2020 has been so turbulent and horrible that we may be asking what’s the point of Thanksgiving this year. Well yes, with the announcement of an imminent release of a vaccine for Covid-19 – which is an answer to our prayers – there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

That said, dark times can challenge us with the bigger questions of life and whether a good and caring God does exist. Come with me to Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:17: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill.”

These are remarkable claims. ‘The law and the prophets’ or, sometimes, ‘the law, the prophets and the writings’ were phrases used to reference our Old Testament. What then did Jesus mean when he says that he has not come to abolish, but rather to fulfill the law and the prophets?

Matthew chapter 1 provides an important clue to Jesus’ meaning. Before Jesus was born, Joseph had a problem. Mary was pregnant and he knew he was not the father. When Joseph planned to divorce Mary quietly, an angel spoke to him pointing out that everything about Jesus’ birth was ‘to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet’.

Furthermore, in Matthew 11:12 we read Jesus’ words: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, … For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John”. Jesus is saying that the prophets pointed to him, and the law pointed to him. He was not working in opposition to the Old Testament. Rather he was bringing everything it said to fruition.

Think of it this way. Imagine all the law and the prophets are like light waves. They are travelling in parallel lines towards the coming of Jesus. As we now look back at his coming, his life and his death and resurrection, we could liken his coming to a lens through which the light waves of the law and prophets are now filtered. Furthermore, the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection are the focal point of the law and the prophets.

Jesus said so himself: In Luke 24:27ff, we read what he said to the two with whom he walked on the road to Emmaus: “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures (our Old Testament).

To return to the imagery of Jesus’ coming being a lens and his death and resurrection the focal point of the law and the prophets let’s tease out some application. Having passed through the lens to the focal point, the light waves of the law and the prophets are now filtered. Some have come to an end; others are given a new shape.

So, for example, the laws concerning sacrifice for sin pointed to the need for a sacrifice that would perfectly satisfy God’s righteous requirements. This is uniquely found in Jesus’ death, so that while the principle of the need for a sacrifice for sin continues, the need for further sacrifices is now over.

Or, to take another example, the Ten Commandments that set out the essentials of our relationship with God and with one another, point to Jesus’ own life and his teaching. Jesus’ life is the perfect exemplar of Godliness and goodness – and not least in the way he honored God by serving us in our deepest need. Furthermore, it is through the lens of Jesus’ teaching that we come to understand more fully the high standards of God’s kingdom.

For in his Sermon, Jesus goes on to speak about the inner meaning of the commands concerning murder, adultery, love and prayer for enemies, prayer and possessions, self-righteousness and hypocrisy.

Jesus commands that his people are to practise and to teach these things. In Matthew 5:19 we read: “Anyone who 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 practises and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Significantly, we will only ever begin to keep them if we have discovered God’s love for us. For only then will we want to turn to him in honesty and humility, asking for his forgiveness.

We will also want to pray that his Spirit will so change our hearts and his Word so teach our minds, that we will want to honor and serve him with thankfulness in our hearts.

Furthermore, in going on to speak of entering the kingdom of heaven, Jesus is saying there will come the day when everything as we know it will have gone. For that reason it is fitting to consider these words of Revelation 21:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling of God is with men and women. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away’ (Revelation 21:1-4).

In Jesus fulfilling the law and the prophets, we see the God who serves – the God to whom we should give our heartfelt thanks, and rejoice.

2020 has been a turbulent year. Many have been hurt; many are suffering. How can we pass on God’s good news of hope?

Today we come to Jesus’ words, “You are the light of the world…”

His words are blunt, for in speaking of his people as ‘the light of the world’ the implication is

that there is a darkness about our human existence. Indeed, because we live in an age of relativism and tolerance, we don’t easily understand the moral darkness of life around us, let alone in our own lives. Part of the problem is that our culture says there are no absolutes.

Up until the 1970s morality in the West was grounded in the Judaeo-Christian ethic. But now all has changed. Few leaders in government or society would challenge the prevailing assumption that there is no morally binding objective authority or truth above the individual. Words such as true and false, right and wrong, have lost their objective meaning. Everything is relative. We live in a world without compass bearings.

Let’s think about this. In John 8:12 we read Jesus’s words: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Jesus was in the Jerusalem temple when he said this. It was the time of the Feast of Tabernacles when four huge oil-filled, elevated bowls were lit. Their spectacular light symbolized the coming of God’s Messiah.

Some 700 years before Jesus was born, Isaiah wrote of the birth of God’s King. In chapter 9 he speaks of the people walking in darkness and seeing a great light: On those living in a land where the shadow of death falls, a light has dawned. A child will be born. He will be called “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”

And in chapter 60 we read his wonderful words to God’s people in exile: Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Isaiah is saying that the darkness God’s people were experiencing in the 6th century BC, would give way to light and hope. Bleakness would give way to glory. Isaiah envisioned God himself rising over Jerusalem, filling the whole of the city with the light of his presence.

Given Isaiah’s words, Jesus’ words in John 8 are electrifying. God, the source of all true light has come into our world in person. Jesus, the light who reveals God, calls us out from the darkness of our own ego into the light. “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life,” he says.

Indeed, in fulfilment of Isaiah’s promise, thousands were drawn to Jesus during his life. And since his death and resurrection, billions have been coming to him, worshipping him as the Lord and Savior of the world.

But how will our world today come to know him? “You are the light of the world,” Jesus says. “A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 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…” (Matthew 5:14-15).

‘Everything you are, everything you do,’ Jesus says, ‘must reflect all I have taught you.’ He expects us to reflect the light of God in our lives to the world. Yet do we? Do we endeavor to live out what he teaches in his Sermon on the Mount? Do we hide the light of our faith?

We often forget that God used his people to change the Roman world by the fourth century. This didn’t happen at the point of a sword, but through the works and words of his people. They didn’t hide the light of the gospel.

“Let your light shine before others,” Jesus says, “so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven…”

‘Live your life as I command,’ he says, ‘and others will be drawn to my light and love. It’s an awesome thought. And we’re all involved. When we are tempted to despair at the moral decline around us, we need to ask ourselves, ‘How do people see us? Just like everyone else, or as people who know the joy of God’s gospel?’

Jesus calls us to two tasks – to be salt and light. As salt we are to play our part in slowing down society’s decay. As light we are to bring people to God’s truth, with its hope and joy. Beware therefore of sin or compromise that reduces your Godly influence as salt. Beware of hiding the light of your faith through laziness or fear.

How are we to do this in a world that thinks it has all the answers? Ask questions. Ask if there is any real and long-lasting hope in life. Pray for an opportune time to ask a friend what they know of Jesus and if they would be interested in exploring John’s Gospel.

Pray for God’s grace that the light in your life will shine for everyone to see – in your kindness and care for others; in the way you cope with the challenges of life.

God’s desire is to bring many to the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. He plans to use our good works and our words to draw people to his light so that on the last day they too will glorify God. “You are the salt of the earth,… You are the light of the world.”

People who are honorable and dependable are sometimes said to be ‘the salt of the earth’. The expression comes from Jesus’ teaching in his Sermon on the Mount, where he said to his followers: “You are the salt of the earth”. What does he mean?

People in Jesus’ day, as we do today, used salt for seasoning food, to bring out its flavor. It was also used as a preservative. In the days of no refrigeration it was rubbed into fresh meat to prevent it from rotting. Jesus is saying that his followers are to act as a preservative — to slow down the world’s decay.

What does he mean? Jesus has in mind the radical lifestyle that he has just spoken about in his eight Beatitudes. There he sets out who are the truly blessed, people who would inherit God’s eternal kingdom. He teaches that God blesses everyone who understands their spiritual poverty before him; who weep for their failure to honor him and for a world that turns its back on him; people who, instead of engaging in the power play and deceptions of the world, walk the tougher path of humility and service, truth and peace. Jesus’ Beatitudes were radical, awakening us to the depths of our human need.

Indeed, it was because Jesus knew humanity without God would always tend to spiral away from truth and goodness, that he called on his followers to be the salt of the earth. He expects everyone who has turned to him to live in a way that slows down the rot of self-interest and greed, of injustice and the unchecked power-play of society elites.

Consider this. Back in 2009 Woody Allen produced the movie, Whatever Works. It captures the mood of values today. Starting with the presupposition that life now is all there is, we’re told that there is no God and no final accounting. Part of life’s challenge is to do whatever works to find the fleeting moments of love and joy. The moral subjectivism that pervades the movie seems plausible, realistic and tolerant. There’s no guilt, only disappointments along life’s way.

But how satisfying is this? I often meet people who want what they call the real thing: a loving, satisfying, committed, long-term relationship. They also hope that there will be a day when this world’s wrongs are brought to account.

Today’s world which says that everyone should be tolerant, makes tolerance the one value that determines all other values. The irony is that we need something to define tolerance, otherwise we won’t know whether we are being tolerant or not.

And there is something else here that today’s world ignores: all of us are flawed. We are bent on looking after Number One first. When we read the four recognized and reliable accounts of Jesus’ public life, we discover that his primary purpose was to address the heart of the human tragedy. In doing that, he was not interested in spiritual band-aids. Rather, he was committed to the major surgery that was required to deal once and for all with humanity’s fatal flaw. This is why he volunteered to die on the cross.

For men and women to stand against the dehumanising elements around them, they need good and godly examples pointing them to Jesus and to the kingdom of God. But this will only happen when Jesus’ followers don’t become insipid themselves. That’s why he goes on to warn against salt losing its saltiness.

“You are the salt of the earth, he says, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet” (Matthew 5:13).

Strictly speaking, salt can’t lose its saltiness. Chemists tell us that NaCl is a stable compound. However in the ancient world, salt was generally obtained from salt marshes and contained many impurities. The actual salt could be leeched out, leaving a substance that tasted salty but in fact was worthless. There’s an interesting play on Jesus’ words here. Salt in Aramaic is tabel. And there’s a word very close to it, tapel which means fool. ‘Watch out,’ Jesus warns, ‘that you don’t become insipid, wishy-washy fools’.

Let me ask, how do other people see you? Do you claim to be a believer but your life remains unchanged? Is your life-style directed by the culture or by the Bible? Are you just as unforgiving, just as greedy, just as selfish as everyone around you?         ‘If you call yourself a follower of mine,’ Jesus says, ‘let your life be transformed by my words, for you are the salt of the earth’.

And there is something else. In his Letter to the Colossians Paul the Apostle writes: Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time… Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone (Colossians 4:5-6).

We’re to cultivate conversations that are kind and gracious but seasoned with salt. Salt here is a metaphor for sparkling conversations that trigger questions about life. Have you considered ways to use news items, opinion columns, and films to spark conversations about the God of good news? After all, it is God’s gospel alone that truly changes hearts and minds for good.

You are the salt of the earth.

In his book, Have No Fear, Dr. John Lennox, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, Oxford University comments, ‘The pressure to silence the public witness of Christians … is very real. Indeed, in many parts of the world the secular and religious opposition has intensified to the extent that, particularly in the West, the dominant attitude is that religion is a private business and should be kept that way. As a result, many Christians have been effectively silenced. They may well continue to go to church but their witness has long ceased because of fear and pressure’ (pp.2f).

There is nothing new in this. Eight years ago Dr. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, observed that Christians are the most persecuted religion in the world. Yet for the most part the western world remains either ignorant or silent – implying either a desire not to get involved or a disinterest in matters of justice towards Christians.

And yet, just last week three people attending church in Nice, France, were killed for their Christian association. Furthermore, if we look beyond the Western news outlets, we learn of ongoing cruelty perpetrated against God’s people by Islamist extremists in Nigeria and in the Central Africa Republic.

Many of Jesus’ early followers suffered persecution and death for their commitment to him as the Messiah. Indeed, under Nero, such were the atrocities perpetrated against God’s people that, according to the Roman historian Tacitus, ‘even many in the wider Roman society took pity on them’ (Tacitus, Annals, Book 15 [44]). And Tacitus was no supporter of Christians.

Persecution can take many forms. There’s the more obvious form of physical hardship, torture, imprisonment, death. But there are more subtle forms – mocking and personal rejection.

Jesus anticipated the opposition and persecution his followers would experience. He not only warned them of it, but he said: “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. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12).

This double Beatitude forms the conclusion of Jesus’ Beatitudes or Eight Blessings. What a note on which to finish: suffering and persecution. Indeed, we might feel uneasy, for in one way they are the most searching of all. If we never experience some kind of mocking or rejection for our faith, just how much of a follower are we?

Now, it’s important to notice what Jesus is not saying. He is not saying, ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted because they are difficult or awkward people, or because they are religious fanatics’. No. Jesus restricts the blessing to those who suffer persecution because of righteousness— people who are determined to honor Jesus.

Righteousness. It is significant that Jesus calls for a commitment to righteousness, for this is something that pleases a holy and righteous God. Martin Luther, who himself faced persecution and threat of death, observed: ‘The command to you is not to crawl into a corner or into the desert, but to run out, if that is where we have been, and to offer your hands and your feet and your whole body, and to wager everything you have and can do.’ He continues, ‘What is required is a hunger and thirst for righteousness that can never be curbed or stopped or sated, one that looks for nothing and cares for nothing except the accomplishment and maintenance of the right, despising everything that hinders this end. If you cannot make the world completely pious, then do what you can.’

It is only when we can sit light to the things of this world and do all that we can, to serve the righteousness of a righteous God that we will receive the blessing of joy of which Jesus speaks. As John Stott has commented, ‘Commitment to Jesus Christ means allegiance to the suffering Christ, and it is therefore not at all surprising that we should be called upon to suffer. In fact it is a joy and a token of his grace.’

Who then are truly blessed ? In his Beatitudes Jesus is saying that he expects his followers to undergo radical changes. ‘Instead of feeling proud of your relationship with God, understand your spiritual bankruptcy,’ he says. ‘Instead of being indifferent towards unbelievers mourn for a world that rejects the reality of a transcendent, righteous God.’

‘Be prepared to walk the path of humility and service. Hunger for truth and righteousness. Show mercy. Pursue purity. Work for peace. Reckon on the reality that life won’t always be easy for you as one of my people,’ he is saying. ‘But stay with me. It will be worth every bit of it.’

Towards the end of his book, Have No Fear, one of the questions John Lennox asks is this: ‘What do you really think a Christian is? It means being a follower of Jesus as Lord, and that means being prepared to do as he says. One of those things is to go into all the world and share the message that has been shared with you’ (p.66).

You may have heard the oft-told story of Winston Churchill’s speech at his old school when he was at the height of his powers. One account reports that he pulled the proverbial cigar from his mouth and said, ‘Boys, never give up. Never, ever give up’.

Despite potential opposition, we should never give up honoring the Lord Jesus in our lives. Nor should we stop praying and using opportunities to introduce others to him.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

© John G. Mason – November 4, 2020

Peace is never easy to achieve in our troubled world. Indeed, peace is increasingly in short supply in the secularized, divided democracies of the West. Angry mobs constantly make their presence felt on the city streets.

So what does Jesus mean when he says in his seventh Beatitude: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the sons and daughters of God” (Matthew 5:9)?

We need to remember that the Beatitudes or Eight Blessings are not features of eight different types of people. Peace-making is one characteristic of God’s people. Following the flow of his words, Jesus says that those who, instead of feeling proud of themselves, understand the brokenness of their relationship with God; who grieve over their own sin and over a world that turns its back on God; who, instead of following the power play and plotting of the world to achieve kingdom ends, walk the tougher path of humility and service; who hunger for truth and righteousness; who show mercy to the helpless, pursue purity, and work for peace.

Jesus’ Beatitudes search our character – what our hearts are like. They reveal that none of us lives up to God’s expectations. None of us is a worthy beneficiary of the kingdom of heaven through our efforts. Rather, taken in context, the Beatitudes reveal his expectations of his followers.

Jesus is the greatest peacemaker ever. He alone can make peace between us and God and teach us to make peace with one another. Through his death and resurrection, he uniquely holds out the removal of the stain of sin that has broken our relationship with God. He has given new meaning to the ancient Jewish greeting: Shalom. At the heart of the good news of Christianity is the making of peace.

In Romans 5:1 Paul the Apostle writes: Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,… This peace includes well-being and wholeness. Indeed, when we find peace with God, we will want to work at living at peace with family, with God’s people, at work and in the community.

“Blessed are the peacemakers”. Jesus is not referring to people who yearn for peace, but to his people who work at peace. For with this Beatitude he is not only speaking about gospel peace-making. He also has in mind that his followers are to be peacemakers in the broadest sense. God’s people should be at the forefront of living selfless lives and treating others with respect, seeking solutions to ease tensions, reduce conflict, and helping angry and conflicted people understand one another.

None of this is easy, especially when we personally have been hurt. It’s not always easy to forgive, to be reconciled, to make peace. It’s easy for us to forget the wisdom of Proverbs 15:1 – A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly. And in Ephesians 4:26 the Apostle Paul enjoins us: Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,…

Now forgiving doesn’t mean that wrong goes unpunished. In early February in Sydney this year three children from a family and their cousin were walking to a local shop to buy ice-creams. As they walked, a car careered off the road into them. All four died. In the midst of their deep grief the parents of the three children publicly forgave the driver who has now pleaded guilty before the courts.

Peace is not the same as appeasement. Nor does making peace mean that we shouldn’t take steps to ensure that a wrong doesn’t recur. To be a peacemaker means doing everything we can under God, and without compromise, to bring about harmony.

Jesus says that when we think and behave like this, we will be called the sons and daughters of God. For to be a peacemaker is to be like God. If they are honest, people around us will see this. Consider what happens when God’s people disagree. Those who keep calm and listen to both sides with fairness and courtesy, and who work at finding a solution that is consistent with God’s Word, are usually respected. The truth is that all of us who call ourselves God’s people should behave like this. It is how Jesus behaved. Peace-making is one of the qualities of his people.

Through the Beatitudes Jesus tells us that the moral integrity of our lives matters. We can’t earn our salvation, but if we constantly follow the desires of our hearts and we are not being changed by Jesus’ teaching, we must ask whether we are truly God’s people.

And there is another facet to peaceful living that we overlook. In 1 Timothy 2:1-4 Paul says: …I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the truth.

Prayer for leaders is so important. We forget that through our prayers we can influence national and international affairs, praying that leaders will bring about conditions of peace and security for everyone. Significantly, these conditions provide a better context for promoting God’s gospel.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons and daughters of God”.

© John G. Mason – October 28, 2020

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Coming February 2-3, 2021 – Anglican Connection Online Conference
‘The Majestic Glory in a World of Change: The Unchanging God of Love & Beauty, Goodness, Justice & Compassion’

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