Who are you?

Children's talk:

We all have a name, and sometimes we called other names. What names do you get called?  

[I have 5 variations on my Christian name that I have been called at some point in my life, there is another variation I refuse to answer to]

The cricketer Michael Clarke is called pup – why?

 Ian Thorpe is called thorpedo or Thorpey.

Have you ever named a pet? how did you choose that name?

In today’s reading we heard some names that God calls us , can you tell me what they are?

Salt, light

What do you think it means when God calls us salt and light?

[I will have a light and something to cover the light]

Proclamation:

You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. I did think of making name tags for each of you today with salt and light written on them. In this reading you is plural, some commentators say this reflects that Jesus was speaking to many people, others that it is because Jesus is speaking to the church as a community as in,  You, ....... Church are the salt of the earth. You, ........ Church are the light of the world.

This first part of today’s reading, which I will focus on, is about our identity.   It serves a number of purposes. Firstly it reinforced for the people in Matthew’s community, that being a disciple of Jesus was in fact grounded in Jewish faith and Jewish history. God is often referred to in terms of being the light of the world.

Identity is a big issue for people in many places. If you want to travel overseas, you need a passport, and for that you have to be able to prove your identity. To apply for a licence, to open a bank account, to volunteer at a service with children or elderly people, you need to be able to prove who you are. And we are told identity theft is a growing problem, as people bank and shop on-line and use social networking sites. More and more information is available for people who want to use our name and information for their own purposes.

This morning I want us to think about a different kind of identity theft. Matthew records Jesus speaking to the crowd on the mountain, telling them, and us: You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.

Do you think of yourself as salt and light? Do you recognise that you are crucial for life?, because we can’t live without salt or light.

When I was talking with the children earlier we talked about what names we are called – here are some that you may have heard: old, slow, fat, thick, boring, do-gooder, old-fashioned; none of them meant to be flattering. At school many of us would have been called unhelpful names by other students and sometimes by teachers. When I was at school I was put out of the school choir because I was not only singing out off pitch, I was singing enthusiastically and loudly enough to put other people off. For many years, I have worn a label which says ‘can’t sing’. I am guessing many of you have labels that say ‘ can’t sing’, or ‘ not creative’ or  ‘ bad parent’ , or something similar.

We are constantly being told what other people think of us, by their words and their actions. And it is easy when people treat us poorly or put us down to feel insignificant and worthless. Here we are told who and what God calls us, names us, to be: salt and light.

While there has been an effort over the past 20 years to encourage people to reduce the amount of salt they consume, because of the link with high blood pressure, salt is a necessary part of life. Matthew’s community knew that salt was used not only to strengthen flavour and preserve food but in ancient times was rubbed on newborn children, used to seal covenants, sprinkled on sacrifices, and understood as a metaphor for wisdom. Salt is used for lots of things today, I found one website that says it has 60 uses for salt.  From soaking stains to polishing silver. You can even put it in your cooking and on your food, not too much if your blood pressure is a bit iffy.

None of these uses for salt are for the salt. Salt helps with house cleaning and gives food a different flavour or preserves food. In all these cases salt is there for the benefit of the item being cleaned or flavoured or preserved.

In the same way light is important, if our eyes will let us we can read, write, and distinguish what is in front of us when it is light, but not in the dark. Light is a useful tool, it allows us to do things. At the end of each baptism service the child, or parent, is given a candle as I say to them:

N, you belong to Christ,

the light of the world.

Let your light so shine before the world

that all may see your good works

and give glory to our Father who is in heaven.

This last line is Matthew 5: 16, from the passage read this morning.

We are salt and light, we are salt of the earth and light of the world. Just as salt and light are useful beyond themselves, in naming us salt of the earth and light of the world, God is  saying we are useful in the world.

I read somewhere while I was at college that we grow into our names. It can seem strange sometimes for a small baby t have an old sounding name, but he or she will grow into the name. We grow into our names, we grow into the names God gives us: beloved, child, forgiven, salt of the earth, light of the world.

A short story:

 A rabbi was wandering through the forest one evening.  As he was praying and walking along, he lost his way and found himself in front of a military base, where a guard brought him out of his reverie by shouting, "Who are you?  What are you doing here?"  The rabbi replied, "How much do they pay you?"  "Why do you ask?" the guard wondered.  "Because," said the rabbi, "I need someone to ask me those questions every day. Diane

Light a candle and hold out to the congregation

....Church, you belong to Christ,

the light of the world.

Let your light so shine before the world

that all may see your good works

and give glory to our Father who is in heaven.

Put candle in  holder

Who are you?

Where is your salt and light being used for the glory of God?

Let us take some time to listen for what God is saying to us today.