[AI translation] Do we understand, can we measure the unheard-of audacity, the almost absurdity of these words? For Jesus says here. And what a miserable little bunch you are, you don't even know it yet, only I can see how you will fall asleep when you should be keeping vigil, run down when you should be standing up, deny me when you should be bearing witness to me - yes, you: 'You are the leaven of the earth... You are the light of the world... you are the city built on a mountain" (Mt 6:13-14). Perhaps even they themselves felt that it was too much to say so much about such a small, insignificant group. But the centuries have proved Jesus' words true: the twelve men of Galilee have indeed become salt and light for the whole world. Are these words of Jesus still valid today for His followers today? Are they really the Christians in the world that Jesus sent them out to be? Whether they are, whether they are truly salt and light, I do not know, but that they are to be salt and light is certain. This is how Jesus marks out the role of His followers in this world.1) In these words, first of all, we hear a great divine encouragement and exhortation. It is as if Jesus is saying to those who want to follow him: Do not worry that you are so very few in this world; a little salt is all you need in the dough, a pinch is enough in the food. If we were to express in percentage terms the amount of salt in bread dough, for example, or in the human body, it would be a very small number, a very small number, but an important, necessary number. It is indispensable. Quantitatively, the number of people who really want to take Christianity seriously is very small compared to the great masses of the world. And believers are often discouraged that they are so few in number, that they are so alone in their faith in their families, or at work, or among their friends. It is only the few, usually insignificant, often just the older generation, men and women, uncles and aunts, who represent the cause of Jesus in the world. What will become of this cause? Is it not really doomed to die? Is it not a dying cause? It is a cause worth supporting, worth taking up, because there are so very few who really carry it!
If such discouraging thoughts surprise anyone, let the word of Jesus encourage you. Jesus is not saying that you will be the dough of the world, nor that you Christians will be the mass of the world, you will populate the earth, but that you will be the pinch of salt in the mass, and however small you are, salt is needed and will always be needed in food. The kingdom of God does not work with the masses and not for the masses. The cause of Christ is not a mass affair, but by the will of God it has a place in the world and is needed there. So do not groan that you are alone as a follower of Christ in a numerically much larger Gentile environment. You are needed there precisely as a follower of Jesus, you are called there precisely as a Christ-follower! Let me be encouraged by the knowledge that there is little salt, little light, and yet there is a calling in the whole dough, in the whole room.
2) What then is this vocation? I am going to say a word that we have heard many times, especially in recent times, but whose meaning is perhaps more profoundly understood now by the analogy of salt and light. It is the vocation, the special vocation of the Christian man and of the Church in this world to serve, to be of use and benefit to those around him. Both salt and light live by sacrificing themselves, by giving of themselves, and not by wanting to preserve themselves. The salt must be scattered from the salt cellar, into the mass to be seasoned, dissolved, absorbed. The light of a lit candle must spread throughout the room where it burns. The essence of the Christian man's service in this world could not be more clearly expressed. For the salt, too, and the light, too, serve by sacrificing their very essence. This gives meaning to its existence. It wastes itself, gives itself away for the benefit of its environment.
So we are not Christians in order to secure our own peace of mind and eternal salvation after death, but we are followers of Christ for the sake of this world, for the sake of people, for the sake of the earth, for its good. The Christian man is that strange type who thinks not first of himself, but of other men. He never wants to dominate others, even with his Christian views, but to serve them. He wants to help him, to be of use to him. I once heard an old handmaid of Christ pray every morning. This is the meaning of our Christianity. In this service we must be as humble as the light. Notice the verse, "Neither is a candle lighted to be put in a bushel, but to be put in a candlestick, and to give light to all who are in the house." (Mt 6,15) In other words, the candle shines its light on everyone in the house. I do not choose to shine on this one, because it is worthy, because it is sympathetic, but not on that one, because it is useless. For everyone equally. And you don't choose the place where you want to light, you light where you want to light. In a bright, posh environment, or in a small, poor room, for many people, or for just one in a sickbed, or in public. Always, everywhere, serving everyone. In other words, the church, the believer, does not live his or her life of faith in seclusion, separated from the world, but in the world, actively involved in the human community in which he or she lives.
Jesus emphasises this in this way because there has always been a tendency in some group or other of Christ's followers to want to withdraw with their Christian life of faith, to isolate themselves from the world, to feel that it is better to remain together in the salt cellar than to scatter in the dough. Let believers stay among themselves, let them not be infected by the sons of the world! Let us guard that little flame, lest the draughts of this evil world extinguish it, lest the influence of worldly friends, of unbelieving men, diminish that flickering light! Jesus is very much opposed to such a form of self-living piety. "Neither is a candle lighted to be put in a cup, but to be put in a candlestick," he says. It is then that it is most surely extinguished, because it is drowned under the vessel. And the salt in the salt cellar remains unpickled. As you know, in Jesus' day, salt was steamed from the Dead Sea, and because it was heavily mixed with gypsum and vegetable matter, it quickly became unseasoned. It could not therefore be stored for long periods and had to be used urgently. Salt that has been degreased is useless. This is a terrible revelation of the life of a believer who only builds himself up, but does not involve himself in the world through his ministry.
Salt is a useful thing, but it loses all its value when unseasoned. Christianity is a great thing, but it becomes the most useless thing in the world if it lacks the power of the Spirit of God, the willingness to serve. A religion that does not fulfil its calling is worse than anything else. Yes: religion can be both a blessing in the life of mankind and a curse. In the holy name of religion, men have fought wars with each other and have stirred up a great deal of hatred. Religion can be and has been an obstacle to the progress of humanity throughout history. If I had to choose, I would much rather choose an unreligious humanism than an inhuman religion. A rotten lily has a worse smell than a worthless weed. A rotten religiosity has the worst smell. "It is good for nothing after that, but to be thrown away and trampled under foot by men." (verse 13b)
So out of the salt cellar! Up into the candlestick! Just as Jesus did not stay in the heavenly salt cellar and hide under a divine cloak, but gave himself into this world completely, and his life from Bethlehem to Calvary was one great sacrifice.
3) Finally, Jesus also speaks briefly in the passage about how this service of the Christian life in the world for the sake of the world is done. The imagery is very plastic: like the ministry of salt. The salt does its work unnoticed, simply by being in the food. The believer has such an invisible effect on his environment, his family, his colleagues, simply by being there, by being present with his prayer and his love. He says nothing, but he does not laugh at a dirty joke, for example, and the air around him is almost cleansed. He represents a spirit of forgiveness in an environment infected with hate and hostility, and there is healing in hearts. It radiates divine peace and serenity in a tense atmosphere, and the tension is released. It gives flavour, it gives life a good taste with its presence, like salt to food.
And it gives light, like a lit candle. Salt works hidden, invisible, while light, on the other hand, serves in a public and visible way. Here we are talking about the task of the Church in openly intervening in the great problems of this world. Let us rejoice and give thanks to God that the Church of Christ is shining the light of the Gospel ever more brightly into the tensions of world politics. But personally, it is also up to each of us to shine so that people, seeing our good works, may glorify our heavenly Father.
Look, he who said, "You are the light of the world," said of himself, "I am the light of the world." (John 8:12) The two are identical, because Jesus is the light in the disciples. They do not shine on their own, but it is our Lord who wants to work in and through them. The disciple's only task is to let the ray of light of Christ in him shine through him, so that he does not get in the way of the illumination. If the disciple is truly doing what he is called to do in this world - that is, to serve - then he is shining just as the light, the Christ, shines. He performs deeds which even non-Christians immediately understand to be gifts from the invisible world. Our vocation is to do the good work God has entrusted to us in everyday life. So let us not simply perform Christian virtues, but let us do our work in the world in such a way that people will notice it and, as a result, turn their gaze towards God. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Mt 6,16).
Finally, the image of the city built on the mountain also refers to this. "(Mt 6,14b) This means that the believer must not forget that he is always in the sight of others. They see you, they watch you, they are watching you. It is said: the walls of the pastor's house are made of glass. Well, this is not only the speciality of the pastor, but of every believer. Every believer lives in a shop window. You can see it from all sides. He is seen from the side of his private life, from the side of his work, from the side of his family life. What the world overlooks and forgives others for minor slips, it does not forgive him. You are measured by a stricter standard, people expect more from you. The point of our witness in this world is that the Church, the believer, is in the eyes of everyone in all that she does, in all that she lives. Like the city built on a hill, which is seen far away.
Yes, you, you must be that certain salt crystal for the piece of land God has entrusted to you. And you must be that certain bit of light for the world that is your environment. You are the city built on a hill, seen from afar. So be truly what you can be through Christ!
O Zion, awake, fulfil your mission,
Say to the world: your dawn is at hand!
For he who made the nations will not leave you,
Let no man perish in night or in sin.
Be thou a giver of joy, a giver of peace,
Proclaim that the Savior is at hand!
(Canto 397, verse 1)
Amen
Date: 28 July 1963.
Lesson
1Pt 3,8-16