Foolish Salt

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“As presumptuous as it sounds, we Christians are the reason that God preserves the world and does not destroy it right now.” One of my seminary professors once struck at the heart of today's Gospel lesson this way, and it is perhaps a worthwhile entry into Jesus' discourse.

Jesus says to His disciples, “You are the salt of the earth.” Oceans of ink have been spilled onto forests of paper debating what this means. You all know what salt is and what it does. It is one of the most necessary compounds on the planet, right up there with water and oxygen. Salt is one of those things that makes the world go round. Wars have been fought and nations built on the salt of the earth.

But, “if the salt becomes foolishness, in what way will it be made salty?” Salt is a preservative. Aeons ago, salt was practically the only preservative known to man. And it still is the most common way to preserve food throughout the world. And so also you are the salt of the earth. You – the Church – are the preservative of the world.

The Law and Salt and Light

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Law of God is good and wise

And sets His will before our eyes,

Shows us the way of righteousness,

And dooms to death when we transgress.

How many times do parents hear that dreaded whine: “But Moooommmm!”, “But Daaaaad!” Why can't I have a cookie now? Oh, please... just this once? But Billy's mom lets him do it, so why can't I do it too? Children would often like their parents to relax the rules, just for a little bit, or just this once. And for the five-year-old screaming in the grocery store, many a parent has considered it, if not given in on account of embarrassment. I remember a children's book with a little boy who hated to take baths. Finally, his parents gave in and said that he did not have to take a bath anymore, which lasted for awhile, until a potato grew in the dirt caked in the boy's filthy hair. Then he begged to be bathed and cleaned up, and never protested bath time again.