Epiphany Week 5

Psalm: Psalm 112:1-9, 10 

Old Testament: Isaiah 58:1-9a, 9b-12 

Gospel: Matthew 5:13-20 

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 2:1-12, 13-16

Welcome to Epiphany week five or the first Sunday of the Winter Olympics.  We are already watching plenty of Olympic action in our house.  I wish the Scripture provided a great analogy I could compare to an Olympic athlete.  It doesn’t have much athletic imagery, but it does discuss a lot about how we are to live.  You can’t expect to be a great athlete if you don’t follow a certain lifestyle, and particularly the two Old Testament readings explore the idea of how followers of the Lord are supposed to live.  They reveal a lifestyle of righteousness that is outward focuses rather than self-seeking.  Last week we discussed this theme in the Beatitudes and Kingdom Ethics in general. 

This week in Matthew we get the results of what happens when we follow Christ.  Jesus declares that we, those who follow him, are the salt and light of the earth.  My pastor made the same point he made last week that these are statements, not commands.  Jesus says you all who follow me “are” the salt and light of the earth not that you “are to be” the salt and light.  Salt and light share some interesting properties.  To begin with, they are most useful when they are enhancing something else.  No one ever says, that was some good salt, or look at this great light.  Salt brings out the flavor of food and light shines on things to make them look better.  They are also substances best used when pure and unfiltered.  They are both also valuable in the ancient world and today.  Salt is a huge part of our diet, and if you have ever lost your power at night, you realize how helpless we are in the dark. 

What does this have to do with living a righteous life?  First, salt and light serve a purpose and mission.  We also have a mission to spread the Gospel in the world which also makes us valuable.  Second, our lives are to be lived for Christ and bring glory to him, not to ourselves.  We are to live not seeking our own glory, but to put Christ first as Verse 16 says.  Third, you only need a little bit of either for it to be spread out into the surroundings.  The same should be said for us. It only takes one follower of Christ to make a difference in someone’s life.  Finally, salt and light provide a stark contrast for us to emulate.  There is to be the same difference between how we live and the world as between light and dark, or salted and unsalted food.  All of these points speak to the theme of Epiphany as we have been discussing the past few weeks.  We are to reveal and bring glory to Christ.  We, both individually and as the Church, are a vital means whereby Christ is revealed today.

The position of this section is important also because it follows the Beatitudes which are about how we act and it precedes a long discourse by Jesus concerning following the spirit of the Law and not just the letter.  And in the middle we have this hinge section that says when we follow Christ we will be so different than the world that people will take notice and glorify the Father.  In this regard, I haven’t really discussed verses 17-20 because I feel they introduce the next topic that starts in verse 21.

I haven’t discussed the 1 Corinthians passage, but we are at least reading through it every week even if the themes don’t necessarily match the other passages.  This week may we be salt and light to the world around us.

Grace and Peace.