Sermons

When I entered college and went into an Acting training program, the first thing the professor said was this; “If you’re in it for the money, you should quit now and become a plumber.” Then she asked a question; “How many of you are here because you love the applause?” No one raised their hand. You know why? Because we had ideas about what it meant to be an actor. We thought if we admitted we liked the applause it would somehow undermine our integrity as artists. Applause was just a shallow byproduct of the art, so no one raised their hand.

Then the professor said, “I don’t believe that for a minute. There is not a child in this world that doesn’t like applause. And there is definitely not an actor in the world who didn’t soak it up as a child, and get so hooked on it, they sought it out over and over again.” And today looking back, I would add, that to a certain extent, that’s true for any of us. While many of us don’t like to be the center of attention, we do like to be affirmed. It feels good to have someone say, “I see what you did and I liked it, I admire it, I affirm it.”

Some people like affirmations so much, there was a time when they first became a daily practice. Saturday Night Live created an entire character named Stuart Smalley, played by Al Franken who would look into a mirror and say…“I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!:” The character was popular enough that a novel was written with the same title.

Psychologists suggest that for every negative message elementary-aged children hear about themselves, they need to hear ten positive ones to restore their sense of self-esteem to where it had been previously.¹

1) http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=1543

When I was a child, (get ready to get out the violin) I was made fun of for being fat. I had a coach, who in the 6th grade, told me I was going to break the trampoline if I kept bouncing on it. There was a boy I had a crush on in the 5th grade, Michael Dewitz, who called me Weeble, (named after a toy by the same name. The commercial tagline was Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down) and my father would comment on my weight every time I saw him. So I grew up thinking I was fat, and to some extent, that’s never gone away. That’s mild compared to what some people have suffered. But my point is that we all tend to internalize what we’re told we are.

As part of the helicopter generation of parenting, we embraced telling our children that they were special and valued. Everyone got a trophy, just for participating. There’s a downside to this, we know that now. We never wanted our kids to be sad, or left out, or hurt. So we hovered. That’s why it’s called helicopter parenting. And I think it’s still happening today. We over affirm our kids and at the same time, we prevent them from falling down and failing. Dana Carvey addresses this in his most recent comedy sketch when it comes to basic things they’re ill-equipped, because their parents are always there. A kid in his early 20’s calls his mom, “Um Mom, uh, we don’t have any heat in our apartment.” And the Mom says, ‘well why don’t you call your landlord.” a kid says, ‘Uh, I’m not really good at calling landlords, could you do it?” And we do, we do call the landlord… because we don’t want them to be sad…”²

2) Dana Carvey; Straight White Male,60

When we affirm but don’t allow our kids to fail and to figure it out, when we give out trophies for the last place, when we don’t require that people do something with gifts they’re given and install a sense of responsibility with what they are given…we are left with salt that has lost its flavor.

Today’s passage is hands down the greatest affirmation of Jesus we are given. We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. God might as well be saying, we are God’s gift to the universe. But that’s only part one. Part two is how will you express that gift? How will you live into that gift? How will you fulfill that gift?

Salt and light are essential to life itself. You are. Not you will be, or maybe someday, or if you do this then you will be. You are, from the moment you are born, you are…Now… what are you going to do about that?

Will you enhance the flavors of the world or will you go tasteless? Will you shine into darkness, will you light up a room, or will you hide under a bushel?

And perhaps the most important piece of the equation…Why will you do anything?

Will it be for applause?

verse 16-…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (5:16)

…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

What it does not say is… they will see your good works and give glory to you…

We don’t do good in the world so that God will tell us we are good. We don't do good in the world so others will applaud us, or to make our college app look good or to earn a scholarship. We don’t do good in the hope that our friends will tell us how selfless we are, or even to be thanked, and definitely not so we can keep track of how many likes we get on our Facebook page…

We do the work of Jesus Christ in the world to glorify the God who gifted us the ability to do so in the first place. We do good because God is good and what better way to glorify God than to love others.

God’s love for us is a pure gift. We call that grace. The reason we like the applause is that we are usually the last ones to believe we are worthy of it. I fail a million times a day at being as wonderful as God believes I am. And God continues to believe it even and especially when we don’t. It’s the love for a prodigal son, it’s the love for the lost sheep. It is amazing grace… that saved a wretch like me…

But to take that grace and do nothing with it, is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer refers to as cheap grace. Grace without discipleship.

We are loved, indeed, we are salt and light, but with that gift comes an incredible responsibility. To live as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

And in case you’re not sure how to do that- hear the words of Isaiah.

…loose the bonds of injustice, undo the thongs of the yoke, let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke… share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, ..cover them,…

if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday…

For Isaiah, Israel had a responsibility to help itself restore what God had given. For Jesus, that responsibility extends to the disciples. For Matthew, writing at a time of dissatisfaction, we live into the kingdom here and now, not as a faraway place that comes at the end of time as we know it, nor is it some place we go to when we die. The kingdom is here, and and we have a responsibility to see it through, by living into what we are, the salt and the light of the world.

When Matthew wrote his Gospel, there was division in the community. The Roman empire was oppressive. Some were taking up violence and fighting to get back what belonged to them. And others were retreating and keeping Torah, quietly in the outskirts, in the hope that when the end of time as they knew it came, God would return to them what was rightly theirs. (Does that sound like today?) Jesus is not rejecting the Torah. Jesus is calling on his fellow Jews to fulfill the Torah by exceeding the predominant attitude of what he witnessed.³ Some were fighting, some were sitting back and waiting. Jesus is preaching that those options are a waste of their inherent gifts.

3) Feasting on the Word, Edwin Chr. Van Driel

Even the smallest amount of salt will change the taste of food. Even the smallest amount of faith, like a mustard seed, will pervade and take over like a weed. So don’t psych yourself out by thinking that you can’t make a difference unless you run for Senate, or start your own church, or build a house on a mission trip. That’s all good too, but we are given the opportunity to make a difference in everything we do by exceeding our own expectations.

The Scout law we recited this morning in our Prayer of Wholeness and Healing, reminded me of the Prayer of St Francis …

Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

We have a two-fold covenant, that is an agreement with God. God loves us. We love God. When we take in, truly take in the enormous amount of love that God has for us, we can’t help but love God. And the best way to show God that love? Love others. Our two greatest commandments. Love God, Love others.

Not to glorify ourselves. Not for the applause. But to glorify God, and to applaud God for making it possible.

Amen.