5 Epiphany/Year A/Feb 5, 2023

Isaiah 58:1-9a; Psalm 112: 1-9; Matthew 5:13-20

Last week’s gospel reading, took us up the mountain, to sit and listen to the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount…his teaching on the mountaintop, commonly referred to as the Beatitudes…Chip led us through a deeper look at each verse, it’s context and Greek translation…to help us understand more fully this teaching of Jesus…to help us see that they were not just a list of instructions to learn, and a checklist of things to do…and mark off, as complete…but as a way of life, practicing lovingkindness towards others, that leads to transforming our own lives, and the lives of others… We considered how this teaching gives us a glimpse of what the kingdom of God is like…what the beloved community looks like…what matters and who matters…And…I noted in last week’s sermon, that it wasn’t what the world would expect…just as Jesus was not the Messiah that many would have expected…But that was precisely the hope that Jesus proclaimed….A Hope that isn’t dependent on how the world defines how life “should be”…But, a hope that is built upon a foundation of God’s unconditional love for all people…most especially the vulnerable, the forgotten, the lost, those whose voices are silenced, those who are searching for signs of God’s love and light and hope in the world around them…

We continue this week, with the words of Jesus’ sermon on the mount…and continue with that thread of the unexpected “good news” that Jesus is always wanting his listeners to grab hold of…and believe in…

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

IN today’s gospel reading…I imagine Jesus looking directly into the eyes of all who are gathered…when he says to them…

You…You are the salt of the earth….

You…You are the light of the world…

You, gathered here today…are the salt of the earth and the light of the world…

You, are the ones that are necessary today, to show up…to be the living, breathing signs of God’s love and light and hope in a world that wonders at times… “where is this God of love, and mercy and compassion in the midst of so much suffering, anxiety, and uncertainty”…

The signs, Jesus teaches us, are not found in the ritual sacrifices, or on the altar, or following the commandments and checking off the boxes, or in the private prayers of the people…They are revealed most fully in the lives of the people among us now, and those who have gone on before us, who embrace Jesus’ invitation to live authentically as a child of God, as salt of the earth people, as light of the world people…

And Jesus encourages us to embody the Good News of God’s love and light and hope…by becoming agents of God’s healing and re-building of a world where the bonds of injustice are loosed, the oppressed are set free, bread is shared generously with the hungry, the homeless and poor all have access to safe and warm shelter, and all have the resources that they need…

You…You are the salt of the earth….

You…You are the light of the world…

These past few years have dulled our abilities, at times, to be surprised by unexpected signs of God’s love and light and hope in our day to day lives…we have been collectively affected by so much illness, grief, and disruption in our daily lives…we’ve mostly been living in survival mode…trying to hold on to the time when everything will get back to normal again…

Jesus invites us to begin again, right here and now…look around us, at the signs of hope and light and love of God, embodied in the people of God among us…that remind us that we have all that we need in this moment, to live life fully, abundantly, generously…right now… and with hope for what is possible and yet to come, in the days ahead…

We can trust and believe that we have the assurance of God’s love made known to us, in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

And we have each other.

Every one of us, Jesus tells us, is the salt of the earth…the light of the world…

You…You are the salt of the earth….

You…You are the light of the world…

You are the one called to share the good news that God is here, among us now…and that sometimes a light surprises us…and will most assuredly restore our Hope that God, indeed, is with us always…

Let us pray:

Hymn: Sometimes a light surprises – (H) 667

1 Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while she sings;

it is the Lord who rises with healing in his wings:

when comforts are declining, he grants the soul again

a season of clear shining, to cheer it after rain.

2 In holy contemplation we sweetly then pursue

the theme of God’s salvation, and find it ever new;

set free from present sorrow, we cheerfully can say,

let the unknown tomorrow bring with it what it may.

3 It can bring with it nothing but he will bear us through:

who gives the lilies clothing will clothe his people, too:

beneath the spreading heavens no creature but is fed;

and he who feeds the ravens will give his children bread.

4 Though vine nor fig tree neither their wonted fruit should bear,

though all the fields should wither, nor flocks nor herds be there;

yet, God the same abiding, his praise shall tune my voice;

for, while in him confiding, I cannot but rejoice.

Rev. Julie Platson, St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, AK