"Those protestors should get a job!"
Look at that Muslim! Look at that homosexual! Look at that
sinner! Don't look at me! I'm covered by the blood! But just look at them! And
God does look at them. And He only sees one thing. It is the same thing He used
to see when He first looked at us-- compassion:
The
Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is
patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
repentance. -- 1Peter 3: 9 (NIV)
Even that Muslim. Even that homosexual. Even that person
that for some reason we disqualify in our hearts -- God wants them brought to
the foot of the cross also. We are not meant to be selective salt. Flavorful for some people but not for all. People
are not meant to be the subject of a religious debate. Or the brunt of jokes.
Or the outlet for our anger and derision. Thank God He did not have
qualifications I had to meet in order to be granted the eternal life I now
enjoy. God forbid I ever try to place any on anyone else. Salt is meant to be
flavorful to a lost and dying world. And realize this today -- we can lose that
flavor. The key verse says exactly that. God forbid that we lose our saltiness
and become worthless to the God who saved us.
Perhaps the most interesting usage for salt is that of a
deicing agent. Those of us who live where there still is a real winter can
attest to the necessity of salt when the roads become iced over. How does that
work exactly? Salt actually lowers the freezing point of water. Water freezes
at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Mixing in just a 10 percent salt solution can lower
the freezing point of water all the way to 20 degrees.
There is a lost and dying world beloved that are becoming
more and more hardened to the prospects of salvation every day. The world is
becoming colder place every single day. There is dwindling empathy, eroding
compassion, and disappearing love on a minute by minute basis. Jesus taught us
how these days were going to be:
Sin
will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. -- Matthew 24:
12 (NLT)
Cold enough to the point that their hearts will freeze over
at the notion of a God that loves them and wants to save them. But as the salt
of the earth we can lower that freezing point. We can be the hands and feet of
Christ delivering the grace and mercy God has lavished upon us already to them.
But it has to start with compassion. In our last look at how the disciples
fared, we see this story:
As the
time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for
Isn't that sometimes like our own compassion for some of the
people in this world? Like James and John we want God to rain fire down upon
them. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews in Jesus' day. They were
considered half-breeds. It seems sometimes the church has created their own Samaritans
these days. Maybe it is based on religious fear mongering with the Muslims.
Maybe it is based upon creating super-sins with the homosexuals. Whoever the
group and whatever the reason we must always remember how far down God had to
go to save us.
We have a responsibility as Christians to be about our
Father's business. That does not necessarily mean church business. It means
Kingdom business. It means that there is a heaven and there is a hell and we
need to be salt to a dying world. We need to be about preserving the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. We need to be flavorful to a world that is searching for a reason
to believe. We must be God's deicing agent here on earth, showing the
compassion the world so desperately needs in these the end days. Let us never
to be found worthless to our King.
Reverend Anthony Wade -- March 12, 2012