I love cookbooks! I have two shelves of them. Truthfully, I use only four of them. The rest have entertainment or sentimental value. I love reading about ingredients – where they come from, how they are used, their history, and their properties. I also love reading the recipes. The stories about recipes really fascinate me. I enjoy reading the stories about how this recipe was brought from the old county by a great great grandmother. Or, that recipe is traditional in a family Christmas.
Recipes are instructions – a form of guidance – on how to prepare food in interesting and tasty ways. I have learned through experience that you can make alterations to some recipes and not to others. For example I can use more onions or ground turkey instead of ground beef in my chili and it tastes pretty good. But if I’m baking, I follow the recipe exactly. It is chemistry and if it is not the right ingredients or amounts, you will end up with something less than what you’d hoped.
As I was reading and studying our scripture this morning from Matthew (Matthew 5: 13-20), it read a little bit like a recipe – instructions for how to be in right relationship with God. God promised that He would show us the way – that He would guide us in life. This was done in many ways: the prophets (like Isaiah and Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and Zephaniah), leaders (like Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David in the Old Testament, and Paul and the Disciples in the New Testament). He gave us rules to live by – the 10 Commandments and a whole bunch more in the New Testament. And, then there is his finest creation, Jesus. All of this is provided so that we know what is expected in our relationship with God, with others and with creation.
I took the liberty to create a recipe from our scripture:
Right Relationship with God
The Law
Jesus
Holy Spirit
Light
Salt
Combine all ingredients with obedience. Bake in Grace.
Let’s examine this recipe more closely.
The Law: This is the foundation of our relationship with God. It is the basic instruction on how we are to be. The Law is like flour in a cake or cookies or bread. It is the substance. Without the flour, we have nothing. Without the law, we have nothing. The law is the foundation upon which our lives are built.
Jesus: Jesus speaks these words as part of his Sermon on the Mount. He tells the Jewish people that he has come, not to get rid of the laws, but to fulfill the law. Jesus is like the egg in our creation – it holds everything together. As a Christian community, we have one interest we all share: the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the stuff that holds us together as a community of believers.
Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is the effervescent in our recipe. It is the baking soda or powder or yeast. It is pure chemistry. Mixed properly, it creates air. It makes things light and tender. When the Holy Spirit is alive in us we live life with a lightness and compassion. Without the Holy Spirit our lives would be flat and tough and not worth sharing.
Light: this ingredient brings brightness to our lives. On cooking shows, the chef will often add a little lemon juice or vinegar, proclaiming that it “brightens” the recipe. Jesus calls us to be beacons of light, showing all we come into contact with what it means to live in love and how to be in relationship with God, with others and with creation. We serve as an example by revealing our own God-given light.
Salt: Salt is an amazing substance. It was used by the ancients as a preservative. It is a flavor – it is one of four flavors our tongues can taste. Without salt our food would be bland. It is a flavor enhancer – most baking recipes call for a pinch of salt to bring out the sweetness. Salt is the symbol for wisdom. Have you ever heard the term “take it with a grain of salt?” It means that we should be wise as we consider the efficacy or veracity of someone’s statement. And lastly, salt is essential for life – we cannot live without it. The blood that courses through us and the tears we shed are loaded with salt. We need it live! Jesus called us the salt of the earth. I think this means that we have responsibility for both preserving and enhancing our relationship with God, with others and with creation.
Separately these ingredients are just that – parts of a whole. While they stand on their own, their power comes when they are combined. Our relationship with God, no matter how good our intentions or actions are, mean nothing unless we are obedient –completely surrendering our need to control and instead being true God’s way.
Lastly, we are made whole and complete with God’s grace. Since we are imperfect by our nature, we must continually be held by the grace of God. This is not a gift to be taken advantage of. Just because we know it is freely given doesn’t give us license to do whatever we want. Instead, we honor this gift of grace by doing our best to follow the commands of God.
Now, I know you may be thinking that is recipe thing is a little corny – even for me!
Here’s the point. It is not good enough to sort of follow God’s laws and commandments for our lives, expecting that grace will cover it up. God has created each and every one of us. Each are uniquely equipped to fulfill this life in relationship. We will make many mistakes along the way. God’s grace will be freely given at every turn. In the end, though, our lives will be richer and more satisfying when we honor God with our lives – our obedience to and accountability for the guidance God has provided.
My gift to you today will come at the benediction. We have an opportunity to put into motion one of God’s most important laws: to love our neighbor – to open our arms in welcome to those who are strangers or foreigners or oppressed or outsiders – to welcome them to this place of safety and sanctuary. United Methodist Bishops across America have called us to pray for our human family with our Muslim brothers and sisters. In Muslim tradition, they pray several times a day. Their most important time of daily prayer is at noon. It is called Jummah. Our benediction today will be at noon today.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen and Alleluia.