Brian and Kathy Emmet

“ … if salt loses its saltiness, it’s no longer good for anything …a lamp is not lit to be hidden under a bowl…” (Matthew 5:13, 15) 

Jesus takes each of us seriously.  You matter to him more than you know or imagine.

Jesus takes Chatham Community Church (and all Christian communities) seriously, far more seriously than we tend to: you (plural) are the salt of the earth, you (plural) are the light of the world. 

 “Taking us seriously” does not mean that Jesus is a severe and impossible-to-please judge, always condemning us for any and all departures from perfection.  It means that he is with us and for us, that all of his purposes for us are only good and beautiful and true, and that he works through us towards the world that he loves.

 And because our lives, individually and as a church, matter so much to our Lord, he therefore warns us: salt that loses its saltiness is only good for tossing out.  Light that gets hidden under a bowl does no good to anyone.

 Salt loses its saltiness through getting mixed up with non-salt stuff.  We can’t give half of our allegiance to the upside down kingdom of the world and half the right-side-up kingdom of God; we have to choose to be salt or to be a mixed-up mixture that’s no good for anything.

 Similarly with light: a light that hides itself isn’t able to do its job.  Paying attention to Jesus will make you stand out, like a light on a stand, rather than one hidden under a bowl.

 Light’s job is simply to shine.  Light doesn’t argue, debate, protest or dispute; it isn’t anxious or self-critical; light simply shines.  Light that hides itself isn’t really able to be light.

 We are neither the salt nor the light in ourselves, or by ourselves.  Jesus is the source of our saltiness and our brilliance.  What we have to offer to the world is the life of Jesus in and through our lives.  Ordinary, everyday lives that, if we are faithful to our King’s call to be salt and light, become agents of the kingdom of God.

 Can you recognize and name one way you have mixed some impurities into your “saltiness”?  One way that you hide your light?  Use this reflection as a stepping stone into prayer.

What’s one way your prayers might lead you into more faithful “saltiness,” more “shining brightly”?