“Salt and Light ”

A Sermon Based on the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:13-20

Pastor Deb Troester, STHPC, February 5, 2023

This past week we celebrated Ground Hog Day, a day when all eyes turn to a rodent in Pennsylvania named Punxsutawny Phil, who emerges from his home on Gobbler’s Knob to predict whether or not there will be an early spring. If the groundhog does not see his shadow, spring will come early, but if he sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. This ceremony has been carried out ever since 1887. The little town of Punxsutawny has turned it into a winter festival of sorts, complete with food, music, and souvenirs for sale.

         Until we moved to Puerto Rico, I did not realize that February 2 was also Candlemas, a day celebrated by many Christians around the world. Its known as Dia de la Candelaria in Spanish and chandeleur in French. This is traditionally a day when candles are blessed in church. In Puerto Rico, in rural areas, bonfires are lit. The tradition is to burn a bit of wood from your house to ward off housefires in the year to come. Nowadays people burn their dried-out Christmas trees on this day.

         Candlemas is the last of four celebrations of light that the church observes in the dark winter days of the northern hemisphere. The first is Advent, when we light candles in anticipation of Christ’s birth. The second is Christmas, when we light candles to celebrate the nativity. Then there is Epiphany, when we celebrate the light of the star that guided the wisemen to the infant Jesus and remember that Jesus is the light of the world. Finally, there is Candlemas, also called the Feast of the Dedication, which originally commemorated the dedication of the infant Jesus at the Temple. According to Jewish tradition forty days after the birth of a boy, the mother must come to the temple to make an offering for her ritual purification after childbirth. She should offer a year-old lamb as a sacrifice, or if the family could not afford a lamb, a pair of doves should be offered. Mary and Joseph offered doves, which shows that they were not wealthy people.

         In the early days of the church, when congregants were still tempted to observe pagan feast days, church leaders hit on the idea of taking those same pagan celebrations and giving them a Christian meaning. That is why we celebrate Jesus’ birth in December, near the winter solstice, not in the spring, when he was probably born. . (Shepherds watching their flocks by night were probably there because of the spring lambing season.) Christmas replaced the Roman festival of Saturnalia, which concluded on December 25.

         Candlemas, or what we now call “Groundhog Day,” falls half way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. The blessing of candles was inspired by the Roman rite for the goddess Februa, (where we get the name of the month February) who was honored on February 2 with a procession of candles. Candlemas also concurs with Imbolc, an ancient Celtic tradition, which was celebrated by  burning lamps and lighting bonfires.

         It is appropriate that at the time of year when many cultures  celebrate festivals involving candles and bonfires that we recall Jesus’ words, “You are the light of the world.”

         Joe and I used to be spelunkers – that is cave explorers. I don’t know if any of you have ever been in total darkness, but in a cave if you turn out all your lights – flashlights, headlamps, etc. it is totally dark. You literally cannot see your hand in front of your face. For most of us nowadays, that is an unusual experience. Streetlamps and security lights illumine the urban landscape. One has to go many miles into the wilderness to escape all traces of artificial light. One of the things I enjoyed about some parts of Africa is that it is still really dark at night, and the stars are spectacular.

People in Jesus’ day did not have much artificial light – maybe just a single lamp to illumine their homes. Yet, even one lamp makes a huge difference in the dark. Maybe you know the saying, “It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.” Jesus told his disciples,  “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.  People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.” Jesus gives an almost humorous example – lighting a lamp, then putting it under a basket – to remind us that the purpose of lighting a lamp is for it to be seen. He goes on, “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.” We’ve been given the light of God, to reflect God’s goodness and love back to a world that is struggling in all kinds of darkness. If we don’t let our lights shine, it’s like lighting a lamp then covering it up. Anglican Archbishop William Temple said, “The church is the only organization on earth that exists for those who are not its members.” Pastor Jill Duffield writes “What does it mean in real terms to be the light and salt Jesus commands? It begins with paying attention to those and to that which much of the world ignores or discards. It starts with…honestly assessing if our time, attention and resources are directed in ways that reflect God's law of love… reflecting the character of the One who first loved us… Stay alert and look for the light of Jesus Christ in others, in yourself, in the world. Follow that light and bear it to those places that right now sit in deep darkness, knowing that true worship entails sharing your bread and opening you heart and your home, proclaiming Christ crucified in word and deed to those who need to know their suffering is not irredeemable, endless or unnoticed.” In short, we must go where the darkness is, so that Christ’s light, shining through us, can overcome it.

Jesus also said, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?” In ancient days, salt was not as pure as the salt we have today. If exposed to damp it could lose its saltiness. That is what Jesus means by salt losing its taste. Salt was meant to be salty – it was meant to be noticed, to make the dish taste better. Salt is also added to food to preserve it. Before the days of refrigeration, salting food was one of the few ways to keep it from spoiling. Like salt, we Christians are mixed in with the population of the globe to push back against evil, to retard its destructive power.

Now one grain of salt can’t do much by itself, but it doesn’t take a lot of salt to turn an unpalatable situation into something positive. Because English only has one word for “you” we sometimes misunderstand what Jesus is saying. Greek has a you-plural – more than one “you.” What Jesus actually says is “You-all are the salt of the earth. You-all are the light of the world.” Rosemary Schrott Taylor writes, “Our saltiness doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We cannot follow Jesus’ example unless we are united with our Christian siblings. In other words, there is something about being in relationship with other believers that allows us to become who God intends for us to be…it is hard work to create meaningful community. When we seek to know people beyond niceties and waves, we almost always find – to put it bluntly – that people are annoying. People talk too much, they vote for the wrong political candidates, they run meetings the “wrong” way, they interrupt you, they demand your time. Sharing a faith does not automatically make it easy to have a relationship with someone… Yet we cannot carry out Jesus’ mission if we are not linked…” if we don’t work together. The good news is that if enough of us act together, we can sometimes get rid of an evil completely, such as when many Christians banded together to abolish slavery. Our efforts to join with others to feed the hungry, advocate for fair treatment of immigrants, or make sure that unhoused people have a safe place to sleep can make a difference.

Doing these things can sound overwhelming, yet Jesus doesn’t say, “become the salt,” or “become the light.” He says, “You ARE the salt; you ARE the light.” God has already equipped us with what we need to be salt and light. By virtue of our baptism, we are called to be salt and light. Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to help us. We have the Bible to instruct us. We have the church to support us. Just don’t hide your light. Don’t lose your saltiness.

I will close with a little parable told by Simram Jeet Singh, in his book, The Light We Give.

“Some lanterns hanging in the village see the sun starting to set in the evening. They know darkness is coming, and they are worried and scared. What’s going to happen to them? As the sun sets, one lantern, in its own little corner, flicks on its light and says, “I challenge the darkness.” It has no expectation of what would come next. It just looks within and says, “What do I have to give? What’s possible for me to do?” Other lanterns see its light and turn on their lights, too. All together, they are able to challenge the darkness.

What is worrying you? What makes you fear for the future? You – all of you – are the light of the world. You are all empowered by the Holy Spirit to shine the light of God’s love, to challenge the darkness. Are there dark places in the world where God is calling you, in Jesus’ name, to shine your light?

Let us pray:

Thank you for always being a light in the dark places of the world and the dark places of our lives. Our hope is in God, for you are the light of the world and you call us to be lights for others. May your light and love blaze in us and in all the world. Amen.

Deborah Troester © 2023