Thoughts for the Day

Jesus said: 'You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

'You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No-one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven'.

(New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

"You are the salt of the earth", I declaimed clearly from the pulpit, "but if the salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?" Suddenly a lady got up from the congregation and walked to the back of the church. There was a loud metal clang as the door latch was opened, and before I knew it she'd left. What had I said to upset her? I had absolutely no idea. Then I noticed that someone else had followed her, presumably to check she was OK and I continued with the sermon.

Jesus was teaching his disciples. They are like salt he says, because they are precious. At that time salt was expensive, indeed soldiers could be paid in salt. With no fridges and freezers salt was also used to preserve meat and of course to flavour food. Jesus was making a point that Christians should help to preserve the good in society and help to make the world a better place in which to live.

The question for us is, do we add flavour to our communities? Or, have we lost our flavour and become like salt that has lost its taste, ie good for nothing? That's a hard question to ask, and a hard question to answer for each one of us. But this pandemic is making us think of how we can change in the future as well as how we can help change our communities.

Oh, and the lady who left the church? Well she explained to her friend who followed her that she had forgotten to put salt in the chicken casserole that she'd left in the oven for Sunday's lunch!

Tuesday 9th June, follow up thoughts

Lord Jesus,
You taught Your disciples to be like salt,
and they took your message of love to their world.
Help us to think about how we can influence
our communities and our world for good,
to make a difference to all our future lives
in Your name.
Amen.