Jesus and Lutheran cursing

Any Lutheran worth their salt just heard Jesus say a swear.  Two words that evoke gasps and sputters from theologians, pastors, Martin Luther and first year seminarians…Jesus said “good works.” 

              

For many protestant traditions, but especially Lutherans, the phrase “good works” is supposed to make us squirm uncomfortably. And if we are going to talk about “good works” we certainly are not supposed to let others see them.  The Lutheran tradition bold declares that we are saved by grace through faith apart from works.  It’s like a weighty bumper sticker that lifelong Lutherans rattle off – we are saved by grace through faith apart from works. This is the thrust of the reformation, the Spirit that carried Martin Luther and other major reformers of the church – they critiqued, protested, left and began again in communities under the banner of being saved by grace through faith apart from works.

Apart from works.

And Jesus just stepped right in it – with his liberating cry to all listening disciples, “Let your light shine before all that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.”  There is nothing about this sentence that I do not find problematic.  First of all, I was taught from an early age it is not my light, but God’s light shining through us.  Second, the call to let others see our good works or to even suggest that we ought to be going good works is problematic.  Third, glorify in one of those words I’m pretty sure only evangelicals are using these days and lastly, its women’s retreat weekend and we’re referring to God as “Father” which is a whole other session in itself. 

I warned you, Jesus said a swear.

There is some context that is helpful here.  Remember, we are in week two of Jesus’ sermon on the mount – last week we heard all the Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the hungry…we heard some of the more beautiful and memorable poetry in all of scripture last week.  Jesus beckons the suffering and horror of the earth and balances it with a sure promise to not only be present, but to bring transformation and new life. 

Jesus has laid out the vision of the Kingdom of heaven and now moves to describe those who are making way for the kingdom.  The speech pattern shifts as Jesus moves from referencing to direction naming…  “You are the salt of the earth”.  This is not, I will make you salty, not take my salt and run with it…Jesus is giving the new identity, the new way of living, “You are the salt of the earth, You are the light of the world”.  And the Greek here is emphatic and it is plural.  So through our limited English we can only here the word “You” I think a clearer rendering could be, YOU, all-ya’ll are the salt of the earth.  You, all-ya’ll are the light of the world. Not borrows of God’s light, but right there in and of your bodily and spiritual being you are salt…you are light.

And in that “you are…” directive is the salvific promise of Christ.  God’s great love for the world moves in ways that are meant to shake us up and awaken us to the movement of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  God does not desire for our lives to be so stale, tasteless and dark that we are complacent, boring or lost.  In the bold declaration of “You are salt and You are light” Jesus is beckoning us into the reality of the Beatitudes, God is the power in it all…and we get to be the seasoning and illuminating agents in the Kingdom of Heaven.

This is more than a bumper sticker slogan for Christianity…this is more than an aggravation over the phrasing of Jesus, and more than a pep rally for disciples of Jesus.

Many of you know the various and important functions of salt in our world, much better than I – we know it in our food, our bodies, our water and the list could easily go on.  And if this past week’s struggle with electricity has reminded of us of anything it is how comforting and important light is.  So, we can imagine, together, what Jesus is calling us to. 

How? How do we be salt? How do we live as light? And this is where the demand deepens and the tilt toward good works becomes center.  Jesus said it is all for the earth – for the natural world, we are called to be salt not because it will feel good or because it will set us on a good track with God.  We are salt…for the earth.  And we are light, not because light is always welcomed – its illuminating, even of those things we would really rather not illuminate, and we are light because the darkness is everywhere we look and we are light…for the world.

And we turn, finally, to the prophet Isaiah to put flesh and bones on the imagery Jesus uses.  The prophet tells of the living and fasting that God desires, which is so very different than the fasting of false piety or personal recompense…Isaiah says…

 ⁶ Is not this the fast that I choose:
   to loose the bonds of injustice,
   to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
   and to break every yoke? 
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
   and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
   and not to hide yourself from your own kin? 
⁸ Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
   and your healing shall spring up quickly;

Loosen injustice, free the oppressed, share bread, shelter homeless, cover the naked and be present to your family – this is the description of the salt and light of Jesus, and it turns out it has absolutely nothing to do with us at all!

This is the nature of the kingdom of heaven, that we are liberated to do good works which flow out of our identity established in Jesus Christ.  And this is the nature of the kingdom heaven – which offers another way of living.  Its less of the pop slogan, “You choose for you” and more of the teachings of Isaiah and Jesus saying God has chosen you, go and share that gift for the sake of the world.

So, there it is – the job description of salt and light in the kingdom of heaven.  We can handle the chatter about good works because of our identity as already valuable and loved and empowered children of God. 

The mission of Holden Village is this “to welcome all people into the wilderness to be called, equipped and sent by God.” Three primary verbs move this mission statement – called, equipped and sent.  Verbs filled with hope, faith and action that do not allow us to get too comfortable in our current setting but are pointing us elsewhere from the very beginning.  It turns out the very mission of Holden, like the very teachings of Jesus liberate us from thinking it is about us anyway…being in this valley is about being sent back out and being salt and light in the kingdom of heaven are about being sent out to the earth and the world.

Good works, we are freed to do them, to the glory of God and for the sake of the world. 

You are the seasoning God has placed in this world at this time and in this place – already you, just as you are.  You are the light God ignites in the darkness, shining and stunning and illuminating for others – already you, just as you are.

Thanks be to God for establishing such a kingdom in our stale and darkened world.  May we be agents of life and light for others.  Amen.