So let me ask you this: do you have a sense of what the world should be? Right before our passage, today, Jesus lays out some of the ways the world is meant to be:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
And there are more, but even when I look at just these, I tend to think that Jesus is not paying attention or has got it wrong. What is blessed about being poor in spirit? Doesn’t that just mean that people are going to walk all over you? What is blessed about someone experiencing loss? By definition, aren’t they in pain? What is blessed about those who want to be peacemakers? More often than not, aren’t they are the ones who get smacked down for reaching out and trying to bring people together? How often do people trying to make a difference wind up on the losing side? Today, Jesus wants to encourage you and me.
First, we are the salt of the earth. Most of the time, we think of salt as flavoring. The curious thing about salt, is that in the right amount, you don’t taste it as a flavor. Rather, it brings out the flavors that are already there. You don’t need a lot of salt to completely change the way food tastes. When God makes a difference in our lives, we change and become the salt of the earth.
Second, we are the light of the world. Lots of us take light for granted, but it’s essential. An old story tells of a desert nomad who woke up hungry in the middle of the night. He lit a candle and began eating dates from a bowl beside his bed. He took a bite from one end and saw there was a worm in it, so he threw it out of the tent. He bit into the second date, found another worm, and threw it away also. He figured that if this went on, he wouldn’t have any dates left to eat, so he blew out the candle and quickly ate all the dates. I feel like our world is quite happy turning out the light so they cannot be bothered by the worms in the dates. We are the light of the world, and because we know Jesus, know Jesus’ love, and have Jesus’ hope—at our best—we remind people what is right and what is not. But light also reveals the world around us, and allows us to navigate without hurting ourselves. When God makes a difference in our lives, we change and become a source of light to the world.
Except we are not very much salt…we are not very big lights. Take courage! God seems to have created the world to take advantage of “not very much” and “not very big.” One of the great principles of the universe is called the “Butterfly Effect.” It was given this name by Edward Lorenz in 1961 when he was studying weather. He learned that no matter how much we know about the weather, the smallest change in local weather can have a global affect. The illustration he provided was of a butterfly flapping its wings in the Andes setting into motion a cascading chain of events that could cause flooding in Bangladesh.[1] A small change can have exponential consequences!
Of course, Jesus turns out to be a great example of this. He lived in a darkened world too—full of faceless global tides, harsh economic realities, greed, injustice, violence and corruption. How did Jesus turn these vast forces into hope? Instead of committing violence and injustice, Jesus absorbed it. Instead of avidly watchingthe extremes and harshness of his society, Jesus spent his life healing those wounded by the uncaring, power-hungry forces of His day. He healed lepers, partied with prostitutes, forgave sinners, and cared for the sick and lonely—helping them (and us!) develop healthy, loving relationships. We, too, are called to turn these vast, uncaring forces into hope, to use the one real tool we have—the love of God poured out in a torrent of grace for us. Jesus told his disciples, “You are salt for the world,” because he knew God’s love in us could bring flavor to a tasteless world. He told his disciples, “You are light for the world,” because he knew God’s grace in us could bring illumination to darkened minds, hope to the hopeless, relationship to the alienated, and peace to the troubled. He did not say it would always be easy or fun—they crucified him after all—but he did say “they will see the good that you do and praise your Father in heaven.”
It’s tempting to think we are not very much and not very big. Especially in a world in which some Christians have been a source of great pain and suffering, we may be tempted to not want to share our faith, or even show our faith. But Jesus gets how the world should be, and Jesus’ love is at work in our lives, and His hope compels us. He was just one man, but here we are. Just one man, but haven’t people’s lives—including ours—been transformed? And so through us, God adds flavor to the world, allowing people to experience Jesus’ grace on the playground and in the checkout line. God helps neighbors with our hands, is company for the lonely with our presence, and defends the weak with our courage. Because of Jesus’ love at work in us, our lives and our community are flavored with gratitude and joy. Through us, God also shines light into our community. Truth is revealed, justice is sought, and love is chosen. Because of Jesus’ love at work in us, the world sees more clearly its brokenness that needs fixing, its people who need looking after, and the way the world could be—should be. Jesus has more than enough grace and justice, power and love to change the world, but change will come only if we are salt…only if we are light. A private faith does only us good, but living out our faith in the midst of our darkened world? That’s how we and our world will find hope. Jim Wallis writes, “Hope means believing in spite of the evidence, then watching the evidence change.”[2]
[1]Gleick, in Chaos: Making of a New Science(NY: Penguin Books, 1987), p. 23.
[2]Jim Wallis, Christ in Crisis: Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus (NY: Harper, 2019), p. 262.