Sunday 02/09/14 Freeville/Homer Ave
UMC’s
Sermon Title: “You need to be salt and light”
(The things that Jesus
taught us series, Part 2 of 5)
Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Psalm 112:1-10
New Testament Scripture Lesson: 1 Corinthians 2:1-12
(13-16)
Gospel Lesson: Mathew 5:13-20
Welcome and
good morning once again! Welcome on this Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, and on
this our Boy Scout Sunday in the United Methodist Church. The Epiphany was that
day so long ago that the three wise men or magi saw that bright star in the
sky, and they followed that “Bethlehem Star” to Jesus’ manger. This morning is
also the Sunday that the United Methodist Church honors our scouts. On this
Sunday we also honor what it means to be scouts. We honor what is represents to
be scouts, and we honor what scouting does for our young men and for our
families.
You might
remember last week that I talked how Jesus taught us “Who is truly blessed?” In
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount or the “Beatitudes,” Jesus talked about how the
week, the poor, the down trodden, and etc., will be blessed if they but seek
God. Jesus taught us that the least are blessed if they but seek Him and have
faith in Him.
You know for
me having grown up for part of my childhood in Cub Scouts and then Boy Scouts,
I look back now and I realize the ethics, the morality, the skills, and the
faith that it gave me. That I learned how to treat people, how to survive in
the wilderness, how to help others, how to be a vital member of my community,
how to be more family oriented, how to be a good husband, how to be a leader in
my community and my country, and how to build excellent bird houses. I also
used to love our monthly camping trips. I remember one time that my scouting
troop went camping. I was excited that I brought liquid pancake mix, but I was then
disappointed when I forgot a frying pan. This meant no pancakes!
In light of all of these things, the
title of today’s sermon, which is part 2 of 5 of “the things that Jesus taught
us series,” is “You need to be salt and light.” This means basically, we need
to be pure and we need to be the light of the love of Jesus Christ in the world
today. In preparing to honor our scouts on this the Fifth Sunday after the
Epiphany, I did a little research to look up the 12-points of the Scout Law.
These points that I researched, are that all scouts are to be Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful,
Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.
On the Boy Scouts of America website under a scout being Reverent, it said that
the “Scouting experience also influences religious service
attendance. Eighty-three percent of men who were Scouts five or more years say
attending religious services together as a family is “very important,” versus
77 percent of men who had never been Scouts.” Scouting then, all levels of
scouting, teaches our young men to be “Salt and Light,” in a world that has a
significant amount of darkness and pain.
You see when I was in scouting, an
important component was faith, and I look back now, and I realize that my faith
was enhanced by my time being a scout. In fact, I can say that my time in being
a Cub Scout and then a Boy Scout, helped me to be “Salt and Light” more than I
was before.
Given all of this then, this helps us
to answer the question of “Why do we have a Scout Sunday in the United
Methodist Church.” I mean sure the Cub Scouts and the Boy Scouts do a lot of
good, and sure it has done a lot for many of us, but a whole Sunday in the
church calendar is devoted the Scouts? Why would we do such a thing?
The answer is, we do, because our young
men are an important part of future, and an important part of the future of
this and many others churches.
When looking at the reading this
morning from Psalm 112, it says, “Happy are those who fear the LORD, who
greatly delight in his commandments.” When we fear and respect the Lord, we are
seeking to be “Salt and Light” in a world that knows Jesus Christ not.
The Psalm reading continues by
saying, “Their descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the
upright will be blessed.” Organizations like the scouts then teach young men to
be “upright”, as this reading from Psalm 112 says. I teaches them to be “Salt
and Light” in a world full darkness and full of pain.
You see as the scripture goes on to
say, “They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious,
merciful, and righteous.” These are qualities that we want all young people to
learn, so that may become “Salt and Light,” to show the world the light of
Jesus Christ. The Psalm continues on to say, “It is well with those who deal
generously and lend, and who conduct their affairs with justice.” “Salt and
Light.”
When looking at the reading from the
Apostle Paul’s First Epistle or letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul
said about when he came to Corinth, that “I came to you in weakness and in fear
and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible
words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that
your faith might rest not on human wisdom but in the power of God.” When we
follow God, when we seek the Holy Spirit, we are striving to live as “Salt and
Light.”
You see the Apostle Paul went on to
say, “we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the
ages for out our glory.” The Apostle Paul is telling the church in Corinth here,
that the Holy Spirit has revealed the truths of God, the depth of God, and the
purity of God, and that we must internally experience the Holy Spirit. The
Apostle Paul encourages people to seek the Holy Spirit, to pursue their gifts
and graces that God has given them, and to “have the mind of Christ.” “Salt and
Light.”
In the gospel reading from this
morning from the gospel according Mathew, Jesus says, “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.”
You see salt comes from the earth. It
is a natural mineral, it is pure, it is used to preserve food, it is used to
enhance flavor and other things, and without some salt, we would all die. In
fact, according to Dr. Aryan, “Salt is the most
essential substance for health. This is because the body cannot make it and the
body cells needs salt to function optimally.”
So Salt then is exactly what it is, it
is pure, and it is needed for life. Jesus therefore, said that we must strive
to be like that, that we must strive to be pure, to be preservers what is good,
to enhance people’s lives, that we must be salt. We must show people that the
way salt is essential for life, that faith in Jesus is also needed for eternal
life.
Jesus then goes on to say in this
gospel reading, “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 a bushel basket, but on the
lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.” Jesus tells us that we must
be pure like salt, but in addition that we must let his love and light shine
through us. For the only thing that can defeat darkness is light. We are called
to be light to a world that is draped in darkness.
Jesus then says, “Do not think that I
have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not abolish but to
fulfill.” This gospel reading then ends by Jesus saying, “For I tell you,
unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will
never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Do things like scouting then, make our
young men more holy and more pure? I say yes, and our church says yes.
I would like to close this message this
morning with a poem called, “To Be a Leader,” by Dee Bernhardt. Here is how it
goes: “To be a leader is to be vulnerable--to meet the disapproving stares of
others with the joy and certainty of God's infinite love; To be a leader is to
be imperfect--to enjoy the enriching process of a new challenge with the hope
and confidence of the Master; To be a leader is to be naive--to believe the
very best of all people in the love and acceptance of our Savior;
“To be a leader is to be trusting--to
disregard dire projections of gloom for the joy and creativity of our Creator; To
be a leader is to be honest--to own our sinfulness with the sincerity and
authenticity of the Spirit; To be a leader is to be unique--to accept the
wonderful gift of self, in the knowledge and understanding of community; To be
a leader is to be free--to welcome recurring waves of change with the awe and
wonder of a child; To be a leader is to be empowering--to share the
exhilarating power of information in the establishment of inter-connectedness; To
be a leader is to be humble--to give the inestimable gift of flexibility with the
grace and forgiveness of God.”
“To be a leader is to be whole--to
know the startling reality that I am central, yet peripheral, in God's plan for
the world; To be a leader is to be weak--to understand that I can rest in the
hollow of God's hand only in the total yielding and complete trusting of my
child's heart.”
Brothers and sisters, this is why we
have a Scout Sunday in the United Methodist Church, because our young men are
an important part of collective future. Due this, if you are in scouting or if
you have ever been in scouting, I encourage you to be proud of time you spent or
are spending in the program. Be proud that it taught you and is teaching you to
serve others, to live for others, and to be leaders in your communities, your
places of work, and your country.
In a time of great uncertainly, don’t
let anybody ever take from you, the honor and the privilege that you have been
given to, in you striving to be “Salt and Light” to world that knows so much
pain and suffering. So yes my brothers and sisters, on this Sunday, we honor
our scouts, our young men, who have made us and will continue to make
immeasurable proud, because of their character, their devotion to their family,
because of their devotion to their community, to their country, and mostly for their
faith in almighty God. God bless our scouts, and may we all seek on this day
and always, to be “Salt and Light” in this world for Jesus Christ. Amen.
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