1st Tuesday of Advent (December 2) Salt and light

​Prepare to Listen.  You are the salt of the earth.  You are the light of the world.
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 5:13-16
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 hidden.  15No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, 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.’
 
Prayerfully Wonder
You are salt and light, not you must be or you have both.  You are.  Jesus has changed your status in the world.  There’s nothing you can do about it.  How then will you live?
 
Bonhoeffer wrote, “It is not for the disciples to decide whether they will be the salt of the earth, [and the light of the world] for they are so whether they like it or not, they have been made salt [and light] by the call they have received.”[1]
 
This means that Jesus’ disciples are men and women who can influence the world.  This is amazing, begging the question: “What possible influence could the people described in the beatitudes [vv. 3-11] exert in this hard, tough world?”[2]  What can the poor in spirit, or the meek, or persecuted, possibly do to influence a world that sees them as too feeble and poor to achieve anything significant?

Jesus believes his followers can change the world, have the power to influence it for good.  But, as he warns, they must maintain their saltiness and display their light.  This warning should alarm us as Christians.  We will lose our ability to influence the world for good if we become conformed to its ways, seeking power through wealth, politics, violence.  And let’s face it, that’s tempting.  Many have fallen for it and spend time and money promoting their ideals, expecting all to conform to them.  As a result, their salt becomes contaminated and they’re in danger of being “thrown out and trampled under foot.”
 
How can you be salt and light where you live, work, shop, play today?  “Where does the world need salt and light right now, and how can we, through following Jesus, provide it?”[3]
 
Prayerfully Respond
Lord, give me the grace and courage to be what you made me—salt and light so that I influence a world for your good.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Be what you are: salt and light in the world.
[1] Bonhoeffer, Dietrich.  The Cost of Discipleship.  New York, NY: The Macmillan Company.  1978, p. 105.
[2] Stott, John R. W.  Christian Counter Culture: The Message of the Sermon on the Mount.  Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.  1978, p. 57.
[3] Wright, N.T.  Matthew for Everyone, Part 1.  Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.  2004, p. 41.