Have Salt In Yourself…… and be at Peace, Shalom, with one another
Most churches, like other public buildings, are required by code to place Exit signs over doors that open out from the church. This is of course for safety reasons. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton reminded us last week of one of the essential sayings of the late Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple: “The Church exists primarily for the sake of those who are still outside it.” [i] The archbishop is absolutely correct. This suggests that these signs over church doors ought to say, “Entrance.” They are the entrances to the mission field of “those who are still outside of it.” This is why the Holy Eucharist concludes with a dismissal such as, “Let us go forth in the name of Christ.” Which is to say, we come to church precisely to be sent out, dismissed, and dispersed into the mission field to bring the Good News of Christ to those – all those – who are outside the church.
This recalls another saying of William Temple: “It is a mistake to suppose that God is only, or even chiefly, concerned with religion.” [ii] This all sounds frightfully counterintuitive until we ponder this enigmatic text from Mark 9:38-50. Jesus’s disciples had witnessed someone casting out demons in the name of Christ. Disciple John tells Jesus, “We tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.” Poor John. Elsewhere, he and his brother James tell Jesus that he must seat them at his right hand and his left when he comes into the glory of his Father’s Kingdom. In that instance, Jesus says to be careful what you ask for, because in my case it leads to execution by the Romans. John and James just don’t get it, which leads to the misconception that there is some sort of division between us and them; we are the insiders, and those not “in the church” are outsiders. How dare these outsiders be doing the work we are meant to be doing. We promise in our baptism to follow Jesus when we walk out the “Entrance door” to our mission field!
Jesus issues a mild rebuke to John, and to any and all of us who would be followers of the man from Galilee. “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.” I often wonder if we really get the sense of what Jesus is talking about. He says that one need not be a member of the Church, which in fact he had no idea of starting, to do the work he does, and “greater works than these” he tells them later. Indeed, the archbishop’s corollary that God is not chiefly even concerned with religion at all is meant to remind us that what we do outside the church is what matters. And outside can mean many things. You might be a Buddhist, a tradition that had been underway for some 600 years by the time of Jesus, or a Muslim, or Daoist, or even an atheist, and if you are casting out demons, or healing people, or even just offering someone who is thirsty a cup of water, then you are doing the work Jesus calls us to do. And greater works than these!
Jesus’s rebuke to John reminds me of a saying coined by the 20th century Hindu Guru Meher Baba: “Don’t worry, John. Be happy!” Anyone who does the work of bringing my Father’s peace, God’s healing, loving, and forgiving Shalom, is not against us, but is for us. This is very Good News! All is well. All shall be well! All manner of thing shall be well. Would that more people inside and outside our community of God’s Love would do the work we are called to do: to serve others – all others – as we serve one another, and as I have served you, John.
But then comes a text-driven whiplash as Jesus continues to address John, and any of us who think that somehow this work is in any way, shape, or form, the sole possession of the Church. To think this mission is ours and ours only has been the source of much mischief throughout the history of Christianity and the Church. Jesus seems to incite violence and self-mutilation when he says, “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.” Ouch! At the time of Jesus this was one method of execution among many for the occupying Roman empire. Jesus then goes down a list of amputations: if your hand, foot, or eye causes you to cause “one of these little ones” to stumble, cut them off! Rip out that eye! These “little ones,” does not just mean the children we heard about last Sunday. Many have suggested that this refers to the am ha’aretz, the people of the land: the poor, debt-laden, farm workers, fishermen, as well as the sick, the halt, the blind and the lame; not to mention widows, orphans, and resident aliens; foreigners passing through, those seeking asylum danger elsewhere, looking for work, and many simply curious to learn more about the One God of Israel they have heard so much about. A God of love, mercy, forgiveness, and compassion. These outsiders are the ones we are meant to serve in the name of Christ as he does at great peril.
Then Jesus talks about salt. Salt. Next to water, salt is the most essential element to human life. Our bodies are approximately 60% water – salt water. Salt is crucial to many life-giving ongoing chemical reactions in our bodies. Too much or too little can cause problems. We need salt. Salt is also used as a preservative and flavoring for foods, and for well over 6000 years has been used in a variety of religious rites and rituals of purification. “Everyone will be salted with fire.” Fire, one of the metaphors for the Holy Spirit, God’s ruach, God’s life giving, life sustaining breath. We are to have salt in ourselves, both as individuals and as a community; a community of God’s Love, God’s Shalom, God’s Mercy and Justice for all the world, and everyone and everything therein. Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace, at Shalom, with one another. This saltiness enables us to serve others beyond the door of our churches.
Where are we to get this “salt”? This salt is not something we can find on our own. We cannot mine it. We cannot buy it. We cannot earn it. For this life sustaining salt is a gift. A gift of the Holy Spirit. This salt is given to us each time we come to hear and meditate on God’s Word; to Pray; and to share in the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ. To take, bless, break and share bread with one another, and with all who come to His table. And this gift of Salt is given to others in other traditions, in other ways, and yet, results in all of us, we who are Christ’s own, and those who may have never heard of Christ, to go out and into the world and bring the Love, Mercy, Compassion and Forgiveness of God to others – all others. Jesus uses what may be the most provocative of metaphors and imagery to get this into John’s, the disciples’s, and our heads! And more importantly into our hearts and souls.
What Jesus seems to say is, “When you walk out that door, the Entrance to the mission field outside the church, what are you going to do? Don’t worry about what others are doing. Just continue to do the things I do, and greater things than these you shall do!” Amen.
[i]
Frequently quoted in slightly varying forms, such as ‘the only organization
that exists solely for the benefit of non-members.’ Recalled as a personal
dictum in ‘Letter from the Archbishop of the West Indies’ in Theology (1956),
vol. 59
[ii] R.
V. C. Bodley In Search of Serenity (1955) ch. 12
