13 "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. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 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. 17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 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. 19 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. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
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The American Dream.
Manifest Destiny.
Going boldly where no man/woman has gone before.
This is what we see for ourselves. We want to accomplish all of the things our parent's couldn't. We want to reach for the stars, grab them and make them into funny shapes. We want to be remembered for something when we pass on from this life to whatever may await us on the other side.
The question is, though, how often do we, proverbially, shoot ourselves in the foot? How many times have we taken one step forward and subsequently 100 steps backwards? Honestly, more often than we are ever going to admit. Be it because of our lack of confidence, our inability to sustain momentum, or the ever present fear of failure and ridicule, we always seem to find a way to dampen our efforts to soar among the clouds.
In today's reading we are reminded that salt that loses it's power to be salty is thrown out, and further reminded that a light is not lit and then hidden from the world. We are called to be salt and light in the world, but not in a way that would get us thrown out and trampled under foot; nor to be hidden under a basket. We are called to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the world, knowing full well that we have the support of the Holy Spirit at all times. Our efforts are not in vain, and we are fully within the command of God to do great things in and for the world.
We get caught up in the ways of the world so much that we lose sight of the power that is connected to us from God by the spirit. Just like Jesus told his disciples (paraphrased), "You have seen me do all of these miraculous things, but the thing is you're going to do all of these things and more!" That's a challenge bigger than the American Dream or Manifest Destiny. That is a divine mandate to go out and out work Jesus; a challenge that we are very reluctant to take up in the modern age of medicine, technology and hypocrisy. So, what are we waiting for?
Our sweat is salty and we were raised singing the song "This Little Light of Mine." Therefore, let us use what we have been given to make a real difference in this world. We are called to do a lot of things: feed the hungry, cloth the naked, visit the prisoner, and pray for those who persecute us. What's stopping us? Why are we hiding our light under a bushel? Why have we allowed our saltiness to be thrown out and trodden under foot? We have work to do, and a divine mandate to accomplish these things by the spirit and call of the LORD.
Let us pray:
Our most challenging heavenly creator. We call on you to give us the strength and endurance to rise to your challenge of being more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees. Your son challenged his disciples, and by proxy us to match his work and do more, and yet we find ourselves hiding our light under various containers and our saltiness has been lost. Revitalize us, renew our spirits, and remind us to whom we belong. In the name of our divine supporter, Jesus, we pray. Amen.
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