to live our lives, even today in this time.
When children sing and dance, their innocence shines as light to the world. They aren’t worried about how others will perceive them. They don’t keep their light in a bag, or under a bushel, or buried in the sand. They have unbridled happiness and feel the light and love of YOU!
You are the light of the world. You might not always feel it, but perhaps you can each week during our time together. We come here, exploring God’s light through the life of Jesus. And hopefully, by the time you leave each Sunday, you feel the holy light inside and out. And then, when you see others after church on Sundays, perhaps you are still in such a great mood that your light spills over.
From Isaiah 58, it is written, “This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once.
Here, we get some instruction on how to shine our light. There are several places where we can make a difference in the lives of others, and by doing so, “your lives will turn around at once”. God promises that by self-sacrifice, we will be healed, and our lives will improve. Let’s look at each of these instructions.
Break the chains of injustice. How do we accomplish this? This seems like a huge task. Yet, it may mean to NOT keep those chains in place. Many groups of people have felt these chains, especially women, the poor, people of color and those in the LGBTQ+ communities. That leaves very few people who have not felt oppressed at one time in their lives or another. So let us be sure that we act with justice toward all people. All people deserve to be seen, heard, and understood. In our actions and words, let’s be open to all, so that those chains of injustice do not extend from any of us. That is letting in light.
Next, he says get rid of exploitation in the workplace. Today we don’t have slavery in the United States, but many workplaces have kept people chained in their jobs, through low wages, poor or no health care, and long hours. People are afraid to leave, because the alternative may be no job at all. When you are at work, be open to the possibility of some people feeling like slaves to their job. Be open, listen to their plight. You just might be the one in a position to make their case to the employer. You might be the light they are hoping for.
Free the oppressed. How do we free those feeling oppressed? First by freeing ourselves. Shining God’s light within ourselves, and then shining it for others. Once again, being open and listening to the plight of others. Are they struggling to have enough healthy food to eat or to heat their homes? Maybe you have something to share with those with less than you.
Are they held back by their skin color or gender or sexual orientation? Maybe you can attend lectures and workshops, protests and demonstrations. Maybe you can be an ear to listen, and eyes to see.
Cancel debts. It used to eat me up when I would lend money. I still did it, because my friends and family really needed it at the time. But I would keep that debt in the front of my mind. It caused so much anxiety until one day when I had a realization. I had the money to lend, or else I wouldn’t have lent it. Although my friends thought of it as a debt owed, I changed my thinking to it being a gift. And then I no longer worried about it! I freed myself by changing the name of the exchange. If at some point in the future the money was paid back, I found myself laughing, because I had forgotten I had lent it. That is true freedom, true forgiveness of debt.
The other instructions are to share your food with the hungry, invite the homeless poor into your homes, put clothes on the shivering ill-clad, be available to your own families. Much of this can be done by donating to the homeless shelter or donating on the fifth Sunday for Undie Sunday, or to the food pantry. And our families. Spending time, sending love to those we are closest to in the world. Family does not always have to be blood, either. We have the church family, and our sisters and brothers from different mothers, our adopted moms and dads.
By doing all these things, we are being light and we are shedding light and love on others.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. In this analogy, King show us that darkness exists, and exists as hate. He says that the only way to drive out the hate in the world is through love. Lately I have heard two people tell me that Vladimir Putin should be killed; one even said she would do it herself. As a follower of nonviolence as taught by Jesus, MLK and Gandhi, I can’t go there, to violence against the violent, to killing the killers. God states many times throughout the Bible to love your enemies and that we should not murder.
Does it mean I condone what Putin is doing? Of course not! He perpetuates hate and murder. However, I choose to perpetuate peace, love and kindness. I leave the rest up to God. You and I are not asked to solve war today.
February is Black History month. And as a nation we are still reeling from the hate and brutality that came from police officers toward a black man, Tyre Nichols. We have been sitting in the muck of racist hate and police brutality since George Floyd’s murder in May of 2020. Of course these are not isolated incidents, and of course this has been happening for hundreds of years here. Our US history includes these dark segments throughout our nation’s existence, and it is not over.
So where is the light? It is in those who can find the love and the grace from within them. It is in those who choose not to hate the haters. For example, Tyre’s mom said for everyone to protest, but do it peacefully. And she said that her son was sent from God for an assignment, and now his assignment is done. Her message was one of light, one of love. Here she is, during a time in her life when she would be feeling the greatest suffering a mother can feel, violently losing a child. And yet she is a light and an example for all of us.
We all suffer during our lives. We are not spared, because it is part of the human condition. Every one of us suffers. But what do we do with it? How do we continue our lives when we are oppressed, when we are suffering?
You have probably seen the symbol of the Yin-Yang. See how it is a full circle, which traditionally symbolizes wholeness and eternity. In the Toaist tradition, it can represent many things, anything that exists in opposition to other things. Light versus dark, or love versus hate for example. Myself, I hold anxiety and peace within me, in opposition. What two opposites do you hold onto?
One cannot exist without the other. There is no darkness without light. And no light without darkness. They simply cannot be. You cannot know happiness without sadness. Or joy without suffering. Also, notice this: you cannot know suffering without joy! And you cannot know sadness unless you also have experienced its opposite, happiness!
You can look at your state of being at any moment, and know for sure that you would not know what THIS felt like, unless you knew a time when you did not feel it. So let’s do that for a moment. Identify how you are feeling right now at this very moment. Give it a name. If you are feeling lots of things, just pick one.
Now, state in your mind the opposite. What one word describes the opposite of how you feel now? And finally, think back to a time when you felt THAT, the opposite.
When you get stuck in a feeling that you don’t love feeling, you can use your mind and your memory to relive a time when you felt the opposite of that, when you felt good. As you relive that, your mood can lift, you raise your vibration, you find the light within, God’s love inside you.
Once you feel that light from inside, sing!!
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine!
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine!
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine!
Let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine!
May it be so. Amen.
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