Throughout the centuries people have tried to figure out what God wants. Ancient people's came up with all kinds of rituals and ceremonies designed to please their gods. Archaeologists have uncovered proof that many ancient civilizations practiced human sacrifice to please their gods. Those who didn't practice human sacrifice certainly practiced animal sacrifice. And that wasn't the only kind of sacrifice there were also personal sacrifices. Fasting is one example: a person forgoes eating or drinking or sleeping in an attempt to demonstrate their devotion to God.

Ancient Israel was much the same except the God they sacrificed to was the real God not an idol. They practiced animal sacrifice and fasting in an attempt to please God. The story of Abraham offering up Isaac shows us that they had the potential to sacrifice humans. It took that drama, orchestrated by God, to show them that human sacrifice was not what God wanted.

By the time of Isaiah the prophet, Israel had an elaborate system of sacrifice and ritual. At the center of their religious lives was the periodic sacrifice of animals. They also regularly fasted and tithed. All in an attempt to please God and win God's favor.

But is that what God really wanted - sacrifices and fasting, rituals and ceremonies? No! At least that is what God's prophets said over and over again. But didn't God instruct them to offer sacrifices? Yes, if you read the Bible you will see that their elaborate system of sacrifices was instituted by God. But God Almighty in heaven has no use of fatted calves and rams. God is already the creator and owner of every animal. It wasn't the burnt carcass of an animal that God desired. God could create as many living rams as he wanted why would he desire a dead one. What God really wanted was the hearts of the people. The rituals and sacrifices and fasting were only meant as a means of leading people to devote their hearts to God.

By the time of the prophets the people had lost sight of that truth. They thought God was like some genie in a bottle. If they rubbed it with the right sacrifices and words they could get what they wanted. So they fasted, and on the same day they oppressed and mistreated their workers.(Isaiah 58:3) They offered food to God, but failed to feed the hungry here on earth.

So God sent them prophets to teach them and help them get their priorities straight. Micah declared, "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."(Micah 6:8) And Isaiah said "This is the fast that God requires: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to let the oppressed go free, to feed the hungry, to bring the homeless into your house, to cloth the naked."(Isaiah 58:6-7) "Then," said the prophet, God will be pleased.(Isaiah 58:8-9) Isaiah wasn't saying that the people of his day should stop making sacrifices to God. He was telling them that devotion to God and righteousness toward their sisters and brothers was what mattered. Without that devotion and righteousness all their sacrifices and rituals were empty and meaningless.

God no longer asks us to sacrifice animals. I see that none of you brought any fatted calves this morning! Christ is the sacrifice for our sins. We could not buy our salvation with any act of devotion. There is nothing we possess that could repay God for the injuries our sins have caused. So God graciously gave us a suitable sacrifice: his only Son. And Christ gave himself over to the wicked to have his body broken and his blood shed for our salvation. Jesus became the lamb of God slain for our salvation.

God no longer asks for fatted calves and rams to be sacrificed on the altar. But God still wants our hearts. God wants us to offer devotion and worship that grows out of a genuine faith. God wants us to give a sacrifice of love for one another. We still perform rituals and ceremonies and make gifts and offerings to God. But those actions should be expressions of a deeper devotion. All our rituals and gifts are meaningless if our hearts are not right with God.

What does God want? God wants justice and mercy. God wants righteousness and love. We cannot buy God's favor. God has given it to us and all we can do is respond in faith and love.

Perhaps I should put all of this in a different perspective. Did you know that we practice human sacrifice in our society? Every day we sacrifice our neighbor on the altar of some pagan god. Every day people are sacrificed on the altars of greed and wealth. Love Canal wasn't the first example and a dare say it will not be the last. Every day corporate America endangers the lives of others in order to save a buck. Every day our children are sacrificed on the altars of prejudice and hate. Why do so many black youth die in our inner cities to gang violence and why is a black man more likely to go to jail than to graduate college. Because we teach our children the same lies that our parents taught us. Lies of hatred and prejudice that perpetuate hatred and mistrust and lead to violence and death. Every day countless women and men are sacrificed on the altars of lust. The pornography industry is only the tip of the iceberg. The portrayal of people as object and the images of sexuality in popular entertainment demean all human beings and contribute to the continuing growth of violent sexual crimes in our society. And every day people are sacrificed to the gods of "I don't care" and "It's someone else's problem." People freeze to death in the streets because there is no place to stay. Others drink or drug themselves to death because there is no funding for rehabilitation. And some never hear of the love of God because no one ever bothered to tell them.

And in the mean time we Christians gather in our warm churches and eat our holy meals. We offer up prayers and praise and countless rituals and ceremonies while outside people are being sacrificed to the powers of darkness. Does that please God? No! God doesn't what empty rituals. God wants our hearts given to him in service and love.

Jesus said that we are the light of the world. It is our job to shine the light of God's love and justice for all to see. Sometimes it is hard to tell how to do that. Sometimes it seems that all we can do is pray, but often times we fail to do that. Pray for the lost and the oppressed. Love your neighbor both black and white with the same intensity that God loves you. Feed the hungry and cloth the naked in what little ways you can. That is what God really wants, and that will please the Almighty.

Matthew 5:13-20

The Sermon on the Mount can be compared to a course in how to be a follower of Jesus: Christianity 101. Last week we examined the opening of Jesus' lesson on how to be one of his followers. The beatitudes in a way might be called the syllabus of the course. Jesus says if you complete this course you will be expected to be humble, meek, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be pure, etc. And before this course is over you will be persecuted on account on me. If the beatitudes are the syllabus of Christianity 101 then the verses we read today are the first lecture. Having looked at the syllabus last week, let's begin our course in Christianity 101.

Everyone open your textbooks (hold up a Bible) to the New Testament page 4. For those of you with other editions of the textbook that is in Matthew lecture 5 verse 13. Now what is the first thing Jesus says to his disciples in verse 13? "You are the salt of the earth."

Now I don't know about you but I like salty foods. I love pretzels and chips and anything that has salt on it. So this first thing I think of when I hear this is the flavor. Jesus is saying that Christians should give flavor to life.

But there is more to Jesus' statement than just flavor. While Jesus and his hearers might have thought of the flavoring aspect of salt that probably was not their first thought. You see in Jesus' day, they didn't have ways of preserving food like we do. And one of the major sources of protein in Israel was fish. Most of the fish that I have in my house is either frozen or canned. Back in Jesus’ day they didn't have freezers or, to my knowledge, canning. They used salt to preserve their fish. And the salt preserved the fish by killing bacteria and preventing its growth.

So Jesus and his followers probably thought about the preservative qualities of salt. Jesus is saying that it is our job to preserve people. It is our job to put them in touch with God so that they can live forever and not rot with the Devil. Some would even say that we preserve the world because only our presence prevents God from destroying this sinful place. But it is more than just preserving. Here is where the flavor comes in. When someone comes to Christ, they not only are cleansed of their sins and preserved for eternal life; they are also given an eternal quality of life. Jesus spices up their life as well as preserving it. So like salt we should preserve and spice up people's lives.

Salt was also an important part of sacrifices in the Old Testament. Remember these students of Christianity 101 had all passed Judaism 101 and probably 201 as well. So when they heard "salt" they probably thought of the salt added to sacrifices. This was the "salt of the covenant" and represented holiness. So just as the priests salt sacrifices to make them holy, we are to spread holiness and salt the world.

What is the next thing Jesus says? Look back in verse 13 again: "if the salt has lost its taste how can its saltiness be restored?" While it may be hard for us to imagine, salt can lose its taste. It can become contaminated so that it is no longer of any use for flavoring or preserving food. Have any of you seen road quality salt. That is salt that is not good for human consumption. It looks like granite. It is gray with white streaks. Because it has other minerals in it, it lacks flavor and would probably make you sick. It’s only use is to throw in the road to melt snow. In one sense such salt is no longer salt. It’s just sand.

In Israel it wouldn’t even be good for that because they don't get much snow in the holy land. You wouldn’t want to throw it away in your garden so you would throw it in the road and use it like sand. That’s what a Christian is who has lost his or her flavor for life. If they are no longer doing their job they are useless. They are like salt without any salt in it.

So Jesus first lesson in being a Christian is that we are like salt. We are supposed to be holy so that we can spread holiness. And by spreading holiness we purify and preserve the world. And if we aren’t doing that, then we are good for nothing. In a sense, a Christian who no longer lives Christ is no longer a Christian, at least not in the way they live their life. They are no longer Christians in the same way that salt which has lost its flavor is no longer salt.

The second point in Jesus’ opening lecture on Christianity is found in verse 14 and 15. Look in your textbooks. What does verse 14 say? “You are the light of the world.” Many people, myself included, look at this and think it is saying the same thing as verse 13. And it is close, but there is more emphasis here on doing.

Jesus goes on to say that you don’t light a candle to cover it up but to place it high so that many can see. In the book of Revelation the churches are symbolized as lamp stands. The church holds up the light of Christ just as a lamp stand holds up a lamp. Some people use a lighthouse as a symbol or metaphor for the church. The purpose of the lighthouse is to shine a light in the darkness so that ships don’t hit a reef or rocky shore.

Jesus says that like a lamp we must shine our light before people so that they see our good works and glorify God. Jesus is not talking about showing off. He deals with that kind of false piety later in the course. Here he is talking about true acts of love and mercy and justice. As Christians, we should live so that others see what we do and give glory to God.

The final point of Jesus’ introduction to Christianity 101 is found in verses 17-20. Jesus says, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets: I have not come to abolish but fulfill." Remember, Jesus' first students were graduates of Judaism 101. Was Jesus teaching them a new way that would mean throwing the old out? No, Jesus says. What Jesus is teaching is different. But it in no way contradicts or countermands Judaism. In fact it fulfills it.

It is like a student who takes a class in European or Asian history. The student learns about periods of time and kingdoms and dates and such. Then the student takes a class in World history. The content is different in the second class but it does not contradict but rather fills out what the first class did not cover. Judaism was a class in how to be God's people for a particular nation: Israel, Christianity is a class in how to be God's people for all humanity.

The problem was that many of Jesus' students had poor examples for teachers in their course on Judaism. The scribes and Pharisees and other religious leaders talked about the law and the prophets and put on a good show but they were not really trying to serve God. Jesus was clear about their failure, but said that his followers should have a righteousness that far exceeds those other teachers. Sometimes people think being a Christian means being wishy washy and trying to please everyone. Maybe some thought Jesus was offering people an easy way out. Jesus said, "No, this is no easy way out. You don't have to live like the Pharisees. You have to live better."

So that is our introductory lesson in Christianity 101. The points to remember are this: #1 You are the salt of the earth. It is your purpose in life to be a holy influence in the society at large and bring others to eternal life in Christ. If you don't, you are like salt that has lost its flavor. #2 You are the light of the world. You are supposed to shine God's light through your good deeds. That way people can see them and be saved from destruction. #3 Don't forget everything you already know about righteousness but seek to exceed the righteousness of the teachers of this world.

Thank you for your time, class. I will see you next week. Don't forget to read your textbook in the mean time (hold up the Bible). Oh, by the way, there will be a test on the contents of today's lecture. It begins right now and lasts for the rest of your life.