St Luke 14: 34 – 35
Jesus ‘Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure heap; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’
Reflection
In an age where we worry about having too much salt, we forget how useful it is. Through salting, brining, or pickling food is preserved. Salt makes the unpalatable more tasty and is essential for life. In the ancient world it was prized and taxed. Religious ceremonies used salt – underpinning its importance and, even now, in traditions which use holy water, salt is added to the water as a sign of purification. In our contemporary world the rise of ultra processed food has meant that salt is added to enhance taste and ensure it lasts longer. Doctors worry we eat too much salt leading to a range of health problems. So we become suspicious of salt. Yet, salt is needed and if spoiled it’s useless.
In this passage Jesus doesn’t tell us we’re the salt of the earth. Instead his salty comment comes at the end of the parable of the Great Banquet and after some musing of the cost of discipleship. I think Jesus is warning us, as disciples and as the Church, not to lose our saltiness as, if we do, we’re useless. But what might it mean to lose our saltiness?
When we ignore the plight of the poor, cosy up to power, concentrate on spirituality at the expense of the earthly realities around us, when we love power more than the weakness of the Cross we’ve lost our saltiness and aren’t even fit for the sewer. When we forget the spiritual dimension to our mission, when we try to be just another social service, and when we forget that God is made known in both the broken Word and broken bread we lose our saltiness and are fit only for the tip.
To be salty means to tread that space between heaven and earth, to navigate both the secular and the profane, to remember our calling in this world is empowered by the next. Then we may be both salty and useful.
Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God,
you have created salt to preserve and sustain life,
bless us, that wherever we may be sprinkled
and whatever we may touch,
is set free from all impurity,
preserved in all goodness,
and flavoured with eternal life. Amen.