Worship Helps for Epiphany 5

Artwork: Sermon on the Mount

Artist: Cosimo Rosselli

Cosimo Rosselli (1439-1507) was an Italian painter who was born in Florence, Italy. As a young, aspiring artist, Rosselli painted several altar-pieces for various churches in Florence. He was employed to paint frescoes in churches at Fiesole and Lucca. He must have gained a reputation and a following from his frescoes. In 1480, Rosselli was one of the painters called by Pope Sixtus IV to decorate the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican. Other well known masters such as Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and others were also invited.

Three of Rosselli’s frescoes adorn the Sistine Chapel: the Descent from Mount Sinai, the Last Supper, and the Sermon on the Mount.

Some art scholars believe that Rosselli’s work is inferior to the works of the other illustrious masters who have paintings in the famous chapel. They believe him to be weak in his drawing and imagination, with many of his figures created without expression or emotion. It is rumored that Pope Sixtus IV appreciated Rosselli’s fresco of the Sermon on the Mount more than the other paintings because Rosselli used real gold to create brighter colors in this particular painting.

Rosselli’s Sermon on the Mount is on the northern wall in the Sistine Chapel, created 1481-1482.

In this painting, Jesus is standing in the midst of masses of people. His disciples are huddled close together behind Jesus and on His left. In the background, you can see Jesus as Rabbi and His disciples walking on the road to the Mount. On right side Christ is seen healing a leper. This is commonplace in many ancient paintings where they contain more than one scriptural subject.

The beatitudes speak of blessings and happiness that are counter to any kind of culture. People today - just like in Jesus’ day – are searching for happiness. They won’t find that happiness in wealth, revenge or indulging the sinful nature. That happiness may be momentary as our sinful flesh and mind receive short-lived pleasure. But true, lasting and eternal happiness eludes us.

Jesus teaches a different kind of happiness – one that runs counter to any kind of culture. It is a happiness that is based solely on Him. Perhaps Rosselli chose to add Christ healing a leper to His Sermon on the Mount painting because this was a visual demonstration of happiness in action. There is physical happiness portrayed on the right side of the painting in the leper’s healing and there is spiritual happiness portrayed on the left side in Jesus’ sermon.

People are searching for happiness. Where can it be found? On a hill along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. In a healing encounter with Jesus. Upon the bloody Roman cross standing outside the walls of Jerusalem. And in the open and empty borrowed tomb. That’s God’s kind of happiness.

Worship Theme: On a crystal-clear winter evening, it’s easy to believe that the full moon is producing the wonderful light that allows you to take a brisk walk through the woods without a flashlight. In reality, the moon is producing no light at all; instead, it is simply reflecting the light of the sun. When people notice Christians producing godly lives, it would be easy to pat them on the back and to give them the credit for the good things they do. In reality, God’s people are simply reflecting the good work of God’s Son, Jesus. Jesus is the Light of the World (John 8:12), and he is revealed through his people, so let your light shine! Jesus tells us: You are…so be. You are the light of the world, so be light for the earth. You are the salt of the earth, so be salt for it. Our calling as sons of God means our lives will reflect our new status, and the world around us will be blessed by us.

Old Testament: Joshua 24:14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. ¹⁵ But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." ¹⁶ Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! ¹⁷ It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. ¹⁸ And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God." ¹⁹ Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. ²⁰ If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you." ²¹ But the people said to Joshua, "No! We will serve the LORD." ²² Then Joshua said, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD." "Yes, we are witnesses," they replied. ²³ "Now then," said Joshua, "throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel." ²⁴ And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him."

1. To what does Joshua point the people when he encourages them to live faithful lives?

2. To what does the Bible point you when it gives you a similar command to live as salt and light?

Epistle: 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. ¹¹ Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. ¹² Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

3. What reasons does Peter give for us to live like salt and light?

Gospel: Matthew 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. ¹⁴ "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. ¹⁷ "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Anyone who 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 practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

4. How does Jesus describe Christians in this world and why?

5. According to Jesus, why did he come into the world?

6. What warning does Jesus offer to people who believe that they lead God-pleasing lives apart from Jesus?

Answers:

1. Faith responds to God’s grace by promising to live as salt and light. Joshua pointed the people of Israel back to the gracious acts of God who had delivered them from every enemy. Now in possession of the Promised Land, God’s people could reflect on God’s great acts of grace and power in their lives. Seeing all God had done, the people vowed to Joshua to live as salt and light: “We will serve the LORD our God and obey him.”

2. As the children of God today, we see that God has defeated enemies far fiercer than the Amorites, Perizzites, and Canaanites. Sin, death, and the devil are vanquished. The gates to the heavenly Promised Land stand open. Looking at God’s great acts of grace and power, we cannot help but join in vowing our obedience to God. We will put away the gods of self and sin, and through the Spirit we will yield our hearts and join with Joshua in his life of salt and light: As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

3. The call of God made us part of a new people in order that we might declare his praises. Peter tells us to live lives that are different from the world around us—as different as light is to darkness. Called out of the darkness, we live in this world like foreigners who know that this is not our home. Strangers to the world, we abstain from sin and live such good lives that even the pagans will have to give God glory for his work in our lives. Called into the wonderful light, we let that shine on everyone around us.

4. They are the salt of the earth and the light of the world because they reflect the “salt” and “light” of Jesus. Jesus reveals himself to the world through his people.

5. Jesus came not to abolish or overturn God’s order and will, revealed in his holy law. He came instead to fulfill it as God intended. Jesus has fulfilled his Father’s will perfectly as our substitute in order to save us from sin.

6. Holiness apart from faith in Jesus requires us to keep God’s law perfectly, which is impossible for sinners like us. Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing (John 15:5).

Jesus’ sermon moves from the promises of the Beatitudes to his commands for the Christian life. The Christians blessed by Christ are called to be blessings to the world around us. You are salt, Christ says, so be it: act as the preservative that keeps this word from rotting. You are light, so be it: shine into the darkness of the world that people might see and know how different you are. The message of grace is not a message of antinomianism. Jesus did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it—first for us, and then in us. Our righteousness could never be enough—even if we could keep the 613 laws of the Pharisees—but Jesus’ righteousness is. Now he commands our light to shine that our deeds might give evidence of our faith to the praise of God the Father who created us to do them.

Putting your faith into action

Jesus gave me the job of being a light, a light to the world in fact! How can I possibly do this? I can try to show my love for God in all that I do and say, in the way I manage the money and possessions and gifts he has given me. I can give him back a significant portion of my income with which he has blessed me. But at most that would only provide light for my small area, not the world! I thank God that I don’t have to do this alone. By his grace and mercy, all of us work together, encouraging and strengthening each other as we lift high the light to tell the good news that God sent his Son to die for the sins of the world and to triumph over death and hell.

A reading from the Book of Concord for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

9] Concerning the righteousness of faith before God we believe, teach, and confess unanimously, in accordance with the comprehensive summary of our faith and confession presented above, that poor sinful man is justified before God, that is, absolved and declared free and exempt from all his sins, and from the sentence of well-deserved condemnation, and adopted into sonship and heirship of eternal life, without any merit or worth of our own, also without any preceding, present, or any subsequent works, out of pure grace, because of the sole merit, complete obedience, bitter suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord Christ alone, whose obedience is reckoned to us for righteousness. – Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, III. The Righteousness of Faith (paragraph 9)