Episode Transcript
Hello friends, and welcome to this week’s episode of Grits and the Gospel.
My name is Reverend Katie Griffis. It is so good to be with you this week.
I will confess that this sermon got rewritten. This week I had a wonderful week with some great experiences, and so I pivoted a little bit and rewrote it. This is Saturday morning that I’m recording, and I’m thankful for all those who help me get this out into the world and who have patience for my crazy brain and heart.
I am thankful that the message I am receiving this week is so fresh and timely and beautiful, and I hope it inspires you just as much as it inspires me.
So let us come together now on this fifth Sunday after Epiphany as we worship the Lord our God.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Today’s psalm lesson comes from the one hundred twelfth Psalm, verses one through ten. Hear now the word of the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
Happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in his commandments. Their descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever.
They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice. For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever.
They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord. Their hearts are steady; they will not be afraid. In the end, they will look in triumph on their foes.
They have distributed freely; they have given to the poor. Their righteousness endures forever; their horn is exalted in honor.
The wicked see it and are angry; they gnash their teeth and melt away. The desire of the wicked comes to nothing.
The word of God for us, the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
Let us remind ourselves now of the words that are the tenets of our faith.
Friends, what are the things that we believe?
I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. The third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Amen.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, we come to you today in awe of the beauty around us, and resolute in the things of justice that need to be fought for. Thank you for helping us find that balance in life. Thank you for helping us see the light when it needs to be found, and for calling us to be the salt of the earth.
Hear us now as we pray the words that your Son taught us to pray.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
Amen.
Today’s gospel lesson comes from the Gospel according to Matthew. We are still in the Sermon on the Mount, in the fifth chapter of Matthew, verses thirteen through twenty. Hear now the word of the Lord.
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 underfoot.
You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. People do not light a lamp and put it under a 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.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have not come to abolish but to fulfill. 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.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
The word of God for us, the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
Would you pray with me?
Thank you, Lord, for this message that is so light-bringing and powerful. Thank you for giving it to me. May all who hear it feel the same. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer.
Amen.
One of my members, Beth English, got a little salty this week. If you knew her, you would know that’s not very shocking. She called me all fired up about someone who posted on that horrible Book of Face that women should not be preachers.
She emphatically told the person who posted it that they were oh so wrong. That’s my kind of salty. That is the good kind of salty. That is the salty we all need to be sometimes.
It made me feel loved and even a little more powerful knowing that Beth had my back. I hope that I have the courage to say the hard things when I see injustice in the world.
There are a lot of salty clergy up in Minnesota right now. There are a lot of salty clergy going to protest in DC in a few weeks. That is the kind of pastor I want to be.
I think that’s exactly what Jesus was telling his followers in this sermon. He knew they were going to be ridiculed. He knew they were going to be criticized and called out for being different and for going against the ancient way of thinking. But instead of just being followers, Jesus calls us to be salty leaders.
Verse thirteen reminds us: 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.
If we are not salty, we are not good for anything. Well, that’s convicting.
Salt is used for a lot of different things. It’s used to preserve. It’s used to flavor. It’s rough around the edges. It smooths things out. It spices things up. It is acting like Beth English when she gets fired up about someone being mean to her preacher.
But there’s a second part, and this is where people of faith should be different—where we must be different. We are not only called to be the salt of the earth; we are also called to be the light of the world.
It’s not enough to be the catalyst for change and justice. We also have to go one step further and be a light to the world. We are not called to hide that part of our faith, but to let it shine brightly.
Finding that balance can be really tough. When things are going well, it’s easy to overlook the things that need a salty voice. It’s easy to ignore things that are far away, especially when things around here seem just fine.
It’s also easy to be only salty—to watch the news and forget that there are beautiful things happening all around us. There are wonderful people in the world doing amazing things. Not just in humanitarian work, but artists and writers and poets and painters capturing beauty in so many forms.
All we have to do is walk out the doors of our church to see a beautiful scene of peace and faith and love.
We need both things in life. We need to stand up and say the hard things, and we need the beauty and light and love that Jesus calls us to be.
I also think it’s more than that. I think the light and beauty of God’s creation, and the artistic creativity of the world, will save us from the constant need to be salty. The light, the creativity, the art, the music, the freedom to create and reflect will save us from the darkness.
There’s a letter I found on Letters of Note that sums this up perfectly. It was written by Nick Cave to a thirteen-year-old boy named Reuben in February of 2023. Here is part of his advice.
Read, read as much as possible. Read the big stuff, the challenging stuff, the confronting stuff, and read the fun stuff too. Visit galleries and look at paintings. Watch movies. Listen to music. Go to concerts. Be a little vampire running around, sucking up all the art and ideas you can.
Fill yourself with the beautiful stuff of the world. Have fun. Get amazed. Get astonished. Get awed on a regular basis, so that being awed becomes habitual—a state of being.
Understand your enormous value in the scheme of things, because the planet needs people like you: smart, young, creative, full of awe, who can minister to the world with positive mischievous energy.
Absorb the world’s richness and goodness and genius so that when someone tells you it’s not worth fighting for, you will stick up for it, protect it, and run to its defense, because it’s your world they’re talking about.
Then watch that world continue to pour itself into you in gratitude.
Do you hear the balance? Don’t avoid being challenged or confronting hard things, but use them to grow. Be amazed. Be in awe. Fight for the things that deserve to be fought for, and admire the things that deserve to be admired.
Listen to people you don’t agree with. Look at art you don’t immediately like. Grow from it all.
One of the things hurting our world right now is that we only want to listen to people who look and think like we do. It’s why there were eye rolls a few weeks ago when I used the pronoun “she” for God. It’s why people are enraged about who performs at halftime shows. It’s why people of color are detained for being journalists, immigrants, or simply standing up and being salty.
We are so busy being enraged that we miss the things trying to shine light and hope and love.
Jesus calls us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world—both at the same time.
Some of my favorite places on this planet are museums—places that teach us history and beauty. I visited one of my favorites this week while I was in Atlanta. SCAD has a fashion museum that displays incredible clothing creations.
There is not one garment I could wear or fit into, but seeing them expands my experience with color, texture, creativity, and craftsmanship. I don’t have to wear it to appreciate it. They make me joyful just to admire.
But you don’t have to go to Atlanta to find light. There are artists and authors and painters and potters and woodworkers and farmers and chefs right here. You can find beauty almost anywhere if you open yourself up to it.
I was in the woods this week with one of my members, Pete Peebles, watching controlled burns. There is an art to maintaining a stand of pines. It was like watching a dance.
You can find joy in the way a pine tree grows or the way a pecan shell colors. You just have to be willing to look.
Every museum, every gallery, every place I’ve lived has shown me art that made me cry, laugh, smile, or wrinkle my nose—but all of it made me think and grow.
I can’t help but think that if people who hate so much would take time to find something awe-inspiring, maybe the darkness wouldn’t overtake them. Maybe they would begin creating beautiful things too.
And then they would become the salt and the light of the world right along with the rest of us.
Because it takes both. It takes being salty and standing up for what’s right, and it takes bringing light in many forms and many ways.
We are called to continue the mission Jesus set us on—the balance of justice and love, the balance of salt and light.
I’m so glad we get to find that balance together.
Amen.
As you go throughout your week, I hope you look for the things that need a salty voice. Find ways to be salty, to make change, and to bring justice into the world.
But I also hope you look for creativity, beauty, and new ways to bring light.
Because in life, in death, and in life beyond death, God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
