Sermon on the Mount

March 6, 2023

Matthew 5: 14

You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden.15No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16In 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.

Jesus says we, as his disciples, are light. Not that we are to be light. We are light. And so, Jesus is telling us we need to behave like light. How do we behave like light? 

Let’s talk about light. In Genesis, light is what God created first. Everything created later needed light. Plants can’t live without light. And what is interesting, neither can we! Human bodies do not function well in the dark. Without exposure to light, our bodies don’t create Vitamin D. Without Vitamin D, our bodies do not process calcium and we have weak hearts and weak bones. And not only do our bodies suffer, our emotions suffer. There was an article in the Post-Gazette a few years back about Seasonal Affective Disorder. The winter blues.

According to WebMD, seasonal affective disorder may be caused by a lack of sunlight. Lack of light may upset your sleep-wake cycle and other circadian rhythms. And it may cause problems with a brain chemical called serotonin that affects mood. 

Lack of light makes us sick. The treatment? Sit in bright light every morning for an hour. It is good to be in the light. It makes us feel good.

But there are other things we like about light. Without it, there is no color. Because a world without color is unnatural! We want light. Without it, we are confused. If there is no light, we cannot see. One of our senses is taken away. We crave it. Seek it. And so when we see a light, we go to it. And we can see light a long way off. We can see a candle flame 30 miles away. Back in Jesus day, people lighted their houses with oil lamps. One small lamp would light up an entire room. When everyone lit their lamps, people in the wilderness could see the town.  If it was a city on a hill, it could be seen for miles. And it attracted travelers who sought hospitality, a central obligation for the people of those days. 

Jesus tells us we are light. We need to have the same effect on the world around us. Beauty. Visibility. Nourishment. Life. That is what Jesus says we are. Whose life are you lighting up today? 

But it’s not just us as individuals who light up the world. At a meeting of Stated Clerks for the PCUSA, Grayde Parsons, then Stated Clerk for the denomination asked this question: Who does your church minister to? Most of us thought about the number of members in or congregations or those who attend on Sunday. He said, “No!” The people we minster to are all those who are touched by our ministries. A church of 20 can impact hundreds. John McMillan Presbyterian Church, with its 350 members, ministers to more people than we can even imagine. We are light in the world.

March 4, 2023

Matthew 5: 13

Jesus says we, as his disciples, are salt. Not that we are to be salt. We are salt. And so Jesus is telling us we need to behave like salt. How do we behave like salt? Let’s talk about salt.

Dr. David Kessler former head of the FDA reports that at every food manufacturer hires “chefs” for the research department who try to determine the “just right” combination of salt and sweeteners and fat that will make food taste good to us. And of the three, salt is perhaps the most important. It’s in everything. Apparently for good reason. It is said that salt does not just add flavor, it enhances the flavors already there.

When the FDA put pressure on food companies to reduce the amount of salt in processed food the salt industry was unconcerned. Their response? Fine, take the salt out of the food. If it is not put in the food at the factory, people will just reach for the saltshaker!

I like salt. We all do. Back in Jesus day people loved it the way we love it today. So much so that Jesus said that his disciples were salt. No like salt. Salt themselves. So, what does it mean that we are to behave like salt? We need to do what salt does. We need to enhance the flavors of the world around us. We need to enliven and brighten our world. We need to make it more enjoyable!

Our Christian saltiness is supposed to make the world a more delicious place. If it doesn’t, Jesus says, we must not be salt. And we are not worthy disciples.

Sermon on the Mount

March 3, 2023

Matthew 5: 10

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Righteousness to Jesus was a right relationship with God. According to Jesus, we are blessed when we hunger and thirst for it and are also blessed when it is the focus of our whole selves. We seek righteousness, find it and then make it our way of life. But Jesus tells us here that “being righteous” has consequences. Being righteous can lead to persecution. And the persecution that Jesus is talking about isn’t about things like saying “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas!” Jesus understood persecution for righteousness’ sake as death on the cross. What this means is that we are not only to “be righteous”, that is a quiet personal purity of heart, but to “do righteousness” publicly, regardless of the cost.

This all begs the question – who defines “righteousness”? How do we know what puts us in a right relationship with God? That answer is simple – Jesus. Jesus teaches us how to live as people of God. Which is why Jesus also says those who are vilified because they on his account are blessed. They are living the Jesus way and so are “doing righteousness”. 

The Jesus way is a simple formula (but admittedly complex in its application) – Love God and Love each other. Care about and care for all who bear the image of God. Doing this can be on a global scale or it can be assisting refugees moving into the neighborhood or it can be comforting the person sitting next to you on the bus. That others will vilify you for being a disciple of Jesus is a blessing. Maybe it’s proof you are a disciple of Jesus.