Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven

 

 "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 

 

 Yesterday we read that Jesus, seeing the multitudes who now follow Him, went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.  Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.  Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

 

"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."  My study Bible comments that those who suffer persecution for Christ walk the road of the prophets, saints, and martyrs.  The Greek for be exceedingly glad means to "leap exceedingly with joy."  (See Acts 5:40-41.)

"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."  Salt and light are illustrations of the role of disciples in society.  My study Bible explains that because of its preservative powers, its necessity for life, and its ability to give flavor, salt had religious and sacrificial significance (Leviticus 2:13; see also Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5).  To eat salt with another meant to be bound together in loyalty.  As the salt of the earth, Christians are therefore preservers of God's covenant, and they thereby give true flavor to the world.   As for light, we know that God is the true and uncreated Light.  My study Bible says that in the Old Testament light is symbolic of God (Isaiah 60:1-3), the divine Law (Psalms 119:105), and Israel in contrast to other nations.  In the New Testament, the Son of God is called "light" (John 1:4-9, 8:12; 1 John 1:5).  Light is also necessary for clear vision and also for life itself.  Faith is reliant upon this divine light, and believers become "sons of light" (John 12:36; 1 Thessalonians 5:5) who shine in a perverse world (Philippians 2:15).  In many Eastern Orthodox parishes, the Easter Liturgy begins with a candle presented together with the invitation to "come receive the Light which is never overtaken by night."

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."  My study Bible says that Christian virtues have both a personal and a public function, as our virtue can bring others to glorify the Father.  

What does it mean to let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven?  This could be a confusing question as my study Bible explains it, because in our present time various "virtuous acts" mean different things to different people.  What is popularly called "virtue signaling" is precisely such seeming activity, and yet it is not at all universally seen as a light which leads people to glorify God.  What that might be telling us is that we have the wrong end of the stick, and our usual way of thinking will not really suffice to answer the question.  What would lead people to glorify our Father in heaven in our own good works?  What leads people to God?  If we look at the question this way, it's not just a matter of persuasion or the appearance of good acts that please people.  This is something different.  This is Jesus calling upon us for truly positive acts of living our faith, and that will cause people to glorify God.  How do we let God's light shine through us?  There are surprising ways to look at this question, because in our modern age, we approach such a question, and such a statement by Christ, as if it were merely directed to individuals and individual behavior.  But what if it's not?  What if, as would be much more commonly perceived and understood in Christ's time, Jesus is speaking not to address people as individuals, but as a community?  If we look at Christians as whole communities from the time of the earliest Church, we see a number of social innovations we could really call letting God's light shine through this community.  Following out of Christ's teachings of the kingdom of God, Christian communities built institutions like hospitals.  Following out of the need for literacy to spread the gospel message in the Scriptures, educational institutions evolved out of monasteries, places where literacy could be learned and books copied.  The social changes that came about in societies that became overwhelmingly, and eventually officially, Christian meant that human life was considered to be far more sacred than it was in pagan societies, which did not formerly frown on infanticide, for example.  The widespread practice of baptism in and of itself taught whole peoples the importance of the soul, the salvation of the human person, and over the centuries such teachings made a great deal of difference indeed in the evolution of structures of justice, medical care, and whole fields of science for human welfare.  If we look at such an evolution over time, and what happens when the light of God shines through whole peoples, we begin to focus on the beauty and truth and goodness that is possible to develop as a cultural history and inheritance.  In Churches we find architecture and art that speaks to a whole history of the beauty of that light, even the seeing the truth and goodness of Creator through the goodness and beauty of creation itself.  The art of mosaic and icon depict creation and creatures as windows through which Creator shines, vehicles of God's mercy and light.  These are not things we take lightly, but they may often -- in a modern world -- be things which we take entirely too much for granted.  In the beauty of music and poetry and hymnody we find the light of God shining through human creativity in honor of Creator, and the astonishing creativity that adds beauty to the lives of all who may participate and hear -- not reserved only for elites or the elect but found in Churches and services that were meant to include even the "least of these" in the society.  Taken on such a scale and over such a perspective, we might find that the light of God shining through a faithful community takes on a transfiguring role in the world and in the society, until we take it all for granted and forget where it came from and how it started.  Let us consider how the light of God shining through human communities has contributed to the world, and how it may yet move us forward into new "light" for a future age.  For these aspects of beauty and goodness can only be understood if we remember that we glorify God through them, that to see the beauty of creation is to illumine the glory of the Creator.  When such perception dies, so does the care of society and community, and so plummets the value of human life and the things that make for our real social good.  Have you a way to glorify Creator by strengthening community?  Can you contribute to beauty for the love of the world?  How does the light of Christ lead you to give to others, to community, to do works of great beauty, of compassion?  For in the One who brought us the light, we find the image of One who saves for the sake of all, and who glorifies God. 

 

Love your enemies

 "But I say to you who hear:  Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.  To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also.  And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.  Give to everyone who asks of you.  And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.  And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

"But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners do the same.  And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.  But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.  For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.  Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

"Judge not, and you shall not be judged.  Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you:  good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

- Luke 6:27-38

Yesterday, we read first that Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.  And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles:  Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.  And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits.  And they were healed.  And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.  Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:  "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.  Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!  For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.  But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.  Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger, woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.  Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets."

  "But I say to you who hear:  Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.  To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also.  And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.  Give to everyone who asks of you.  And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.  And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise."  My study bible says that this "Golden Rule" is a minimum of Christian virtue, as it places man's desire for goodness ("the natural law of self-love" - Cyril of Alexandria) as a basic standard of how to treat others.  It is but the first step on the path to the perfection of virtue.  It notes that this perfection is found in verse 36 ("Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful"), where God's mercy, rather than man's desire, is the standard.

"But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners do the same.  And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.  But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.  For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.  Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful."  We've already noted, as my study bible says, that the "perfection" of Jesus is to practice the type of mercy that God practices.  But here I think we have to also step back and understand that He's saying that our own behavior is not merely dependent upon what we find in the world.  We are not called to thoughtlessly reciprocate the actions of others.  In this way, we also have a Mediator, One to whom we turn to ask for guidance on our own standards of behavior, in a way that is independent of the world, "out of the box," so to speak. We must also remember the phrase in the Lord's Prayer (as it is taught in both the Sermon on the Mount and later on in Luke's Gospel), that we ask to be forgiven "sins," as we forgive "debtors" (as the Greek reads in Luke's version), something intended not absolutely literally but as a metaphor for any form of injury, something we perceive as "taken away" from us and is then "owed."  

"Judge not, and you shall not be judged.  Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you:  good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."  My study bible tells us that "mercy precludes human judgment.  Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over are descriptions of how an honest and generous merchant would measure bulk goods.  Flour pressed down, for example, would yield a more generous amount than flour fluffed up.  The blessings God intends to put into our hearts are more generous than we can possibly contain, yet this also depends on the spirit in which we ourselves give and forgive."

Jesus describes a kind of mercy here that He wants us to understand is to be our routine, our own law for living.  It is like a law of grace, that must guide the way we see our lives, our conduct -- how we want to participate in life.  As such this is a life mediated by His guidance and leadership.  In this sense, as He is speaking to His disciples, we all become disciples.  We all wish to live in this Kingdom and to bear it with us into the world.  Now, it seems to me of great importance that we also understand that Jesus will teach us not to cast our pearls before swine.  We're not supposed to be blind to the realities of the world, and we're not left without discernment either.  We also have a responsibility for those things.  But they also go back to the Source, to Christ.  It is the laws of the Kingdom we're to bear in the world, and discernment is also of Christ as is this basic law of grace through which we are to conduct ourselves.  And so, it becomes up to us to learn (as "learners" or disciples) just what that mercy and grace really mean, how to practice the love of this kingdom.  That is a lifetime learning curve.  But it is a lifetime of learning to walk a closer walk with God, of being a good disciple and citizen of this kingdom.  What is most essential is the understanding that we are not judges, but we are responsible for our own discernment.  By practicing mercy and grace we are witnessing to something, to the love and grace that we experience from God.  Note that this isn't without its guidance and discipline -- far from it.  In our very human way of thinking, we're given to think sometimes that pure mercy is just a way of smoothing over or ignoring sin.  It's not.  It's a way of approaching the world with God's love, a sense in which we determine we are going to be members of a Kingdom whose light we shine into the world.  That is where the difference between judgment and discernment comes in.  That is where we turn in prayer to face great injustices or harsh treatment.  Our priority is God's wisdom, God's love.  It is the great leavening, the bottom denominator of how we wish to learn to live our lives.  Love wants what's best for everyone, and that doesn't always mean indulgence.  One thing is certain, the more we practice love, the more we will learn love from God.  Are we ready for this journey?  It starts every moment.

If you want to be perfect

Then the little children were brought to him that he might put his hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." And he laid his hands on them and departed from there.

Now behold, one came and said to him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" So he said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, " 'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' " The young man said to him, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

- Matthew 19:13-22

Our recent readings have focused on humility, and the importance of relationship -- just how we are to relate to one another. These readings have focused on order and right-relatedness in the church, among his followers, between the hierarchy and the "little ones" in the church, and on marriage and relation of men to women. We extend this today in the first verses to the "little children" who are brought to Christ. From there, we have a teaching on "goodness" - and from there we will go to the subject of wealth and detachment. All of this is an extension of his teachings on how we are to relate to one another - on the basic and extraordinarily profound equality among all who are in this kingdom, and how nothing should stand in the way of that realization.

Then the little children were brought to him that he might put his hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." And he laid his hands on them and departed from there. My study bible notes, "Little children are given 'equal opportunity' to live in the kingdom of heaven (v. 14), for their humble openness accepts God's gifts. There is nothing about them, including their age of immaturity, to keep them from the Kingdom. Therefore children, like adults, participate in the Kingdom through baptism, chrismation, communion, confession, and anointing with oil for healing." Jesus has previously spoken of humility and relationships - exhorting the disciples to remember to treat the littlest ones among their members (meaning the humble in stature who come to them to be members of the church) as if they are welcoming Christ himself. He has taught them to remember that "in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father in heaven." He has spoken to the men of their hard-heartedness toward their wives, that Moses granted an easy form of divorce for this reason, but that the spiritual purpose of marriage is love and care. Today he reaches out to the least powerful, the little children, and embraces them in the fullness of his teaching to the disciples. There is no barrier of power, status or rank that keeps anyone from this kingdom, and inclusion in the teachings of love and right-relatedness!

Now behold, one came and said to him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" So he said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God." My study bible says that "the young ruler sees Jesus as a man only, a Good Teacher of the written Law, not as God. Jesus answers him accordingly, Why do you call me good? (v. 17). Jesus instructs him to keep the commandments, demonstrating the connection of virtue to salvation. In saying, No one is good but One (v. 17), our Lord rejects the worldly view that he is merely 'a good man,' at the same time teaching that goodness is in God alone." There are many ideas in this note that are worth pondering. The first is an understanding of the leap we are taking into notions of relatedness. Jesus has emphasized over and over again in the teachings on relatedness (and right-relationship) the inclusion of all - even today, to the little children. There is a tremendous sense of equality expressed in all of these teachings, as Jesus extends to the disciples the notion of proper respect for all persons, especially in the ways in which we relate to one another. Here he takes a tremendous leap, and extends even to himself - in the person of Jesus - this equality. Jesus teaches that "no one is good but One, that is, God." All "good" is measured by this yardstick, even Jesus himself. His humility extends to this tremendous leveling in the eyes of the gospels and his teachings on love and how we are to relate to one another.

Then, my study bible says, Jesus "exercises the duties of goodness by opening the treasures of heaven to the young man, offering himself as the guide to them. In doing this the Lord reveals himself as God." "But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. He said to him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, " 'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" I find this an interesting concept - Jesus is like God - as God, he opens up the treasures of heaven to the young man, and thereby "exercises the duties of goodness." We receive the reality of God, but also the example in Jesus of what it is to embody goodness. And he will go further in the next teaching, in its fullness.

The young man said to him, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?" My study bible says on this verse: "Formal observance of the Law does not equal fulfillment of all the commandments of God. Indeed, saying that one has kept the letter of the Law can create a false satisfaction about virtue. Salvation does not depend upon external things, whether they be many or few, great or small, but on the virtues of the soul -- faith, hope, and love -- the reward of which is salvation. These virtues the young man still lacked." So we are once again here in the midst of a teaching about humility. Even Jesus has said that only God is good, when he was called "Good Teacher." So it is in the exercise of true virtue -- that is, of being like God, that we encounter true goodness, we practice it. This requires tremendous humility and detachment.

Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. My study bible says here: "God acts in cooperation with the human soul. To save the unwilling would be compulsion, but to save the willing is a show of grace. Perfection is voluntarily to sacrifice all and to follow Christ for the cause of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God does not belong to sluggards, but to those who want to be perfect." A hard saying, indeed! And yet, elsewhere, Jesus has told us to "be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Certainly this entire passage is an example of how we are to be like God. As we are made in God's image (as quoted from the Old Testament in yesterday's passage on marriage), so we are to strive to be "like God" if we wish to be "good." In order to do that, it seems, we need the humility of detachment. It is not in our outward modeling that we are "perfect" but rather it is in an inward reality that asks of us to be our focus. This is how we seek the kingdom first. What is good? Who is good? What is goodness, what is perfection? These are the questions Jesus opens up for us today in this teaching.

Many times I find that I must detach from someone or something - which may be precious to me, which the world may label "good" - in order to find real virtue, the true gold or true "treasures of the kingdom" as my study bible refers to them. We remember that we are to store up treasures for ourselves where neither moth nor rust destroys nor thieves can break in and steal. It is this type of detachment, that couples us with the necessary quality of detachment, that will allow us to both see and experience what is truly good. It is for this reason that Jesus gives this young man the particular teaching he needs here. We are asked to be in a living relationship. Jesus is not telling everyone (indeed, he does not do so) that they must give away all the possessions they own in order to achieve this. Rather, this young man is being given the lesson he needs - which he has asked of Jesus - that in order to be truly good, truly perfect, he needed to detach himself from the model of rank and appearance via possession. (I have also known those who make a great show of piety via penury, as if that were a "possession" too.) Counting and storing up our good deeds according to the Law, therefore, can be likened here to storing up possessions of wealth. It is in the practice of true goodness that we are to excel, and that demands an exceptional capacity for detachment (and therefore humility) in order to honestly view our true virtues, our living relationship with God - or how we are really like God in this living, cooperative relationship of love, faith and hope. This young man has practiced virtue in upholding the Law, that is true. But to be perfect is a different layer of understanding, that requires he strip away the things he relies on to teach him that he is good, in order to see the reality of virtue that is not defined by outward show. Jesus himself will be crucified as a criminal - he will defy the temple authorities and upset the status quo. He will not make a show of extraordinary power to "prove" he is Messiah as the temple authorities demand. These are not the "appearance" of virtue, and yet in him they are the embodiment of virtue. We cannot judge by appearance, or by what we collect. We live in relationship to God - and we are like God when we practice true goodness, the power of living faith, of acting with open heart, detached from appearance, in - if possible - all humility. I find that today humility is not such a great virtue in the common culture. Perhaps this has always been a worldly problem, and remains so today. How are we to strip away the things we hold important as appearance, and practice detachment? This teaching remains as tough for us today as it was for the young man then.