Have Salt In Yourselves and Be At Peace

 

Sunday 26 September, Trinity 17, Year of Mark

 

Saying Sorry (Prayers of Penitence)

Father, you make each of us unique,

but we go astray with the crowd.

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

 

Christ, you call us all to a unique way,

but we choose set habits and comfort.

Christ, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

 

Holy Spirit, your breath brings forgiveness and change,

but we stay stuck with resentments and fears.

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

 

Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29

 

James 5:13-20

 

Mark 9:38-50

 

Reflection (Sermon)

 

If you struggled to get one message from today’s Gospel, do not worry. You need not blame yourself at all. It happens quite often that a gospel passage is a combination of things. A mix. A muddle, even.

 

So let us begin with the end. With salt.

 

You know about salt in the Bible, I am guessing.

There is a phrase which is pretty well-known, even these days.

Christ says: “You are the salt of the earth.”

(He says it once,

by which I mean that it’s only recorded in Matthew’s Gospel, Matt 5.15.)

And we think we know what this means.

It means that we as Christians don’t have to try to rule the world.

Rather, simply by getting on with being Christians,

by living Christian lives,

we’ll be making a subtle but powerful difference to the world,

just like a bit of salt can make a meal.

 

This is important, and true.

But it’s fair to say it can feel like it’s a burden.

How Christian we are – how we are Christian – is what saves the world!

That has to be a tall order, doesn’t it?

Sometimes – sometimes – we will - in this or that regard – fail,

and that must be pretty serious.

We may even remember that in Matthew

the promise that we are the salt of the world comes with its own threat:

“but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored?

It is no longer good for anything

except to be thrown out and trodden under foot…”.

If we hear these words, it would be amazing if we weren’t a little unsettled.

 

But!

 

But today the message is a little different.

Rather, the difference is small in some ways, and total in others.

In Mark, Jesus says something I am not sure

Christian hearers and readers have ever understood:

“For every one will be salted with fire.”

If you know what it means, tell me afterwards.

Then comes the warning about salt losing its saltness.

Then comes a command, a command from Jesus Christ:

 

“Have salt in yourselves,

and be at peace with one another.”

 

Mark 9.49 Πᾶς γὰρ πυρὶ ἁλισθήσεται.

50 καλὸν τὸ ἅλας·

ἐὰν δὲ τὸ ἅλας ἄναλον γένηται, ἐν τίνι αὐτὸ ἀρτύσετε;

ἔχετε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἅλα

καὶ εἰρηνεύετε ἐν ἀλλήλοις.

 

That’s not a phrase of Jesus that is so well known. So let us pay attention to it now.

 

Jesus says: “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

 

What might Jesus mean?

 

Jesus is saying, it seems to me, that there is a quality within us, as Christians.

A quality of character.

A quality within us, and also a quality

in our behaviour, in our living, our acting.

This quality is not all of us.

This quality may not be what we are best known for.

But it flavours our life, our being.

Like salt flavours a meal.

 

This way of thinking about salt isn’t so much a stern commandment

to be Christians without reserve - or else.

This is more a promise that, by sticking to Christ,

Christ will make a difference to who we are.

We don’t have to work ourselves up into making a difference.

 

We simply have to let Christ be Christ in our lives.

(There will still be plenty to do. Don’t worry!

It’s just that those tasks will flow naturally

from the taste of Christ’s love within and between us.)

 

Something else may be said.

In the Gospel Jesus himself gives us a hint as to

what this quality, this salt, this salty quality is.

The salt we have within and between ourselves is linked intimately with…

with peace:

“Have salt in yourselves… be at peace with one another”.

 

Here I am reminded of some other words, words of a saint,

St Seraphim of Sarov (in Russia) [1754-1833].

He said: “Get a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved.”

 

I’ve repeated quite a lot in this reflection,

but I will make no apologies for repeating this:

“Get a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved.”

 

Brothers, if ever there is a message for this place,

and for all places like this one,

surely it is this.

Surely this is the message, the promise, the truth

that can truly encourage all Christians in this place.

“Get a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved.”

 

Is it easy to get a peaceful spirit, and hold onto it,

day in, day out, year in, year out?

No.

But the insistence here is that it is possible.

 

Another thing, just as important:

that difference, that saving, that salvation, may not be obvious.

You, the peaceful one, may not know – you may not have the first idea –

about the impact you are having.

That matters not.

That – bluntly – makes no difference.

 

So I say: here is the command which is also a promise.

I offer it to you, now.

For now. For all times.

 

 

Have salt in yourselves.

 

Be at peace with one another

 

Get a peaceful spirit,

 

and thousands around you will be saved.

 

 

Amen.

Prayers for the World and for All Needs (Intercessions)

 

May peace come. May it start with me.

 

God of peace, give us a peaceful Spirit.

Bless Graham and Jane, our bishops,

and all who bear leadership in our diverse churches.

Give them a clear vision and a warm heart.

 

May peace come. May it start with me.

 

God of peace, give us a peaceful Spirit.

Bless all who bear leadership in the world.

We renew our prayers for the peace of Jerusalem…

and for peace with freedom with justice with forgiveness

throughout your world.

 

May peace come. May it start with me.

 

God of peace, give us a peaceful Spirit.

Bless this place,

and all who live or work or visit here.

Give courage and calm and change

to all who are struggling here,

with drugs, or gangs, or ways of living which do not work.

 

May peace come. May it start with me.

 

God of peace, give us a peaceful Spirit.

Give the peace of wisdom to those who care

for those who are ill. or know dislocation of any kind.

Make yourself known as the Healer you are

to those we now name in our hearts….

 

May peace come. May it start with me.

 

God of peace, give us a peaceful Spirit.

Give a peaceful death to all who will die today,

especially those who will die

unprepared, in agony, alone, in war, or at their own hand.

Draw further into your light those who have shaped us and have died,

whom we may name now…

 

 

May peace come. May it start with me.

 

God of peace, give us a peaceful Spirit.

Guide us all, each your unique disciple.

 

May peace come. May it start with me.