Salty, Bright and Maligned?

IV.    Vows of Voluntary Sacrifice

“We freely offer up our appetites, wealth, and pride to relieve the suffering of the world, for the sake of our neighbors and God’s joy.”

15. I will accept with grace any suffering for myself resulting from my affirmations, rejections and witness; I will do all in my power to reduce the suffering in the world, including the suffering of victims and my adversaries in confrontation.

Salt and Light

Take a look at Matthew 5:10-16. Salty salt. That is what Jesus calls his followers. And he does so right after speaking on the blessedness of suffering ridicule, derision, exclusion, even violence as a result of our alignment with God’s just/righteous reign. I think it makes sense to talk about our saltiness and our persecution in the same breath. In a world with gaping wounds, the sting of our salt is going to cause some backlash! Or to shift the metaphor (as Jesus and his contemporaries so frequently do), in a world of bland narratives of accumulation and control, our flavorful stories of God’s abundance and freeing actions, while attractive to some, will be spit out by others as seemingly over the top, even bitterly over-salted.  And in Jesus’ next word picture, we are light. Ever shine a bright flashlight in someone’s eyes? Yeah, there’s a connection between being the light of the world and getting beat up on for it!

So our smart Jesus (personification of Wisdom that he is) knew that our salt-in-the-wound, light-in-the-eyes Kingdom of God living would result in our suffering. We shouldn’t be surprised, then, when our turn to suffer rolls around. Jesus warned us to be prepared, to count the cost ahead of time. But he also assured us that the cost of suffering is offset by the sheer blessedness of falling in persecuted company with the prophets.

For Reflection and Action:

(1) Read over Matthew 5:10-16 again. Also check out Luke 14:25-35.

• In what ways is your Christian life and community salty or bright? In what ways would you like to be more flavorful and more shining for the sake of the world?
• What has been the cost for you to follow Jesus?  How has your flavorful faith brought ridicule, accusations, rejection, isolation, contempt, disadvantage, or even violence on you or your church community?
• Thank God for the times you’ve had the strength to bear your cross when called. Acknowledge the times you dropped it, or ran out of saltiness or hid your light.    

(2) God also calls us to look beyond ourselves and relieve, or at least be in solidarity with the suffering of others. Mediate on Simon of Cyrene easing the load of another’s cross. Seek one way to do the same this weekend.

Prayer Focus

God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed,

including our own suffering as a result of our affirmations, rejections and witness.

God, give us  courage to change the things which can and should be changed,

Doing all within our power to reduce the suffering in the world.

—And give us Wisdom to distinguish what is not ours to change.

God, give us strength to live one day at a time,

Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,

Taking, as Jesus did, the painful consequences of this sinful world as they are,

Not as I would have them, trusting that You will right all things,

As I surrender to Your will. Amen.

(Adapted from the Serenity Prayer attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr )