"Is This The Fast I Choose?" an Ash Wednesday sermon on Isaiah 58:1-12

Isaiah 58:1-12
“Is This The Fast That I Choose?”
Preached Ash Wednesday, February 22, 2023

We’ve been here before.

We’ve been here before - the middle of February in Ohio. It’s gray and dark and sometimes we have to stop and think how many days it's been since we’ve seen the sun. We’re wondering if Spring will ever come again…and on those weird 60 degree days, we are worried about climate change rather than hopeful about Spring.

We’ve been here before - hearing Isaiah 58 in worship. Just two weeks ago we were here, in this sanctuary, talking about the fast we choose. Talking about the disconnect between our desires and our actions. The disconnect between God’s will for us and what we choose. Talking about choosing the fast of feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and removing the burden from the oppressed.

We’ve been here before - news of another shooting in the news. 3 dead teenagers at Michigan state. Diagnoses from doctors. Illnesses. Long covid and cancer. War is raging - threats of nuclear disaster linger. Closer to home we are worried about the devastating effects of the train derailment in East Palestine. Will our drinking water be clean? The air we breathe? Headlines detail a rise in despots, dictatorship, and fundamentalism. My friend’s synagogue is ordering metal detectors - again - as an anti-semitism rally is happening down the street. The world seems too dark.

We’ve been here before - the beginning of Lent. How will we mark this season? Will we mark this season? Do our fasts, our prayers, make a difference? Do our good works amount to anything? Is it really already Lent again? And will it make any difference?

We’ve been here before…

Let’s take a deep breath.

Ash Wednesday has a reputation as this kind of depressing day - we get ashes, burned from the palms we waved last Palm Sunday, we get ashes on our foreheads and we tell each other, “From dust you came and from dust you will return.” The non-sugar coated way of saying this is, “You will die.” But we already have a hard time getting people to come to church so we don’t say this - we use a little more pretty language. But why do this in the first place? Why this day? Why this ritual?

Is it because we are morbid and depressed? Because we’ve given up on this life and what we do in it?

No! It’s the opposite.

We do this because how we use our time here matters. In her book, “No Cure For Being Human,” Kate Bowler, when she was diagnosed with cancer and the doctor told her that her days were numbered, said this: “In my finite life, the mundane has begun to sparkle. The things I love—the things I should love—become clearer, brighter.” She grapples with the news that her days with her husband and son are numbered - she wonders, how many more nights will I have to read this boy in dinosaur pajamas a book before bed? But when confronted with her finitude, that her time was no longer the infiniteness that most of us go about thinking it is - how she lived her life in the present mattered more than ever.

Isaiah asks, “Is this the fast I choose?” Because the fast we choose does matter. It matters to us and to God. It matters that our heart’s desire for God and our actions of caring for neighbor match up. It matters what we do, here and now, this Lent.

We also do this ritual of ashes and of Lent because it reminds us that, ultimately, we are God’s. In Genesis we are given the metaphor of God lovingly forming humanity out of spit and dirt, dust, ash. The Psalms tell us that God knew us intimately before we were born, knit us together in the dark of our mothers’ wombs. And, when this life is over, we return to God. The maker of us and the maker of all the world who has plans to redeem all creation - we belong to that Maker God. And that God invites us into those plans for redemption, here and now, in this life. Redemption can seem so far away - so let’s work with God to bring that day nearer.

And so, as we say “We’ve been here before…” it is never hopeless and always worth it to say again: “This is the fast I choose.”

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a member of Citizen Potawatomi Nation and a professor at the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Her book, “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants” is one I’ve mentioned in preaching before and have talked about with many of you - for me, it was a huge perspective changing book and perhaps one of the most important works of non-fiction for our age. In an interview with the New York Times about her book and this path to environmental destruction that our world seems to be on, she says this:

“The story that we have to illuminate is that we don’t have to be complicit with destruction. That’s the assumption: that there are these powerful forces around us that we can’t possibly counteract. The refusal to be complicit can be a kind of resistance to dominant paradigms, but it’s also an opportunity to be creative and joyful and say, I can’t topple Monsanto, but I can plant an organic garden; I can’t counter fill-in-the-blank of environmental destruction, but I can create native landscaping that helps pollinators in the face of neonicotinoid pesticides. Which research has suggested is especially harmful to wild bees and bumblebees. So much of what we think about in environmentalism is finger-wagging and gloom-and-doom, but when you look at a lot of those examples where people are taking things into their hands, they’re joyful. That’s healing not only for land but for our culture as well — it feels good.”

In light of this, when we say, “This is the fast I choose” - can it be joyful? Can it feel good? When we say, “Is this the fast I choose?” we are saying that we will fast…

To fast from complicitness
To fast from apathy
To fast from cynicism
To fast from despair
To fast for hate
To fast from isms and prejudice
To fast from the destructive ways of this world
Using church language we would say, to fast from evil, to fast from sin

We live out this fast by choosing those things which are in line with God’s will, to love God and love neighbor.

To fast by planting a garden
To fast by saying thank you
To fast by writing our representatives on issues of gun control and war and discrimination bills so that we can live in a safer, more just and peaceable world
To fast by making peace in our own little corners of the world
To fast by working on healing our own trauma
To fast as Isaiah says: To fast by giving bread to the hungry, To fast by giving homes to the homeless, clothes to the naked
To fast by removing burdens from others
To fast by freeing others from oppression
To fast by doing whatever we can within our lives and our spheres to make this world more like the world in God’s plan of redemption, a day when every weapon is beaten into plowshares, there are no more tears, no more death - and peace and love reign.

We’ve been here before, asking - “Is this the fast I choose?” And it is always worth it to say, yes.

Amen.

"Working Together" a sermon on 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

1 Corinthians 3:1-9
“Working Together”
Preached Sunday, February 12, 2023 at Vermilion Grace UMC & via livestream

This morning I want to speak to you honestly and from the heart: I was surprised when on January 9th, I got a call from a District Superintendent telling me that the Bishop and the cabinet had discerned a new appointment for me. I didn’t find out where that appointment was until the following Thursday. Met with their Staff Parish Relations Team on Saturday. No one from our church was notified until late Saturday afternoon. And then it was announced in church on Sunday. Talk about a fast turn around. In that week and the month since, I have been processing this move - as I know all of you have as well.

First, I want to say that, yes - it’s early in the year for us to know that I am moving. It’s because I am taking over the role of pastor from a man who is retiring and his congregation has known for over a year that he would be leaving them. It may be a little longer for us but when it is decided who will be assuming the role of pastor here, it should go just as fast as my process went.

But I have heard some of you ask or wonder - Why does Pastor Allison have to move at all? Things were going so well. Don’t they only move pastors when they retire or things aren’t going well or the pastor has asked to move? Well, no. Having itinerant pastors is part of our core as United Methodists. And we’re going to look a little deeper into that today.

John Wesley was an itinerant preacher. As he founded the Methodist movement, he didn’t have a home church to preach in on a weekly basis. Actually, many Church of England churches kicked him out and he started preaching in fields - that’s where the story of him preaching on his father’s grave came from. He technically owned that plot of land outside the church so they couldn’t throw him out of there! But in his ministry, John Wesley traveled around England, setting up various Methodist societies, checking in on existing ones, and he preached over 40,000 sermons in his lifetime.

When the Revolutionary War started and many Anglican priests fled the colonies to return to the safety of England, there was a pastoral crisis in America. There were not enough clergy. Baptisms weren’t happening. Communities weren’t receiving Holy Communion. And what of weddings and funerals? This was war time and the lack of sacraments and ordained clergy was turning into a spiritual crisis for those living in America. John Wesley’s heart was moved and he “ordained” Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke to be superintendents in America. They then ordained many Methodist clergy. And still, there weren’t enough. And thus the circuit rider was born. A circuit rider’s circuit might be half a state or more and they would travel their circuit, visiting all the congregations along it, perform sacraments while they were there, and after a short while, continue on their circuit. It is out of this tradition that, when the weather was bad, people would say, “This weather is only fit for crows and Methodist preachers!” We were perhaps the original inspiration for the postal services motto -Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds - such were Methodists preachers so committed to their circuits.

And still you might be thinking - that’s nice, Pastor Allison. But Methodist preachers don’t ride horseback across half the state anymore. Times have changed. Times have changed, yes. But the system that exists today for Methodist clergy and churches is rooted in that first system of circuit riders.

Before United Methodist pastors are ordained, we take a vow to be itinerant - that is, we promise before God, the Bishop, and the whole Annual Conference, to go where the Bishop sends us. The Bishop and her cabinet of district superintendents have a prayerful process where they seek to join pastors and their gifts with churches and their needs. A myriad of factors are taken into consideration. And we are only ever appointed for one year at a time.

While many United Methodists, laity and clergy, gripe about itinerancy - allow me to share several benefits to this system:

One - The mission and life of the church is in the hands of the laity, the people in the pews - whether they have been a member for a month or have been in this community for four generations. All the time we see churches in other denominations have a pastor up on a pedestal and if something happens to that pastor or the pastor leaves, there is not enough “ownership” in the hands of the congregation, of the people, for the church to keep on standing. Itinerancy of clergy empowers laity to BE the church and DO the work of the church, without relying on pastors that come and go.

Two - Itinerary keeps us connected in a wider web. Sometimes it might not seem like we’re connected to the larger United Methodist church beyond Shared Ministry giving - but we are. There are people above the pastor who keep an eye on the local church. They resource and equip pastors and congregations. They offer support and mediation when needed. And they keep in mind the needs of the church when it comes time for a pastoral transition.

Three - Our system ensures that our pulpits do not go unfilled. In churches that don’t have an appointment system, a new pastor may not be called to a church for months, a year, or even longer. In United Methodist circles, there is about a week or two of transition. This is some really fast turnaround.

And four - An appointment system helps minority clergy - especially women and people of color - serve churches they would have never been hired by. Would you have hired your first woman pastor when Joan came? Would you have hired a straight out of seminary, 26 year old woman pastor when I came here? You might have! But I am also thinking…maybe not. Those firsts are hard. Our system can help us act more equitably.

There are more reasons but this is dangerously close to turning into a lecture and not a sermon so let's circle back around to today’s Scripture and to Paul.

Paul was a lot like John Wesley. He was starting a movement and was, in essence, an itinerant preacher. He would go from city to city, town to town, and in some places he would plant churches, in others he would check-in with existing Christian communities, and he preached the Gospel everywhere he went. He even kept tabs on the communities he visited and wrote them letters - especially when they weren’t acting like they should - and that’s how we ended up with most of our New Testament. And in this short passage from the first letter to the Corinthians, Paul is a little bit frustrated with the Christian community in Corinth because they are picking sides…based on their leaders.

Look, people are only human, right? Paul says as much to them in this letter, “Are you not merely human?” There must be something within us that wants to draw lines in the sand, perhaps from that primal caveman knowledge that we are safer together…of course, that always turns into, we are safer together because there are other groups that aren’t us! We better fight them before they fight us!

Look around in our world today. It’s not hard to see all the “us versus them”s. On a global scale, we see this playing out in the devastating war in Ukraine - Russians versus Ukrainians.
Closer to home, our headlines are full of “Republicans versus Democrats.”
On a much lighter note, perhaps it’s our sports teams or “Ohio Versus Michigan” where we draw the line.

Whether it’s international or a small community, it’s a human urge to differentiate us versus them. For the Corinthians it was on who was their spiritual leader - their pastor, if you will. For some, they were saying they were followers of Apollos. For others, they were followers of Paul! Internal fighting and not spiritually mature behavior followed.

And while this is a passage about divisions - and there is much that can be preached about on divisions - it’s also a passage about changes in leadership and, ultimately, in trusting in God. “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each.” Paul is kind of echoing (or maybe we echoed Paul) our United Methodist theology and practice of leadership. Pastors and spiritual leaders are there for a season and with a task given by God - but we don’t follow human leaders, we follow God, we follow Jesus Christ.

Ultimately, it’s a passage about trusting in God. Paul was speaking to a church that was trying to find their identity in their human leaders and saying: don’t do that! He actually kind of insulted them and called them babies…And I am saying the same to you today. No, I’m not calling you babies! I am saying, don’t look to your human leaders, look to God. Yes, pastors are important and they do a lot in the life of the church, they can set the tone for worship and ministry and mission…and what are they? Just followers of Jesus like all of us are. So, let us not get caught up in who our leader is and look beyond that to God. And, when our next pastor comes, whoever they may be: don’t fall into the comparison game of comparing them to me or Pastor David or Pastor Joan or Pastor Ron or any of the other pastors who have ever been here - because they will be their own unique person with their own unique gifts, sent her by God through the Bishop for a season of ministry.

Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”

Friends, God is at work among you. And God will continue to be at work among you. Seeds have been planted here at Grace - the next Pastor may water - but the growth is from God. The Holy Spirit might have even planted seeds we don’t know about yet…isn’t that exciting? I trust that God is doing good work in you and the God who started that good work will see it to completion…and you will work along with God for that! Remember, this is your church, and you are all empowered by God to BE the church and DO the mission of the church.

Let’s hold tight and fast to that. When the move was announced, just about a month ago, I said to this congregation: “Grace is stronger than when I first came here and I think that has a lot more to do with all of you and the work of The Holy Spirit than it does with me. Let us pray for your new pastor, whoever they may be, and be ready to accept them with the same love and care you show me. And I know that Grace can continue on the same path we are on now, because you know who you are, a joyous and caring Christian community, and you know what God is calling you to do, invite all. You've got this. God's got you.”

This all is in accordance with our United Methodist practice and theology of itinerancy - and it fits Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians and to us today - let your ultimate trust be in God.

I started this sermon wanting to speak honestly with you about my upcoming move (It’s not until the summer!) and that is because I know that there are a lot of mixed feelings among you. Many of you are sad. Some of you may even be angry. And I know there is a good level of anxiety and fear for the unknown future. And there may even be sparks of excitement for the new thing that God is going to do through you. Those feelings are all okay - I want you to know that I am feeling all those things too.

And, with this sermon today, I want you to hear this: Trust in God, above all else, trust in God. “I planted. Apollos watered. God gave the growth.” Pray! And trust. God will be with you all.

Amen.

Transfiguration Sunday Hymn Sing (Based on Matthew 17:1-9)

Transfiguration Sunday Hymn Sing (Based on Matthew 17:1-9)

The Mountaintop

Matthew 17:1, “Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.” Jesus has been in active ministry, teaching and performing miracles, challenging and healing. And now, he needed time to rest with those he held most dear. Jesus’s whole ministry follows this rhythm of active ministry and then departing for time alone with God, time alone with his disciples, time of Sabbath and time of rest. Perhaps it is no accident that this text starts ‘Six Days later…” when the 7th day is the Sabbath. It was time for him to go to a secluded place with those he loved and spend time with God. Jesus invites us to spend time alone with him, to follow him up a high mountain, just us and Jesus and maybe those we love - to get away from all the tasks and demands of our lives, and just be with God.

Come and Find the Quiet Center, vs. 1 & 3, FWS 2128

The Light

Matthew 17:2, “And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became bright as light.” WOW. wow. We with the disciples are blinded by Jesus’s transfiguration. Yes, just six days earlier Peter had proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God but could he ever have imagined such brilliance? Such shocking light. Such Divine Holiness that the human eye can barely contain it - being blinded by his light? We too proclaim that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God…but can we even imagine what it would be like to come face to face with the shining Light of God that is God Enfleshed, Jesus? Even hearing about it in Scripture stirs something in our hearts. How can you see a scene like this and not have your heart moved?

Shine, Jesus, Shine, vs. 1 & 3, FWS 2173

Moses & Elijah (Law & Prophets)

Matthew 17:3, “Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.” For the Jewish people, Moses represented the Law and Elijah the prophets. Their appearance showed that Jesus was an heir of their work, would bring it to completion, and was greater than even them. Jesus himself says that the summation of all the law and all the prophets is this: To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus’s shining brilliance reminds us of that day when all the law and prophets are fulfilled. When the oppressed are free, when every tear ceases, when Love is Lord of All.

These are the Days of Elijah, W&S 3186

Holy Ground

Matthew 17:4, “Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will set up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’” “It is good for us to be here.” Have you ever had a sudden realization that you are standing on Holy Ground? We call these thin places - places where heaven and earth seem to meet. Places where we can strongly sense God’s presence here on Earth. It is good for us to be here - to be in the presence of God, to be on Holy Ground. When Moses saw a burning bush he turned aside from the road he was on to go look at it and in doing so, encountered holy ground. May we all be attuned to when we come across holy ground, when the opportunity presents itself, may we turn aside and find ourselves in the presence of God. It is good for us to be here.

Holy Ground, x2, FWS 2272

Jesus, My Son, The Beloved

Matthew 17:5a, “While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased..” A voice from the cloud declaring Jesus as God’s Beloved Son reminds us of his baptism. Matthew’s Gospel says, “And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from the heavens said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’” Jesus’s Transfiguration and his Baptism reminds us of who he is, the Son of God, Beloved. And through our baptisms, through Christ, we too become children of God, joint heirs with Christ. Because Jesus is God’s beloved, we too are beloved by God. And through the power of God’s love and the waters of our baptism, called to be transformed, transfigured, to live in the likeness of Christ.

Fairest Lord Jesus, vs. 1 & 4, UMH 189

Listen to Him

Matthew 17:5b - 8, “‘Listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’ And when they raised their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.” After this proclamation from heaven, the disciples no longer saw Jesus glowing with Divine light, they no longer saw Moses and Elijah but they saw Jesus - alone, by himself. But what does it mean for us to see Jesus alone? That is, to not listen to the voices in this world that would lead us astray. But to keep our ears tuned to the Spirit and our eyes on Jesus alone, so that the desires of our hearts, would be for nothing but Jesus.

Be Thou My Vision, vs. 1 - 2, UMH 451

Go Down the Mountain

Matthew 17:9, “As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, ‘Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’” The disciples and Jesus went down the mountain and back into their daily work and ministry. What they had seen and experienced had left a mark on them - although they wouldn’t fully understand it all and be able to share it until Jesus’s resurrection. For us who know of Jesus’s resurrection, the story of the Transfiguration should change us too: A story of sabbath, a story of light, of hope for the day when Jesus comes again, a story of reflection, and a story that sends us back down the mountain, to share the brilliant light and amazing love of Jesus with all we meet.

Forth in Thy Name, O Lord, vs. 1, 3 - 4, UMH 438

“Finger Pointing & Yokes, Salt & Light” a sermon on Isaiah 58:1-12 and Matthew 5:13-20

Isaiah 58:1-12

Matthew 5:13-20
“Finger Pointing & Yokes, Salt & Light”
Preached Sunday, February 2, 2023

One of my favorite TV characters of all time is Leslie Knope from Parks & Rec. Leslie is known as an energetic go-getter with a deep passion for her work in the local government parks department. She is also known for her ridiculous, next-level, over-the-top compliments. Here are a couple compliments she gives to her best friend:

“You beautiful tropical fish.”
“You opalescent tree shark.”
“You’re a beautiful, talented, brilliant, powerful musk-ox."
“You poetic, noble land-mermaid.”
“You rainbow-infused space unicorn.”

Some of these compliments are, not just over the top, but kind of weird, right? Like…what does it mean to be an opalescent tree shark? But it’s a TV and so we laugh it off as cute, quirky nonsense.

But when I read today’s Gospel reading, my mind went from Jesus to Leslie Knope. See, Jesus is kind of giving us a weird “What does that even mean???” kind of compliment.

“You are the salt of the earth.”

Uhhh…thanks, Jesus? I think?

Now, “You are light” - that makes a little more sense to us. But what are these declarations that Jesus makes to his disciples and, through the ages, to us, that we are salt and light? Let’s look a little bit closer at them.

Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?”

Let’s think about salt. Salt compliments and brings forth other flavors in food. Salt is also a preserver. It quite literally…cannot lose its saltiness. If it wasn’t salty…it wouldn’t be salt. Now, we know through cooking that salt loses its saltiness, or a dish loses the taste of saltiness if it is overwhelmed with other flavors. If there are enough other things in the dish that cover up the saltiness.

But we’re not talking about cooking and food when Jesus says we are the salt of the world. We are talking about who God created us to be and living into those true authentic selves.

One of the best books I read during my renewal leave was “Becoming Who You Are: Insights on the True Self from Thomas Merton and Other Saints” by James Martin. Allow me to give you a brief synopsis of some of the insights this book gives.

Thomas Merton, a renowned saint and writer in the Catholic Church, famously said, “For me to be a saint means to be myself…Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I am and discovering my true self.”

In other words, the more we are our true selves, the more holy we are. As Methodists we talk a lot about sanctification. That we are all on this journey towards Christian perfection - which means every day we strive to love God and neighbor better than we did the day before. And sometimes, we tend to think the more sanctified or holy someone is…the less of a personality they have. But the point of this book is that is not so - that each of us, at our core is, well…the salt of the earth, with our own unique flavor or personality that is not lost in the process of sanctification. Rather the more we love God and neighbor, the more our personalities, our true selves, who God created us to be, shines forth, the more you can…taste your inert saltiness. He uses two saints as an example: one St. Theresa of Liseux who was a contemplative saint and spent all her days in a convent in worship and prayer and cleaning and gardening and what others would claim as menial tasks. And two Dorothy Day - the founder of the Catholic Workers movement and a staunch supporter of social justice and an activist…was one of these women less holy than the other? No! Their own personality, their own salt of the earth saltiness, was seen through their unique ways they were their true selves for God and neighbor.

Which brings us back around to how can salt lose its saltiness…if we are salt of the earth, in our inner core cause it’s our true selves that God created us to be - how can we lose our saltiness? Just as salt in a dish can be overwhelmed by other flavors, we can be overwhelmed by false selves.

We all have false selves. Richard Rohr says, “Our false self is who we think we are. It is our mental self-image and social agreement, which most people spend their whole lives living up to - or down to.” Merton refers to our false self like bandages wrapped around a mummy. We may have many layers of false self that we have to peel back to get to our true self, who God created us to be, salt of the earth. Now, Martin says, when he was writing a book about finding your true self, a friend said to him, “Well, that’s fine, but what happens if your true self is a horrible, lying, mean-spirited person?” A good question to ask! Maybe one you are sitting in the pews thinking.

Martin’s answer was “that this would not be the person God created. In other words, to find his true self, the horrible, lying, mean-spirited person would have to uncover his true self - the good self that God created - from underneath all those layers of sinfulness. And I would suspect that the longer he has been living as a selfish person, the longer it might take for him to uncover his true self.”

Our reading from Isaiah shows us examples of people not being their true selves - how we can get overwhelmed by other things and lose our saltiness. Our passage this morning talked about those who professed with their lips and their rituals a desire to get closer to God, but their actions showed them oppressing their workers and putting heavy burdens on others. They got into fights and quarreled and finger-pointed…nothing like so many in our world today, right If only.

Isaiah goes on to say this: “If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.”

When we not only don’t put oppressive burdens on others, but we actively work to remove those burdens from others, we are also lifting a burden - a layer of our false selves - from our own shoulders. When we liberate others, we liberate ourselves. This is the mentality of the King of God. You may have heard it as the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.”

An example of liberating others that in turn liberates ourselves is doing anti-racism work. Racism is not just a Black or Person of Color problem. It oppresses and marginalizes People of Color and they bear the brunt of its violence and force. There is no denying that. And - as white people, racism also affects us negatively - it affects our souls. It warps them into who we were not meant to be, as all sin does. It obscures our true selves who God created us to be, adding a layer of false self, overpowering our saltiness. To do anti-racism work is to loose the bonds of injustice and undo the thongs of the yoke…for all. For People of Color, to remove the violence and scourge of racism. For white people, to remove the sin that infects our souls.

The same is true for anything that keeps us from being who God created us to be - Salt of the Earth. Isaiah talks about pointing the finger and speaking evil. Any ism, any blame game or power struggle, speaking evil of anything - basically being a jerk - these things obscure our true selves, they overpower our salt.

When you are your true self, who God created you to be - not only are you the salt of the earth - but your light shines before others.

In Matthew, Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. 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. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

It is an echo of the prophet Isaiah: “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly…”

You are the salt of the earth.
You are the light of the world.

Just as Leslie Knope’s ridiculous compliments are meant to lift others up, I mean for this sermon today to be a sermon of encouragement because, here me on this:

You *are* *already* the salt of the earth.
You *are* *already* the light of the world.

God created you this way - this is who you are - your true self - at your core. How you will live that out? That will depend on the unique you that God created - AND, with confidence I can say, at your core, you have everything you need to be salt and to be light.

Every day we can work on removing layers of our false selves. Every day we can work on not letting our true selves get covered up, on not letting our saltiness be overwhelmed, on not hiding our light under a bushel - we do this by loving God and loving neighboring - knowing that when we show God’s love to our neighbors by removing their burdens, we also remove the yoke for our own shoulders. Every day we can work on this by letting our light shine - by living out our faith, through sharing God, through sharing love - in the unique and inert ways that God created us to do so.

Thomas Merton said “For me to be a saint means to be myself.”
For you to be a saint means to be yourself.
Your true self is salt.
Your true self is light.

Let’s let ourselves be salty and shine - by loving God and loving neighbor.

Amen.