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The Fifth Sunday of Epiphany Scripture:
Notes from Fr. Cathie Caimano’s sermon:
‘You are the salt of the earth.’
‘You are the light of the world.’
Salt: Flavor and nutrition (your body needs it).
Light: Warmth. Clarity and our body’s rhythm and mood
Too much of either will kill us! We will die from too little, too.
Salt = Preservative. It was once used as currency (because it meant people could eat in the winter).
Light = Growing food. Candlemas (blessing candles because light was so important). Energy. Photosynthesis (plants need light, we need plants for food).
Jesus wants us to be this: Essential.
We call someone ‘salt of the earth’ and say someone ‘lights up a room’’
Salt of the earth: honest, good, dependable, reliable. Hard-working.
Lights up a room: warm, positive energy; their energy is enough to change the energy of the environment’. alive, animated, welcoming.
Spiritually speaking: Steadfast and joyful. ‘Grounded goodness’ and ‘Radiant presence’
This is your calling, right here. Jesus wants us to be this. Jesus tells us we ARE this.
Notice that Jesus goes right from this to talking about the Law.
‘I did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it’
The Law = 10 Commandments (+ lots of other things)
No ‘thou shalt not’s - it’s in the ‘imperfect tense’
It’s a statement of identity. ‘As my people, you are now the people who do not kill, etc.’
But humans being humans, it’s hard not to get caught up in fine print.
Abiding by the letter of the law - or not. Trying to figure out every ‘stroke of the law’ - are we doing good, or not?
Judging ourselves - and each other.
Jesus is born into this world for precisely this reason.
The new covenant - our new relationship with God is about returning to our identity, and not getting caught up in the Rules.
NOT because the rules aren’t important, but because the rules - the Law - points back to our identity as God’s people.
This is who we’re meant to be
Conversations at St. Paul’s
We’ve started to talk about how things might be different here - how we might living into our calling as a community in new ways.
This is my vision for you: that this becomes a community - a ‘chapter’, a religious school (or ‘gym”)
Where you focus all your attention and energy on the Practices of Worship and Prayer, Hospitality and Service.
To not worry so much about the ‘rules’ of what we can and can’t do as Episcopalians, or even some of the things that we ‘always’ do here.
But to intentionally build a communal ‘Rule of Life’ where we specifically outline our own identity statement.
It’s a little scary - it might be uncomfortable.
But I believe this is - it can be more of - where we live into our calling to be a school for becoming steadfast and joyful. ‘Grounded goodness’ and ‘radiant presence’
A place where we practice being salt and light.
Don’t forget to join us at Trexo for your spiritual workout. Hearts up!
