You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.

"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

In yesterday's reading, we began Matthew's chapter 5, which starts the Sermon on the Mount. We are introduced first to Jesus' great teachings in the Beatitudes, a series of declarations and promises for discipleship, for the life of blessedness. Each is a promise of blessing, a promise of a way of life, living in the world but of the kingdom. It is an indispensable teaching and understanding of what it is to live in discipleship, and the promises of the kingdom. Please read The Beatitudes as preparation for 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." In the Beatitudes, Jesus teaches us a way of life, a way of being in the world, what it is to be a disciple. He teaches such things as purity of heart, mourning, being merciful. In the end of the Beatitudes, His final teaching was, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." In living a righteous life, Jesus does not promise a perfect worldly life. Rather, those who are righteous may endure persecution for righteousness' sake. In this discipleship, it is a blessing to undergo such persecution! Here, so important is this understanding, that Jesus continues. In this persecution, one may take on all forms of slander, lies and evil -- not merely for righteousness' sake, but for His sake. This is what it is to be a disciple in His Kingdom, of Christ. In this Sermon, Jesus places Himself firmly and clearly in the role of Teacher. If we are His disciples, we may be persecuted for His sake. Righteousness comes first; the one is part and parcel of discipleship to the other. So far, in Matthew's Gospel, the prophets of the Old Testament have played a great role, as their quotations and allusions to their Scripture have already come in various forms. Here Jesus gives us the great validation of what it is to live a righteous life, and His connection to the salvation history of Israel: "For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Indeed, so important is the connection and the concept, that we are told: "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad!"

"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." His disciples are the salt of the earth. Their brand of discipleship, of righteousness and all that this entails, must be what gives flavor and preservation to the world. Salt was a highly desired and expensive commodity in the ancient world, necessary for survival. It not only flavored but preserved. Again, there is an allusion to the salvation history of Israel: to preserve the remnant of the faithful remains a part of the Lord's great goals in the world. This active, living faith is the salt of the world. Without discipleship, this salt loses its flavor (in the Greek, its might, strength or potency), and is good for nothing, does not "season" the world. To be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men is to be not merely worthless, but is an insult. This is a vivid illustration of the essential quality or flavor of discipleship in the world. My study bible has an additional note of great importance: "Because of its preservative powers, necessity for life and its ability to give flavor, salt had religious and sacrificial significance. It symbolized the making of a covenant. 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."

"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." To be a disciple, in accordance with the Beatitudes, is to be the light of the world. Light, in the Old Testament, is a symbol of God, "the divine Law, or Israel in contrast to the Gentiles," says my study bible. Light is also necessary for the life of the world. Here, Jesus teaches that this spiritual light of discipleship is as necessary for the world as physical light. But there is more to this: just as the salt of discipleship gives the world its preservation and salvation, so the light of the discipleship must shine in the world, be there as a beacon for all to see. Jesus calls Himself the light of the world, and He shares that light with us. Through discipleship, we shine that light into the world. Coupled with the verses before it, this is another call to be fearless in discipleship, even when facing persecution -- because without this light, there is no light in the world.

I think of discipleship as a great commission by Jesus. Set out here clearly for us all is the call to discipleship. It's not a promise of a peaceful, perfect worldly life in the sense of the material reality we might see around us everyday. Instead, it is a call to something higher, stronger, more potent and powerful. Jesus reinforces that it is a call even perhaps to persecution, but it is persecution for righteousness' sake, for the sake of the salt of the earth and the light of the world, for the sake of what is truly necessary. How do you shine your light before the world, into the world? To what discipline and virtue (as in the Beatitudes) has God called you? To what purity of heart, righteousness, peacemaking has God called you? We remember that light doesn't come from ourselves, our own ideas and resources, but from the great Source of light that is inexhaustible, the divine light that continues to renew its illumination for us, every day. We carry that light within us and we are illumined by it. In turn, through us as disciples, that illumination may shine and give light to all in the house. This is also the work of the Spirit in us. He calls us to be unafraid of what may come, to shine that light, to live with the flavor of God so that we are potent in our saltiness. With what investment does God call us to discipleship? What great value and worth do we give when we enter into His life for us? In our loyalty to the light, we become bearers of that light, the salt that gives the world its savor, its preserving strength, the taste of life and not merely living.