St Michael's Church (Church of England)

I was at a school governors meeting this week and while chatting with another governor was told that the night before she had been out and someone had mentioned they heard that St Michael’s church had held a candlelit ball. They went on to say how amazing it was that a church had done that. When I asked was that a good thing or bad thing in their eyes she was at paint to say for them it was a good thing it was and how it made them think again about what church was.

Yesterday I was at a conference looking at mission to men – un churched or churched: In other words men who might go to church and men who never go to church. It held some interesting points about style of church, right brain or left brain, Feminine or masculine. Apparently our churches are predominately feminine in design and do not successfully reach out to men. I have sympathies in being concerned that we are reaching out effectively to men. However I always worry about putting our discipleship and mission into any fixed box for I do not remember Jesus calling us to speak to any one group but to all nations, all people. Indeed in Genesis God made us, men and women he made us, it was good and it was in the image of God. So all are important. So although I hope I will share with you all insight found at the day on mission to me I hope it will be in the context of us being concerned about God’s mission to the world. In other words we need to be aware of every ones needs, right brained, left brained, xx or xy chromosomes, bus pass users or push chair users. We all deserve consideration for we are all valuable in Gods sight.

So perhaps the question that Jesus is asking us today is not “are you reaching out in mission to any latest trendy group”. Rather “How are you as a church reaching out to any one?”

How are we, after all we are the church, not the church building, seen by those in our community in which we live? For how we are seen will reveal something about how we are living out God’s call.

The stereotype of church in general is sometimes described as

‘A quaint but antiquated ornament’;

or perhaps ‘a private club where people feel unwelcome’;

some might would see it as ‘a critical eye watching over them’,

and others as ‘a welcome refuge for those in need’.

Do we run the risk of any of those?

Are any of those valid or desirable?

For me perhaps one is some way there but not the whole.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus uses two domestic images to describe his disciples and their effect on those around them. They are the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world”.

Both salt and light were vital, life-giving commodities. In the ancient world, salt was essential to preserve food and to stop it going bad.

Jesus is encouraging his disciples that in a society subject to decay and rottenness of various kinds they must preserve what is good and life-giving.

This will only happen if they keep their saltiness; if they maintain their distinctiveness as his disciples. If they become like adulterated salt, mixed with white powder which looks like salt but isn’t, they will be useless, like “salt” which is thrown out on the street and trodden under foot.

The disciples are also to be the light of the world. In John chapter 8 v 12 Jesus says, “I am the light of the world”;

In Today’s reading he tells his followers “you are the light of the world”.

They are light because of his light within them, which they must allow to shine out. Light has to be seen in order to be useful and life-giving. Jesus uses the absurd image of a light which is set in the house but then covered over with a basket to illustrate how ridiculous it is for his followers to hide the light they have received from him. What a waste of electricity, in these days when it is so costly to generate surely we would not do that. just as if we cover our divine light with a basket of shyness, embarrassment, busy -ness or apathy we too waste power, power of the Holy Spirit freely give by God at the cost of Jesus.

The world needs light, just as it needs salt, and his followers must not fail in their calling. But the aim of being salt and light is not to draw attention to themselves, and neither is that the aim for disciples. It is to bring life to those around them and to point others to God. In their words and actions, others are to see the light of Christ and to give glory to God the Father.

Jesus does not say, “try to be salt and light”, but “you are salt and light”; Who we are is enough, we just have to use it. However, he recognises that it is sometimes hard to be what we are as his disciples.

He tells his followers that they need to be more holy and righteous than the Pharisees who scrupulously followed the Law of Moses. His disciples are not exempt from following the Law, but their life and fruitfulness come from his light, his life within them. Receiving his light is both a gift and a challenge.

If we are successfully being salt and light in our world then Is the world around us less dark because of our presence? Is our distinctiveness life-giving for others?

So, if we ask ourselves that question from Jesus again

“How are you as a church reaching out to any one?”

How are we perceived by the surrounding community, are we distinctive, attractive, inviting, useful, life giving? The answer to this reveals our success in how we are living out God’s call.

I am encouraged when I try to answer this.

We have challenged people perceptions by such things as the ball, the open gardens. We live up to them with our fetes and T clubs but that is good, we are offering fun, friendship, service to others. Could we improve in areas? Probably. Perhaps in our caring for all our community in more social opportunities relative to them. Perhaps in just finding better ways to start talking about faith or having ways for people to ask simple questions about God without feeling embarrassed.

Perhaps making sure that we are in the world but not of the world, distinctive from those around us.

As Christians, we can sometimes be so assimilated into the society around us that there is nothing distinctive about us; we no longer have anything to offer. On the other hand, it is possible for us to think of ourselves as so distinctive that we try to keep ourselves separate from the world; this also is of no benefit to others.

We are called to be distinctive as Jesus’ followers, but not to focus attention on ourselves. Salt is not an end in itself but it is used to preserve life. And we know that preserving life is what God wants, because Jesus said he came to bring life in abundance in its fullness.

So our distinctiveness must avoid being a self-righteous or a critical presence. Our aim should be not to reveal darkness but to bring light and life.

Jesus calls us to be burning with his love, alight with his goodness. He wants us to serve our neighbours so that they will see him in us. We are to be involved in our local communities, speaking and acting for those in need as well as challenging that which is damaging and life-denying. But we are to do these things not to win approval for ourselves but to point people to God. It is his light, working through us, which brings life.

It is his light I see leaving each week from this church,

It is his light that will give us the strength and the power to meet the week ahead the people in that week and the tasks given to us to do.

And it is his light that will draw us back to him in praise and worship next time we gather together.

May we seek his light and trust his call for each one of us here. Amen.

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