Upon a first listen to these verses,
you might think that I’m going to continue to expand upon the idea that the
wisdom of God is contrary to the wisdom of the world.
However, as I read and reread these words, the last verse stood out to me and led me in a different direction. The thought is this: this wisdom that is of God is with us now and this wisdom allows us to understand how to use the gifts and skill sets that we have been given by God. We know what we can do to serve the Lord. The question is, will we? The scripture reads this way.
I Corinthians 2:1-12
2 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4 My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God. 6 Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. 7 But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.
Our second passage continues Jesus
teaching to his disciples prior to the Sermon on the Mount. The verses that we will hear are ones that we
can literally sing (and you’ll understand in a minute what I mean). But unless they become something more than a
great lyric to a catchy tune, then we have neglected the message that is being
offered.
The wisdom of God has been revealed
to us (at least in part) through the movement of the Spirit of God. We know how we have been blessed. Now we have to use those blessings. The scripture reads this way.
Matthew 5:13-20
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
I don’t know about you, but I grew up
watching game shows. Especially as a
younger child, I remember sitting in my grandparents’ home (with my
grandparents in the space!), watching shows like Match Game, Card Sharks, Let’s Make a Deal, and The Price is Right.
One of the shows that we watched periodically was ‘Name That Tune’. I would sit there and watch as the contestants would bargain back and forth: “I can name that tune in six notes. I can name it in five notes. I can name it in four notes” (at which point the studio audience offers up the obligatory “oh!”), before the bet is called in, “then name that tune!”
I was awful at the game as a kid and I’m pretty sure that I would still be awful at it as an adult, but the verses that we heard from Matthew make me want to call out, “I can sing that tune in three words”, because as soon as I read these words, I immediately started humming to myself, ‘you are the salt of the earth’.
The song from ‘Godspell’ is great, but the message behind these verses is so much more than some scriptural variation of ‘Name That Tune’. It’s message, which is then amplified in Jesus’ next illustrative example (‘You are the light of the world’), is Jesus saying to his disciples (because remember, that is who Jesus is speaking to in this portion on Matthew’s retelling of the Sermon on the Mount), Jesus is saying, “You have been blessed by God with wonderful gifts. They are not all the same blessings, but God is able to use that diversity to reach out into the world so that his love and presence might be experienced. But remember my friends, you have got to use those blessings. Don’t hide them away. Because if that happens, then the blessings are useless, both to you as the one who has been blessed, and to the world who is missing out on the opportunity to be touched by the grace of God through you.”
One of the questions that I ask all of my Confirmation Classes in a whole lot of different ways, for what must seem like class after class, is, “what are you good at? What are you interested in? What are you passionate about?”
The reason that I pound away on those sorts of questions is to plant the seed of understanding with the kids that God has blessed them, and if they are able to recognize those blessings then those blessings can be used in such a way that not only will they be fulfilled, but the world will be correspondingly blessed.
Again, what did Paul declare at the end of the reading from I Corinthians? “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.” God has blessed us, and one of the blessings that we have received is God’s Spirit. This Spirit allows us to know how we have been blessed.
So step 1: God has blessed us with interests and skills that can be utilized to share God’s grace in the world. Step 2: God has also blessed us with a Spirit of wisdom and knowledge to recognize what those blessing from the Almighty are. The last piece is taking the step out in faith and using those blessings out in the midst of the world. Use what you’ve been given; shine the way the Lord would have you shine; step out and be the person God blessed you to be for when that takes place then God’s light, love, and grace are able to shine forth.
Now there are a couple of critiques that show up in regards to this sort of faith led logic. The first that causes me to shake my head the most is the thought, “I’m really not that special. There is nothing that I do that someone else couldn’t do better than me. And in regards to blessings from God, yeah, if they’re here, I don’t see them.”
Here is my guttural response to that sort of thought: stop it! You have been made by the Creator of all, and that makes you special. Do not listen to the voices that pound you into a place of perceived mediocrity. Stand up! Look in the mirror and claim who you are: a child of God who has been blessed with a unique combination of skills and talents to go out into the world and serve in such a way that God’s name is praised. Are you going to be the penultimate best at everything, let alone anything? Maybe not. But that doesn’t mean that you aren’t special.
Look down at your hands. Seriously, look at them. God created those hands. What you see as worn and weathered; soft and weak; young and untested, God sees as special. You have been created to serve in some unique and special way. Do not impede the movement of God’s Spirit by buying into the sinful mentality that says we’re not much more than waiting to die. You are special and God has blessed you in special ways. Believe it. And if you can’t believe it then begin to pray and have people pray for you so that you might allow yourself to emerge from beneath the baggage of the world. You are special, and we need to recognize that truth.
The second critique that I hear a whole lot is that they don’t know or aren’t sure how God would have them serve. Sometimes I’ve heard that people doubt that God would be able to speak to them in any way so as to lead them.
These sorts of folks recognize some of their gifts, but they don’t know how they’re supposed to put them into action.
Well, to begin with, God is speaking to us and speaking in so many different ways. We just need to be open to how those nudges are felt in our lives. I can’t tell you how many times Jen has come home and said, “so I’ve had this thought bouncing around in my head all day. I have no idea what it means, or where it fits, but it’s there.” In those acts of acknowledging the thought, and then putting it out there to be thought about and prayed about by others, God is able to move. Those thoughts that so many of us shove to the side because they don’t fit into the context of the world as we’ve created it, so very often, those are the whispers of God’s Spirit trying to break forth to the surface of our reality. Let them! Just because you’re not sure what will happen once they get to the surface is not a reason to leave them buried. You may be blessed in bringing the idea into the light. Someone else may be blessed with taking that idea and turning it into something that has the possibility of serving the world. Then another person may be blessed in such a way that they can take that developed idea into the world so that God’s light is able to shine.
God is speaking to his special and uniquely blessed children, calling them to use those gifts so that the light of the Lord is able to shine. That’s you, and you, and you, and you!
Trust it! Believe it! Live it! And know that you, the salt of the earth are intended by God to shine so very brightly. Do doubt it: embrace it!
After
Sermon Prayer
Holy God, You have blessed us, and blessed us in such a way that we are able to recognize the special gifts and blessings that You have bestowed upon us. God, help us to recognize this truth so that we are able to understand how special we truly are, and how the blessings You have granted us might be used to serve the world. Lord, hear our prayer and hear it in Jesus’ name. Amen.