Flat and Dark versus Tasty and Radiant!

Text: Matthew 5:13-16
Theme: “Flat and Dark versus Tasty and Radiant”
Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany
February 6, 2011
First Presbyterian Church
Denton, Texas
Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

IN THE NAME OF JESUS

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Super Bowl Sunday in Dallas, Texas! Classic NFL match-up! Green Bay versus Pittsburgh! Attention of the world focused on us. Ice storm! Snow storm! Rolling power outages! Schools closed! Colleges closed! Universities closed! Dry cleaners closed. Mall closed. Profits down. Mild depression sets in. UPS sends one thing but can’t send another! Arrogant driver spins a “360” on Dallas Drive nearly crashing! Slow driver holds up traffic at 5 mph. Road rage rears its wintry head. Many still have one hand on wheel the other on cell phone. Colorful language muttered under breath. Frustration joins with the mild depression and cabin fever comes along for the ride. Crisis in Tunisia! Riots in Egypt. Come to church! Safe haven! Wait! What’s that I see? Two inches of cold water on the hallway floor! What’s that I hear? Running water! Pipe burst. Emergency actions undertaken! Calls made! Water shut off! ServiceMaster can’t arrive for two hours. Clean-up begins. Plumbers can’t get here until later in the afternoon! Plumber can’t get here for two days! Good people of First Presbyterian Church suit up and show up for removal of aforementioned water and the lifting furniture to higher ground! Sermon stays unwritten! Coffee pot survives flooding disaster. Sermon can be written. Sermon is written. It’s short! All things considered, I’m GLAD TO BE AT FPC!

In addition, I’m excited to hear what our Lord has to say on a day such as this with all of this, that, and the other thing going on around. If I’d have my druthers, I’d insist on some grace, some mercy, some peace, and some reassurance that the cost of clean-up won’t be too high. For that matter, I have all kinds of wants and wishes and hopes and aspirations, and I’d rather them not be put on hold because of some sporting event, or traffic, or governmental crises abroad, blasting winter weather, or anything else that gets in the way of you and me being all that we are meant to be. Jesus, do tell us what we are to DO!

Today’s Gospel does nothing of the sort. Instead, our Lord sits us down and, in gentle tones, tells us who we are. “You are the salt of the earth,” He declares. Salt! Did I hear Him correctly? Salt is what gives flavor to food. It provides a little extra zest, zip, and tang. The enjoyment of a good helping of mashed potatoes, for instance, requires just the right amount of salt. And another thing: back in Jesus’ day, salt was used as a preservative. It kept things from spoiling. Well, the times have changed. We don’t like preservatives in our food. Organic seems to be the way to go. But let’s not throw the meaning out with the water from the burst pipes this morning.

If I understand Jesus correctly, you and I are to be what gives life on earth its flavor – its zest, zip, and tang. Furthermore, we are to preserve the earth. Later on in the New Testament, we discover that our earth is being preserved for the sake of the elect, for the sake of those called to be the salt of the earth.
The problem, though, is that we prefer to be organic. We’d rather not be the salt of the earth. We’d prefer to continue our existence with as little discomfort as possible. Quick to spot this, Jesus says: “If salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

Being good for nothing doesn’t sound good to me. Same goes for being thrown out and trampled underfoot.

Do you like your soft drinks from a can, from a bottle, or from a fountain? The thing about soft drinks is that they have effervescence. If you shake them only a little, they start to fizz. Personally, I prefer the fountain variety. But I’ve noticed that they don’t always get the mix of carbonated water and syrup quite right. Either the concoction is fizzy with no taste, or full of taste but not fizzy. Either way, it’s no good. Toss it out. I can’t give the world a Coke mixed to perfection. But I can give myself to the world. And my best self can only happen when I am close to Jesus. Get too far from Jesus, and I start to lose my salt, my taste, my effervescence, my zest, my zip, my tang.

There’s more. Jesus says: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Whoa. That’s some heavy stuff. I thought Jesus was the light of the world. We people, sitting in darkness, have seen a great light – and it’s not us. It’s Jesus. But hold on. Jesus says that WE are the light of the world. How can that be? Again, it depends on our proximity – how close we are – to Jesus.
Jesus never fails to state the obvious. A city on a hill cannot be hid. Unfortunately, our sinful natures prompt us to live in a sort of spiritual New Orleans – that is, below sea level where we can hide and avoid being spotted. But not so the city on the hill. Everyone can see that. How silly, Jesus seems to be saying, would it be to light a lamp and then put a bowl on top of it. That would defeat the purpose. Throw that dadgum bowl out and let the light shine for crying out loud.

What bowls do we use to cover up our light? Oh, there are all kinds of them. They usually come in the form of excuses – that tend to go like this: Well, we live in a post-Christian society; things are so much more diverse; we really have little to offer the world anymore; a wave of secularism has washed any hope of positive influence away; the church is caught up in so many internal squabbles even as it tries to market itself to a world that can spot a phony a mile away. The glory days are over. It’s best to hunker down, show up on Sunday, observe our traditions, spend our hour in the pew, and let it be.”

This is what people are thinking and saying as they put a bowl over their light. As a result, the darkness deepens.

The contest to end all contests, when you get right down to it, pits flat and dark versus tasty and radiant. The tasty and radiant side, the salt and light side, consists of those who have heard what Jesus said, and, by the grace of God, they’ve come to believe it. The other side, the flat and dark side, consists of those for whom functional agnosticism is a way of life. They mutter their heads and think that they can’t be sure of anything anymore. Social Darwinism ensues – the survival of the fittest – and the best they can hope for is to rise above their existential despair. This group has lots of company, and they’re still trying to recruit members for the team. Epicureanism – that’s the philosophy that says “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die” – does seem to be alive and well. There’s no such thing as a new heresy. There are only old heresies with new clothes on.
But two thousand years later, the bug-a-boo – and the veritable fly in the ointment -- is the crucified and risen Jesus. He, too, is still trying to draft members for the team. His call goes out to you this morning: You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

And, as if to drive this point home, He comes to us with the bread and the wine right here this morning amid the ServiceMaster fans. His body and blood are given and shed for the forgiveness of our sins. All that makes us flat and dark is taken away. All that gives tastiness, effervescence, and light and radiance are distributed gladly. Game over. Salt and light wins!

Amen.