“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  

In the second story of creation in Genesis, God forms man from the dust of the ground and breathes life into him.  And then God plants a garden for the man to till and to enjoy.  The man is meant to be fruitful and live in harmony with God and all of creation.  Everything is perfect, but that idyllic situation does not last long.  Man thwarts God’s intentions, and becomes alienated from God.  And ever since, mankind has been striving to get back to the garden, paradise lost.  

This is the last Sunday of Epiphany before we enter into the season of Lent. If the season of Epiphany is about our first encounter with the living God, Jesus Christ, then Lent is about how that encounter brings about Christlike changes in our life in the forty days of penitence, prayer, and fasting leading up to Holy Week and Easter. Today’s lessons are intentionally curated to help prepare for the pilgrimage of Lent, which is likened to climbing a mountain in order to catch a glimpse of something that will leave us utterly transformed.

From the Gospel: “You have heard that it was said . . . But I say to you.”

Most of our Gospel lessons in this liturgical year come from Matthew’s Gospel.  That is most clear in Epiphany and Pentecost seasons.  In Epiphany every Sunday Gospel except for one is from Matthew; in the season after Pentecost, every Gospel is from Matthew.  I mention that because the lesson which we have heard today is quintessentially Matthew—part of a key section in Matthew in which he makes clear the way that his understanding is distinguishable from the approach of the other Gospel authors.

When we hear, “you are the salt of the earth,” we distance ourselves, constructing a mental list of the virtues that seem to come naturally to such a person. We then look at our list, our recipe if you will, with the resignation of someone who knows they will never be a master chef. There is no delight; there is frustration, fatigue, resignation, dashed hopes, cynicism, shame. But Jesus does not say, “You will become the salt of the earth.” Or “That person over there, they are the salt of the earth.” He says, “You are the salt of the earth.” What does it mean to be salt? Here are some things I’ve learned about salt from Nosrat.

The call of our lessons today is not a call to adopt an internal disposition of justice, kindness and humility as part of a program to reject the Law and the Prophets, but rather an invitation to adopt a changed heart while observing the Law and the Prophets.  It is a call to continue in public worship, to live in accordance with the Ten Commandments, to give thanks for God’s Law, and to do so with a converted heart, with humility, and with love of neighbor.

The cross of Jesus is the great equalizer.  And when we follow Jesus, we claim God’s power and not our own.  And that gets lived out through Christian ethics.  Treating one another with kindness.  Speaking the truth in love.  Showing humility.  Being gracious with one another.  Holding our opinions lightly.  There is so much wisdom in Paul’s exhortation to “act right” today.  The social context was very different in first century Corinth, but the dynamics are timeless.