Lent Day 16: March 26

Lenten Reflection for Day 16

Date: Saturday March 26, 2011

Author: Pastor Pat Harris

Bible Passage:

Matthew 5:13 (NRSV)

¹³ “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.

Reflection:

What does it mean to be salt of the earth? In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his followers that they ARE the salt of the earth. Jesus is not asking them if they want to be salt or assuring them that they will become salt. No they are, right now, this very instant, the salt of the earth. As salt, they are a resource that is valuable to the people around them. Just as salt brings out the flavor of food, the disciples add a new dimension to the lives of people who surround them.

Many of us wonder how salt could lose its taste. The salt used in the time of Jesus was not the pure sodium chloride that most of us think of as salt. It was a mixture of materials including some inert substances. If the salt sat around exposed to dampness, the moisture could leach the salty sodium chloride out of the mixture, leaving it with little flavor. Likewise the disciples, if they reacted to the influence of people, who tried to discredit Jesus, could end up loosing their effectiveness.

In what ways are we the salt of the earth? In what ways does our Christian faith allow us to add enhance the lives of the people around us. Are we acting as salt when we spread the Gospel message? What might cause us to loose our saltiness, and consequently not be effective with others?

Prayer:

Gracious God, help me to act as your salt, contributing to and enhancing the lives of other people. Let the Gospel message that Jesus died and was raised for us be at the heart of my saltiness.

Amen