Salt and Light

The Sermon on the Mount is the first step on the way
of discipleship, and it is of decisive importance to me
that our church consider this deeply. If we fully grasp
the Sermon on the Mount and believe it, then nothing
can frighten us – neither our own self-recognition, nor
financial threats, nor our personal weakness.
The dedication demanded in the Sermon on the
Mount is not a new law or moral teaching. Instead it
is forgiveness. Its vital element is the light and warmth
of the Holy Spirit. Here is Christ: the essence of salt,
and the strength of the tree that bears good fruit.
The Sermon on the Mount shows us the character of
a community, which shines like a light for the whole
world.
The Sermon on the Mount is not a high-tension
moralism, but we must grasp it as the revelation
of God’s real power in human life. If we take our
surrender to God seriously and allow him to enter our
lives as light, as the only energy which makes new life
possible, then we will be able to live the new life.

Eberhard Arnold