9-24-21 - Pass the Salt

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

What on earth did Jesus meant by this? “For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?”

Since he’s just talked about the fires of hell as a consequence of sin, that may have something to do with it. Is he saying that each of us tastes sin’s consequences, both the immediate personal outcomes, and the separation from God that results? Yes, Jesus has freed us from the most dire and eternal consequences, but we may still feel the heat of those fires from time to time. Is that what it means to be salted with fire?

And what does that have to do with the qualities of salt? How do we maintain the saltiness of salt? (And how do we read this metaphor in an age and culture all too aware of the dangers of too much salt…)

It is all too inscrutable to me. But that last sentence strikes me as something we can connect with: “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

More than once Jesus commends “saltiness” in his followers and warns of the worthlessness of salt that has lost its flavor. Might we link "salt" with the power of the Holy Spirit at work in followers of Christ? Trying to live as a Christian without the active participation of the Spirit can make us dull and flavor-less, adding little to the world around us beyond vague talk of love and ordered worship in pretty buildings. Is Jesus condemning the Spirit-less religiosity he so often saw in the religious leaders of his time?

What does it mean to have salt in ourselves? It means, in part, that we feel the flow of God-Life in us; we know we’re part of an enterprise bigger than ourselves. It means we confront discouragement with prayer, and defeat with hope, sorrow with a joy borne not of circumstances, but of faith.

When do you feel the most “salty,” alive, full of flavor as a Christian? Is it in works of service or giving? In worship or prayer? When you’re reading the bible? Organizing ministries for others to live into? Talking about God’s involvement in your life? Pay attention to where you most come alive – chances are that’s where you have salt within yourself.

When we have salt within ourselves, it’s not so hard to be at peace with one another.

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