Hello my friend Dr. Brad Miller here with the Daily Bible Refresh.

This is your daily reading of the Bible from a progressive point of view.

In a bit I will read the New Testament lessons selected from the Revised Common Lectionary for this very day.

The reading is understandable.

I use the message version relatable.

Please listen to the points to ponder and applicable with action steps you can take.

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Here's today's reading and we're reading from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5, verses 13 through 20 from the Message Salt and Light 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.

Here's another way to put it.

You're here to be light bringing out the God colors of the world.

God is not a secret to be kept.

We're going public with this as public as a city on a hill.

If I make you light bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you?

I'm putting you on a light stand.

Now that I've put you on a hilltop on a light stand.

Shine, keep open house.

Be generous with your lives.

By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God.

This generous Father in heaven, completing God's Law.

Don't suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures, either God's law or the prophets.

I'm not here to demolish, but to complete.

I'm going to put it all together.

Put it all together in a vast panorama.

God's Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground on your feet.

Long after stars burn out and the earth wears out, God's law will be alive and working.

Trivialize even the smallest item in God's law and you will only have trivialized yourself.

But take it seriously.

Show the way for others and you will find honor in the kingdom.

Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in The matter of right living.

You won't know the first thing about entering the kingdom of God.

Well, my friends, I'm really glad you joined me here today.

And I just want you to gather around, let's get a cup of coffee or let's have a moment together around a table and in your earbuds or on YouTube or however you're listening to me today.

And let's just talk for a minute about this passage of scripture from Matthew 5:13 through 20 and, and we're.

And where Jesus says we're here to be.

Salt bring out the God flavors of life and light, bringing out the God colors of the world.

Then he talks about completing God's law, not demolishing it.

So let's kind of work through that.

Sit with that for a minute and ask, what does that look like on an everyday day when you're kind of tired, you're kind of worried, or you're trying to do the right thing for your family, your community?

And to see what this means for us from a progressive point of view, let's talk about some points to ponder.

Here's the first one.

Salt as everyday courage, not gatekeeping.

Salt doesn't dominate a dish.

It's meant to enhance the dish.

It draws out what is already good.

And a progressive reading of this scripture says discipleship is less about policing boundaries and more about amplifying goodness.

The space of goodness in people who've been pushed into the margins.

Saltiness is courage to tell the truth gently but clearly about racism, poverty, exclusion, violence, even when it cost us our social comfort.

It's choosing language and actions that help the God flavors in others emerge.

My granddaughters remind me of this every time they make me laugh.

They bring a lot of flavor to my life because the joy is contagious.

So is courage.

A second point to ponder, light that refuses secrecy public.

Jesus says God isn't a secret to keep under a bucket.

He says keep open house, be generous with your lives is what it says.

So a left of center progressive perspective says that Jesus shaped light goes public in tangible ways.

Showing up for our neighbors, no matter what their ethnic background or whether they are immigrants or whatever, show up for our neighbors, advocate for health care.

I think a lot about this in my cancer community that I work with.

Support fair wages, build churches that affirm LGBTQ people, immigrants, single parents.

Light is not a spotlight on us.

It's a floodlight on God's abundant.

God's abundant hospitality, God's abundant welcoming.

So if you're a sports fan like me, Like Indiana football, Coles, Pacers fever.

You know that teamwork matters more than any star does.

Champions are built on teamwork, and light creates a team where more people get to play.

Point de Ponder 3.

Completing the law means centering mercy over moralism.

God or Jesus doesn't scrap the law, he completes it.

The shape of completion is compassion.

Imagine the law as a symphony.

Jesus is the conductor, pulling all the parts together so the melody of mercy can be heard.

Doing far better than the Pharisees isn't about stricter rules.

It's about deeper integrity, rejecting purity, culture and performative religion in favor of love that heals bodies, systems and souls.

My wife and I take a hike in the woods sometimes.

We sometimes end up picking up some trash or things that are out there trying to leave the trail better than what we found it.

So completing the law looks like that.

Leaving people, communities and creation better than what we find.

Here's an action step.

Pick one.

Public generosity.

You can practice this week.

Choose something concrete and local.

Donate your time, your energy or money to volunteer at a clinic or a food pantry or someplace that serves others.

Call your city council, call your congresspeople, call your senators, call the President's office and be an advocate of affirmation for those who've been sidelined and pushed into the margins.

Bring a meal to a caregiver, put these things on your calendar and then follow through.

You can be salt by drawing out the God flavors, the good things and other people and in yourself.

And you can be light by making generosity visible enough and invite others to join.

We're gonna come back and have a prayer here in just a minute.

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You just go to our website, voiceofgoddaily.com let's pray.

God of flavor and color.

Thank you for the laughter of grandchildren.

Study love that lasts through decades of marriage and parenting and teach us all to be salt that brings out goodness and light that that welcomes without walls where we've hidden under buckets out of fear, fatigue or habit.

Lift us up and help us to shine with gentle courage.

Complete our lives with mercy in our choices, our communities, our policies and our prayers.

Be close to those with cancer and those who love them.

Season people's days with hope and small, sustaining joys.

And when our efforts fall short, keep us humble and steady one generous step at a time.

Amen.

My friend.

I am delighted you chose to join me for today's reading.

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My name is Dr. Brad Miller and I'll be right here tomorrow with your Daily Bible Refresh.

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Remember, God's loyal love doesn't run out.

His merciful love hasn't dried up, it's created new every morning.