Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Decorah, Iowa
Rev. Amy Zalk Larson

Click here to read scripture passages for the day.

Beloved of God, grace to you and peace in the name of Jesus.

Author Phillip Yancey tells about meeting a woman who was in desperate straits. She was home- less, sick, and unable to buy food for her two-year-old daughter. She’d turned to prostitution to survive. He writes, “I asked if she had ever thought of going to a church for help. I will never forget the look of pure, naive shock that crossed her face. ‘Church!’ she cried, ‘Why would I ever go there? I’m already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse.’”^[1]

I think of that woman when I hear our Gospel reading for today. I think about everyone who has experienced the pain of divorce and then more pain when they’ve been judged and excluded by the church. I think about all of us who feel shame about our choices and thoughts and the brokenness in our lives.

Really Jesus? I want to say. We already feel terrible about ourselves, this just makes things worse.

Yet, then I remember what Jesus was all about in this passage – this passage that’s part of his larger Sermon on the Mount that we’ve been hearing all month. Minister and author, Debie Thomas, has reminded me what Jesus is doing in his sermon and her insights have really helped me to understand this passage.^[2]

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus isn’t giving warnings about morality to a bunch of individuals.

That’s often how we hear it as 21st Century Americans who’ve been shaped to approach every- thing in an individualistic way. If we imagine that Jesus is lecturing individuals about morality, we hear his words as just harsh admonitions to shape up and try to get everyone else out there to shape up, too.

Yet, Jesus is doing something else in his Sermon on the Mount. He’s speaking to the whole group of his disciples, including us, and calling forth a new community.

Jesus is calling forth a community that will know we are blessed by God through all the trials of life, as we heard in the first part of his sermon, the beatitudes; a community that will know we have been blessed by God to be a blessing to the world; that will know we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world even when we don’t feel like it, as we heard last week.

This week it becomes clear that Jesus is calling forth “a community meant to initiate a radical way of doing life on the earth, a community Jesus trusts will follow in his footsteps, and [bring] divine love to a world hungry for hope and healing.”^[3]

In his instructions that we hear today, Jesus seeks to shape this community so that we can most fully experience God’s blessing of life and well-being, and most fully bless the world.

He instructs all of us disciples to take relationships with one another very seriously; to “go beyond the bare minimum of civility and morality, and live together with the deepest respect, integrity, and love.”^[4]

Jesus says it isn’t enough to just avoid murdering. We should practice kindness and speak well of each other. We shouldn’t let anger consume us. We should seek reconciliation.

It isn’t enough to just avoid adultery. Instead, we’re called to honor the dignity of all people so that we don’t objectify others and view them as ways to satisfy our physical desires. And as Thomas points out, we’re called to “help others succeed in marriages and relational commitments, instead of making those vows even harder to fulfill.” We’re called to “encourage each other in holy living, not holy as in stiff, boring, lifeless, and prudish, but holy as in whole, abundant, faithful, and life- giving.”^[5]

And even when marital relationships come to an end, as they sometimes must, Jesus says we shouldn’t treat people as disposable – that we should be concerned for the welfare of the most vulnerable. This was especially true in Jesus’ day when women were considered the property of their husbands and men could easily dispose of their wives with a simple note of divorce. This left women in desperate straits. Jesus wants something different. “In the beloved community Jesus is shaping, he says we each have a responsibility to uphold each other’s dignity as [siblings] in Christ — even when our relationships as spouses or partners come to an end.”^[6]

Finally, Jesus calls us to keep our promises and not deceive, connive or manipulate each other so that no one needs to say “I swear” if they want to be trusted. He calls us to be mindful that everything we say is spoken in the presence of God and to honor one another by speaking honestly.

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is not about making people feel worse. It is about God’s care for us and this hurting world. God wants the woman who came to Philip Yancey to know how much she is loved and valued. God wants the beloved community to live in ways that allow for her dignity to be honored, for the dignity of all people to be honored.

God’s abiding care for us is why God gives us commandments, why Jesus intensifies them in his sermon. As we heard in the reading from Deuteronomy, God’s commandments are given so that we can live well together and be a blessing to the world.

But what happens when we don’t live out God’s commandments? Does God condemn us to hell?

The references to hell in Jesus’ sermon seem more descriptive than prescriptive. If we live with anger, insulting others and calling them fools, we create hell on earth. If we let lust control us, we feed a fire that can become all-consuming. If we ignore the dignity of others, we experience the hell of being cut off from community.

When we don’t live out God’s commandments, it does make God unhappy, but not because God is angry, wrathful and intent on punishing. Rather, God is unhappy because God loves us and wants our lives and relationships to be whole and well and nourishing.

God also longs for a relationship with us. And God chooses to be in relationship, no matter how often we turn from God’s ways.

In many ways, commandments and Jesus’ interpretation of them can drive us into relationship with God. They can show us how much we fall short of what God intends for us and how much we need to be forgiven, how much we need God’s help. They can shape us into a community that practices reconciliation and humility rather than self-righteousness and judgment. Whenever we’re tempted to think we’re better than someone who murders, someone who has turned to prostitution, Jesus’ words here remind us that we are all in need of forgiveness and mercy. And thanks be, God showers that upon us each week as we gather at the table.

Here we are reminded that we are all beggars in need of the bread of life. Here that bread is given freely so that we might know we are beloved. Here that bread is given freely to shape us into a community that can bless a world hungry for hope and healing.

Let’s take a moment for silent prayer.

^[1] Yancey, Philip. What’s So Amazing About Grace Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997

^[2] Thomas, Debie. “Journey with Jesus” blogpost, posted February 9, 2020. https://www.journeywithjesus.net/lectionary-essays/current-essay?id=2525

^[3] Ibid.

^[4] Ibid.

^[5] Ibid.

^[6] Ibid.

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Decorah, Iowa
Pastor Marion Pruitt-Jefferson

Gospel: Matthew 5:13-20

Beloved of God, Grace and Peace to you from our savior, Jesus Christ.

A very long time ago I worked in the kitchen at a Lutheran Bible camp. One morning it was my turn to make the oatmeal. I got out the huge pot, poured in however many gallons of water you need to make oatmeal for a hundred people, and when it was boiling I added the oats. Just as we were about to begin serving the campers, the head cook came by and gave it a tasting. Then, she looked at me with displeasure and said, “You forgot the salt. It just doesn’t taste right without the salt.” Really??? Just a little salt in that huge pot of oatmeal makes that big of a difference?

Sometimes little things make all the difference.

In the pre-electric world, darkness was the norm. Light was modest and surrounded by great darkness. A single lamp, set on a stand, illuminated an entire room. In our modern world, where light is available at the flip of a switch 24/7, we rarely have the experience of complete darkness. But all it takes is one power outage for us to remember that even a single candle can transform a dark room.

Jesus says to us: YOU are the light of the world; YOU are the salt of the earth. It’s interesting that Jesus didn’t say: You are a great big army, marching into the world. OR, You are a giant loudspeaker put up in the marketplace to shout my message to everyone. A dash of salt … A single candle … In the economy of God’s reign, little things make all the difference.

We are living in difficult times. There are powerful political, social and cultural forces at work in our country, and in the world, that defy the core values that we as followers of Jesus hold dear. Truth is called a witch hunt. Scientifically verifiable facts are called a hoax. Cruelty, hatred and bigotry are upheld as patriotism. The poor, the refugee, the hungry, the mentally ill, the disabled are decried as losers – as free-loaders who are gaming the system. People of color – even people who were born and raised here – are told to “go back where they came from.” Families and little children fleeing violence and fearing for their lives are called criminals, held in deplorable
conditions, denied justice, and sent away. And, even more distressing is that a large swath of folks who claim to be followers of Jesus, who identify as Christians, subscribe to these viewpoints – and do so with great passion.

And I can’t speak for you, but there are days when I feel powerless to make a difference. It seems like all the postcards, phone calls, letters, vigils, marches and emails are just so much shouting into the wind. And when those feelings of powerlessness take hold, it isn’t long until I feel paralyzed by despair and hopelessness. I am just too small, too insignificant, to be effective.

Then Jesus – the savior of the world, the crucified and risen one, the One in whom and through whom all things came into being, the very Word of God in human flesh – that same Jesus steps up and says: You, yes you, Marion – who is not famous, or influential, or rich – you are the salt of the earth. You, yes you, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church – a small congregation in a little neighborhood, in a small town, in a remote corner of a rural state – you are the light of the world. I have called you by name, I have filled you with my Spirit and because of that, you are who I say you are – and you are enough.

And then I listen to Paul preaching to the church in Corinth – proclaim- ing the power of God revealed in Jesus’ death on the cross. Paul says: I came to you proclaiming the mystery of God, not in lofty words or wisdom, but in Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I remember that we are called to take up our cross and follow Jesus, which does not look or feel like POWER – at least not in the way the world names power. It is the way of self-emptying – that in the mystery of God is the way that leads to fullness of life.

And from Isaiah, I hear God spelling out in detail what that way looks like: To loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, to share your bread with the hungry, to clothe the naked and to bring the homeless into your own home.

And I hear Jesus say to us, “In everything Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This is the fulfilling of the laws and the prophets.”

Last week at our annual meeting, we heard a lot about how we, together, are being salt and light in our community and in the world. From prayer shawls to post cards, from youth retreats, to visiting our elders, each portion takes its place in the combined ministry of Good Shepherd.

One way we will continue this ministry is by our participation in The Golden Rule 2020 Initiative: A Call for dignity and respect in Politics. Golden Rule 2020 is a nationwide effort to live out Jesus’ teaching to “Do unto others as we would have them do unto us” and to specifically embody that in our political and issue-based conversations with others. Our presiding bishop, Elizabeth Eaton, along with 16 other faith leaders, signed a letter of intent, saying: We all have an important role to play to help heal our nation, increase understanding of each other, and bridge our divisions. The initiative invites us to pray regularly for the healing of divisions in our country and to practice the Golden Rule in our political discussions. It’s a small thing – one person, speaking with another, listening with empathy to seek understand- ing and make connections. I know I’d like to have the power of a giant media corporation to blast this message into people’s homes, or an army of bots flooding people’s social media with compelling messages about the Golden Rule. But what we have is us- each individual, each congregation – little by little, living out Christ’s command to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. And much more importantly, what we have now and will always have is God with us, God for us. We are called to trust that through our ordinary, humble lives God will do what the wisdom and power of this world can never do – and that is to bring the healing, saving, trans- formative power of God to all creation.

A dash of salt, a tiny flame, a single conversation – these are the small things that God uses to bring about God’s reign of justice, mercy, and joy. And here at this table, just a little morsel of bread and a sip of wine, is our Great Thanksgiving Feast. No one would even call it a meal, much less a feast; but for us, it is food that we cannot live without. It is our Lord’s Supper, the Feast of Victory, the Foretaste of the Heavenly Banquet. In this little meal we receive that Bread that is Life so that we can go out and share our bread with the hungry. Here we receive the wine that overflows with mercy so that we can go out and share that mercy in an unforgiving world. In this meal, God feeds us with the body and blood of Jesus – the true light, the light which no darkness can overcome – so that we can go out and be a light for the world.