February 6, 2011
1 Corinthians 2:1-16
Matthew 5:13-20
5th Sunday After Epiphany
Year A
"Why Are We Here?"
Once upon a time, (which means this is a fairy tale, a made up story from long ago, containing great truth) –
Once upon a time, there lived a rich man who had three daughters. He was a little insecure and needed some reassurance one day so he called each of his daughters into his counting house (where he counted all of his money, of course,) and asked each
one of them, “Dearest daughter, how much do you love me.”
The first to visit his counting chamber was his oldest daughter and she replied, “O Father, I love you more than all the gold in the world.” The father knew that there was a great deal of gold in the world so he was happy with this answer and he gave her some gold coins to spend as she wished.
The second daughter came in and was asked the same question. She replied, “O dearest most loving and special Father, the
best father ever, I love you more than all of the silver in the world.” And the father was pleased with this answer. He gave her some silver coins so she could order some new dresses which she had been wanting.
The third daughter came in and when she was asked the question she paused and then replied, “Father, I love you more than fresh meat loves salt.”
The father exploded in a rage and ordered that the daughter be thrown out of the great house and not allowed to return.
The servants threw her out of the house with nothing but the clothes on her back and she was left to wander in the woods. She decided to disguise herself so she made clothing out of the rushes she found in the nearby swamp. She knocked on the back door or a large mansion, owned by one of her father’s friends, and asked the servant who answered the door for a job so that she could eat. She would not tell them her name so they called her “Cap O’Rushes” because of her clothing. She was given a job washing
the pots and pans and keeping the house clean. She worked very hard and everyone liked her work, but she seldom spoke.
One day the servants were all abuzz because a great party was to be given. There was food to prepare, room to clean, silver to polish and lots of other things to do. Cap O’Rushes discovered that her own father was invited. She convinced the cook to let her prepare the meal for her own father, though of course they did not know he was her father.
She prepared all of his favourite dishes, but did not use any salt at all. (Remember, this was back when people used a lot of salt and well before blood pressure had been invented.) When the food was brought to him and he began to eat he was most unhappy with the meal and the host ordered the cook be brought to apologize to his guest. The cook brought Cap O’Rushes and explained that she had cooked the meal for this particular guest.
“What is the meaning of this”, he
demanded. “You have embarrassed me. He says his food is bland and tasteless. Why have you done this to me and to him?”
She turned to her father and said simply, “I love you as much as fresh meat loves salt”. He father recognized her and wept in sorrow as he asked for her forgiveness. His other daughters had been nothing but a trial to him and were always wanting more and more fine clothes and jewellery and he realized that this daughter had really loved him a great deal.
I think that story is a good demonstration summary of the entire gospel of Jesus Christ. The heart of the gospel is God’s love for us. God loves us more than fresh meat loves salt. The challenge for us in our loves is always how we demonstrate our love for God.
In the gospel lesson for today – Matthew 5 – Jesus has just went up on the mountain to talk with all of the people below who are following him and listening them. This is a mixed crowd, some are his committed disciples, some are his fair weather disciples, and some are just interested parties. But the point that Jesus us trying to make to all is what it means to be a righteous person. He is telling what it means and the gifts that God will give to those who are faithful.
In verses 13-20 which we read for today he is continuing that conversation, and speaking more about the character of a Christian.
It was said that in WWII that in some cities, people were asked to make black curtains to put on their windows, so that when the enemy planes flew overhead, they would not be able to distinguish towns and cities to drop bombs on them. Washington DC was of course very vulnerable to attack, so workers got to work making black curtains for the white house. One of the workers commented however, that it did not make sense to try and camouflage the white house. The white house was such an icon for America, it was so clear to everyone in the world where the white house was, it was such a distinctive house, and was so well advertised, that if someone was looking for it, they would have no problem finding it. There was just no way to hide its identity.
Jesus has the same message for us as Christians. Christianity should be so much a part of who we are, following God should be so much a part of our character, that there was no mistaking who we are. You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world.
Salt, light, water, fire, are all key ingrediants for our lives. Today, we are told that we are to cut down on our salt intake, but salt is still an important part of our lives. What are some uses of salt ?........
Salt has the properties of flavor, of preserving, of healing, of preventing germs, of cleansing, and many other things.
In Jesus’ day salt was also used in cooking. Every house or neighborhood would have had a stove in front of it. The fuel for these stoves would have been animal manure. In order for the manure to burn, they would add salt to it and make it into patties. Once all of the salt burned from the patties, they were no good. The Hebrew word for earth is the same word for an earthen stove. We are the salt used to burn the manure of life.
In other words, we have a mission and a purpose as the people of god. As the church we are the body of Christ for the world. Our challenge is to not just be Christ, but to be Christ crucified and resurrected.
We have also been looking at the lessons of Paul for us as the church, and the challenges to be the body of Christ in the world. Paul talks about what stands in the way of us living our our mission in the world, but also the hope we have for overcoming those challenges. And the gifts that God has given us in spite of our humanness to be rightuose in an unright world.
The Greeks loved knowledge, and the Corinthians were no different. They were willing to learn everything, and to talk about what they knew and what they learned. They even formed secret society of special knowledge, that you had to be intiated to be able to know. They even began to think that in order to have a relationship with God, you had to know God.
Not atheist believe that there is no God, there is only human knowledge, and that you can get to the kingdom of God, to a live of happiness by learning and knowing. That is not the same as someone who says that they are agnostic. An agnostic person says that there might be a god, but we will never know through human knowledge. It is impossible to know God, so it is impossible to know if there is a God. That is sort of what Paul is saying, but not quite. Paul is telling us that as Christians, it is impossible to know god. God is a mystery. But if you are faithful, and you love God, then God reveals to you all that you need to know. And all that you need to know is that God loves you.
A preacher took a questionnaire that he received in the mail - how elgible are you to go to heaven? When he scored his answers, the scale put him on the category of being too close to call. I think that decribes the average Christian today. We have one foot in the world and one foot in the bible. We try to do right, and yet there is this question in the back of our heads. How much can sin and still be called righteous? How many times can do wrong, and still be forgiven. How much can I get away with doing and still call myself a Christian.
Interestingly enough the answer is in Matthew. How many times can be forgiven? Jesus says 70X7. And yet also wants us to know that it not the point of how much we can get away with. We can get away with as much as we want, God is always going to love us.
But when we start to love God – our focus changes, from how much we can sin, to how much we can do right. From how much God has done for me, to how much I can do for God. From how many times can I be forgiven, to how many times do I have to remember that I am sanctified and freed from sin.
Righteousness if a choice that I make in how I live my life. I have complete control over it, and can seek to know as much as I can about living a righteous life. But salvation is a gift from God. Paul says that God doesn’t waste God’s time in giving that gift to those who don’t seek it.
The other gift that we are given as the body of Christ, is the mind of Christ. None of us within ourselves is strong enough, or worthy enough, or smart enough to hold the mind of Christ alone. But as a collective body of faithful people, trusting in as Paul says, Christ crucified, we together hold the gift of Christ’s holy spirit to guide our every move. And it is not about is, it is about the power of God that works through us to fulfill god’s mission and purpose.
How much can we sin and still be Christian. Jesus says that unless you surpass the righteousness of he scribes and Pharisees you cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
I am switching scriptures a little, this is the last sentence of Matthew and it will be my last point. The scribes were professionals, usually priest who had been given the task of putting God’s word into writing. The Pharisee were committed lay people, who committed every part of their lives to God and doing what God said was right. Jesus was saying that they were pretty good people, they were faithful and righteous. Jesus set the bar pretty high for us. They were the best of the best, and we are being called to be even better. They were extraordinary, but we are called to be even more. As Christians we are to give the world an unheard of amount of generosity, love, and understanding. Such as the world has never seen. Your are the salt of the earth, the light of the world. The good news is that we don’t have to do anything or know anything. All we have to do is to love God.
Ann Landers printed a story a few years ago from a lady who had attempted suicide. She lay unconscious for three days before the police found her and took her to the hospital. But they went above and beyond the call of duty by calling her every day and once she returned home they would visit her and bring her cards and flowers on a regular basis. They went out of their way to show kindness and love.
We are not all called to be police, or nurses, or firemen. We are not all called to have to faith of the scribes or Pharisees. But Jesus point is that whomever we are, and whatever we are doing, we are called to show compassion and to go out of our way to express it. That is what being a Christian is all about. God loves you, how to you show the love of God in your life? Let us pray…..
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