Epiphany 5 / OT 5
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored ... You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.
-- Matthew 5:13-14
Actually, salt cannot lose its saltiness, but it can be polluted by other elements so that it is no longer effective. Perhaps that makes an even more challenging metaphor for the church. If the church is to be the salt of the earth, then our challenge is to prevent it from being so polluted by other elements that it is no longer effective. The challenge is to let the church be the church. If you were to remove those aspects of church life that you believe might be polluting the saltiness of the church, what would they be? What is it in our life as a community of faith that causes people to dismiss the church as "no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot"? Even when people do not feel able to live up to the high calling of Christ, they still are attracted to such teachings. Yet when they see the church quarreling among itself or enriching itself at the expense of the needy, they grow cynical about the church. "You are the light of the world." Light cannot be turned into darkness although it can be hidden under a bushel. The church does not lose its capacity to be salt or light. Sometimes, however, we overwhelm it with other activities or forget to lift it to its proper priority where it can shine so that others will see its good works and give glory to God. "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
-- Matthew 5:13-14
Actually, salt cannot lose its saltiness, but it can be polluted by other elements so that it is no longer effective. Perhaps that makes an even more challenging metaphor for the church. If the church is to be the salt of the earth, then our challenge is to prevent it from being so polluted by other elements that it is no longer effective. The challenge is to let the church be the church. If you were to remove those aspects of church life that you believe might be polluting the saltiness of the church, what would they be? What is it in our life as a community of faith that causes people to dismiss the church as "no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot"? Even when people do not feel able to live up to the high calling of Christ, they still are attracted to such teachings. Yet when they see the church quarreling among itself or enriching itself at the expense of the needy, they grow cynical about the church. "You are the light of the world." Light cannot be turned into darkness although it can be hidden under a bushel. The church does not lose its capacity to be salt or light. Sometimes, however, we overwhelm it with other activities or forget to lift it to its proper priority where it can shine so that others will see its good works and give glory to God. "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
