Enhancing Life: Salt, Light and Worship

The sermon on the mount continues, after telling people who had been considered “less-than” that they are blessed and children of God, Jesus follows up with saying:

you are like salt

you are like light

These days salt has a bit of a bad reputation, too much salt and it can raise your blood pressure.

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 from soaking stains to polishing silver.

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

In what way are you like salt?
Do you help preserve someone’s life? Remind them, in practical ways, of God’s love when life is a struggle.
do you make life taste better for people? – a kind word, a listening ear[i]

There are lots of kinds of light – candles, torches, electric lights, spotlights …..

One thing light lets us do, is see what is around us when it is dark. The sun is a light, without the sun it is dark, just like at night. Though with the moon reflecting the sun, some nights are not all that dark.

At worship on Friday evening, we talked about light, and made lighthouses.

Lighthouses help boats and ships with navigation, particularly at night. The light is often a warning of danger.

Here is a lighthouse. [one made by Friday family church]

What happens when I cover it up with this bowl?
Why have a light, and then cover it?
Are we ashamed of being light?
one thing I notice with this lighthouse, is that the cover is clear so the light shines out, for the light to shine I need to be out of the way.

Here is a torch. [shine torch into congregation]

Another kind of light. A torch is portable, a lighthouse is not J
we can use a torch to see the spider webs behind cupboards;
or check the path when we are out camping.

Generally, we don’t look directly into the light, if it is a bright light, it will hurt our eyes. But light allows us to see what is there, right in front of our eyes.

You are light, not so people will look at you and go – AAAHH isn’t that lovely. You are light so that the places of oppression can be seen and noticed.

Jesus said you are like salt, you are like light. ‘You’ is plural, in case you are wondering. You, disciples, are like salt and light.

Not you can be, should be, will be sometime in the future; you are!
you are like salt!
you are like light!

Salt and Light Blessing

In a world that is always asking us

to become something,
someone,
some success story,

..........

~ written by Roddy Hamilton, and posted on Mucky Paws. http://www.nkchurch.org.uk/index.php/mucky-paws

Turning to Isaiah: this passage was written about the time when some of the people who had been deported to Babylon are coming back home to Israel. But there is no longer a King, or a Temple. This was a time of uncertainty and anxiety.[ii]

A time of questioning, how do we worship?

We read of the people complaining to God because they fast, they practice the rituals of the tradition, but God does not respond to their prayers.  Here is part of the Isaiah reading from an Australian Paraphrase:

“Do you want to know why your religious behaviour turns me off?
    Do you want to know why I ignore your fasting and bowing?
I’ll tell you why. You put on a great performance of it all,
    but then you go straight back to feathering your own nest
        and ripping off your workers in the process.

….

“Do you really think this is what I like to see:
    a day of pious misery?
    black clothes, long faces and crocodile tears?
    giving up chocolate and ice-cream?
Do you think that’s worship?
    Do you think that pleases me?
        Give me a break!

“Do you want to know what I’d really like to see?
    Dismantle the structures of injustice;
    take your feet off the throats of the poor;
    stop jailing the victims of unfair laws;
    and quit plundering nature’s resources.

“Do you want to know what else I’d like to see?
    Open your tables to the hungry;
    open your hearts and your homes to the refugees;
    open your wardrobes to those without clothes;
    and don’t go hiding every time you see someone in need.
    …

Do that and our relationship will be healed in an instant![iii]

Worship is about our relationship with God and each other, it isn’t for us to feel better, though often being in worship will have that effect. We worship to be encouraged in our relationship with God,
to be nurtured and sustained,
as we go about being agents of God’s love:
feeding the hungry
providing shelter for the homeless
not turning a blind eye to oppression and injustice.

Jesus said: You are like salt, you are like light.

I wonder how our worship enhances the lives of others.

 ................

in case it is helpful, here is the paragraph I cut:

Then Jesus goes on to teach about the law: “Don’t suppose that I came to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I did not come to do away with them, but to give them their full meaning.”

If you look at the rest of the Sermon on the Mount you will read some examples of Jesus appearing to strengthen the law.
Do not murder becomes do not call your brother a good for nothing;
do not commit adultery becomes do not lust after a woman in your heart;
but….
an eye for an eye becomes don’t take revenge and
love your friends, hate your enemies becomes love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

We are told that Jesus is the fulfilment of the law. I wonder how we might understand that. I mean look at the law on adultery – Jesus says do not even lust after a woman, yet in the Gospel of John, we read the story of a woman is caught in the act of adultery, Jesus does not give the traditional sentence, but allows her to go free.

I encourage you to ponder what might be meant by Jesus came to fulfil the law.  

[i] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/year-fifth-sunday-after-epiphany-fifth.html

[ii] Tyler Mayfield, Working Preacher

[iii] Isaiah 58: 1-8 selected verses http://laughingbird.net/NextSundayIndexes/A15.html

A Holy Sabbath?

Both our readings today mention the Sabbath. Some of you may remember in your younger days that Sunday was a day of rest.

Shops did not open

Sport was not played

Homework was not done

A friend told me she wasn’t allowed to knit.

Isaiah talks of the Sabbath being a delight, but not being able to do anything fun doesn’t sound like a delight to me.

The idea of Sabbath comes from two different parts of Scripture. In the story of creation, in Genesis 1, God rested in the seventh day, so all creation has a day of rest and renewal. The other place we get the idea of Sabbath is from the story of the exodus. Here is part of the Ten Commandments from Deuteronomy[i]:

Deuteronomy 5: 12- 15

“Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”

The idea of Sabbath is about rest and renewal, but also about liberation and freedom from slavery.

Just as theologians disagree on various issues today, so the rabbis had robust conversations about what it meant to be faithful to God. Did tithing include the parsley garnish on your plate?

Does being born with a disability reflect on the sinfulness of your parents?

And what does it mean to keep the Sabbath Holy?

Is keeping the Sabbath holy mean that we only sing hymns and read the Bible on the Sabbath?

Does it mean we can read other books as long as they are religious in nature?

Maybe we can visit family, or friends?

Some orthodox Jews will not use any appliance that means work – which means pedestrian lights work automatically, so that you don’t have to push the button, because that would mean you did something to cause something to happen, and that is work.

I am reading a book called ‘Sabbath in the suburbs’[ii]. It is about a family’s experiment and experience of keeping Sabbath each week. As a family of 5, with both parents in full time demanding jobs, they don’t always manage it. As they are about to embark on their Sabbath experiment, the author ponders what is work, what should we be ceasing from? With 3 small children, just being involves some level of work.

What is the work that we refrain from on the Sabbath?

Now we come to the gospel reading, a woman bent over for 18 years, comes to the temple, Jesus notices her, and heals her. While she rejoices and praises God, a leader of the synagogue is horrified because Jesus broke the Sabbath law.

Let’s not be too hard on the leader of the synagogue. The leader of the Synagogue didn’t wake up each morning thinking: how can I make life difficult for people?

Both Jesus and the leader of the synagogue are wanting to be faithful to God, to uphold the law.

Today our theological conversations revolve around different questions:

• What are the requirements for baptism?
• Who can participate in Holy Communion?
• What role can people in same gender relationships have in the church?

But I wonder if we looked at what it means to observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, that maybe some of those other questions would be less divisive.

What does it mean to keep the Sabbath holy?

The prophet Isaiah is writing to the people of Israel as they come back from exile.  They are being reminded that Sabbath-keeping has an inherent link to justice. Remembering and focusing on God will, or should, lead to right relationships with our neighbour. Mercy is not to be forsaken simply because it’s the Sabbath.[iii]

A paraphrase of part of the Isaiah reading:

Isaiah 58

The LORD says:

“If you abandon all forms of exploitation,
    and avoid bad-mouthing others to gain an edge;
if you share what you have with those in need,
    and respond to the real needs of suffering communities;
then you’ll find that the world will light up for you
    and life will be one beautiful day after another.^[iv]

Who are the exploited in our society?

Who are the people who get bad-mouthed?

In what ways do we share with those in need?

This week we have seen more news of the living conditions of people in detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island. There have been more allegations about the treatment of young people in juvenile detention centres, especially indigenous young people. And I am struck by the different repose to this news and the closure of greyhound racing in response to the report on cruelty by some people involved in racing dogs. 

Sometimes I wish that being a Christian was simple. If God would just put a list on my fridge with what to do each day that would make my life a whole lot easier. 

We live in a world that is bent out of shape,

We live in a world where people live in fear

Where there is violence and oppression

Where hatred is spread

Where greed and selfishness masquerades as good.

We live in a world that needs healing

And we are people who need healing, because as much as the world is bent out of shape, so are our lives.

We carry loads that bend us out of shape:

Shame

Guilt

Anger

Fear

Frustration

Despair

Sabbath allows us to breath,

to put down our load for a while,

to stretch our sore muscles.

Sabbath is about rest and renewal and liberation.

For me, it means being aware of God in my life and in the world around me

It means being less caught up in my own ‘stuff’ , how messy the house is, how long the to-do list is, how many boxes we still haven’t unpacked …….

And being more aware of the rhythm of grace, of breathing, of joy. And that changes not just that time, but changes my focus during the rest of the week.

What does it mean to you to keep the Sabbath holy?

A day of rest

Time enjoying Gods good creation?

Renewal and refreshment for another week?

Or maybe you can’t imagine having a Sabbath

What does it mean to you to keep the Sabbath holy?

---

[i] David Lose, http://www.davidlose.net/2016/08/pentecost-14-c-dream-tenders/

[ii] MaryAnn McKibben Dana, Sabbath in the Suburbs A family experiment with Holy Time

[iii] https://revgalblogpals.org/2016/08/16/revised-common-lectionary-listen-up/

[iv] ©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Lent 1 an acceptable fast

Today is the first Sunday in Lent, a period of six weeks leading up to Easter. Traditionally this time has been a time of introspection, of reducing our human footprint. For many this is a time of ‘giving something up for Lent’, for others a time to add in new spiritual disciplines. Some of what I have read over the past few days on lent has encouraged me to think in a different way about Lent this year, one of those things has been the title of the Old Testament study: An acceptable fast.

The title comes from Isaiah 58, the people of Israel are complaining that they fast yet God does not respond to their pleas;

 ‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’

The response:

 “Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day,
and oppress all your workers.
⁴ Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.
⁵ Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?” [Isaiah 58]

Fasting, giving something up for Lent is not about losing weight or being the one to deny ourselves the greatest amount, it is not to put on a  show of piety. The passage from Isaiah continues:

 “Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?” [Isaiah 58]

An acceptable fast. It seems that an acceptable fast is one that isn't about giving something up, or adding another spiritual discipline into our life; an acceptable fast is one that is life changing, not only for us, but for the oppressed, those suffering from injustice, the hungry, the poor.

This Lent I am planning on looking mainly at the old testament reading set for each week, that reading today is Deuteronomy. This chapter of Deuteronomy occurs before the people of Israel arrive in Canaan the promised land. Moses has led the people through the wilderness, and this is part of his final instructions to the people as they prepare to go into the land that God has promised them.

Moses is reminding the people that they should remember who they are and where they came from. It can be easy when things are going well to ignore what has happened in the past. If I asked someone here, or someone on the street, today to tell me their story I'm guessing most people would start off with I was born, I have lived, I went to school, I work etc. Moses is telling the people that when they arrive in the promised land they should bring the first of their harvest to the priest. And then they tell the story, the story of being a wandering Aramean, of the time in Egypt, of the exodus, and the promised land. Each harvest people would really tell the story, the with bringing the first of the harvest, present it to the priest, then the community including the Levite and the foreigners would share the food together.

The people who would be saying this had not wandered with Jacob through the Genesis story; most of them would not be able to remember Egypt; yet this was their story. A story based on faith in God, being in community, offering thanks and sharing food together.

Reminds me a little of what we do in our communion services. We here again the story of faith, of creation and prophets, exile and exodus, crucifixion and resurrection; we hear the story of faith. But I wonder for how many of us is this the dominant story of our lives. There are a number of factors that influence our behaviour and thinking, I wonder where that God story comes into that in your life, and in the life of this congregation.

I wonder what the dominant story of our lives is, when we think about the environment, minimum wages, refugees, prisoners, health, education, and a whole range of other issues. Now I know many of these issues are considered political, and therefore should not be discussed in church.

Remember the words of Isaiah from chapter 58 about an acceptable fast, one in which the poorer feed the oppressed are given liberty those suffering under injustice are free.

I suspect that people who are worshipping here this morning will have something to eat at lunchtime, have safe accommodation and money in the bank. It's easy to think that everyone lives this way, but that is not the case. And to a large extent it's about when and where we were born.

None of us bought ourselves into being, none of us can make food appear out of nothing; we all rely on God for life, food, physical and spiritual growth. We also need other people, we don't grow cotton and weave it into our own clothes, we don't have our own animals and kill them for meat, most of us don't grow enough fruit and vegetables to feed ourselves, and we rely on manufacturing and building industries for our homes and cars and household goods.

This chapter of the study gratitude, it isn't always easy to be thankful for what is happening in our lives. Moses told the people who had been in the wilderness, the people who are about to go over to the promised land, that each harvest they were to go and give thanks to God. They did that with the story of who they are and where they came from, but they also said “the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, .. and he bought us into this place and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey so now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you the Lord had given me."

There is a sense in this passage of how much the people relied on God, in the liturgy the telling again each harvest is part of remembering that story and passing that story on to future generations. Thereof rituals in our lives as well, some are to do with church, some are to do with other parts of life. There are stories that get cold over dinner tables about great-grandparents who came from another country, who started farming, who built a house around the corner, the stories that get told over and over again.

This is the beginning of lent, a time when we move towards the story of Easter, the great three days in the Christian calendar. We are on a journey that takes us to a cross, and a tomb; for Jesus the cross and the tomb were transforming; and because Jesus was transformed we to can be transformed. Lent is a time for us to look at our lives, at our priorities, and our identity,  it is a time when we are encouraged to stop and think a little more deeply about what the influences on our lives are, about what cherished thoughts we need to let go of.

A prayer reflection:

Lent makes me so uncomfortable.

I prefer to remain in my 'zone,'
lounging in my chair;
glued to my plasma screen;
relaxing after a long day;
but you would lead me
into the wilderness

into those uncomfortable places
of tempting,
of power,
of testing.

I would like to hear words
about success,
and praise,
and feel pats on my back,
but you talk about
self-denial;
you mention the cost
of following God;
you invite me (!)
to shoulder
a cross.

couldn't you have sent
a more comfortable
Saviour,

O God?

~ Copyright © 2007 Thom M. Shuman. Posted on Prayers4Today. http://prayersfortoday.blogspot.ca/

What will you do with this Lent?

What fast will you observe?