Date –  February 5, 2017

Text – Matthew 5:13-20

 

This past week, I and my family went to IKEA in New Haven (CT) to buy a small table for Daniel. I was wearing my Patriots hood. When I was about to pay, the clerk saw me and snorted, “Look, you are in the wrong neighborhood. When you go home, take off your hoodie and burn it.” It turned out that he was a New York Giants fan. First of all, I love sports but I am not a fanatic enough to tell others to burn their jersey. Second, I thought that New Haven was still part of New England. But I guess I was wrong. Third, I just remembered the painful memory with New York Giants in the Super Bowl 2012. The Patriots was leading the game 17-15 with 57 seconds away from getting the fourth title. But the running back of the Giants, Ahmad Bradshaw, did a touch down that took away the victory of the Patriots. It is known that the coach, Bill Belichick, preaches to his team, “Do Your Job” in order to win the game. Obviously, at the last minute, the defense line could not do the job that they were supposed to do.

In his sermon on the mountain, Jesus seems to say the similar thing to the crowd gathered. “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. So, let your light shine before others.” In a way, I visualize Jesus putting on his headset and gathers his crowd before the game begins. He cheers each player in each position and reminds them of their work, “You all have a job to do. Do your job.” We might have different personalities, skin colors, genders, cultures, family histories, or nationalities. We might have different skill sets and different careers. But we are called to make a church, the body of Christ, and respond to the call of Jesus, “I call you to be the salt and light in the world. Do Your Job.”

But the question seems to be this, “How can we do our jobs and be what we are supposed to be?” “What does it mean to be the salt and light of the world?” In other words, what is the purpose of our lives? Let me ask you a very simple question. “Why did you get out of the bed this morning?” Of course, we got out of the bed today to come to the church. How about tomorrow? We get out of the bed because we need to go to work. We get out of the bed because we need to ready our children for school. But what happens when we retire from our works or when our children graduate from school and move away? According to a recent study, “people who describe themselves as lacking a clear purpose in life are more likely to suffer cognitive decline and develop Alzheimer’s disease. Of course, we know that there is a genetic reason why we develop Alzheimer’s disease. But lacking the purpose of our lives could lead our struggle in experiencing the abundant life.

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was a restless soul who was searching for the purpose of his life. He grew up as the son of an Anglican priest, Samuel, nurtured by the strict religious education of his mother, Susanna. He was educated at Oxford University and became the Lincoln Fellow, which was equivalent to professor today. Although he had a promising career as a priest and professor, he abandoned them and decided to go to the colonies in Georgia as a missionary. He thought that he could spread the gospel and make disciples among the colonists and eventually the indigenous people in America. But he failed miserably. It seems that he was deeply struggling to find the purpose of his life. You may have your job. You may have your family. You may have your health. But they do not necessarily fulfill the purpose of our lives.

For Wesley, he realized the purpose of his life when he felt strangely warm in his warm at the Moravian gathering on Aldersgate Street. Somehow, he realized that he was accepted as the child of God. It was the grace of God alone that saved him from all his efforts. It was the love of God that made him realize that he had a purpose in his life. The Book of Genesis says that we are created in the image of God. It does not mean that God has our skin color, facial features, hand, and foot. Just like our children inherit the characters of their parents, John Wesley interprets that the image of God indicates our character as the children of God. As God is love, we are created in the character of God who loves us unconditionally.[1] We are created to love God and God’s people and God’s creation. That is the chief purpose of our lives. That is our job to do in this world – we are called to love.

When we say love, however, we often speak of love in a very comfortable sense. I once met an American missionary from Japan who told me, “There seems to be cultural problem with the way people use the word, “love,” in English. We say, “I love a chocolate.” “I love a vacation.” “I love my car.” What he was saying was that in Japan, people do not use the word “Love” to indicate one’s affection to subject. According to the Japanese etymology, love means to love people through your actions and with your heart. In other words, there is no deep feeling, mutual relationship, between the one that loves, and the other that receives the love. And we use the same word in interrelationship, “I love you.” I wonder if you ever feel that we are losing the depth of love that urges to give ourselves for others. Love in Christian tradition is a very radical word that upsets our status quo and calls us to lay aside our ego and ourselves.

Love is a dangerous and even upsetting word that connotes act of mercy and compassion. When people compare between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr, they are likely to dismiss the former because he advocated the use of violence in protecting the black lives. They quickly jump to Martin Luther King Jr. who advocated the non-violence and support the idea of loving one another. But we should know that MLK’s understanding of love is grounded in the biblical understanding of love – agape. The sacrificial love of Christ. When Jesus tells us, “Love your enemy,” MLK acknowledged, “Hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you back and you hit me back and go on, you see that goes on ad infinitum. But the strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil.”[2] In other words, love is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of power of forgiveness.

And that is what Jesus calls us to live out today. Do your job. Love your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. And love your neighbors as yourselves. It is love that goes beyond the self-interest of our existence that we offer ourselves for God and neighbors. When we board on the flight, the flight attendants tell us that in case of emergency, we are to put the mask of oxygen ourselves before we help our children or others. People often talk about this illustration to indicate the importance of self-care. However, the problem is that we often forget to help others after we put on our own masks. We are loved, welcomed, embraced by God so that we can love, welcome, and embrace others. M. Eugene Boring, the commenter of New Interpreter’s Bible, also points out that when Jesus says that we are the salt, the salt does not exist for itself, nor do the disciples; their life is turned outward to the world.[3]

In Super Bowl 2015, I am sure that many Patriots fans were remembering the nightmare from Super Bowl 2012 with 74 seconds left and the Patriots clinging to a 28-24 lead. The Seahawks receiver Jermaine Kearse just caught almost impossible pass despite excellent defense from Malcolm Butler. The touch down was only 1 yard away. As Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw his pass Butler streamed back and intercepted the pass. The game was over. The undrafted rookie, Butler, finished the game because he did his part. Butler recounted later, “I wasn’t feeling to well but you know my teammates tried to cheer me up. They said I made a great play. When I got back out there I just had to make a play.” Bill Belichick said, “We prepare for that situation as part of our goal-line package.”[4] Butler did his job because he knew exactly what he had to do. But I also believe that he was able to make the play because of the cheer from his teammates – a purpose bigger than himself.

Today, the Patriots are playing in the Super Bowl competing for another cup again. It is just a game. We can win or lose. But the lesson is this. We all have our jobs to do as the children of God in this world – that we are called to be the light that drives away darkness, the darkness of fear, hatred, and evil. We are called to be the salt to sacrifices ourselves for others. Do your job. The job that Christ calls us is bigger than our own sense of happiness in the world. But our happiness is a fruit that we bear when we faithfully respond to the call to love our God and neighbors – not just our families and friends, but also our enemies and those whom we disagree and dislike. It is such a difficult calling. But you know what? When the players fail to do their jobs in the football, they are either discontinued in their contract or traded to another team. We also fail to love God and love others as Christ calls us to do. But when we do so, Christ does not trade us to another team but comes down to us and sacrifices his life on the cross for us so that we can gain victory in God’ name.

So, no matter what you are going through, you feel beat, tired, frustrated, or worn out, please know that we are here as Christian brothers and sisters to cheer you up and point to the love of Christ who never fails and who tells us that the game is not over yet. We shine the light of Christ – the light of love, compassion, mercy, and justice in this world. Will you pleas arise and sing with me?

 

This little light of mine

I’m gonna let it shine

Let is shine, let it shine, let it shine.

 

Hide it under a bushel? No!

I’m gonna let it shine

Let is shine, let it shine, let it shine.

 

Don’t let Satan blow it out,

I’m gonna let it shine

Let is shine, let it shine, let it shine.

 

This little light of mine

I’m gonna let it shine

Let is shine, let it shine, let it shine.

 

 

[1] John Wesley, Sermon: “New Birth”

[2] Martin Luther King Jr. Sermon: “Loving Your Enemies: 17 November 1957.

[3] M. Eugene Boring, NIB: Matthew, 182.

[4] http://blog.masslive.com/patriots/2015/02/malcolm_butler_feature.html