Sermon: Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Matthew 5:13-20, February 5, 2023 Faith-La Fe Lutheran Church, Pastor Linman

Sermon: Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Matthew 5:13-20, February 5, 2023

Faith-La Fe Lutheran Church, Pastor Jonathan Linman

Anybody here sometimes struggle with feeling as though you’re not good enough, that you don’t measure up? That your shortcomings outnumber and outweigh your successes and victories? That somehow you don’t belong? That you feel excluded, or like a second-class citizen?

If I asked you to raise your hands, I suspect that a lot of hands might go up.

Personally speaking, even after three decades and more of successful public ministry as a pastor, there are times when I feel as though I don’t know what I’m doing, and that I’m not qualified enough in my journey of faith to be an effective pastor for the demands of ministry these days in an ever-changing church and world.

Which is to say, we all struggle sometimes with not feeling good enough to belong.

And our individualistic society with its focus on celebrities and “winners” making it, with people seeking the affirmation of likes and thumbs up on social media, our popular culture amplifies the sense of many people feeling that they don’t measure up.

These are heavy burdens that so many of us carry, often hidden from public view in the quiet places of our hearts and minds. Maybe our insecurities have been intensified by criticism we’ve received over the years from those among our family members and friends and others.

Against this backdrop of the broken realities of our human predicament, listen again to Jesus’ words which conclude today’s gospel reading: “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the dominion of heaven.”

What’s your honest reaction to hearing these words of Jesus that Matthew records? Maybe a sense of hopelessness, of feeling doomed and damned. In a word, “ouch! Jesus, that hurts.”

After all, the scribes and the Pharisees were the religious professionals of Jesus’ day, the spiritual elite, the holy winners who were always welcomed into the most sacred of places. How can our righteousness exceed that of the top religious people? It sounds as though most of us would never qualify to enter the dominion of heaven.

But let’s not take this unnerving admonition from Jesus out of context. Rather, let’s look more deeply at this passage. Our sinful state in an individualistic society assumes that our righteousness is something we achieve on our own apart from anyone else.

Thank God there’s more going on here in this passage. We are beckoned to view today’s gospel from the vantage point of God’s logic and that of the mission that God sent his son Jesus on. If we view Jesus’ hard statement only through the lenses of our mortal vantage point, we are indeed doomed and damned.

For some better news, indeed, the good news, we cannot forget what Jesus said a few verses previously in this passage: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”

While it’s true that our righteousness on our own will never exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, we have Jesus to rely on. Which is to say, it is Jesus Christ’s righteousness that fulfills and accomplishes the law’s demands. And we share in Christ’s righteousness. To be sure, Christ’s righteousness far exceeded that of the all the scribes and Pharisees put together. We’re not in this alone. Our righteousness in Christ and because of Christ is plenty for us to gain entry into the dominion of heaven. Christ’s righteousness becomes our righteousness as a great gift of grace from our Lord.

This good news is reinforced by what Matthew reports that Jesus said next, “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.”

Well, all became accomplished on the cross and at the empty tomb. Here in Matthew’s account, Jesus uses the code word of “accomplishment” to point us in the direction of the last days of his public ministry in Jerusalem, the culmination of his ministry when he died on the cross proclaiming, according to John’s gospel, “It is finished.” That is, complete. All is accomplished.

Jesus’ death, and then the vindication that occurred when God raised him from the dead, become the ultimate expression and embodiment of God’s righteousness which becomes our righteousness as a gift of grace.

In the waters of baptism, we are washed and flooded with God’s righteousness in Christ that cleanses us of unrighteousness.

In the scriptural word of God preached and taught, the righteousness of God in Christ is likewise lavished on us with an abundance of gracious words and stories, such that God’s story becomes our story, God’s righteousness, our righteousness by the gift of Christ Jesus.

We receive the righteousness of God in Christ in the words of absolution, of forgiveness, which also wipes the slate clean of our unrighteousness.

In our holy conversations with each other, God’s righteousness in Christ is part and parcel of the graced words of encouragement that we speak to one another.

In the holy meal, the Eucharist, we eat and drink our fill of God’s righteousness in Christ such that we become what we eat, the righteous, holy body of Christ as the church to be broken for the world.

Through these means Christ’s righteousness becomes ours and we are beckoned to enter into the sacred boundaries of the dominion of heaven. “Come on in,” Jesus says, “be my guest; you belong here.”

Moreover, through the means of grace we celebrate here week after week, God gives us the gift of faith to apprehend this happy exchange, replacing our unrighteousness with Christ’s righteousness. As the apostle Paul writes in our second reading for today, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 2:12-13a)

On our own, we cannot understand such grace. Which is why we need God’s help. Again, here’s what Paul says: “‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love God’ – these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10)

Thus, we learn by God’s grace and in God’s eyes that we do in fact measure up, apart from our failings, real or perceived. In Christ, we don’t need to go clamoring about for likes and thumbs up. In Christ, we have worth as Christ sees us for who we really are, thus restoring the beauty of the image of God in each of us. Oh, what graced freedom from our captivity to our insecurities and feelings of worthlessness.

Then buoyed up by Christ’s righteousness, we also become salt and light in our witness to our weary, broken, frightened, insecure world, as Jesus instructed his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth.” “You are the light of the world.”

And we can begin in fits and starts to let our light shine before others, so that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven.” (cf. Matthew 5:16)

And with renewed confidence born of faith, we embark on holy work that seeks to fulfill the prophecy from Isaiah in today’s first reading: “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps 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.” (Isaiah 58:6-8a)

God’s light dawns and healing springs up here at Faith-La Fe in many ordinary but profound ways week after week. So let’s get concrete and practical. As a sign of the light of God shining forth and God’s healing springing up in our midst as a congregation, I invite you to think about the carpeting in the parish hall. That’s right. The carpet. I’m serious. Think about the parish hall carpeting. To be sure, that carpeting has seen better days and dearly needs to be replaced.

But think about what worn out carpeting signifies! That floor covering reveals the reality of a building that does not sit empty throughout the week, but which is used by many and various community groups, some of which nurture healing from such maladies as addiction. That carpeting got further worn-down last weekend during the Rummage Sale when, in addition to raising funds for our mission as a congregation, we were also able to offer direct aid to those in need. The stains on the carpet give evidence of the many and various social occasions of our congregation when we embody together life-giving community here in this place, when we feed each other. Think of all the dirty feet that have trampled that carpeting over the years, and all of the spills as expressions of God’s work, our hands.

That carpeting is a sign of God’s righteousness in Christ being acted out in our social ministries together at Faith-La Fe. Every stain and every tear in that parish hall carpet is a sign of Christ’s light in our midst, Christ’s righteousness giving birth to our righteous deeds, again, God’s work, our hands, our feet, and the feet of many others of God’s children in need. There’s a lot of salt and light in that carpet that has seen better days. So, let it be a sign that in some measure the words of the prophet and the teachings of Jesus are being fulfilled in some measure among us as we seek to feed and clothe those of God’s beloved in need. Thanks be to God in Christ, who is our righteousness, and whose righteousness shines forth in our ministries. Amen.