We are redeemable!
Isaiah 58:7-10; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; Matthew 5:13-16
“You are the salt of the earth” and “you are the light of the world”. These two declarative statements tell the dignity of every Christian. Literally speaking, human beings are neither salt nor light, otherwise we should be in restaurants and homes as seasoning for people’s food (table-salt) or substance on earth (gas/petroleum/hydrogen) as sources of energy for combustion engines and bulbs to light up streets and homes. Yet, human beings are still salt and light in other ways, that is why we need to pay attention to the contrasts within the gospel reading of today, in order to understand what message it contains for us.
The vivid contrasts in our gospel reading of today are pointers to morality: salt versus light, earth and world versus heaven, taste-buds versus city, and people versus God. The importance of salt is experienced in the food we eat, and the food we eat comes from the earth. Even the fish of the seas and the plants and meat we preserve with salt all come from and are part of the earth. However, “light” goes beyond the earth as its contrast. Our little knowledge of planetary system teaches us that the light of the sun is experienced and felt beyond the earth and includes other planets, and the moon and stars we see also enjoy the light of the sun. Like the sun, our light must come from outside the earth to light up the earth; it must be the light of God from heaven.
If Jesus compares us to salt and light — “you are the salt of the earth” and “you are the light of the world”—he makes his teaching concrete when he says, “so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven”. In other words, just as the taste buds help us to measure or savor salt in the things we eat, the sense of sight helps us to see and judge good or bad deeds. Bad deeds, like the salt that has lost its taste, is useless and thrown out to be trampled underfoot, good deeds lead to the praise and glory of God in heaven.
There is something beyond earth and the world, that is, all that is visible to the eyes—there is heaven. Also, besides human beings (people), there is God, who lives in heaven, who has given the earth and the world for human experiences. Our gospel makes the acknowledgement of good deeds the precondition for the praises of God and the delight of God in heaven. It follows that the delight and praises of God are based on human moral behaviors. Only good deeds affect what happens in heaven and the God who dwells therein. Bad experiences, just like bad tastes, are tied to the earth and the world. The only way to attain God and heaven is through good deeds. In fact, the virtues extolled in Matt 5:1-12 are summarized in today’s gospel reading (Matt 5:13-16).
In reversed order, our first reading explains the consequences of failing to be the light of the world, in moral terms, because our first reading was written during the context of slavery and exile in Babylon. When God’s people—Judah—failed to be the salt of the earth, they became “tasteless,” according to the imagery of the gospel, and they were cast or thrown out to be trampled underfoot by the Babylonians as their exiles and slaves. Our first reading responds to the question of the gospel reading: “but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?” Jesus is saying to you and to me, that we are redeemable! While the first reading is about the redemption of the people of God, the gospel tells us our dignity as children of God.
The instructions of our first reading, “Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own” provide us with steps towards redemption and the restoration of our Christian nature and identity. Unlike tasteless salt, human beings are redeemable, they can get back their savor through practical morality, through a change of behavior. Our first reading confirms that we are redeemable in these words, “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard”. That is, what brings about light in human communities and upon the earth are virtuous deeds. The hallmark of a child of God is good behavior exemplified by the care she/he provides for fellow creatures of God on earth. What is laudable and leads to the glory of God is the happiness of the human person, because we treat one another well.
Unfortunately, with our racism, sexism, nationalism and superiority complexes, we darken the light of the world and denature the salt of the earth that we are and deny God of his glory and exile ourselves from heaven. In order to teach us how to live on earth, besides the lessons of our first reading, Paul offers this singular piece of advice to us: “I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling . . . so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God”. Like Paul, in our second reading, Christians have only one job on earth, an example of which Paul shows, the “demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:4). Wherever there are good deeds, there is the demonstration of the work of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26)! The Holy Spirit keeps the savor of the salt that we are and brightens the light of the earth that we are. Yes, we are redeemable; indeed, we have been redeemed and the presence of the Holy Spirit in you and I is our proof of redemption and adoption as children of God (Galatians 4:4-7)! Christians, let us show our true nature, through our deeds!
A Christian has been placed by God on a high moral ground, little wonder the beatitude was given on the mountain, and the light of a Christian compared with a lamp lighted up for all to see. To go up the mountain, for a Jew, is to ascend to the house and dwelling of God. It is to go up like Moses to encounter God, be taught by God and come down the mountain with the copy of God’s commandments in hand for application and as a compass for daily living. Only a person suffused with the Holy Spirit can be at home with God because her/his life is directed by the Holy Spirit. We must confess that most of us are already in the exile of sin and error, like the children of God under Babylonian captivity. But it is to such as us that Christ brought redemption, that Christ offers second and third chances even today. Let other human beings enjoy you seeing them as the children of God by treating them as the images of God that they are. Then, our flickering light will come back to life and steady, when we opt for virtuous lives and abandon sin. If it was possible for Paul to move from Saul to Paul, for Thomas to migrate from a doubter to a martyr, it is also possible for you and me to regain our dignity as light and salt.