Salt and Light
This year we commemorate seventieth anniversary of the end of the Korean war. It’s a war often forgotten in our national consciousness, yet over 60,000 British troops served there, 1000 never returning. Over half a million civilians died. The Communist government was suspicious of Christianity and their military murdered 1200 Christians. Those remaining fled, hid or tried to assimilate to avoid persecution. Churches in North Korea were ultimately required to hold victory services with all Christians declaring loyalty to the communist government.?
Korean Christian refugee Kim Hak Soo utilised an Asian folk-art style to depict the life and ministry of Christ. His “Sermon on the Mount” illustrates a typical Korean family climbing up a path to where Jesus is teaching: the mother with the children, the father with his labouring tools and the elder son running ahead in excitement. There is something this man, Jesus, is teaching that they are keen to hear.
And as we read in Matthew, Jesus is sitting on a mound in a similarly divided country. A country ruled both by a foreign power and a religious elite, a land where rights and freedoms were determined by birth. Where rules and rituals succinctly identified who was chosen and who the stranger. A land of distrust in need of hope.
We join the narration just after Jesus shares the sublime words and sentiments of The Beatitudes. Several are very memorable:
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and ache for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Mahatma Gandhi believed those words so powerful and beautiful that he said they went straight to his heart. And yet was Gandhi, in India, or the Korean family Kim Hak Soo depicts, really who Jesus was speaking to on that mount two thousand years ago? Was the sermon one for general humanity or for a select group?
If we look back to the beginning of Chapter 5 we see:
“When Jesus?saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.?Then he began to speak and taught them….”?
It’s easy to picture Jesus climbing higher so that he could be heard by the crowd. Yet some theologians suggest that Jesus may have been climbing to escape the crowds, drawing his disciples close. Perhaps it’s the disciples, not the crowd who Jesus is addressing. Yet the crowd listen, perhaps seeing something of themselves in those called blessed.
And it’s so easy to view that message with sentimentality – “blessed are the poor” makes a lovely fridge magnet. I suspect Gandhi saw just how challenging living the Beatitudes would be. The crowd was left with an insight into the Kingdom, the disciples with an awareness they will need to live those values, rather than the hypocritical Pharisees and scribes who teach but don’t practice. And in living those values the disciples would be the salt and light of the world.
The “Gwallye” ceremony in Korea uses salt and rice to aid a boy’s transition into manhood. In Korean tradition, salt was seen as a purifier that could ward off evil. It had similar status in Jewish tradition and references to salt can be seen throughout the Old Testament – it was used in liturgy, mixed with incense in Exodus 30, used to purify a polluted well in 2 Kings and, importantly, as a sign of a covenant between God and David in 2 Chronicles.?
The community of Jewish converts that Matthew was writing for would have recognised the significance of salt in Jesus’s description. The disciples would enhance the world, purify and protect it. Just as Korean boys are prepared for manhood in “gwallye”, the disciples are being prepared to not just follow and listen, but to lead and live this new message of hope.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely?on my account”
The Beatitudes turn a bit dark. Did you notice the subtle difference? Blessed are those who are persecuted; Bless are you when people revile you. Jesus’s words become much more personal.?
Jesus knows that living the Beatitudes will not be easy. As the north Korean Christians found, messages of hope, peace and justice are not popular amongst imperial or authoritarian powers. On this mount, surrounded by the crowds, the disciples are being prepared to face suspicion, rejection, violence, persecution and likely death in his name. The disciples are the first called to be proactive and live the faith that brings us here today. They will be the light in that darkness.
Jesus isn’t addressing the passive crowd, but those called into active service in faith: the salt and the light. And there is that expectation even here in Kennington! In baptism and confirmation our liturgy reflects that call – traditionally with water blessed with salt, and nowadays with a lit candle. in living our faith we become the faith. We cannot hide the light but let it shine for all to see. And that can be hard. Whilst we’re unlikely to face the physical oppression seen in North Korea, the post-Christian secular society seems to be becoming less tolerant of religious expression and faith. There are many times when it feels expedient to be quiet about our faith.?
“Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven”. Perhaps when it feels safer to be quiet, that is the time when our faith has a message of hope that people need to hear. The salt metaphor is pertinent: we generally notice salt by its absence. The Christian contribution, our contribution as people of the Beatitudes, should enhance society and be noticeable when its absent.?
A friend sent me this satellite image of Korea at night. North Korea in darkness, surrounded by light. Again, we often only notice light when its absent. When we live in the light it’s easy to forget the darkness. Yet, following Jesus’s example, we seek out those in the darkness – the lonely, the bereaved, the struggling, the refugee.??The light is for all.?
Kim Hak Soo demonstrates that Jesus’s teaching is relevant to all cultures. Whilst here in Kennington our liturgy and the way we worship may be different to that in Korea, we should be united in how we seek to live our faith. We are all people of the Beatitudes, seeking justice and equality in our own communities, being willing to respond to the needs of others and, through our faith and practice, illustrate to others what it really means to be the salt and the light.
Amen.
References:
Reid, B.E. (2011) ‘Undiluted and Undimmed’,?America, 204(2), p. 46. Available at: https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy2.commonawards.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rlh&AN=57408674&site=ehost-live (Accessed: 28 January 2023).
Luz, Ulrich (1995)?The theology of the Gospel of Matthew?Cambridge University Press
O’Grady R, Takenaka M. (1991)?The Bible through Asian eyes?Asian Christian Art Association