Sunday Homily - February 9, 2020 - Walk the Walk

The Sermon on the Mount Icon

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Isaiah 58:1-12

Psalm 112

1 Corinthians 2:1-16]

Matthew 5:13-20

I.

"If you talk the talk,
 you'd better walk the walk."

Has anyone else here heard that phrase before?
 Or maybe a little different wording to this phrase:
  "If you won't walk the walk, then stop talking.
 
This phrase is one that you can hear in a lot of different situations,
 but it usually refers to when what someone says
  doesn't match up with their actions.

Things like this come up in life in both small and big ways.

"Well, he sure talks about how he is going to clean up his room,
 but he sure hasn't done it in the past few weeks!"

"She said she was going to come to dinner with us tonight,
 but you know how she always cancels at the last minute, right?

But this phrase comes up in much bigger ways, right?

"Humph, he talks a whole lot about being smart with your money,
 but did you know he's filed for bankruptcy twice now?"

"Well, she says she tries to be nice to people,
 but have you heard about the texts that she sent to me?" 

"They say they care about me,
 but why are they never there for me?"

If you talk the talk,
 you'd better walk the walk.

This phrase has to do with the concept of living one's life
 that is true to one's own integrity.
  And the word "integrity" is a word
   that describes "a state of being whole, and undivided."
   
[from Lexico, powered by Oxford: https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/integrity]

Another way that this phrase appears also appears in another,
 perhaps familiar phrase to us:
  "You will know them by their fruits."
   Jesus said that one, by the way.

And Jesus, this morning,
 uses two metaphors that closely match this colloquial phrase:
  salt and light.

II.

"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."

In the 1st century, when Jesus Christ came to earth,
 the way that you get salt
  was to go to the salt mines,
   grab your sharp iron tool,
    and break you off a piece!

They didn't have the chemical knowledge that we have today,
 the kind of knowledge that tells us that all we have to do
  is put a Sodium atom onto a Chlorine atom
   and make Sodium Chloride, or table salt.

No, instead, you had to go find natural salt formations,
 mine it,
  and try not to dilute it with other particulates,
   like dirt or sand.

What Jesus is getting at is that if salt gets too much sand or dirt in it,
 it is good for absolutely nothing
  that just to throw it back on the ground.

But, friends, you are called to be the salt of the earth.
 You are called not only to say that you serve Our Lord,
  but you are to actually do the work of following Jesus.
   You are called to walk the walk.

And Jesus continues!

“You are the light of the world.
 A city built on a hill cannot be hid.
  No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket,
   but on the lamp-stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
    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."

If any of you have been to Israel,
 you  may know that Jerusalem is literally a city on a hill.
  If you were a listener in the 1st century,
   you would know that Jesus is directly talking about Jerusalem,
    and in a wider sense, the Jewish people, the inheritors of the Law of God.

And Jesus is directly calling them,
 as well as to you, the modern day listener,
  to walk the walk.

You are the light of the world,
 and it makes no sense to put your lamp under a basket,
  where it gives off no light,
   and now your basket caught on fire because you put a lamp in a wicker basket,
    NOT a great idea,
     and you have burned a perfectly good basket!

You have been given the light that is meant for the example to others
 of a godly life in love of our Triune God and in care for our neighbors.
  And even more important, you are to let your light SO shine for others
   that they recognize by what you do that you love Jesus.
    That you love God, and that you truly, deeply believe in what you say you believe
     about our Lord Jesus Christ.

Because, guess what?
 Jesus then puts a pretty clear point on this metaphor in the following reference:

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 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. 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. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

So, all that stuff in the Old Testament about loving God with everything you have,
 loving your neighbor as yourself,
  giving freely to the poor,
   housing the homeless,
    caring for the stranger and foreigner in our land,
     giving of our clothes to the unclothed,
      yeah, that stuff is not only still in effect,
       but Jesus Christ has come to fulfill it.
        And you as salt and light are to continue to walk in the way of the Lord,
         so that others see your good deeds
          and KNOW that you love Jesus enough to actually follow him.

If you talk the talk,
 boy howdy, you had better be ready to walk the walk.

III.

For so many people living in the U.S.,
 the only Christianity they get exposed to is the Christianity
  that makes it onto television stations.

And guess what, friends,
 t.v. a news stories can be great,
  but it is a lot of talk.

Anyone can get on news media
 and talk about Jesus.

Anyone can sit in their armchairs,
 and talk about loving their neighbor.

But, friends,
 we who are followers of Jesus
  are not just called to idle talk about our faith.
   we are called to walk it.

You, today, are called to be the salt
 that flavors the lives of others with the savor of heaven,
  someone that people look to and know that you love God.

You, today, are called to be light,
 giving light into the darkness that gathers around the world,
  and a lighthouse for others stuck in the fog of life.

You are called to follow God in such a way,
 that no one has any question in their minds
  that you follow Jesus.

Walking the walk of our faith in Jesus Christ
 looks a whole lot like what Jesus did when he came here 2000 years ago.

Tell out the Gospel, that Jesus Christ has saved the world
 and that God loves all that has been made,
  including you.

Give of your time, money, and possessions
 to care for those who have less than you do,
  because as you do to the least of these,
   you have done so for Jesus.

Love your enemies,
 yes, the people who not only despise you,
  but the very people who actively seek to undermine you.
   Because you serve a God who is perfectly just,
    and you don't worry about what others do to you,
     because others are not your judge.
      God is judge, and God will right every wrong in the end.

Pray for the world,
 and that means all of it.
  Even the parts and people of the world you yourselves hesitate to name,
   and even the things in life that seem irredeemable.

If you do these things, friends,
 you will be the salt of the earth.
  If you do these things, brothers and sisters,
   you will be the light of Jesus Christ.

If you do these things, friends,
 you will be walking the walk
  that brings others to the feet of Jesus Christ
   who loves them and gave his life for them.

In the name of the +Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.