Salt and Light, Part II

Above:  A Salt Shaker

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Fourth Sunday after Trinity, Year 2

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Lectionary from A Book of Worship for Free Churches (The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States, 1948)

Collect from The Book of Worship (Evangelical and Reformed Church, 1947)

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Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the course of this world

may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance,

that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Worship (1947), 190

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1 Samuel 3:1-9

Psalm 75

Acts 6:1-15; 7:54-60

Matthew 5:13-16

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But I shall confess him for ever;

I shall sing praises to the God of Jacob.

He will break down the strength of the wicked,

but the strength of the righteous will be raised high.

–Psalm 75:9-10, The Revised English Bible (1989)

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Yes, but martyrdom remains possible.  Ask St. Stephen the Deacon, Christian protomartyr.

Samuel,  of course, grew up and became one of the great religious leaders of the people of Israel had.  People did not always heed his advice, though.  Yet Samuel did his best to be salt and light where and when he was.

Salt is interesting.  An insufficient quantity of it is negative.  So is an excessive quantity.  Likewise, light pollution is real; just as too much darkness is negative.  However, enough salt and light are positive.  Equilibrium, then, is essential.

The Christian Church has a calling to be salt and light in the world.  Each member of the Church as the same mandate, too.  Christian history is a mixed bag, though.  Stains on the record of the Church include Anti-Semitism, Inquisitions, Crusades, and witch hunts.  These and other examples of sins committed in the name of Christ testify to severe blind spots in the minds of institutions and individuals.  These and other examples are evidence of darkness, not light.

By grace, may we–collectively and individually–shed more light and less darkness.  May God shine through us.  And may we add the flavor of God where it is lacking.  But may our zeal not manifest itself in ways that work against our purpose.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 13, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT HILARY OF POITIERS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF POITIERS, “ATHANASIUS OF THE WEST,” AND HYMN WRITER; AND HIS PROTÉGÉ, SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF TOURS

THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN KEIMANN, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF GEORGE FOX, FOUNDER OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

THE FEAST OF MARY SLESSOR, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY IN WEST AFRICA

THE FEAST OF SAMUEL PREISWERK, SWISS REFORMED MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

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