Mark 9:38-50 [Pentecost 19 CWS B]
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Benson/Vail, AZ
September 30, 2018
Dear Friends in Christ, I’ve heard of people who read the last chapter of a book first—so that they know where it is going—then they start at the beginning and read the whole book in order to get the full story. If you are one of those people, I have to tell you, I think that’s crazy! I could never do it! For me, reading the story and letting it develop and trying to figure out what might be happening and where this might end is what is fascinating! It’s also why there are only a handful of movies I will consider watching more than once. If I already know what happens, I’m not as interested or engaged! That being said, I understand we’re not all the same, which is fine. And this morning as we look at God’s Word, I’m even going to go against what I normally do—which may make some of you last-chapter-readers happy! So today we begin at the end; we start with the last thing in the gospel before us, cutting straight to the bottom line to see what Jesus is looking for from anyone who follows him and why he taught the lesson he did. And then we can go back for the rest of the lesson. Jesus told the Twelve, “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” Jesus was not giving a discourse on the properties, harvesting, use, and care of salt. If you want that, you can read a book on salt like this one—which my sons think I’m crazy for reading! So instead of getting into what Jesus might have meant about salt losing its saltiness or how that could even happen—and there are several things he may have been alluding to—his point is simple: salt is valuable only if it is and remains truly salt. In the same way, those who trust in and follow Jesus are only valuable and useful if they are properly seasoned. And what is the “salt” with which they are seasoned? What is the salt that is “in” them? We might properly think of God’s Word, the thing that preserves our faith, like salt preserves food. God’s Word is the thing that, when applied to us, gives us a unique flavor. It enhances us and makes us stand out to God and to the world. Jesus spoke this way on other occasions as he directed his followers to endure persecution as they lived for God. He said, “You are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13).” Disciples who are properly seasoned with the Word of God—who properly represent him in this world—they are salt in the world. As such, the Apostle Paul encouraged the Colossian Christians, Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone (4:6). Jesus’ followers speak in a unique and distinctive way when they talk. They have things to say and share and which the world needs to hear—the words of God and the message of forgiveness and salvation in Jesus.