Paul Rader, First Presbyterian Church, February 9, 2014 :13-20, "Who You Really Are!"

Ken Bailey says that was a metaphorical theologian. Rather than linking together ideas by reason and logic, by proceeding from one supposition to another, Jesus made extensive use of metaphors, parables and dramatic actions. In other words, “Jesus does not say, ‘God’s love is boundless.’ Instead, he tells the story of the prodigal son. He does not say, ‘Your benevolence much reach beyond your own kith and kin.’ Rather, he tells the story of the good Samaritan.” (Jacob & the Prodigal, p. 22) Jesus was a metaphorical theologian.

We have all become painfully aware of the cultural distance between the East and the West. Even in the way we tell our stories, a gulf appears between us! Typically, we in the West, begin with an idea and then illustrate that idea with a simile or parable. For us, “conceptual language is primary and the metaphor or parable or story is secondary.” But in the East "the equation is reversed.” There “the primary language is that of the metaphor or parable and the secondary language is conceptual.” (Ibid)

This may not only be why we have a hard time understanding each other's view of geo- political events, it may also be why we struggle with the sayings of Jesus. He thought Eastern! The more we come to understand the culture in which Jesus lived, the closer we may come to understand him!

Take our text this morning. Three short verses. There is a saying about ; there is a saying about light. Salt and light are metaphors that describe the followers of Jesus. And there are three tiny parables that follow the metaphors. Five images conflated tightly together in three verses. (And you know, the very fact that I am trying to explain these images is proof that I am Western!)

You are the salt of the earth; you are the . Who talks like that? Certainly not the religious elite within Israel! There is a polemical tone to these sayings. It is not the Torah or the temple or Jerusalem or Israel or some group within Israel that is the salt or light of the world, but the followers of Jesus. Moreover, the followers of Jesus are not the salt and light of Israel but of the whole world.

You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world. Who does talk like that?

Alyce McKenzie tells the story of a woman checking out at the grocery store one morning. The young cashier handed her the receipt and said cheerily, "Have a nice day!" To which the woman replied, "I'm sorry, but I have other plans." (Patheos, 2011)

Maybe she did have other plans, or maybe she just didn't appreciate being told what to do by someone she didn't even know!

"Have a nice day" is not the sort of thing Jesus ever said to anyone when leaving them or when they were leaving him. He said things like, "Go and sin no more," or "Rise, take up

your bed and walk," or "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." In Matthew 5, he says, "Go, be salt and light." Most of us have other plans.

The role of "salt" in the can scarcely be over-estimated. It was used as a , a preservative, a disinfectant to treat wounds, in ceremonial offerings, and as a unit of exchange. The eating of salt together was a sign of friendship. Newborn babies were rubbed with salt. Roman soldiers sometimes received their wages in salt.

The main source of salt in the region was around the . In Jesus' day, people harvested salt by pouring sea water into pits and letting it evaporate until only salt was left. And it was valuable. Today "salt is so common, so easy to obtain, and so inexpensive that we have forgotten that from the beginning of civilization until about 100 years ago, salt was one of the most sought-after commodities in human history." (Salt: A World History )

The first of our three parables is this: "If salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." Reading commentaries arguing over whether or not salt really can lose its "saltiness" can make your vision blur! It is a very stable, non-reactive compound: the only way it can lose its flavor is by being diluted with water. Surely the point here is that salt can be so diluted or mixed with impurities as to become worthless. (ICC: Matthew, p. 473)

Regardless, Jesus says, go be salt! Don’t’ be worthless! You are the salt of the earth! Be who you really are!

If the role of salt in the Bible can scarcely be over-estimated, what can be said about "light"? Light is what illuminates; it makes visible. It tans the skin, stimulates the formation of vitamin D and sets biological rhythms. Light is used in the treatment of disease and depression. Exposure to light energizes us and cheers us; it reflects and brightens; it, too, disinfects.

Light is colorful! It was Sir Isaac Newton who observed that a thin beam of sunlight hitting a glass prism on an angle creates a band of visible colors. And light is fast: 186,000 miles per second. It has temperature; it can bounce; it can be focused.

There are two small parables here about light, one pertaining to men, the other to women. "A city on a hill cannot be hidden." Men build cities. Although it is perfectly understandable if any city is meant, we can’t help but suspect either Jerusalem, perched as it is on Mt. Zion, or Rome, built on seven hills, was in mind. Either way, big or small, known or unknown, any city on a hill is visible for miles. Men build cities; in Middle Eastern village society, women light lamps. "No one after lighting a lamp puts it under a bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house." (BTW, the only way a single lamp could light a whole house is if the house had only one room! This really wasn’t addressed to the top 2% of Israel.)

Regardless, Jesus says, go be light! Don’t hide it. You are the light of the world! Be who you really are! In a on our text, John Jewell told this story about a kid he grew up with: Raymond’s father was always telling Raymond he would never amount to anything. Whenever he failed at something, he would say to the rest of us kids, “I’m not very good at this. My dad says I’ll never amount to anything.” We lived across the alley from Raymond and I can remember hearing his father shout at him, “Don’t you know anything? Jeez kid, you’ll never amount to anything!”

And you know what? Raymond never amounted to anything. Last I heard, he was in jail. The voice of Raymond’s father was so loud, so overwhelming and buried so deep in Raymond’s psyche that there was no way Raymond could overcome this handicap. (“God’s View of Who You Are,” 1999)

We all know a Raymond or two—don’t we? I suspect we all have a voice like the voice of Raymond’s father somewhere inside. Maybe it isn’t as strong as the voice Raymond had to contend with, but so many of us deal with that inner library of tapes that carry messages like, “You’re not good enough! You’re not adequate. You don’t measure up. Better let someone else try that.” It seems that the more significant a person is in our lives, the more damaging a negative message from that person can be.

On the other hand, what a powerful difference it makes in our lives when we have been nourished with messages like, “You can do it. You are so capable. You can and you will succeed!” If we believe we can’t—we will most likely fail. If we believe we can— chances are greatly improved that we will succeed.

When you and I grasp deep within what God says about who we are, amazing things can happen in our lives. In some very real sense, faith means listening to God’s view of who we are! Jesus was an optimist where you and I are concerned! Gene Davenport reminds us that these words of Jesus about being salt and light are not exhortations or commands, they are declarations!

He was a metaphorical theologian. He did not say, ‘God’s love is boundless.’ Instead, he told the story of the prodigal son. He did not say, ‘Your benevolence must reach beyond your own kith and kin.’ Rather, he told the story of the Good Samaritan. He does not say, ‘Try to influence the community around you for good.’ Rather, he says, ‘You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world.’ (Jacob & the Prodigal, p. 22)

Be who you really are!