1 Peter 2:9-10: You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Matthew 5:1-16: The Beatitudes, Salt of the earth, Light of the world.

From 1940 until 1991, Latvian Christians were persecuted,

with martyrs from Orthodox, Lutheran, Baptist and Catholic traditions:

and, as Jesus said, 'their reward will be great in heaven'.

In that difficult time

Latvian Christians were united in common witness to the Gospel.

There was solidarity, unity,

arising from their focus on following Jesus,

their focus on being Christians.

Reflecting on this part of their recent past,

the Latvian Christians picked as the key passage for today's service

that short reading from the letter of Peter,

a letter written to buoy up persecuted first-century Christians

by proclaiming their God-given dignity;

a dignity we all share, through our Christian vocation.

We are God's people who have received mercy

The mercy we receive, above all,

is to know that God, in his Son Jesus,

who is God's marvellous light,

reaches down to us and raises us up –

raises us up, not individually, but together:

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, ...

called out of darkness into God's marvellous light.

Why? so that we

may proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord.

Proclaim his mighty acts,

not for the Lord's benefit,

not out of a sense of duty,

but out of gratitude:

gratitude from ourselves,

gratitude from the people of God,

but also, most especially, as a royal priesthood,

gratitude on the part of humanity as a whole.

We are the people who know that God is truly with humanity,

that God is the source of all goodness and grace in the human heart.

Our place, and our privilege,

is to be tuned in to the mighty acts of the Lord,

and to acknowledge, to glorify, what the Lord has done.

We are called to be salt:

we are called to bring flavour into the lives of those around us.

A thought-provoking image:

salt is a small thing to add to food,

but it makes a big difference.

The image suggests quiet, 'invisible' work.

We are called to enhance the world:

being attentive to those we meet,

and encouraging and amplifying the good we see.

This is a very every-day thing:

in our homes, in our families, at work, in our churches, as we shop,

we are called to look out for opportunities

through word and gesture,

to value those around us,

and to encourage, in whatever way seems sensible,

the good in others.

In doing so, in a quiet way,

we honour, we 'proclaim', God's mighty works.

We are called to be light.

Our light must shine so that

seeing our good works

people may give praise to our Father.

Our good works are to be rooted in our experience of God's mercy,

in our experience of his care and compassion for humanity

shown in Jesus:

we are to be a people full of care and compassion,

dedicated to the works of mercy.

Our focus, in this, will always be on the people who need our love.

We do this without fuss, and without interest in being noticed.

Then, in one of those Christian paradox's,

our genuine lack of concern for praise or recognition,

is precisely what allows the light of selflessness,

the light of Jesus, to shine through.

We, God's people, tuned in to his works and his workings,

see the light of selflessness in others,

and our hearts rise in praise of God for his mighty acts.