Growing up as a Chicago Cubs fan, the games I most looked forward to were the ones against the Cubs most bitter rivals. The St. Louis Cardinals most often filled that role. But once a year, the Cubs would take on a different sort of rival. Once a year they would play the Chicago White Sox. They called these games “exhibition games” because they were just for show. They didn’t count toward the season win-loss record. But Cubs and White Sox fans looked forward to those games every year as if it were the World Series. In fact, I would actually argue that despite the fact that those exhibition games didn’t matter for the season, they were more important for most Cubs fans than the games the Cubs and White Sox play now that actually count toward the season record. Those exhibition games were a vision of what could be, if the Cubs and White Sox ever both made it to the World Series. Nowadays, National League teams and American League teams play each other regularly. In fact, I recently heard that next season every team will play every other team at least once in the regular season. So, those games between rival teams from the same town but different leagues don’t really mean any more than any other game in the season. But those exhibition games meant the world to Cubs and White Sox fans because it was about what was possible.

This morning we are finishing out our sermon series on the Great Ends of the Church, six statements that the Presbyterian Church believes outline the most important aspects of what the Church is about. The sixth and final statement is about the Church’s call to “the exhibition of the kingdom of heaven to the world.” And what does that mean? Well, let’s think first about that word “exhibition.” The word “exhibit” comes from two Latin words meaning “out” and “hold.” So, an exhibition would be a “holding out” of something. We are showing that thing off to the world. That means that the sixth Great End of the Church is saying that we are to show off the kingdom of heaven to the world.

Jesus talks about this in the part of the Sermon on the Mount that we read this morning. Jesus has just concluded the beatitudes and he launches into a series of metaphors. He begins, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot.” What does it mean for us to be the salt of the earth? I thought about this a lot this week. What does salt do for the earth? I suspect that the salt Jesus was referencing was not the kind of salt we use to season our food, but a salt substance that helped to fertilize the land. Jesus was saying that we are to be fertilizing the earth, making growth more possible, making the land more hospitable to life. How might we do that? We do that by living into the part of the prayer we pray every Sunday that says, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” If we are to make this land a more hospitable place so that life can grow and thrive, we must be an exhibition of the kingdom of heaven to the world. We must show the world what heavenly life looks like. Life where there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, but ALL are ONE in Christ Jesus. Life where character traits like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are cultivated. Life where the lion and the lamb can lie down together in peace. Can you envision a life like that? That is the life WE are to live in the here and now. That is the life we are called to bring to the world. We are the salt of the earth, Jesus says.

But he warns that if salt loses its taste, it becomes worthless and should be thrown out with the waste. The interesting thing about this statement from Jesus is that the Greek word that is translated as “tasteless” or “has lost its taste” is the word moraino, which I talked about a couple weeks ago and is the word from which we get our word moron. The primary definition for this word is “to be foolish.” A foolish person is someone who doesn’t do what they should do. So, Jesus is talking about if salt were not to do what it should do, then how would it recover. It would have to just be thrown away. If we are not living the way of the kingdom of heaven, then we are not doing what we should do. But if we are still alive, then we still have time.

So, we are to fertilize the earth with the good things of heaven because we are the salt of the earth. But Jesus adds that we are also “the light of the world.” He says, “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” We are salt and now we are light. And what does light do for the world? It allows us to see clearly. And even the smallest amount of light can break through the darkness and allow us to see. Jesus calls us to be light to the world. That means we are called to show others the way. We are called to show others clearly who God is and what the kingdom of heaven is about. We are called to shine the light of love upon the world, both in our words and in our actions.

Now, I do not believe that this is a call for us to point out where others are wrong. I believe the light of God is meant to show us our own wrongs and not the wrongs of others. Our call is simply to shine the light. That means loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And loving our neighbor as ourselves. When we do that, we are shining the light of God in the world. Jesus says “a city on a hill cannot be hid.” What’s to hide it? It is high up so there is nothing to block the view. And if any light shines out from the city in the night, it will be seen clearly in the darkness. The light of God in us should shine just as clearly…not because we proclaim it but because we live it. God shines through our love and care for others. And that cannot be hid.

Jesus goes on to say that people do not light a lamp and put it under a bushel basket. And that makes sense. You would only light the lamp if you wanted to see. And if you wanted to see, then why would you proceed to try to cover up the light with a basket. The basket wouldn’t have totally put the light out, but it would have divided the light and made it less effective. I’ll admit that that sounds a bit like the current state of the Christian church. We have divided ourselves, we’ve divided the light of God, and our shining has become less effective because of it. We must try to shine as strongly and as clearly as we can…both as individuals and as the Church. Jesus says to let our lights shine before others, “so that they may see [our] good works and give glory to [our] Father in heaven.” We don’t shine in order to put more butts in the pews. We don’t shine to sell more tickets to heaven. We don’t shine to get more volunteers for a mission project or more money in the offering plate or more teachers for Sunday school. We shine so that others will see OUR good works and glorify GOD in heaven. We are an exhibition of GOD’S kingdom. And that is far beyond us.

I read a quote this week that says, “Darkness can never be extinguished by complaining about it or by saying how terrible it is indeed! It can never be conquered if we fear it or if we give in to despair. There is only one thing necessary. In order to overcome the darkness, we need to give out LIGHT.” We live in a world full of darkness and despair. And we can rail against the darkness and evils of the world until we are blue in the face and it will make absolutely NO difference. We can complain about how everyone else is doing it wrong and how they are ruining the world, but no amount of complaining will rid the world of darkness. The only way to overcome the darkness…the ONLY way to overcome the darkness is to give out LIGHT.

You are the salt of the earth. Spread God’s love and hope and peace to the world so that life and growth might become possible in soil that had once been inhospitable. You are the light of the world. Shine God’s love into all the dark corners and let God light the path for those who are lost. Don’t cover your light or let it be divided by bitterness or frustration or angst. Let it shine! I want to end this sermon with words that kept annoyingly coming into my head every time I thought about what I had titled this sermon. It’s the lyrics to a song from the 90s Christian band Newsboys. It was a horribly catchy and annoying song in the 90s and it continues to be so. But despite that, the lyrics really do go with Jesus’ words in Matthew 5 and with the final Great End of the Church that we are called to be “the exhibition of the kingdom of heaven to the world.” These lyrics from the Newsboys song “Shine” reiterate for us what our calling from God is.

Shine

Make ’em wonder what you’ve got

Make ’em wish that they were not

On the outside lookin’ bored

Shine

Let it shine before all men

Let ’em see good works and then

Let ’em glorify the Lord

Shine! Let the world see the love of God in you! Let God’s love be seen, not in your judgments and calls to return to the truth, but in your living out of the truth in which you believe. And may we all glorify the Lord! Amen!