Sermon by The Rev Chris Yaw, 2/5/2023, Matthew 5:13-24
Once upon a time a family of lions was living in the jungle when a devastating fire broke out.
As severe as it was unpredictable, all the animals fled their jungle homes!
Trying to keep up with his family, the youngest and smallest lion cub tripped and tumbled down a hill, into a cave, where he was knocked unconscious!
Sometime later, staggering forth, out of the cave, the little lion cub raised his head, looked around, and found himself all alone in a burned out and devastated landscape with his family nowhere in sight.
After looking for days, he was finally forced to give up.
"Why so down?" Asked one of the vultures, the only other animals the lion cub was able to locate, "I've lost my family and I can't find them anywhere! And I don't know what to do!" Said the cub.
"Don't worry" said the vultures, "Join us, you can be a vulture!"
So, the little lion cub took the vultures up on their kind offer. And over time, learned to live like vultures do, how to steal, sneak, and hide. As contrary as this was to his nature, he picked up their habits, their beliefs, their identify.
Then one day, after the jungle had grown back, and the animals had all returned, word circulated that a big procession was coming round! The King of the jungle and his extensive entourage were coming their way!
"Line up!" Said the vultures, "The King is coming!"
So, the vultures and the lion cub, who had now grown to quite a size, joined all the other animals in the jungle, lining up, awaiting the procession, to see the King!
And what a procession it was!
With drummers and banner-bearers - and last of all: the royal family of lions!
Finally, the procession reached the vultures - and all of a sudden, the biggest lion of them all stopped the procession with an ear-piercing roar!
The King of the jungle then looked over at the vultures, and the lion sitting among them - and the King motioned for that lion to stand, and for the entire jungle to be silent... as he said to that lion:
“You imposter!
“Why are you sitting with the vultures?
“You are not a vulture!
“You do not steal, sneak, and hide!
“Come, re-join us, and we will tell you who you really are!”
So, the lion-cub-turned-vulture, turned again, and followed the king - over time, regaining his identity and finally living happily ever after.
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Could this be what Jesus was doing when he, too, looked out at the crowd, silenced them, and declared to those who had lost their identities:
"You are the salt of the earth.
“You are the light of the world.
“Come, let your light so shine, that the world may see who you are - and whose you are!"
Welcome to the life changing magic of The Sermon on the Mount!
You remember last week, when we read the more famous portion of this iconic teaching, in which Jesus said to the poor, the meek, the mourning, the persecuted: that all of them are beloved! You are not abandoned, forgotten, or insignificant no matter who you are or where you are.
Beloved are the meek.
Beloved are the mourners.
Beloved are the poor.
That was last week - and today Jesus continues… with salt and light!
Today Jesus is calling out his hearers as imposters, aa people who have been living by the wrong script, the world's script, written by the rich, the beautiful, the polished, the powerful, the popular, and the famous... It's a script that's turns everyone into insecure, fearful, apathetic, lonely, and hopeless people.
And Jesus says,
"That's not who you are!
“You are much more than that!
“Let me help you rediscover your true identity!"
Jesus is telling us in no uncertain terms that that which is deepest within us is light: that heats and illuminates; and salt that seasons and preserves...
That this is who we are.
God's beloved.
God's chosen.
God's people.
I wonder how this compares with what you've been telling yourself all week... ... you know, using that other, worldly script? ... As we have been impersonating a lost, lonely, scared, and broken world... Anybody here call themselves dumb, fat, ugly, cursed, unfortunate, worthless, lazy, hopelessly insignificant, or a derivation thereof this week?
Ya, me neither...
The point is that our identities are what Jesus is getting at.
Our identities are broken!
But they can be repaired!
Two people are standing outside an office building.
A third man comes along and says, "Want a cigarette?"
The first guy says, "No, I'm trying to quit."
The second one says, "No, I'm not a smoker.”
The first man identifies as a smoker struggling to reform.
The second man identifies as a non-smoker.
And as far as smoking cessation programs go, the second man is much more likely to succeed.
Jesus is out to show us the power of identity.
It's the power of identity to change ourselves and to change the world.
This power is ignited as we more fully believe what Jesus, the Bible, the Sacraments, and the Christian tradition say about us –
that we are God's people,
Created by God,
Our happiest when we live in God,
And destined for a blissful eternity with God.
God is love and so this is who we are: lovers.
Created to love.
Created to fall in love.
Created to trust in love.
Because God is in us... Giving us the power to do godly things, to heal, restore, be generous, kind, reconciling, and benevolent to the beautiful people of God's world.
Those original hearers on that mount in Galilee - they would come up with a word for this message - they called it ‘gospel’ - or ‘good news.'
Who's surprised they dropped everything to listen?
And this is why these teachings have endured for 2,000 years as the most memorable words in the best-selling book in the history of the world.
It's because these words resonate with souls of all ages as truth.
We are better than we think.
We are doing more than we know.
We are more important than we suspect.
We identify as vultures, but we are really kings.
So why don’t we act like that?
Why do we stay like this?
How can we change?
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When I was in college, I used to hang around at the library with a guy named Luke.
As a test approached, and I loaded my backpack full of books and headed to the library, I'd like to sit at the same table with him because it was in a remote part of the library where not many people gathered.
And one thing I noticed was that every time I went to the library, Luke was at that table.
So, one day I asked him, do you have an English test tomorrow?
No.
Math?
No.
History paper due?
No.
Then what assignments do you have coming up this week?
He said, none.
And it became clear to me, that my studying was based on goals: I had a test, I had a paper, and when the paper was over, or the test taken, I didn't have to learn anymore - so I didn’t go to the library.
Whereas Luke, didn't base his studying on goals, but on an identity - he was a self-avowed lifelong learner.
Whether or not he had a test, he was going to the library.
Whether or not a paper was due, he was going to the library.
He was going to go to the library for a certain amount of time each day because that's who he was, that was his identity - a life-long learner. Later, I would discover, to the surprise of no one, Luke was an "A" student.
Compare that to me.
Sure, I liked to learn - when there was a test - but I had not connected that to my soul - so learning was a role I was playing not an identity I was claiming.
But slowly I learned...
The goal is not to read a book, but to become a reader.
The goal is not to play the piano, but to be a musician.
The goal is not to know the bible, but to be a Christian.
Tend to the identity, and the goals will take care of themselves.
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So here we sit, many of us in places like those who sat at the feet of Jesus and heard the Sermon on the Mount.
Our true identities have been smothered, diluted, deprioritized, and perhaps even lost.
And Jesus is trying to help.
He wants to help us be more of who we are.
So, what’s our role?
People who study these things say that the wrong thing to do is something dramatic - and that significant, real, lasting change comes in very small increments over a long period of time.
My friend Karen is an avid marathoner.
She'd never run in college.
She had never run in high school.
In fact, she never considered herself a runner.
Then, one day, she decided to change that.
The first week she went out for a walk every day.
The next week, she took longer walks.
Slowly, she began to pick up the pace, and day after day she added a little bit more.
Her habits made her a runner.
And now, a marathoner.
Of course, picking up your violin for 5 minutes does not make you a violinist, however every small action toward the violin you take, is a vote for your identity.
Every stride makes you a runner.
Every salad makes you a healthy person.
Every prayer makes you a Christian.
This is really important to talk about in the shadow of what, by now, are a lot of broken New Year’s resolutions.
Because the message is not to get down on yourself because you goofed - but to get back on the horse and keep it going - big change comes over time and after small, incremental changes that eventually add up.
What horse do you need to get back up on?
What habit needs picking up again?
What must we do to realize that our identities can be changed?
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Have you ever paid attention to how Jesus talked about heaven?
It's different than how popular Christendom has evolved to talk about it.
Christendom says...
Heaven has streets of gold.
Heaven has pearly gates.
Heaven has a judgment seat.
Heaven is a place.
Heaven is a goal.
But Jesus didn't say this.
He said the kingdom of God is inside of you.
The kingdom of God has arrived.
And in John chapter 17, he said we have heaven, eternal life right now.
We might say that heaven is not a goal, it is an identity.
And this is the key point to today's sermon.
You and I have been sold a bill of goods that has us impersonating celebrities, millionaires, athletes, and movie stars, when heaven is found in a completely different place.
We find heaven by more completely connecting to the peasant from Galilee who calls us to be who we are, reclaiming our identity as lovers who accept love and give love - slowly, over time, step by step, realizing that every verse of scripture we read, every prayer we say, every good deed we do for others, is a vote toward being the Christian, the embodied Kingdom, the salt and light God calls us and God calls us to be.
And the good news is that we can do it!
We can ditch the bad script -
And pick up the new one - the real one - the one that’s at the center of our hearts. The Good News is that things can change - we can change.
God has us, we have God, and with God, nothing is impossible!
Amen.