Beatitudes 4 – Salt and Light | Psalm 112:1-10; Isaiah 58:6-12; Matthew 5:13-16

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Gary Rivas, a minister from Lonehill Johannesburg was tasked with preparing us ministers who were leaving John Wesley College at the end of 2006. He kept saying to us: "The local church, is the hope of the world…"

He was trying to remind us how important the work we were being prepared to do was.

"The local church is the hope of the world…"

This little crowd of Christians, meeting in this place, on a Sunday morning at 9h00 (or 5 past nine). Could we be the hope of the world?

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If that is the case. Is there much hope for the world?

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In Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus basically says the same as what that minister said to us in the chapel at John Wesley College (Page 7 of the Pew Bibles):

13 "You are like salt for the whole human race. But if salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again. It has become worthless, so it is thrown out and people trample on it.

14 "You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; instead he puts it on the lamp-stand, where it gives light for everyone in the house. 16 In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.

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"You are like salt for the whole human race…"

"You are like light for the whole world…"

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Could we be the hope of the world?

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For the past few weeks we've been looking quite closely at the Beatitudes in Matthew's gospel, Matthew 5:1-12. A set of sayings of Jesus that mark the beginning of his ministry in Matthew's gospel.

In these sayings Jesus outlines the wisdom on which the Kingdom of God is built… the world where God is King and the powers of this world are not. In it the poor are the honoured ones, the mourners will be comforted, the meek will inherit the earth, the pure in heart will see God.

God's Kingdom values are wholly different to the values of so called worldly kingdoms. Worldly Kingdoms exist for the sake of commerce, taxation and empire building – especially in Jesus' time…

Jesus paints a picture (echoing themes from throughout the Old Testament) of what some people have called an upside down Kingdom. In God's Kingdom the poorest and weakest are most honoured… they are the wealthy and the powerful.

Jesus promises in the Beatitudes that this Kingdom is inevitable, even though the route to getting there might be painful… We might be persecuted for righteousness / justice sake, people might say all sorts of things – it might cost us a lot. But, a reward is promised.

Mourners will be comforted.
Hungry for righteousness will be filled.
The meek will inherit the earth.

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After teaching his disciples all this wisdom – Jesus tells them that they are the hope of the world. Salt for the whole human race, and light for the world.

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These two images, salt and light had special significance for people living at the time of Jesus.

Salt

Salt was a valuable and essential commodity, in Jesus day salt was an essential part of food preservation and preparation, and even for medical needs.

Meat had to be preserved using salt – there were no fridges around in Jesus' day.

For religious purity sake salt might also have been used in the preparation of Kosher food. Rubbed on meat it could draw excess blood out of it – making it ritually fit for consumption.

But once the blood had been absorbed by the salt, the salt wouldn't be any good any more and would have to be rubbed off and thrown away.

Salt was also understood to have cleansing properties – used to disinfect and treat wounds. New born babies were rubbed with salt. In 2 Kings 2:21 we read about how Elisha sprinkled salt into a spring of water – declaring it pure and good to drink in the name of the Lord.

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To be the salt of the earth – the salt for all people means to be a preserving, cleansing, healing presence in the world. And perhaps also a little bit tasty.

We – the disciples of Jesus – when we make his values our values are the hope of the world.

Light

The other image used is light.

With regard to light we're a bit spoilt, when there's no load shedding we light up our gardens our houses, our streets at the flick of a switch.

In Jesus day light was much more valuable.

On a dark night travellers scrambling to make it into the safety of a city would be filled with hope at the sight of the city's lamps burning brightly on the hill.

Light symbolised hope, civilisation, order. A beacon guiding travellers home to rest...

God's first act of creation in bringing the world to order was to say: "Let there be light…"

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But light has to do also with what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 5:1-12 (the beatitudes). A lot of what Jesus says reflects the prophet Isaiah. In Luke's gospel Jesus first sermon comes from Isaiah 61:1:

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the broken hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives…"

- Isaiah 61:1

In Matthew's gospel Jesus repeats the same themes – when he says blessed are the poor and the oppressed – it is good news for the poor, the oppressed, the mourners.

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Isaiah in Chapter 42 and 49 also speaks of Israel being a light to the nations. In Isaiah 58:6-12 the prophet carries God's message (Isaiah 58:6-12):

"Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

True religion God is saying, is not just empty ritual, but it is made known in what we do – in the difference we make in the world, no matter how small:

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard."

- Isaiah 58:6-8

The promise is repeated in 9 to 12:

"If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday."

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Isaiah's prophecies – prophecies to which Jesus is probably referring as he preaches this sermon on the mount - tell us that when we bring God's righteousness and justice to our world – then we will see light, and we will be light.

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When Jesus says 'you are the light of the world' he is quite clear about how that means we are going to be doing something.

"Your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven."

- Matthew 5:16

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He's not just talking about having a sunny disposition.

He is speaking about a life that reflects God's righteousness and justice into the world around us.

Then people will begin to see what God is like, and they will be left with no choice, but to praise our Father in heaven, because who he is, really is reflected in who we are.

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The scrolls of Isaiah end with people flocking from all over the world to worship God in the temple in Jerusalem. Matthew's gospel ends with the instruction to the disciples to go out to all the world and baptize them, teaching them (by word and deed) to obey everything he (Jesus) has commanded.

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Today, more than ever, we need to be that light of justice and mercy and that salt of purification that begins to transform the world around us, and usher in God's Kingdom reign. You and I are the hope of the world.

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No pressure.

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The pressure is off because we are not alone in this. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Paul reminds us in Romans 8:11 that the same Spirit of God (that raised Jesus from death) lives in us and will give life to us… we are empowered and enlivened by that Spirit to live God's way, as hope for the world.

We are not alone in this because even as a small body of believers we are the body of Christ… where I have weakness you make up for me. Where I have strength I make up for you. Together we enable one another to do what God calls us to do. And in some mysterious way – as we remember when we partake of his body and drink of his blood – we are a part of Christ himself.

We are not alone in this, because when we work with God – we have an unfair advantage… He created the world to be this way.

Working with God we are salt and light – we show the way out.

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You see, I believe that we are the hope of the world… all we need to is trust in Christ and begin to work with him in bringing God's Kingdom to bear on the world.