On my class trip to Guatemala this January, part of our visit took us to the village of La Esmeralda and a Lutheran congregation there. Esmeralda is in an isolated part of the country that took about 20 hours by bus to get there. I don’t think I’m exaggerating, though I didn’t count exactly, but it was a very long time in the bus. Before going to Guatemala, I was anxious about travel and this stay in Esmeralda was a large part of my worry.

The people of Esmeralda and much of rural Guatemala live in material poverty like I’ve never experienced, and I just didn’t know how I’d respond. In our trip orientation, we were told basically to not cry when we were with our host families. That sounded pretty intimidating to me, and I thought I might just be one of those folks who’d need to work to hold it together. 

But when we arrived, I had a very different experience as did the rest of my group, I believe. We were greeted with incredible hospitality. People were proud of their homes, excited to show us the new fellowship hall they were building for their Lutheran church, and the new garden plots and farming techniques the Lutheran Church of Guatemala was helping them implement. They fed us delicious food abundantly. It was almost too much, but I figured out how to eat fresh, warm tortillas OK. 

We had a worship service in their beautiful church that they built. The night was full of beauty, laughing children, reverent prayers, and serious singing. I never felt the desperation of poverty I expected to see. 

Yes, they had dirt floors. Walls were sometimes more demarcations of space than anything that would keep bugs or small animals out. It was not what we Americans would call acceptable in any way. But the feeling of the people was of strength, dignity, joyfulness at times, and pride. The children looked like they were growing up in a land of safety that was basically a playground for them. They have dreams and hopes for their village. They have plans and they are working on them with courage and determination. It never occurred to me to cry, except in gratitude of their graciousness.

Today’s gospel teaching comes right after the Sermon on the Mount that we read last week. Jesus’ sermon paints a vision of the world where the lowest and the suffering are most blessed. They will inherit the world and they will be comforted. The ones on the margin will be brought to the center. This is God’s wisdom of balance and inclusion. 

In today’s 2^nd reading, Paul juxtaposes God’s wisdom with the wisdom of the world. The Sermon on the Mount is God’s wisdom. So, that begs the question, what is the wisdom of the world? What is it in terms of Esmeralda and places like it? The wisdom of the world might say that there can be no dignity or anything good in a life when you live with dirt floors that turn to mud in the rainy season. The wisdom of the world might say that people with resources know what’s best for folks living without what we’d call basic sanitation. Who knows best? Which people’s opinions are the most valuable? The wisdom of the world would say, “It’s certainly not the poor or the hungry.” The wisdom of the world might look at these places and people, and see only lack instead of the incredible capacity they have for living.

When I was getting ready to go to Guatemala, a lot of people asked me what we were going to be doing there. It’s a good question, since middle-class American Christians mostly go to the global south with an intent to do something. However, I wonder if sometimes there is an element of the wisdom of the world sneaking in with this question, because the question was never who are you going to meet? What relationships are you going to build? However, that was in fact what we were going to do. The plan was to just meet people and build some relationships.

Now to my American mind, full of the wisdom of the world, going with intent to just meet some folks sounds almost like a silly thing to do. You guys know I’m a “do-er”. I like to do things. I like the idea of going somewhere and being useful. But, the folks of Esmerelda didn’t need us to be useful in that way. They had their own plans and actions going.

So, in my “do-er” mind, I can easily think that my mere presence in Esmeralda has no value to them. I was happy to go as a learner and was very grateful for their hospitality. They were bestowing a great gift to us. What I didn’t understand is that us folks from Luther Seminary were giving a great gift with just our presence. This was our actual usefulness to them and yet this was the one thing I did not think had value.

The folks at Esmerelda wanted to host us, share their homes and their food, share worship with us, struggle through language gaps with us, pray with us and for us. These are Lutherans, who are already in relationship with us through the ELCA, who wanted to know us and be known. A few people had said in one way or another that they can feel forgotten by the world and just our presence lifted them up.

So, this is what I think of when I hear Jesus’ gospel today. “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.”

Honestly, this feels personal, like Jesus is playing with my brain. I want to be useful! How do I be useful? The wisdom of the world would say, “Do things for people!” But Jesus is saying no to that, I think. Afterall, salt doesn’t do anything other than be present and be salt. So, Jesus asks for our presence as God made us to be.

Also, Jesus says, “You’re here to be light…Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand – shine!” (Matthew 5:14-16) The Greek translation of shine is actually more passive than this; it’s more like let the light shine. In other words, there’s not a lot of doing in this gospel that Jesus is asking of us, but a whole lot of being. Be who you are. Be present with others as God made you to be and as such you are the salt of the earth and the light of God.

So, when I think about being the salt-seasoning on our trip, the people of Esmeralda (and other places we visited) were definitely the salt-seasoning who brought out the God-flavors of the world for me and my classmates. I wish you were there to experience the joy of that time together. However, the opposite is also true. We were the salt-seasoning and the light for them. I wouldn’t be so bold to say that, except this is what the people of Esermalda essentially told us.

In this time together, we laid aside our wisdom of the world that might be totally focused on their lack. Instead, we were just people who were brought closer to God due to the presence of the other.

That is not to say their poverty is OK or the situations they find themselves in are not at times terrible. There is a second part of Jesus’ teaching today where he is careful to include the Law and the prophets as essential. The Isaiah text points out that empty worship of God is not enough. We also need to “loose the bonds of injustice, undo the thongs of the yoke, let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke.” (Isaiah 58:6) Jesus doesn’t give us an out by saying all you have to do is be your wonderful self and that’s it. No, he’s saying be present, be the salt of the earth and the light of the world to others as you live in your truth as my disciple. And then uphold the law and do what is right in taking care of others.

Our discipleship is a both/and situation. Jesus’ love through his disciples, including us, is both a power in and of itself, AND it drives our action for doing justice for the sake of others. Just our loving presence or just doing the right thing is not what Jesus is teaching here.

That’s why this can sound like a high bar to enter into that loving space of God’s Kingdom. It is a high bar that we’re called to meet, and yet Jesus’ yoke is easy. He helps us to love, and he helps us to serve. Through our own power, we cannot live into God’s call on our lives. But with the grace of our triune God, we are first brought into community and grace and then we will be better prepared to bring about justice.

It is important for us as Americans to be aware that our trade, immigration, and military policies have major impacts on people around the world, particularly the poor. There are practical actions that can be done to ease poverty and suffering. And Jesus’ teaching reminds us to be present in love with others first, to be the salt and the light, to receive these same gifts from others, and rely on the grace of our triune God so that we can do what is truly best for those in our care, for the world, and all of creation.

AMEN