The Rev. Dr. Dennis Winkleblack Sermon
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The Rev. Dr. Dennis Winkleblack
February 9, 2014
Trinity Episcopal Church, Hartford, CT
Matthew 5: 13-20
Some years ago in making a minor point in a sermon I singled out a church member. I said something like, “If Jesus would have said ‘blessed are the bald’ then so and so would be in highest heaven.” Something like that.
Afterwards, someone asked me what I would have done if the man I had singled out would have gotten mad and maybe walked out. I said I knew him well. I knew how he would react. I could call him by name, even to make a teasing remark, and he wouldn’t be offended. In fact, he would love the attention. I knew him that well.
Something similar takes place in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. For the first 10 verses of chapter 5 of Matthew, in the Beatitudes, Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek; blessed are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart, etc.” It’s all third person, general. Like Southerners say, “Blessed are all y’all.”
But in verse 11, it shifts to 2nd person. Blessed are you, in particular - you. Jesus turns from addressing the crowds in general and to addressing the disciples in particular. “Blessed are YOU when people revile YOU and persecute YOU, etc.” And, then he goes on with our verses today: “YOU are the salt of the earth; YOU are the light of the world.”
The question, therefore, is, “Is this ‘you’ that Jesus is talking about, you? Is Jesus talking to you? Talking to me?”
You want to know what I think about you? I think I don’t know for sure. Now, I know you’re wonderfully nice people. In fact, I like you so much that I worship more often with you than I do with my own church, the United Methodist Church. This is how much I like you. So, not surprisingly, I have strong suspicions about you in terms of the question, ‘is Jesus talking about you when he says you.’
But I have to say honestly that I don’t know for certain if Jesus is talking to you this morning.
Well, what about this for honesty? And, honestly, I’m not just trying to be clever. I’m only trying to say I think I’m beginning to believe with many theologians that Jesus called many people, but not all people to be among his closest followers. Coming to believe that while Jesus clearly welcomed the crowds in general, he didn’t call all of them to follow him as a disciplined disciple.
All of this, of course, flies in the face of what modern churches seem to be trying to do. We try as hard as we possibly can to get everyone in the inner circle of the church, in the inner circle of Jesus’ followers. But, in most places, we fail miserably. But, now I’m thinking, maybe this just can’t be helped. Maybe it’s as simple as the fact that all church members were never called to the inner circle, to be disciplined discipleship in the first place. After all, Jesus also said, “Many are called, but few are chosen”
Well, I don’t mean to confuse your life this morning. No, wait. I take that back. I do mean to confuse your life this morning. I do want to knock you a bit off center, because, frankly, that’s the only way we ever grow as people – to look at self and life a bit differently, from a different perspective, a different slant.
So, work with me for another 8-10 minutes or so. Let’s just assume for the next 8-10 minutes or so that maybe you have been called by name by Jesus. That “you” means “you.”
Accordingly, If Jesus is calling you by name, then YOU are the salt of the earth.
Salt. Great metaphor, isn’t it? Many of you know from experience that you didn’t really begin to appreciate salt until your doctor told you to cut it out. Right? Then, you wanted salt as much as your next breath!
In Jesus’ day salt had many uses. Not only for food, but for preservation of food. Plus, it was used also in building roads, hence Jesus’ comment that if salt has lost its flavor it’s good only for trampling on by foot. In Jesus’ main commentary about salt in our words this morning, however, it’s clear he’s talking only about its use as flavoring. He is basically saying, “You disciples are few in number. But put you out there in the world and a few of you will make a huge difference. Just like salt.”
Green beans without salt? Or corn without salt? Or French Fries without salt? No thank you! A little salt, though, and “My, that’s good!”
Is Jesus calling you to be like this? Like salt?
I know of a college student who had made a decision not to drink alcohol. He said he’d read something about every single drink of alcohol killing a certain number of brain cells. He also said that since he wasn’t a great student to begin with, he couldn’t afford to lose any. He said that his decision had nothing to do with religion, per se. He said he wasn’t trying to make a point. But, even so, when he was at a party and refused alcohol, someone inevitably said something to him about being a goody two shoes.
Clearly his friends seemed to be driven crazy by his behavior. Like they couldn’t have a good time unless he got bombed also.
My sermon this morning isn’t an anti-alcohol sermon. But this student’s experience does point out a major reality. And that is, in a world where there are few universal values, anyone who believes anything in particular that’s contrary to the status quo is perceived as a threat. It can be real hard to stick to your guns because the pressure to conform can be overwhelming.
Now, your issue may not be alcohol. It might be capital punishment or mental health or ecology or education or hunger or homelessness or literacy or health care or guns on the street or racism or ageism or sexism or homophobia or politics or government misconduct or something else.
The deal is, whatever issues grab you at the core of your being, whatever the problem in the world is that you believe grieves God’s heart and stifles God’s on-going redemption of the world, then whatever you do as a result because of your desire to follow Jesus can be hard to sustain in this world which radically prefers you go along to get along.
But, still, Jesus says, a few salt-like people will make a huge difference.
Light. Like salt, it’s mainly of significance in what it enables or enhances. After all, you don’t stare at a light bulb. Light is valuable in that it enables us to see something else. Switch on a light and the whole room is transformed.
For Maundy Thursday in the First Methodist Church of Stamford where I served for 7 years we would gather at night in their large chancel area with pews on both sides. There, we would have a service of Tenebrae which concludes with all the lights having been turned off and all the 12 candles extinguished one by one. Then the still lit Christ candle would be removed to the sacristy.
In that church, as it is here, when the lights are extinguished, it is very dark, as near to pitch black as I’ve ever experienced.
Then, in the ritual we followed, after a few moments the lighted Christ candle which had earlier been taken out would be brought back in to the chancel from the sacristy. Although it was a big, tall candle, it held only a little light. But compared to the previous darkness it was literally like day and night.
That single light of Christ was enough.
“You are the light of the world,” says Jesus. Without you, the world can’t see what is, what really is, what really, really is real.
That is, without the likes of us, the world has no means of seeing that selfishness will consume us all, that merely seeking pleasure and trying to avoid pain is insufficient for a guiding principle. Without light the world has no way of facing its violence and the realization that force and threats of force never changed anyone’s heart.
More personally, without your example, your light, your circle of family or circle of friends or circle of workplace associates may not be able to see themselves clearly in order to reflect on any of their life choices which may be leading them further into darkness.
You are the light of the world, Jesus says. You. Hide your light under a basket, and the whole world continues to go to hell in the proverbial hand basket. But, show up, stand up, speak up for Jesus’ sake and Jesus’ way and let your little light shine and – who knows. But Jesus says it will be enough.
You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world; you are like a city built on a hill that can’t be hidden.”
To be very sure, Jesus isn’t calling disciples to a purely private religion, is he? This is not just about being nice, staying out of trouble, going to church when it’s convenient, getting some peace of mind so you can go to heaven, is it?
No, this is much more important than that. It’s about salt and light for nothing less than the transformation of the world.
Salt and light. Maybe your salt. Maybe your light.
If you are the you Jesus is addressing.
Now, if I still have your attention – if I still have your attention – this I think, is a most encouraging sign. A sign, likely, that Jesus may indeed be calling you. Calling YOU to be salt; calling YOU to be light.