What Kind of World Needs Salt and Light?
- davidwperk
- Apr 23, 2024
- 6 min read
Devotional Reflection, Tuesday, April 23, 2024
The week of the fourth Sunday of Easter
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s Gospel reading:
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. 14‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.
You will find the full text of today’s Gospel reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 961)
AM Psalm 45; PM Psalm 47,48
Exod. 32:21-34; 1 Thess. 1:1-10; Matt. 5:11-16
Today we celebrate the Feast of Gregory the Great. (See below.)
David’s Reflections
Do you feel a tension in today’s Gospel reading between verses 11-12 on the one hand and verses 13-16 on the other? How will the world receive a community that experiences poverty of spirit, that grieves, that is meek, that hungers and thirsts for righteousness, that practices mercy, that is pure in heart, and that makes peace? We might think that the culture, those outside the church, the general public would receive such a community in positive ways? Yet, according to verses 11-12, such a salt and light community will be persecuted.
How did Jesus’ publics receive him? From at least one public he received a hostile response. He was persecuted. Ultimately, that persecution ended his life and threatened the entire movement he had initiated. And, that happened to one whose life embodied the qualities that the beatitudes in 5:1-10 describe.
If the communities of faith are salt and light in the world, then the world lies in decay and darkness. A community living the life of the Beatitudes in verses 1-10 will be salt and light to that world in decay and darkness. Jesus expects us as his people to be fully immersed in the life of the world outside the boundaries of our faith community. Salt infuses food. Light infuses darkness. Jesus expects us to take the same approach as did he, one of immersion, one of witness, one of healing, and service. In so doing, we put ourselves at risk, just as did he. We may well be misunderstood, treated rudely, rejected, and resisted.
Yet, we are not free to withdraw from the world or live distantly from it. Some who see the world in darkness and decay distance themselves, fearing the evils they see. Jesus took the opposite approach, immersing himself in the world, functioning like salt and light. He knew that God’s love overpowered evil and that God’s light overpowered darkness.
Our hope is that people will experience God’s love in and through us and will recognize us as genuine, that even if they do not respond, they will be convinced of our integrity, good will, and commitment. Actually, we hope that they will recognize in us the Christ who has been active with them all along—that, as one Anglican scholar put it, we will “expose the ever present Christ” to them.
Living the Christian life in community does not have to do primarily with meeting our own needs. The church exists for the world, not for itself. We are called to worship and serve and engage in mission--pointing people toward God, hoping that they will join us and “glorify our Father who is in heaven.” True, some will resist God’s loving presence in our words and actions because they were resisting God’s love and presence before they encountered us. We can grieve that but not be deterred by it.
We must not underestimate the power of God’s presence in the world prior to and in concert with the community’s witness. Helmut Thielicke once observed:
“In . . . you, in me, and in the whole of poor Christendom, he is so mighty that it produces a great trembling and vibration in the whole world, just as the body of a giant ocean liner is shaken by the pounding of its engines."* I want to be in on the shaking, don’t you?
* Helmut Thielicke, Life Can Begin Again: Sermons on the Sermon on the Mount, trans. John W. Doberstein (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1963), p. 25.
Collect of the Day, Fourth Sunday of Easter
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people; Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 225)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome and doctor of the church (died 12 Mar 604 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Gregory the Great
Almighty and merciful God, you raised up Gregory of Rome to be a servant of the servants of God, and inspired him to send missionaries to preach the Gospel to the English people: Preserve your Church in the catholic and apostolic faith, that your people, being fruitful in every good work, may receive the crown of glory that never fades away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for Peace
Most holy God, the source of all good desires, all right judgments, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, so that our minds may be fixed on the doing of your will, and that we, being delivered from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through the mercies of Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen. (BCP, 123)
All the Good I Can
Dear God, guide me to
Do all the good I can
By all means I can
In all ways I can
In all places I can
To all people I can
As long as I can.
Bill Pittman and Lisa D., The 12 Step Prayer Book Volume 2: More Twelve Step Prayers and Inspirational Readings Prayers (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2007.)
In the Order of Worship for Evening
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, creator of the changes of day and night, giving rest to the weary, renewing the strength of those who are spent, bestowing upon us occasions of song in the evening. As you have protected us in the day that is past, so be with us in the coming night; keep us from every sin, every evil, and every fear; for you are our light and salvation, and the strength of
our life. To you be glory for endless ages. Amen. (BCP, 113)
A Collect for Mission
Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP, 100)
Daily Office Gospel, Matthew 5:11-16
11‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
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. 14‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16In 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.
Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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