Matthew 5:13-16 (April Renew Group reading)
You Are the Ones
James Sledge April
2, 2017
Today’s gospel
reading does not come from the lectionary as it does most Sundays. This week we
hear the passage chosen to facilitate discussion among our congregation’s Renew Groups that are meeting in
members’ homes and discussing who we are as a congregation. This passage is a
portion of the so-called Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5:1 – 7:29. These
teachings come immediately after the Beatitudes.
Today’s
gospel reading is a small portion of what is usually called “The Sermon on the Mount.”
I’m not sure that’s the best title. Jesus isn’t really preaching; he’s
teaching. Here’s how Matthew describes the scene. When Jesus saw the crowds, he
went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he
began to speak and taught them saying… What follows are the Beatitudes,
then our verses for this morning and then much more after that.
Jesus
is teaching his disciples, but they are not the only ones who hear. The crowds
are there as well. Jesus may not be speaking directly to them, but they still overhear.
Do they think Jesus is also speaking to them as they listen in?
These
crowds aren’t followers, aren’t disciples. They’re curious and intrigued. They may
hope Jesus can cure their ailments or help in some other way. But as they listen
in from a distance, standing at the back of the church with one foot still
outside the sanctuary, it’s not clear what will come of their encounter with
Jesus.
Jesus
has just offered his strange list of those who are blessed, favored by God: the
poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek and the merciful, the peacemakers and
those who are persecuted. The very last blessing shifts from “Blessed are,” to
“Blessed are you…” “Blessed are you when people
revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on
my account,” says Jesus. After all, that’s what happened to
the prophets before you.
And
then, in the verses we just heard, Jesus doubles down on that word “you.” “You
are the salt of the earth.” But that translation doesn’t really capture
the force of what Jesus says. Jesus literally uses a double “you,” and maybe a
better way to render this in English would be “You are the ones who are the
salt of the earth… You are the ones who are the light of the world.”
All
of these yous are plural by the way.
“You all are the ones… You guys are the ones.” Obviously the disciples seated
around Jesus hear him saying that they are “the ones,” but what about the
crowds? What about those on the edges listening in? What about those at the
back of the sanctuary? What about those who are thinking about bringing a child
to Vacation Bible School? What about those who like Christianity and the idea
of Jesus but are not involved in any sort of ministry or mission? Is Jesus
speaking to them?