Fulfilling The Law

FULFILLING THE LAW

Text: Matthew 5:13 - 20

Mat 5:13-20  "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. (NRSV).

A man walked into a little grocery store and asked, “Do you sell salt?”

“Ha!” said Pop, the proprietor. “Do we sell salt? Just look!” Pop showed the customer an entire wall of shelves stocked with nothing but salt: Morton salt, iodized salt, kosher salt, sea salt, rock salt, garlic salt — every kind of salt imaginable.

“Wow!” said the customer.

“You think that’s something?” asked Pop. “That’s nothing! Come look.” And Pop led the customer to a back room filled with shelves and bins and cartons and barrels and boxes of salt. “Do we sell salt!” he said.

“Unbelievable!” said the customer.

“You think that’s something?” said Pop. “I’ll show you salt!” And Pop led the customer down steps into a huge basement, five times as large as the back room. It was filled, floor to ceiling, with every imaginable form of salt — even ten-pound salt licks for cows.

“Incredible!” said the customer. “You really do sell salt.”

“That’s just the problem!” Pop said. “We never sell salt. But that salt salesman — hoo-boy, does he sell salt!”

Salt that stays on the shelf doesn’t do any good at all. (Craig Brian Larson , Phyllis Ten Elshoff. Eds. 1001 Illustrations That Connect. [source:D. James Kennedy, Led by the Carpenter (Nelson, 1999)]. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008, p. 77). How do we compare with the sales of this salt store?

Are we effective or defective? That might seem like a probing question that makes us uncomfortable. But, it is a question that we need to ask ourselves. Another way to put it is to ask what difference we as Christians make in the world around us. When Jesus uses the metaphors of salt and light, He is talking to us about our covenant, our calling and how they relate to our righteousness.

COVENANT

Did you know that both salt and light are symbolic of a covenant relationship? As someone (Eugene Boring & Fred B. Craddock) put it, 1) “Salt had many connotations in Matthew's tradition and context, including sacrifice (Leviticus 2:13, Ezekiel43:24); loyalty and covenant fidelity (Ezra 4:14; Numbers 18:19; eating together was called “sharing salt,” and expressed a binding relationship); purification (2 Kings2:19-22); seasoning (Job 6:6; Colossians 4:5); preservative”. (Eugene Boring & Fred B. Craddock. The People's New Testament Commentary. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster Joh Knox Press,2009, p. 29).

2) Isaiah 42:6 -7 emphasizes light like this: “I the Lord have called you for a good reason. I will grasp your hand and guard you, and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to lead prisoners from prison and those who sit in darkness from the dungeon” (CEB).

3) Getting others out of their dungeons can be a difficult task! But, God will give us what we need to be liberators!

How many people do we know that are in a prison of their own making?

1) An actual prisoner can see the bars that contain him or her that keep him or her confined. But, we all know people who are in a prison of their own making because of bad choices.

2) There is the story of a bear that was captured and caged for so long that when they got him to the chosen zoo that was going to be his new home that they opened his cage. The bear had moved where space allowed him to move, pacing back and forth. But, he never went beyond the threshold. Even though the cage had been opened, he never went beyond the threshold. Even though he was physically free, in his mind he was still confined.