Salt and Light

"Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

"You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

- Matthew 5:11-16

Today we continue Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. It began in yesterday's reading, with the Beatitudes, a necessary prelude to today's. Reading the Beatitudes yesterday, we understand that we are given a set of values, and a process for a way of life as a participant in that kingdom. The Beatitudes teach us of the values, and the personal reality, that we receive in exchange for the worldly values we give up. We place that kingdom first. Here, Jesus continues with the profile of that membership in the kingdom, and what it means for those who choose it.

We recall the last verse of the Beatitudes: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And we begin today's reading: "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Essentially, in the Beatitudes is expressed a way of life of righteousness -- justice, right-relatedness. These are the values we cultivate for ourselves as citizens in this kingdom. That will necessarily, at times, mean that we are at odds with the world whose values of injustice, selfishness, avarice, and all manner of their expression that, as Christians, we reject for ourselves. Jesus knows what will befall those who choose his kingdom, to become his disciples. To be persecuted for righteousness' sake is to be punished, one way or another, for holding to the ideals of the practice of mercy and justice, reconciliation to this reality of God, for those who seek purity of heart, to be single-minded, not a hypocrite, to honestly live this life without clinging internally those values that contradict its teachings and its reality within us. Jesus knows that Christians will be reviled, persecuted, slandered - just as he will be. My study bible notes, "In willingness to suffer persecution, the Christian shows his loyalty and unity with Jesus Christ. He walks the road of the prophets, saints, and martyrs. The Greek for be exceedingly glad means to 'leap exceedingly with joy.' Suffering for Christ is attended with inexpressible joy." Once again, we are to understand an inner reality, an exchange of gifts in a sense, in which we receive the values and meanings of this kingdom in exchange for the limitation of a worldly point of view. What do we treasure? What do we choose?

"You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men." My study bible notes, "Because of its preservative powers, necessity for life and its ability to give flavor (Job 6:6 ...), salt had religious and sacrificial significance (Lev 2:13 ... Ezek 42:24). It symbolized the making of a covenant (Lev 2:13; see also Num. 18:19...). To eat salt with someone meant to be bound together in loyalty. Thus as the salt of the earth, Christians are preservers of God's covenant and give proper flavor to society." So, we understand "salt" as a preserver, something that holds fast to what is valuable and good, what is prized, what we wish to retain. It is also, historically, a symbol of covenant: again, that which holds fast to something, preserves something, bonds something to itself and carries it into the future. As a preservative, salt preserves flavor; hence, without that flavor, the salt is worthless, "good for nothing." The virtues and values of the kingdom, as expressed in the Beatitudes, are our "flavor" as disciples, followers of Christ and members of this heavenly kingdom.

"You are the light of the world." My study bible notes, "Light is a symbol of God who is the true, uncreated Light. In the Old Testament light is symbolic of God (Is. 60:1-3), the divine Law (Ps. 119:105), or Israel in contrast to the Gentiles. In the New Testament the Son is called 'light' (John 1:4,5,9 ; 1 John 1:5) and 'the light of the world' (John 8:12). Light is necessary not only for clear vision but for life. Consequently, the life of faith relies on the divine light (Romans 13:12, Eph 1:18) and on the revelation which makes the believers 'sons of light' (Luke 16:8, John 12:36 ...). With this knowledge of God in their hearts (2 Cor 4:6), Christians shine as lights in a perverse world (Phil 2:15), stimulating others to look to God and His righteousness." In the Easter Liturgy of the Eastern Church, a candle is brought out at midnight with these words, "Come take the Light which is never overtaken by night." This light is then distributed to all parishioners, who hold candles waiting to be lit. Therefore, we are to understand light as that powerful reality that is burning within us, that presence that is carried within us, as we carry the virtues of the Beatitudes in our "flavor." The light of this ongoing converting, transforming process becomes the light that we shine before the world, share with the world, as we go forward within this reality of citizenship. We understand this as a dynamic reality at work within us, refining and purifying as we progress and shape our lives in accordance with the choice to hold fast to those values of love and to develop them within ourselves through life and the choices we always have to make.

"A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." And we come back to this theme of what it is to express in the world our membership in this kingdom. My study bible once again has a useful note which I will quote, "Christian virtues have not only a personal but also a public function. By living according to the gospel, by doing the truth (John 3:21), we will bear good works and show the goodness of the Father to every person (see 1 Cor. 10:31, 1 Pet. 2:12)." We are here in the world, as members of this kingdom, to live a certain kind of life. By virtue of this membership - this participation, through prayer and the choices that we make - we are to cultivate our "flavor" as told in the Beatitudes: put the virtues of the kingdom first, repentance and willingness to exchange the values of the world for the values of God, to change within ourselves and "lose" the past, to cultivate humility and acceptance of this reality and what it means for us in the world, to practice justice, to cultivate mercy, to seek always to cultivate purity of heart as we continue this lifelong process, to reconcile through our reconciliation - to become peacemakers. All of this is for a reason and purpose. We bear the kingdom in our hearts, and we are to act out the values of that kingdom in the world. We are to be that kingdom in the world: the salt and the light that shines before men. We always remember that we do not do this of ourselves, that we have help, from the One, as John the Baptist said, "who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire." The reality of this Spirit and its fire is that which we receive and helps us with this process, to understand where we need to change, what we need to lose, and what we need to cultivate within ourselves, and hence to express in the world. We always have help.

Remember that this light is with us and within us, and we are to be its salt in the world. It is not an easy life, this discipleship of which Jesus speaks, and he is warning us about it - about the obstacles to come (persecution, slander). But its rewards are also told to us in the Beatitudes. An inner peace, a joy. At the Last Supper, Jesus will teach, "I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete." To live in the light, to be this salt that retains the necessary flavor for the world, is to "abide in his love." We know what that meant for the martyrs, prophets, saints of the past. Can we apply this to ourselves today? We begin with our hearts, and the willing exchange of values, and the invitation to that light to come in and illumine us, and show us the way. All of life is a progress; we need to find our way to be that light today, to practice the purity of heart he teaches. But it involves an exchange, a willing acceptance of loss, and the humility to find the way in this living love we treasure.

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. Rev. 3:20