Whenever I read the passage from Isaiah 58, in the lectionary for this coming Sunday, I want to burst into song with “And then, then shall your light break forth like dawn,” the concluding chorus of Felix Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah. It exuberantly proclaims the theme of light that we celebrate throughout Epiphany. At Christ Church, the choir counted on my programming it regularly, usually on the last Sunday in Epiphany, just before the Lenten season. Check out the performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on YouTube.
That leads me to think about the power of metaphor. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” How many times in the Bible do we encounter the metaphor of light? I counted: in the Old Testament (King James Version), 177 times; in the New Testament, 95. That’s not even including related words like “lamp” and “shine.” Each time, it reminds us vividly of the brilliance of light as it pierces the total, enveloping darkness known to the Biblical world.
Just before that verse in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth.” We use that expression frequently and pretty much take its meaning for granted. Or do we really know? Think about how much flavor salt adds to our food, and how bland it tastes without salt. (So sorry, those of you who are on a salt-free diet! Last week, my doctor shocked me by advising me to increase my salt intake.) If we are indeed the salt of the earth, we add flavor to our world and make it more desirable.
As an aside, from my vantage point at the altar, I look out at our congregation and see it filled with dear souls who are, in fact, the salt of the earth. What a blessing!
Jesus provides an antithesis to each of these virtues, as a warning of how not to live. When he says, “if the salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything” — that is worrisome. It sounds to me like burnout, and I don’t want that to happen. I need to be recharged — go on a retreat, take a vacation, seek a spiritual director — to restore my saltiness.
Even better, I think, is the warning that nobody hides a light under a cover (a bushel). What good would it do then? So, as he says, don’t be bashful. Put your light, your special gift, on a lamp stand and let it shine before others, not in a boastful way, but by doing the good works which God has prepared for us. Right on!
Here’s another hint from this Sunday’s lessons: “Light shines in the darkness for the upright; the righteous are merciful and full of compassion.” (Psalm 112:4)
To use yet another metaphor, the lessons for this coming Sunday are pure gold. (Check them out at http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Epiphany/AEpi5_RCL.html.) We are invited to taste the full flavor and glow in the light of God’s love, reflected in each of us. Thanks be to God!
Now, take a few minutes and enjoy Mendelssohn’s music:
“And then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing spring up quickly. . .Lord, our Creator, how excellent thy name is in all the nations. Thou fillest heaven with thy glory. Amen.” (Isaiah 58:8; Psalm 8:1)
-The Reverend Dr. David Lynch