You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
It is no longer good for anything
but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world.
As a hospital chaplain I often heard about salt. It's essential to life, it does wonders for the taste of food, and too much will kill you. It's an excellent metaphor for the disciples of Jesus because our mission is vital. If we fail to live and promote the gospel, humankind will perish without hope. The entire experiment of evolution from the trolobites through today will have failed.
My hospital patients often complained that their food was tasteless; some found it unpalatable, and insisted that their families bring them more familiar food from home. They wanted that salt in their food to sharpen its flavor, especially those who had dulled their sense of taste by smoking. But the sodium in salt also caused them to retain water and they struggled for breath. It was a miserable trade-off.
Christians too, with our acute sense of God's immediate presence, sharpen the experience of life because we know that every act has consequences for good and evil. No one can afford to live mindlessly. There are no vacations from the spiritual life. One time, while showing a guest around Washington DC, I blessed myself as we began our lunch. He asked if I must always do that. I replied that I would not know how to eat without it. I suppose my gesture seemed odd, perhaps it made him feel uncomfortable.
After studying Deuteronomy and hearing Moses' command that we drill these laws and commands into your children, I appreciate the metaphor of salt all the more. Moses knew that his Hebrew people were essentially no different from the Egyptians who had enslaved them and the Canaanites who resisted them. If they forgot the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who had personally delivered them through the Red Sea to freedom; or if their worship of God was only like the pagan worship of idols, their children would adopt the values of Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites -- all of whom are forgotten three thousand years later. The parting of the Red Sea and the destruction of the most powerful army on Earth would mean nothing -- as if they never happened.
"You are the salt of the Earth," and "Do this in remembrance of me!" mean the same thing. Either you remember me, or my death and resurrection are nothing. Either you make a difference or you're useless. Good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
The right amount of salt in our food is delightful. It can make the most ordinary meal a pleasure. Likewise, Christians make the entire world beautiful. Our presence transforms the worst of times into blessings for everyone around us. We are happy to be here.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.