Year A
Matthew 5:13-20
The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn
The Backup Plan
There is an ancient legend told by Christians who were living in the catacombs under the streets of Rome after Jesus had finished all his work on earth and went back to God. You may have heard this before. It goes like this, the angel Gabriel meets Jesus in heaven and welcomes him home. “Lord,” he says, “who have you left behind to carry on your work?” Jesus tells him about the disciples, the band of fishermen and farmers and housewives. “But Lord,” says Gabriel, “what if they fail you? What if they lose heart or drop out? What if things get too rough for them, and they let you down?” “Well,” says Jesus, “then all I’ve done will come to nothing!” “But don’t you have a backup plan? “ Gabriel asks. “Isn’t there something else to keep it going, to finish your work?”
“No,” says Jesus, “there’s no backup plan. The church is it. There’s nothing else.” “Nothing else?” says Gabriel. “But what if they fail?” “They won’t fail, Gabriel,” Jesus said. “They won’t fail!” And those early poor, despised, insignificant Christians knew Jesus’ answer and isn’t that a wonderful thing? Here they are dug into the earth, tunneling out of sight because of the terrors of Nero of Rome and remembering what Jesus promised. “You are my people therefore you won’t fail!” You have the Spirit in you from God to help you remember, be strong, and carry on my work in this world. All the texts today bring us to the important connection between these two kinds of actions, believing in God and remembering, and acting justly in the world. The epiphany of God leads us to act justly in the world.
Yet, the texts today also capture the long lasting problem of our forgetting who we really are. Our forgetting lies in the ease with which we are distracted and drawn toward false words and worldly wisdom so that we lose sight of who we really are. Isaiah realized that the people of God had forgotten who they were and so therefore had lost their impact upon society because they had misplaced their focus. They had become busy people. A gap existed between their seeking God and God’s ways, and their actual way of life, which revealed the people’s hypocrisy. They fast; they humble themselves yet God does not take notice. While they are engaging in these pious rituals, they are oppressing their own workers and engaging in quarrels and fights.
Paul today really gets to the root of this problem for the Christian when he questions the value of conventional religious and worldly wisdom as ways for gaining understanding about God’s ways and how the Christian faith works. He reminds the Corinthians that the life of faith rests not on the wisdom of this world and of this age but on the wisdom and power of God. We have been given, Paul says, the Spirit of God and the mind of Christ to discern the difference between the spiritual and the unspiritual. This difference discerns the ways of the world, the unspiritual, that can be seen in injustice and oppression, in ways that seek after worldly power, and human wisdom.
Yet, if we are rooted in God and learn how to reach out spiritually that is to allow our lives to be led by the Spirit of the living Christ, then it seems God is eager to put us to work so the plan won’t fail. Getting involved with God as we know will not only make a big difference in our lives but it will enable us to help God make a difference in the world. This is how it works. The Holy Spirit writes God’s truth on our hearts which leads us to faith in Jesus and through our faith we become salt and light in the world. After Jesus gives his disciples the eight Beatitudes in his Sermon on the Mount, he tells them that they are salt of the earth and a light in the world.
We all know how important salt is for preserving, adding flavor etc. and light for our overall health and wellbeing. Both salt and light make a big difference in our lives and in our world, and this is essentially what Jesus was saying here. “You are the salt of the earth! You are the light of the world! Not because of your great power or wisdom or because you are so strong, but because you belong to me and because you belong to me, you can make a difference. Like salt, used to alter or enhance the taste of food, the followers of Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit, have the ability to bring goodness, mercy and justice as they carry on God’s work but those who do not engage in these practices will be like salt that has lost its taste.
This is a real danger for disciples is that they may lose the ability to make change by forgetting that they are to disrupt the status quo by valuing those who are shunned by society, caring for those who mourn, seeking to do justice, showing mercy, having integrity, being peacemakers, and courageously standing for what they believe. In so doing these things, our light shines out for others to see. Jesus says, “You are the light of the world and that light should not be hidden but seen.” If light is hidden away, how can we see by it? Jesus is encouraging his followers to bring the gospel light to a dark and broken world. We are to go into those dark places, bearing the light of Christ.
As disciples of Jesus who came not to abolish but to fulfill the law and the prophets, we are to seek to live in ways that are consistent with the new interpretation of the law that Jesus embodies. The goal of the Torah or first five books of the Bible is to help lives be orientated toward God that show God’s presence by the way lives are lived. We fulfill our purpose of being salt of the earth and a light in the world, in order to bring glory to God as people of God living on earth. Our actions are a beacon for those around us of God’s light and glory. The Good News is that God is present as we serve those in need.
In light of the emphasis of these texts’ today on justice, those whom we are called to serve are now the face of Christ who said, “I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me….when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.”
We can’t fail and won’t fail if we love God with all our heart, mind and soul; and our neighbor as ourselves. Pope Francis wrote in American Magazine, “I see clearly that the thing the Church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the Church as a field hospital after battle….” We have the Spirit of God that dwells within us and the mind of Christ that gives us God’s wisdom to help us be salt that seasons the world with our love and lights that show the world Christ’s healing saving touch. We can make a difference in the world as we follow in the footsteps of our crucified and risen Lord.