Good Morning Friends,
Yesterday was the third Sunday in Advent and we began to explore the role of Shepherds in hearing the story of the Christ child, acting on it and telling others in the middle of a world with the challenge of confronting sin in the world of the Good News of Christ love. The reality is that they must have had doubts. But doubt has a place for outcasts like Shepherds, for it is a component of our faith and a potentially positive one if it does not stop us from embracing Christ’s faith in us to follow the Way. Along those lines today, we look at the role of salt and light in the Advent season and in particular some examples of people who followed the letter of the law of God but violated the spirit of that law. Honestly, we can find ourselves acting like those disagreeable people and in need of dealing with our own doubts and hypocrisy. Too often we hold to the letter of God’s law but at the same time sell out the great principles of love, mercy, faith, justice, and purity. Balaam was a man who followed the letter of the law of God but violated the spirit of that law. So too the Chief Priest and elders of the Temple, in the time Jesus walked the earth. It helps to understand their way of thinking but also know that they failed when it came to the Spirit of the law. So, we ask this morning, Are We Walking the Walk or Just Talking the Talk When It Comes To Being Salt and Light?
Scripture: When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’ Jesus said to them, ‘I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ And they argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?” But if we say, “Of human origin”, we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.’ So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And he said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
Matthew 21:23-27 (NRSV)
My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2–4 (NRSV)
And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’
Matthew 4:19 (NRSV)
No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit;
Luke 6:43 (NRSV)
‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot. ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. 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.
Matthew 5: 13-16 (NRSV)
Balaam looked up and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. Then the spirit of God came upon him, and he uttered his oracle, saying: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is clear, the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, but with eyes uncovered: how fair are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel! Like palm-groves that stretch far away, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the Lord has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters. Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall have abundant water, his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. So he uttered his oracle, saying: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is clear, the oracle of one who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, but with his eyes uncovered: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near— a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the borderlands of Moab, and the territory of all the Shethites.
Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17a (NRSV)
Message: There are some interesting traditions regarding Balaam the seer who was summoned by the King of Moab to curse Israel and instead blessed them much to the consternation of his fellow Moabites. The most well-known tale is of Balaam’s ass who is one of two talking animals in the Bible. The other talking animal was the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Both animals and Balaam as well had authority given to them that was not earned. Balaam is a unique character in the Old Testament for he was a foreigner but subject to the commands of the God of Israel. He was given sight but not character. The words in his poems perhaps written about King David have also been interpreted as messianic and linked to the story of the Maji and the star that they were to follow to find the Christ child. The poems have a deathbed feel to them. But the linkage of today’s scriptures is I think better connected around the idea of influence and authority and the problem of people in power without much of a conscience. Balaam was a poet-preacher who lived at the time Israel completed the wilderness wanderings of forty years. Approaching the promised land along its eastern border, the Israelites had overcome the Amorites and had annihilated Bashan. Balak, king of Moab was terrified. He sent for Balaam, son of Beor, to tell him how to defeat the Israelites. Balaam is asked to curse the Israelites. Three times he spoke, three times God caused him to bless Israel. In anger, Balak dismissed him. Evidently, before leaving Moab, Balaam redeemed himself in the eyes of his employer. The Bible says he instructed Balak how to seduce the nation of Israel, inviting the Hebrew men to a feast in the honor of Baal. There they were confronted with Moabite women who involved them in the adulterous activities associated with Baal worship. Through the art of seduction, Balaam was able to accomplish what he could not accomplish by pronouncing a curse. When the leaders—the chief priest and the elders tried to ask Jesus a trick question about his authority, they had hoped to make a fool out of Jesus, but they only proved the point that they had fallen to another kind of seduction. The problem was that their question became a boomerang when Jesus met their challenging question with a question of His own. When Jesus asked them His question it was clear that either way that they answered the question would be incriminating. This text is about how our words match our actions when it comes to obedience to the will of God. It is both our actions and our words that communicate on which side of the fence we are standing whether it be obedience or rebellion. The main reason that the chief priests and the elders had to say that “they did not know” when they did indeed know the answer was because they would have been admitting that they were sinners who had neglected their need to repent. The question of proper authority was important for the Jews of the day. They held that they were the people of God, and they therefore detested their Roman overlords. Of necessity they submitted to them, but they did not believe that the Romans had the right to govern them. They were God’s own people, and their human lords were God’s high priest and those associated with him in the appointed assemblies, the great Sanhedrin, and the lesser councils throughout the land. People like John the Baptist and Jesus presented problems because they did not fit into this picture. They were not like the Romans, who ruled unjustly but had the military backing that enforced their demands. And they were not like the high priests and other officials, who because of their official position were regarded as authoritative persons by official Judaism. They had power given to them by God.
And So, we give a lot of power to things that would have no authority without our submission. It can be often very unhealthy. There are two ways that we can take our stand on God’s rule. We can be like the chief priests and elders who talk the talk but did not walk the walk. Or we can learn to trust and follow Jesus. We can be like Balaam always finding the angle without much of a conscience or we can work for the common good realizing that we should submit to God’s rule. But friends, in the end we must submit as either a friend or foe. Indeed, God can redeem it all and may even use your failing for a greater purpose. Certainly, from our own experiences and observations, we can see that many individuals may do bad things even though they intend the results to be good. But when God is involved even bad intentions can be used for good. The key is to understand the proper authority when it comes to God’s plan. So here on our Advent Journey we might well conclude that it is easier to walk one’s way into a new way of thinking than to think one’s way into a new way of walking. Maybe that is why Jesus was always urging others to come and follow him on his walk. That is why God’s love and light came down to us allowing us to see and to act modeling the only intermediary we have.
Pray we realize that Jesus is to one who helps us to see that we are both salt and light. Pray we influence others by living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and enhancing our experience and others by preserving the faith through obedience. Pray though the Spirit of Jesus we commit to live by Christ’s faith. Pray that wherever and whenever we come together in prayer, we grow in grace and love and the Word. Pray we trust in the Holy Spirit’s presence and the light of transformation. Pray we trust in God’s promises. Pray we trust in Jesus and never reject Him. Pray we realize that Jesus is still the way, the truth, and the life. Pray that our faith grows in the promise of Abraham so that we too might be blessed to be a blessing. Pray we are salt and light in the world as Jesus believed we would be. Pray we bring forth good fruit.
Pray we have been set free to live in freedom’s spirit. Pray that we understand our faith experience involving our mind, emotions and will in the act of doing. Pray we rejoice in the power of the Word made flesh. Pray we start right but not finish wrong. Pray we do not fall prey to legalism or to the institutionalization of Christ. Pray we live in grace. Pray that we realize that we cannot redeem ourselves. Pray that the Holy Spirit helps us to live in grace. Pray we are not just hearers of the Word but doers as well. Pray that we experience life and worship as a collective prayer that shapes our souls in God’s continuing plan for His creation. Pray we walk with Jesus and not just talk about him. Pray we honor Jesus by being what he said we already are and thankful in experiencing the stories of salt and light in the Bible as well as our own lives. Pray God’s Word of Truth shines a light. Pray our role as Christians, as salt and light in the world, is not hindered or prevented through poor choices. Pray we choose to walk with Jesus.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 