The parables of Jesus – we love them, don’t we? And with good reason, for those simple stories he told have a power to speak to us as few words of Scripture are able to. Why? Because as well as being unforgettable stories, they also have a deeper message: they speak both of daily life and of God, and challenge us to reflect on the people we are and the way we live.
I have to say, then, that I hesitated when the idea first came to me to write a series of reflections on the parables. Clearly, I couldn’t add anything to them; each was complete in itself: a little gem of Jesus’ teaching. But, of course, Christians listen to sermons about them, discuss them in Bible study sessions and reflect on them in their personal devotions. And they do so because, time and again, these little stories, some no more than a few sentences in length, seem able to speak to us in ever new ways.
No Ordinary Stories: Meditations and Worship Material on the Parables was first published under the title To Put It Another Way, before being re-released under the new title. This week, until 22 November, Kevin Mayhew Ltd are offering 10 per cent off the book. With it normally retailing at £19.99, that means a saving of £2.00 using the code STORIES10 when ordering the book from the company’s website. Just type the code into the relevant box at the online checkout between the dates given.
Meanwhile, here’s the first of the sessions I’ll be posting this week from the book, to run alongside this promotion.
SALT OF THE EARTH
(This parable can also be found in Luke 14:34-35)
Reading
You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot. Matthew 5:13
Meditation of Zebedee, a Galilean fisherman
Salt.
You can’t get much more ordinary than that, can you?
We’ve got masses of the stuff,
enough in the Dead Sea alone to supply the world’s needs,
I shouldn’t wonder!
So when Jesus turned to us the other day and told us,
‘You are the salt of the earth’,
you can well appreciate why I scarcely batted an eyelid –
it was hardly the highest accolade he could have given, was it?
At least, that’s what I thought then;
only now I’m having second thoughts,
for it’s struck me since just how much we use salt for:
preserving,
purifying,
seasoning,
even healing wounds on the odd occasion –
such remarkable properties for so commonplace a substance.
It’s one of those things we take for granted, isn’t it? –
until we haven’t got it,
and then, suddenly, we realise how much it’s needed,
how vital a role it has.
Is that what Jesus was saying to us –
that our role too – though in a different sense, of course –
is to preserve and purify,
to bring a little extra sparkle and spice into life,
to help heal this bleeding, broken world of ours?
Not in any pretentious way –
blowing our own trumpet or parading our virtues –
but quietly,
without fuss,
our contribution barely noticed yet indispensable nonetheless,
the world a poorer place without our service.
It’s a thought, isn’t it? –
inspiring,
daunting,
breathtaking,
humbling –
though it’s hard to believe,
the idea of us making even half such an impact
quite frankly incredible.
Yet just imagine if we could,
what a ministry that would be!
And, come to think of it, isn’t that precisely what we see in Jesus;
in his life lived for others,
his way of unassuming service,
gently yet irrevocably transforming the world.
I was wrong, wasn’t I,
for in that simple illustration
he paid us the highest compliment possible
and issued the most awesome of challenges.
‘You are the salt of the earth’ –
you can’t get much more special than that, can you?
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
we thank you for the difference you have made
both to our own lives
and to the experience of so many people like us.
We thank you for the difference you have made to our world,
working through countless individuals
and transforming innumerable situations across the centuries.
You call us, in turn, to make a difference –
to help bring joy, hope, help and healing
to those who are hurting,
all who have lost their sense of purpose or faith in the future.
Forgive us for so often failing to honour that calling,
our discipleship making such a feeble impact on those around us.
Teach us to reach out in your name
and to share in your renewing work.
Teach us to be salt of the earth,
fit for use in your service,
to the glory of your name.
Amen.