Year A 5th Epiphany 2023 Scofflaws and Non-Prophets

Year A 5th Sunday after Epiphany, 5 February 2023

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Scofflaws and Non-Prophets”

Collect: Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Matthew 5:13-20

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

As many of you know, I was a camp director for years. Some folks that worked for me, did it as internships for college credit. It helped them and it helped us. It took some extra paperwork, which was usually easy to do. One of my assistant directors was working on an outdoor recreation degree (yes, there is such a thing) and part of this was he needed to write a reflective journal of his experience. Near the end of the summer, he had me read it for feedback before he turned it in.

In the first few pages I thought he was making a witty critique because he kept using a phrase which I assumed was a play on words because we were a religious camp. The word he invented was “non-prophet.” You are hearing me, so let me spell it out for you. N O N (hyphen) P R O P H E T. Non-prophet. As in, not proclaiming the word of God.

I enjoyed his witticism for another page until I saw that he just did not know how to spell non-profit. N O N (hyphen) P R O F I T. Non-profit. As in a 501(c)3 Corporation. An enterprise in our country which aims to serve a purpose, but not make a profit for anyone, individually or for stockholders.

But in the decades since that paper, and my, what a paper it was, that malapropism has stayed with me. Too often, I have seen that the supposed Church of Christ was non-prophet when Jesus commands us to be prophetic in our deeds and our words.

I do not want you to be confused this week, especially if you heard last week’s sermon. I stand by what I said, without question. Jesus meets us where we are, and loves us just the way we are. No ifs, ands, buts, or asterisks.

Grace is a gift, a free gift, no strings attached. Grace is that gift of God, and there is nothing we could do to make God love us any more and there is nothing we could do to make God love us any less.

We can never, could never, pay God back for the love and Grace showered on us. But we can respond, and that is what Jesus is getting at today. Today’s Gospel reading directly follows last week’s Beatitudes, so consider this an extension of last week’s sermon if you heard it.

We are given some very powerful images, and once again I want to read from a translation that makes you hear it again for the first time. 

13 Jesus said: “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Salt of the Earth, Light of the World. Two strong and powerful ideas and views of who God is calling us to be, or better yet, reminding us of who we are.

When you eat a dish, if it is good you delight and are astounded. You might try to put together what makes it taste so good. But more often then not, you just think, “Mm-mm-mm, THAT is GOOOOOOD!”

But if it does not have enough of the seasoning you expect, then what do we say? “It’s missing something. It could use a little salt.” And that, my friends, is so often where we are called to be. We are called to enhance the godliness, or as Peterson translated it, to bring out the God-flavors in this world. People notice when it is missing.

I think so many of our societal ills are coming from just that. We are promoting Salt instead of God. We should be present, but not necessarily noticed. We enhance, but we are not the main attraction. Subtle not overbearing.

Like Gandalf said of the simple, life-loving hobbits in The Hobbit:  “I have found that it is the small everyday deed of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.” That is salt. Simple. Just Enough. No more. No less.

Jesus describes us much the same way as Light. Light is there, and if things are lit correctly you do not think about it or notice. If it is too dark or too bright one does. But light, and salt, too, cannot be hid. If it is there, one does notice it. Especially in the dark, like a city on a hill, there is a glow from a distance. We are necessary, especially when times are dark. We stand out. We cannot be hid. We fight the darkness, and as John says in his Gospel, Chapter 1, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.” Sometimes we are sitting ducks, shining out in dark and hurting world. Yes, it is easier for Evil to take aim. But think of it this way, for those who are wandering in the darkness, they are desperately looking for a light, any light, and when they find us we can point to the “great light.” “For people walking in darkness have seen a great light.”

Salt of the Earth, Light of the World. Our high calling, a goal to be who we were born to be. We cannot pay God back, even if we tried. But we are called to be, and by that I mean behave, like we are of Christ.

Jesus goes on:

17-18 “Don’t suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures—either God’s Law or the Prophets. I’m not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast panorama. God’s Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God’s Law will be alive and working. 19-20 “Trivialize even the smallest item in God’s Law and you will only have trivialized yourself. But take it seriously, show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom. Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won’t know the first thing about entering the kingdom.

So many people, and I should say, so many immature people, think that their freedom in Christ means that they are able to do whatever they want. No. That is not our freedom in Christ. We have been set free to do the GOOD that God birthed us to be in this world. We are free to do what we OUGHT, not whatever we want.

St. Augustine said that the following of God is to “Love God, and do what you will.” He did not mean whatever we want. But as we mature and grow in Christ, we do not take our freedom for granted. We slowly mature so that we are conformed to the Christ that we are growing into likeness of. 

I saw a video of people who had pumpkin molds. They put immature pumpkins in these molds, and as they grew and matured, the pumpkin expanded into the mold, and when it was done growing there was a face that had been molded onto the pumpkin. It was cool. As we grow in Christ, using our freedom to become more and more like Christ in the world instead of more worldly, people will begin to see Christ in and through us. We will have matched the mold we choose to place ourselves in.

We are good without a checklist that makes us legalistic and holier than thou. It is not about being good so we can say we kept all the rules. It is about being above the worldly and beyond the rules. It stops being a habit, and it becomes our identity. We become whatever mold we put ourselves in. We embody the laws without even thinking about it. It is in our spiritual muscle memory.

In a world where it screams at us to be ourselves, Christ reminds us that we can be better than that. We find our true selves in him. It is not about self-actualization, but about making the Kingdom of God real here on earth. God made us and births us into the Kingdom. Will we wake up, or enlighten up, or self-actualize enough to realize that?

I am more of me when I am less of me. I become who I am supposed to be by realizing whose I am. I am who I am because of whose I am. That is how I can be blessed coming from wherever, however, in this new Kingdom reality. I can be the salt that brings out the God-flavors. I can be Light to a darkened world.

Being a scofflaw of those traditional laws is nowhere in my thinking. I must be For-Prophet, P R O P H E T. Not non-prophet. We can neither be religious scofflaws or non-prophets. I am here to proclaim the word of God, and if you are in Christ YOU ARE, TOO! Maybe not in what you say, but how you choose to live your life. As St. Francis supposedly said, “Preach at all times. When necessary, use words.” You are the Light of the World.

We are being invited to help bring God’s dream for the world to reality. What a precious calling! Lord, help us be worthy!

We sang it as children, so we did not realize the power and truth in it. But it is what we were born to do. Sing it if you know it…

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine! Amen