Salt and Light

A Sermon Preached on Worldwide Communion Sunday
October 6, 2002
At Hanover Street Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, Delaware
By the Rev. Thomas C. Davis, III, Ph.D.

Amos 6: 1-8

"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come! Pass over to Calneh, and see; and thence go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory greater than your territory, O you who put far away the evil day, and bring near the seat of violence?" "Woe to those who lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of the stall; who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and like David invent for themselves instruments of music; who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! Therefore they shall now be the first of those to go into exile, and the revelry of those who stretch themselves shall pass away." The Lord God has sworn by himself (says the Lord, the God of hosts): "I abhor the pride of Jacob, and hate his strongholds; and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it."

Luke 13: 22-30

[Jesus] went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. And some one said to him, "Lord, will those who are saved be few?" And he said to them, "Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the householder has risen up and shut the door, you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, open to us.' He will answer you, 'I do not know where you come from.' Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.' But he will say, 'I tell you, I do not know where you come from; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!' There you will weep and gnash your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out. And men will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.

Matthew 5: 13-16

"You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and ut it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."

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Today in the jungles of the Congo, Christians will gather in a church without walls, shielded from the sun only by a thatched roof. They will share bedia and berry juice to remember how Jesus obeyed God, renounced violence, and suffered for it. In the steppes of Russia Christians will gather today to celebrate that same ancient ritual. In vaulted, gilted sanctuaries they will join their voices to praise the Prince of Peace. And in leper colonies and prisons, followers of Jesus who have been confined for life will break bread and drink a cup to celebrate their liberty in him. In large groups and small, indeed wherever two or three are gathered in his name, we will remember today how Jesus said, "This is my body which is broken for you. Take, eat. This cup is a new covenant in my blood. As often as you drink it, remember me."

Last week I spoke about remembering and honoring Jesus through evangelism. I talked mostly about the evangelism that has to do with proclamation, with teaching people about Jesus through words. However, we also teach people about Jesus through what we do, and no doubt, more powerfully than by what we say. That's why Jesus said to his disciples: You are the salt of the earth, people. Don't go bland on me. What good is unsalty salt? You are the light of the world, people! Don't hide your light under a bushel. Let your good works shine forth so that folks will notice them and give thanks to God for what they see.

There are salty and shining individuals in this part of God's family - praise God! I see Christians volunteering their time to keep the poor fed and clothed. I see Christians mentoring youngsters to let them know they're loved; I see Christians running and walking to fight AIDS and cancer. I see people attending meetings ad nauseam, making phone calls and writing letters to insure that wee children get the start in life they deserve. I see Christians reaching out to others who are different and therefore often spurned or oppressed. Hanover Christians are not perfect, but we're also not bland, and not asleep! May God help us to keep spicy and alight with the Spirit, so that our neighbors will see Jesus through us.

If I look at our record as citizens of a nation, though, I'm not as confident that we're pleasing our Lord today. I see many American Christians so blinded by national pride that we can't see ourselves as others see us. We think of ourselves as champions of freedom and justice, and victims of violence. But we fail to acknowledge that to much of the rest of the world we appear utterly ignorant of, or else callous to, the injury we ourselves commit or condone. Think what it must look like to the rest of the world that our country is way behind in paying its dues to the U.N., donates way less of its G.N.P. to foreign aid than other developed nations, has renounced treaties to control the proliferation of nuclear weapons, rejected the treaty banning land mines, tried to stop the formation of an International Criminal Court, and having failed at that, then tried to get special immunity for U.S. diplomats, failed to sign the U.N. Convention on the Child and the prohibition against using children in war, no-showed at the international meeting on global warming in Kyoto, and then sent only minor delegates to the recent global environmental meeting in South Africa. Our country has opposed so many international efforts to control and limit war, protect the environment, reduce poverty, and protect health! Yet, so many Americans persist in seeing their country as a bastion of righteousness. Ancient Israel had a similar myopic pride. The prophet Amos told his affluent and complacent compatriots they'd better wake up and shape up. They could claim no special privilege with God, he told them. They had to act justly, just like the other nations, or else they'd be on the receiving end of God's wrath.

I'm relieved that my country is now working with the U.N. to complete arms inspections in Iraq. I favor a peaceful, international resolution of that conflict. But, in light of the poor U.S. record I have just described, imagine how our recent full court press diplomacy at the U.N. must look to the rest of the world. It must seem that Americans are interested only in matters that will presumably benefit them, not what will benefit the community of nations. One of you said to me recently: "After World War II, I was so proud of what America did with the Marshall plan, rebuilding Europe. The way we helped other nations made me feel so good to be an American. But lately, I'm not so sure. Oh, I know that Americans are still good people. But I can also understand why some foreigners are coming to see us as bullies."

Each Sunday morning we say a corporate prayer of confession. We pray that God will forgive our individual sins, and also the sins we commit as members of a church, or citizens of a nation, or members of any group that may be disobeying God's will. We make a corporate confession because we hold ourselves accountable to God not only for our own personal behavior, but also the behavior of the groups in which we participate. We Americans brag that we have a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people." Very well, if we the people are the U.S. government, that makes us ultimately responsible for what our government does or does not do. And, since the U.S. is starting to impress the community of nations not as a shining city on a hill, but rather, a selfish bully, it's time for us to do something about that. Let our country, the most powerful nation in the world, set a better example of lawfulness, of respect for the earth, and concern for the poor. Let America be truly a team player. Jesus called his disciples to be the salt of the earth, and lights to illumine the darkness. As followers of Jesus, let us take care to obey him not only in our private lives, but in our lives as citizens too. Let us hold our country accountable to its "better angels," as Abraham Lincoln once put it, so that once again we might have good reason to be proud Americans.

A major
Ghost Ranch event this summer!

July 28 - August 3, 2008

Paths toward Peace and Justice:
Spirituality, Earth-Care, and the Prophetic Word in a time of Violence

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