Sunday, February 5, 2023

The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
Isaiah 58:3-9a
Psalm 112:1-9
1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16)
Matthew 5:13-20

For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

When I began teaching my Sunday school class at church, I told the adult education staff member that I wanted to advertise it as a theology class. She recommended against it, suggesting that the people at our church would be put off by that language. I agreed at first, but I realized after the class was established that those who chose to come were not scared off by the idea that we are all theologians.

What is a theologian? One definition calls a theologian an expert in the subject of theology, which is the study of what is taught by God, teaches of God, and leads to God. There are people in this world who are professional theologians. They get paid to talk about the things of God. They write books and give lectures. I have to admit that I’ve sat in lectures by theologians that make my head hurt. They use Greek and Latin words I don’t understand. One speaker spoke so quickly that I could barely comprehend the fifty-cent words he used before he moved on to the next topic in his lecture. I was dazed and confused!

Yet, I love to sit in those lectures because through the big words and high concepts, God speaks to me by the power of the Holy Spirit about what He has taught, what is being taught about Him, and what leads me into a deeper and fully relationship with Him. I often walk out of an hour long lecture with little more than a thought or two, but it is enough for me. I’m sure many of the people who study with me on Sunday morning would not be interested in those lectures, and that’s ok. There is a place for those professional theologians, but theology is not just for them. Theology is for anyone who talks about God.

It is so exciting when our Sunday school class discovers some great idea about the character of God. Our discussions have left us breathless, in tears, laughing with joy. While people may be afraid to do theology as it is done among the doctors of the Church, the simple reality is that talking about God helps us to see Him, hear Him, and understand Him. The Holy Spirit works among us during those conversations, revealing to us the God who loves and forgives us with such grace as to send His own Son for our salvation.

It really is that simple, but we often make it so complicated that people will reject it. Then we blame them for the rejection. I experienced too many people doing online ministry who convoluted the Gospel and would then say, “I don’t need to explain it to you. If you had the Holy Spirit, you would understand.” They made it seem as if you couldn’t possibly be saved if you didn’t understand what they said.

Isn’t it funny how the Church has been discussing the nature of God and His will for this world, and yet today we are no closer to understanding Him than the disciples were when they lived with Jesus? It is good to be theologians discovering the character of God and the fulfillment of His promises in and through Jesus Christ. There are things about God, however, that we will never fully know. Even the theologians that lecture about the doctrine of God accept that there are mysteries they will never be able to explain no matter how many fifty-cent words they use. We can talk about the things we know, the things we believe, the things we see and understand. We can believe in the things we will never really understand. That’s faith. Faith is trusting that God’s promises are true and that our hope is found in Christ.

As theologians, it is important that we look to all God’s Word, including the Old Testament for understanding. In those books we see the promises of God and we are blessed with more than hope because in the New Testament we see that all God’s promises have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This isn’t so obvious to those who do not believe. They think our hope is foolishness because they can’t see or hear the Gospel as it has been made clear to us by the Holy Spirit. We have faith and therefore we rest in the knowledge that God has prepared something beyond this world for us, but the world does not understand. They don’t understand because they aren’t in a right relationship with God. That’s the definition of righteousness: to be in a right relationship with God.

The people in Isaiah’s time were acting righteous, but they were not in that right relationship. The same is true of the religious leaders in Jesus’ day, and in the religious lives of so many today. They were going through the religious motions while ignoring what God was calling them to do in the world. We are still a few weeks away from Ash Wednesday, but how many Christians will decide to fast on something as a Lenten discipline. The discipline is a good thing, but the fasting should also lead to positive changes in our lives and our lives of faith. Does it do any good to give up something for seven weeks and then gorge on it on Easter Day? Those Lenten disciplines have no purpose if they don’t cause growth in faith and discipleship.

The religious rituals that are mentioned in Isaiah were commanded by God, but they had become something much different than God intended. The people saw their actions, their obedience, as the source of their salvation and their blessings. They did all the right things, so they must be righteous, right? Jesus said, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Too many people are confused by the word righteousness. The world thinks it means being good, doing good things. Like those in Isaiah’s day, they think being righteous is doing all the right religious practices. “I fasted, so I deserve to be blessed.” The religious leaders in Jesus’ day were the same. “I keep the Law, so I deserve to be blessed.” Today people work so hard to be right with God, and never realize that the things they are doing will never make them right with Him. We can’t work our way into righteousness: that’s called self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is the very thing that divides us from God and from one another. When we think we are being obedient, following all the rules, then we think we deserve favor from God.

Paul writes, “Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” It doesn’t make sense to our natural man to live the Christian life. We want to follow rules and earn our reward. We want to get what we deserve. We think we are entitled to God’s blessings because we are righteous. So, we do what we do to earn our place in God’s kingdom. However, we can never earn our place; we can’t manipulate God into giving us what we want. Righteousness is not a matter of works; it is a matter of heart.

Unfortunately, many have a worldly understanding of what it means to be spiritual. That might sound like an oxymoron, but I once read an article that defined someone who is spiritual as one “whose highest priority is to be loving to yourself and others. A spiritual person cares about people, animals and the planet. A spiritual person knows that we are all One, and consciously attempts to honor this Oneness. A spiritual person is a kind person.” This is not what Paul means when he talks about being spiritual.

The author of the article suggested that one could follow different types of religious practices like attending church and doing yoga and not be spiritual. This is true, but as many in today’s world, the author used scripture but removed God completely from the equation. Paul tells us that we need God’s Spirit to know the things of God. That’s what it means to be spiritual. The worldly definition of spiritual makes it about works, about doing good things to and for others.

Paul is not referring to the spiritual man as being non-religious. Paul is talking about those who are focused on God, who live lives that glorify Him. The man who lives by faith will live according to God’s Word, doing what God calls us to do, living the life of discipleship. The spiritual man is the one who lives the Christ-centered life, who has the mind of Christ. The world would rather remove Christ from the equation, reducing Him to some sort of great force of which we are all a part. The world would rather be self-righteous rather than right with God.

I wanted to use the word theology in the explanation of my class because I wanted those who attended to realize that the focus of our conversations should always be God and our relationship with Him. Oh, we go off on rabbit trails sometimes, talking about politics or the struggles of our lives, but somehow we always bring it back to some aspect of God’s character and His Word. We often ask questions like, “Where is God in the midst of this?” or “What is God working in this situation?” or “What does scripture teach us about how to deal with this?”

The author of that article was wrong about what it means to be spiritual, but she was right that ultimately it all comes down to love, peace, joy, truth and kindness. The difference is this: she contends that it is by our power we can heal and change the world, but we know that it will only come about through God’s power.

The writer of the book of Hebrews goes on for several chapters talking about the faith of those who heard the promises of God but never saw them fulfilled. Abraham was promised that his offspring would dwell in the Promised Land, but it didn’t happen for hundreds of years. He was promised that his offspring would be as many as the stars in the sky, but he was a very old man when his son was born. The writer lists many promises given to God’s people and then says, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Many of those promises were fulfilled in some way in their day but pointed to an even greater promise. They saw God’s work but could only hope for the salvation that would come. They believed anyway, not because they saw the fulfillment but because they were in a right relationship with God.

The whole message of Christ, the message of forgiveness and mercy, is beyond our vision. The idea of God the Father giving His Son for our sake is just crazy. Why would an all-powerful God do that? Why would He have to? Though there are still things about the spiritual realm that we do not fully understand, we have a wisdom that is greater than anything in the world because we have a connection to the source of all wisdom. The Spirit of God dwells in our hearts and reveals to us that which God would have us know. We no longer live in the flesh, but in spirit. We are no longer uncertain but have confidence in the promises of God. We don’t live in darkness, but in the Light.

A motorist was driving in the country when he came upon a priest and a rabbi standing on the shoulder of the road, fishing. Next to them was a sign that read. “Turn around. The end is near.” The motorist didn’t like to be preached to, so he rolled down the window and yelled, “Mind your own business, you religious nuts!” A few seconds later the two fishermen heard tires screech, then a splash. The rabbi turned to the priest and said, “I told you we should’ve just written, ‘Bridge Out.’”

The message of the priest and the rabbi would have helped the driver keep from ending up in the river, but they spoke in a language that the driver rejected. They made it too complicated for the motorist to understand. He saw two religious men and assumed the sign had religious significance. He quickly rejected what it had to say because to him it seemed unreasonable. If they had put the simpler words “Bridge Out” on the sign the man would have stopped and turned around. I suppose that’s why the staff member discouraged the use of “theology” in my class description.

How often do we try to share the Christian message in a way that is too complicated for the hearers to understand? Sadly, we sometimes do this because we are trying to put our own spin on the Gospel. We think we can do it better than God. But that which brings people salvation is the message of grace found in the cross of Jesus Christ. By His blood He restored our relationship with God our Creator and Father by paying the price and providing forgiveness for our sin. By His resurrection we are raised to new life as His child to live and love in this world, sharing that message with others.

I don’t think the professional theologians use fifty-cent words to impress the listeners, but sometimes we make it complicated, sound intelligent among the intelligent, to speak into the lives of those to whom we are sent as witnesses. We don’t come to faith by understanding the things of God. Rather, it is by hearing the Word of God. He moves in our hearts, convicting us, and transforming us by His love. It is the simple message, “Jesus loves you” that will truly save. God does the rest.

People from every age think that it is enough to go through the religious motions and then go on to do whatever they want to do in their daily lives. They think it is alright to cheat or hurt their neighbors if they repent with the right rituals. It is no wonder that God did not hear the prayers of those in the text from Isaiah. He calls us to be merciful, to be just, to be compassionate and to be generous. He calls us to sacrifice from the heart, not the flesh. God cannot be manipulated, and too many people then and now think that if they just appear to be faithful, then God will bless them. God sees behind our masks; His grace is not a reward for good works. He looks to the heart.

While our works will never make us righteous, God calls us to be the people He intends us to be. He isn’t looking for religious folk who fast when they are supposed to fast or who sacrifice when they are supposed to sacrifice. He is looking for believers who use their gifts for His glory.

A large portion of the US is dealing with cold, icy weather, including most of Texas. I heard some people in Dallas joking that there are fewer people on the road today than there were at the height of the pandemic. Those who live in the north do not understand. Those of us from the north who live in Texas now know it is silly for us to stop our lives for a day or two because of a little winter weather. We also understand that Texas is not prepared for this kind of weather. It doesn’t make financial sense to have fleets of salt trucks when we might need it one or two days a year.

Did you know that only about 6% of the salt produced around the world is used for food? More salt is used to condition water (12%) and de-ice highways (8%). Another 6% is used in agriculture and a whopping 68% is used in manufacturing and industrial processes. Did you know that they use salt to make PVC, plastic and paper? It is also used to make aluminum, soap, rubber and pottery. It is used in to drill, to tan hides and to dye fabric. It is also used as a preservative.

There are many different types of salt. It used to be easy to buy salt at the grocery store, since there was usually just a few choices. Now you have to decide what type of salt you want. You can buy regular table salt, but there are other possibilities. Kosher salt is used for all types of cooking and contains no additives, so it has a better flavor. Sea salt comes in coarse to be used in cooking or flaky for use at the table. Fleur de Sel is a specialty salt, and is considered the caviar of salt. It is used at the table for a wonderfully melt in your mouth experience of saltiness. Pickling salt is used for preservation. Rock salt is used in making ice cream and can be handy on these icy winter days. Each type of salt has a specific purpose, some are added during cooking and others are designed to enhance the flavor at the table. Salt does add a salty flavor, but it is also used to enhance the other flavors of food. Salt controls yeast growth in bread so that it will rise properly. A little salt on a margarita makes the tequila pop and it suppresses the bitter flavors.

Salt has always had a spiritual or religious dimension, too. Salt is often found on an altar or is used in ritual. Salt is used to ward off demons or to honor gods. According to some, salt is one of the four blessings from heaven, which included fire, water, iron and salt. Salt is the center of some ideas about hospitality. In ancient religions, the value of salt made the offering a covenant between people. If someone at the salt at your table, they became your responsibility while you were in their home. You had to protect them from any harm.

You didn’t know salt was so important, did you? It is hard to put such a high value on a commodity that we can purchase so cheaply and that we use so unsparingly. After all, how could something we just throw on the roads to melt ice be so valuable that the use of it at the dinner table offers a promise of protection and good will? In some places salt was so valuable that it was minted into coins and used to pay soldiers. As a matter of fact, that’s how we get the phrase, “He is worth his salt” and the term “salary.” It is interesting that salt comes from both land and sea, some harvested by evaporation and others through mining.

I came across all these facts about salt because I typed in the question, “Does salt really lose its saltiness?” This is a question that often comes up during bible studies focusing on today’s Gospel text. After all, I’ve never known salt to lose its flavor. According to my research, this is true. Salt is a very stable chemical, and it is only by a chemical reaction that it can lose its saltiness. However, it has been discovered that some salt, especially that which is harvested from marshes along the seashore, can lose its saltiness when it is in contact with the ground or is exposed to rain and sun. It isn’t that the salt itself loses its saltiness, but that the salt is contaminated with impurities collected with it. It is likely that this is what happened to the salt that they would have eaten in Jesus’ day, as their salt generally came from the shore of the Dead Sea.

What did Jesus mean in today’s Gospel lesson? The listeners knew the importance of salt, its rarity, its significance, and its value. They also knew that if salt were left drying too long on the side of the sea, it would be useless. It was not only useless, but it was hazardous. They could not keep this salt in the house because the impurities could be dangerous, and they could not throw it in the fields or gardens because it would kill the plants. might be harmful, and they could not throw it into the fields or gardens because it would wreak havoc on the growth of the plants. It was not just tasteless; it was good only to be trampled underfoot, so it was thrown into the streets. We do not understand as they did because we don’t usually throw our salt into the street, and when we do it serves an important purpose. Those who have had to walk on ice covered sidewalks are thankful that the salt can melt ice to make it safe. The same is not true of the salt to which Jesus refers.

Jesus was warning the disciples that they have a purpose and that they should not wait around too long before they go out to do that work, because if they wait too long they would no longer be of value. We wait because we don’t think we are ready or smart enough or know the scriptures well enough. We think we have work to do to overcome our sin and be perfect witnesses. We think we should let the theology to the theologians. Meanwhile, as we are trying to make things right in their own lives, we succumb to the cares and worries of the world. Or we fall for the temptations that abound. Or we conform to the ways of the world. These are the impurities that make us, as salt, worthless.

The whole message of Christ, the message of forgiveness and mercy, is beyond our vision. The idea of God the Father giving His Son for our sake is just crazy. Why would an all-powerful God do that? Why would He have to? Though there are still things about the spiritual realm that we do not fully understand, we have a wisdom that is greater than anything in the world because we have a connection to the source of all wisdom. We build that connection by talking about God and His Word.

We grow in faith and discipleship by being theologians daily. This is what it means to have righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees. It is about having a right relationship with God. By faith His Spirit dwells in our hearts and reveals to us the promises of God and helps us to know Him through His Word and our fellowship with other Christians. We no longer live in the flesh, but in spirit. We have confidence in the promises of God because He has revealed Himself to us. We don’t live in darkness, but in the Light. We aren’t worthless salt good only to be trampled underfoot, but we are the salt that will enhance and flavor the world.