The Scripture Readings this week are:
Psalm 112 (VU p.834)
Matthew 5:13-20
The Sermon title is Light on the Salt???
Early Thoughts: Salt of the earth, light to the world. Are these descriptions we are ready to embrace? Is this who we are?
Salt is an essential for life. In the ancient world salt was the way to preserve food. Our bodies need a certain amount of salt to function properly. I just looked at the Wikipedia page about salt and it is fascinating (for instance did you know that globally only 17.5% of salt produced is used for food?).
Salt enhances flavour, it melts the ice on our roads, it attracts moisture--either drying things out or moisturizing them (ever left a bag of chips sit open on a humid summer day?), it has anti-microbial properties. And Jesus calls us to be Salt to the world, to be something essential for life. What does that mean? Can we honestly say that we do it?
And then there is light. While John's Gospel says Jesus is the light of the world, here Jesus says that his followers are the light of the world. And then goes on to remind them that a light gets set up high to shine throughout the room--not hidden under a basket. What do we do with our light?
This week is our Congregational Annual Meeting. A time to look back at the year that was and ahead to the year that will be. And so the Salt and Light are perfect passages for this Sunday. How are we as a congregation Salt and Light to the world around us?
Do we really enhance the "flavour" of life? Do we shine bright? And how will we continue to do so?
--Gord
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