Matthew 5:13-16; February 8, 2025; Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
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“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill that cannot be hid. People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand. So, let your light shine before others…” – Matthew 5:14-16
So let your light shine before others, because we are the light of the world!
In the name of God, and the one Jesus Christ, we have been called to be the light of the world!
Which means, my friends, that we are far more than the little we often think of ourselves; and, that we come from far more than what we can fully understand.
A little over ten years ago (just where does the time go!?), NASA’s ambitious deep space probe called “New Horizons” sent the first images of Pluto’s surface back to Earth. One of those images is on our bulletin cover this morning (and it is also now here on our screens – Ben, please put it up for all to see). Yes, this is Pluto!
Isn’t it incredible?? Isn’t science incredible?? I could just stare at this photo for days (well, maybe hours or minutes), in awe and wonder.
And to think that yes, this is little, tiny Pluto, that was once stripped of its full planetary status because it was deemed too small. Remember that??
Well, even as a dwarf planet, its glorious light has been restored, so that all might see it shining brightly before others. Okay Ben, you can take it down.
But yes, isn’t the universe amazing? Its vastness, size, diversity and mystery? Isn’t creation amazing?
And isn’t it just as amazing that little, tiny we are also a part of it? That our human story, to this point, seems somehow central to it? And more, that all of life is made of and from it? Isn’t it amazing?
The one and only Carl Sagan once said: “The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. And we are a way for the universe to know itself.”
My friends, we literally come from light, from the source of all light, from God, who was and is the first source of all things; and through us, and Christ made flesh, God has been revealed not only to the cosmos, but also to little, puny us.
So don’t think to shrink from the tasks before us, saying, “oh, what can we actually do or accomplish?”
No, don’t think that or believe it when others try to convince us that certain people don’t deserve the same God given rights and status!
No, for we are each created in God’s almighty likeness, and bound together in Christ’s name, who Himself is the Light of all things, and in whom, we are told we can do all things!
Amen?
John’s gospel, which we heard from in our Call to Worship this morning reminds us of this:
“What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. For to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.” – John 1
Power!
So let us recognize this power. Let us use this power. Let us put this power on our lampstands so that all might see. So that all might know that Christianity is synonymous with light, with gnosis, and intelligence, with compassion, kindness, and even tastiness, rather than tastelessness.
For, we are also called “the salt of the Earth” Jesus tells us… “and if we lose our taste, then we are no longer good for anything, but need to be thrown out.” – Matthew 5:13
We are the light and we are the salt.
Not so long ago, I was at the doctor’s office, and well, you all know the routine: the nurse checked my ears, my eyes, took my blood pressure, pulse…I got the full checkup.
But, instead of it going routinely, the nurse looked at me a bit surprisingly, before abruptly asking me if I was runner.
To which I was like, “uh, no… in fact, I have flat feet and achy knees, and I loathe running.”
She then asked if I was swimmer, and again, I was like, “nooo… in fact, I really just like to relax and do absolutely nothing in the pool.”
To which she said, “hmm…”
To which I said, “what?”
To which she said, “well, your resting heart rate is in the low 40s. And you have low blood pressure. You would do well to include more salt in your diet.”
“Salt?” I asked.
“Yeah, you know, on your eggs, steak, avocado, whatever.”
“Avocado? …In this economy??”
But you know what, ever since I have followed nurse’s orders (after all, I married one…), and wouldn’t you know it, it seems that my health has actually improved! My resolve. My energy. My power.
Now, maybe it has nothing to do with my salt intake. Or maybe it has only a little. But either way, I’m choosing to believe that this little, tiny granule has made a significant difference.
Just as little, tiny we can also make a difference; making our own hearts and other’s bigger and all of our lives better.
So, let no one convince us that we are like Pluto. That we are too small in stature, or number, to effect change. No, like salt, we can. That is, if like light, we shine. And spread. And brighten and illuminate. Overpowering all forms and systems of sin and darkness.
Amen?
Now, of course, you all know what else salt does, right?
It keeps things fresh. It keeps things tasty. So, that neither our food nor our faith grows too stale and moldy.
So, no, let’s not actually be the frozen chosen today! Nor let us be flavorless and tasteless.
You know, like those Ruby Turpin’s full of their deplorable opinions, which Christ tells us are no good for anything, but that need to be thrown out.
No, let us be more and bigger than that.
Because by God that’s how we were made, and in light we are form.
Amen!
