Salt and Light

St. Matthew 5:13-16
February 6, 2011
Epiphany 5A

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus~

Regardless of what the final score of today’s game ends up being—regardless of who wins and who loses—at the end of the game a select number of players will be described as “difference-makers.” In football, the “difference-makers” are those who are in the right place at the right time. They make a key tackle, execute the perfect block, snag the interception, pounce on the fumble, toss the touchdown pass. The difference-makers regularly change the game’s trajectory and re-shape the outcome. And they accomplish all this simply by doing their jobs to the very best of their abilities—by playing their assigned positions with smarts and strength and skill. They are the difference-makers.

Today, from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is also describing difference-makers—difference-makers of a different kind. They are salt and they are light, He says. They are men and women called by Jesus to follow Him in faith. They are always in the right place at the right time precisely because they are following Jesus. By their words and by their deeds—by living out their assigned positions in this life to the very best of their ability—they change the world. They do the ordinary work of their callings; but they do that work extraordinarily well. And on that last day when the fourth quarter finally expires for planet earth—only then will it be fully revealed how these difference-makers changed the trajectory of history and brought life to a dying world. Today Jesus declares that you are one of these elect, select, difference-makers.

These difference-makers are the disciples of Jesus—those who follow Him in faith. These difference-makers are distinct from all the other players on planet earth. There are plenty of nice, friendly folks in this world, but not all are difference-makers for the Lord. For when Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world,” He wasn’t addressing those words to the entire crowd that had gathered on the mountainside, but only to the select group of disciples whom He had called. They (and only they) are blessed (we heard last week). They (and only they) are salt and light.
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