A Little Light

“You are the light of the world." -Matthew 5:14a

In many and various ways the Holy Spirit points Christ Jesus to you, and you to Christ Jesus, for Christ Jesus, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit are the One, true God, apart from Whom there is no other, and Who in these last days still shines for you as a light shining in the darkness.

A light shining in the darkness. That is how the Holy Spirit testifies of Christ Jesus through the prophets and apostles, and through your pastors today and now. This is what “Epiphany” means, namely the revelation of Christ Jesus unto the world, attested to you by the Father and the Holy Spirit as the only Son from heaven, come to save you and all people from sin, from death, and from the power of the devil.

In the Holy Gospel according to St. John, the text concerning the wedding at Cana, where Jesus blesses the wedding with abundant wine when the wine had run out, this text is used on the Second Sunday after the Epiphany both in the Three-Year Lectionary and in the One Year Lectionary.

It is a beautiful showing forth of Christ Jesus your LORD who has come to bless you with the abundance of His mercy, which flows forth like the finest of wines and in great abundance.

The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, appointed for this day, is no different, for what can be more revealing, what can be more life-giving, what can be more public, what can be more abundant in showing forth the only begotten Son of God than for Him, upon seeing the crowds who were at this point following Him - to go up on the mountain upon, sit down, have His disciples come to Him, and then open His mouth and began to teach them?

He is the Only-begotten Son, with Whom God the Father is well pleased. Listen to Him, for He teaches not as the Scribes and the Pharisees, but with authority, for He is God in human flesh, come to serve and to lay down his life.

This He does not do without words. This He does do, together with the words of eternal life, so that you also may hear Him this day and be both saved and comforted in this perverse generation.

Today’s Gospel begins with the tenth saying in what the Church has called “The Sermon on the Mount.” You see, the Epiphany of your Lord happens from Above and comes down to you, as a light for you, a light that shines into your hearing.

So He is literally above the people on this mountain, as it should be. As the law was given to Moses from atop Mt. Sinai, the Gospel this day is given to you first from the mountain in Galilee where these words were first spoken, and then delivered to you from this pulpit, which also, as you can see, is elevated above your pew.

Speaking of elevation, the traditional mountain ascribed to where Jesus speaks these words is on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, between Capernaum and the archeological site of Gennesaret, on the southern slopes of the Korazim Plateau. Its negative altitude (around 80 feet below sea level) makes it one of the lowest summits of the world. Think of that. A mountain top that is below sea level!

And that makes sense, for the Son of Man came down to seek and to save that which is lost, to shine forth in word and in deed as the one and only perfect sacrifice for the sin of the world, your sin and mine, and to accompany His word for you with words of speech and teaching. More than that, with water, bread, and wine.

He comes down low into the earth not to exalt Himself, but to make payment for your sin and exalt you, to raise you up from your death of sin and trespass, to plant you in his vineyard as you are grafted into Him, to set you free from bondage, to cover your nakedness, to be your rear guard, and to keep you together with Himself in the one true Church until the Last Day.

And what does He say to you this day, this Holy Son of God who is Your Epiphany?

He says, “You are the salt of the earth.” These words of Christ Jesus will remain the focus of our attention until such time as we enter into the prayers of the Church this day.

“You are the salt of the earth.” What does he mean by this? To whom is he speaking? Does he mean this as a kind of compliment? Is he speaking to you as an individual, or is he giving this attribution to a whole bunch of people at once? What does it mean to be the salt of the earth?

Without question, these words apply to all who hear His voice and who follow Him. He is speaking to His disciples, of which there are twelve. He is also speaking to the crowd which by definition is comprised of many people.

By virtue of His Gospel going out into all the earth, He this day and hour is speaking to you as a congregation. He is speaking to you as an individual, and yet you cannot and do not live as an island or as a hermit, so that, whether you know and believe it or not, who you are as an individual is always intertwined with other people of your flesh and your blood.

Moreover, it is plain from the original language, which is able, unlike the English language, so spell out plainly whether “you” means “you” as a single individual, or “you” as in “y’all.” I suppose a good Texas translation would be “Y’all are the salt of the earth.”

And this, dear Christians, is an Epiphany in its own right, for if Christ Jesus had not spoken this and you not heard it, you would be floundering in confusion, thinking yourself to be your own person, dependent upon no one other than yourself, and defined as the devil, the world, and your own flesh would define you.

These words are not spoken as a compliment – you are the salt of the earth. They are spoken by the only Son from heaven who defines you through His baptism of water and speech.

Yes. As it stands, you are defined by Christ Jesus, into Whom you have been baptized, and who declares you first of all to be His own Child, having brought you into the flesh of His death and resurrection, and Who also declares you to be the salt of the earth, which chief attribute and purpose is that of . . . preservation.

True, we commonly know salt as a spice for food and a threat to physical well-being when ingested in excess, but in this case your dear LORD is telling you, y’all both corporately and individually, that you are a preservative in the world.

How can this be? It can be, and is, because God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in your hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

It is you, dear Christians, who tread upon this earth in the sure and certain knowledge, revealed and given to you not in superiority of speech or of wisdom, who are determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

It is you who tread upon this earth, wherever you are given among men, in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, whose messages and deeds are not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power as you are raised up in the heavenly places in and through Christ Jesus, so that your faith does not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

It is also you, dear Christians, who tread upon this earth, who speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but you speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood.

This altogether makes you the world’s preservative, not so that you can serve your whims and wishes, but so that God, through you and for you, withholds the judgment of wrath which is well deserved on account of the world’s sin and transgression, and instead acts in abundant mercy through His only begotten Son, given into death for the sin of the world, and raised up from the dead for your justification, allowing you to cry out to God and to be heard through this Christ Jesus alone, Who is your advocate before the Father.

This saltiness is yours because God in His mercy and by His Holy Spirit preaches to you, sanctifies you, and edifies you. He continually makes known to you that He is your only true God, your only Help in time of trouble, your only deliverance from sin and death.

This saltiness is yours because He has taken your heart of stone and replaced with a heart of flesh, the heart of Christ, Who was, and is, perfectly obedient unto the commands of God, seeking Him with His whole heart, not straying from His commandments. He guides you in the way of these commandments, and that makes you, y’all, the salt of the earth.

“But if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

Should you despise and neglect the Word of the LORD, then the saltiness will be lost. For there is no preservation or life apart from Christ Jesus Who comes to you only through His Word. There is no good purpose in being trampled underfoot, for what is trampled underfoot is worthless, like chewed up, spit out gum on a Disneyland manhole cover.

So listen. He Who speaks to you from this low mountain is also He Who was uplifted on the cross. This lifting up is for all to see and to know. With a soul exceedingly sorrowful, even to the point of death, He is preserved so that you, believing and being baptized into Him may also be preserved, and be a preserver in the midst of this world for a time subject to futility, but at the last made anew.

Your LORD Jesus has sacrificed Himself for the sin of the world, and in bringing you into His body, He seasons the world with you – yes you, as you are - and with the sacrifice of thanksgiving, so that you live here as life giving members of His body, in love and service to your neighbor and in thanksgiving for all things given you from Above, from the light of the World.

It is He who will preserve you, body and soul, unto life everlasting. It is He who feeds you with His body and blood in this place to that very and. It is He Who will shine forth in you and before men, that they may see your good works, your preserving works, and glorify your Father in heaven.

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