“Influencers”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Tuesday, May 10, 2022
Matthew 5:11-16 (Forward, p. 12) CEV p. 986
It is something that we will probably never, ever know and that is, what influence we have had on others. (Occasionally, we ‘might’ know—someone tells us incidentally—but usually we don’t). Here I think of several instances. One of my parishioners in Bowden, a town in central Alberta, once told me that he had worked with my grandfather on the school board. He explained to me that my grandfather had been a great help to him and that he considered him to be ‘the greatest man he had ever met’ (his own words). And at my mother’s funeral, there were many of her former students who shared with me what a lasting and positive influence she had had on their lives. In both cases, I really wonder whether either of these people, my grandfather or my mother, had ever heard these words of acknowledgement and praise.
In my own life, I have occasionally heard similar words of praise. A former social work client once surprised me greatly: she shared with me that I had led her to Christ. (This was all the more surprising as I didn’t remember ever saying or doing anything that might have contributed to this). On another occasion, at a Christian conference centre, someone from one of my former parishes shared with me what a great influence I had there, even though I was ‘just’ a lay person. And, recently someone explained to me that my being able to continue on in ministry in spite of being divorced had been a very positive influence on him.
That very thing is what Jesus is touching on in today’s passage. He is speaking of how His followers, Christians in general, are to act like salt and light in this world. Salt gives taste and flavour and spices up food that might otherwise be drab and boring and unattractive, whets our appetites, and acts as a preservative to prevent things from spoiling, and those indeed (in a spiritual sense) are ways that we are to act in this world. And with light, its gives illumination and direction to a dark world. And according to Jesus, it is our works, our deeds, the good that we do, that do this for our world.
The interesting—and remarkable—aspect about both of these things, the salt and the light, is that they do these things only as a minority, only in small doses or amounts. Too much salt—as most of us have discovered if the lid of the saltshaker comes off—is totally and utterly disgusting, making the food absolutely unpalatable. And a beam of too much light, as in a spotlight or with the lights that police supposedly use to cross examine suspects in criminal investigations, utterly blinds, disorients and disables the person. So what we do only needs to be done in small doses, or in small and often unnoticeable, unremarkable ways. Even so, in spite of this, our passage seems to be telling us, we can still have a significant and remarkable influence.
There is one other thing, something that I would have never thought of. The designers of our lectionary chose to include verse 12 with this passage rather than with the Beatitudes, which strikes me as suggesting that even when we are opposed and hated and persecuted by certain other people, we still can have a positive and lasting influence on them. Indeed, that is exactly what the apostle Peter says in one of his letters: “Always let others see you behaving properly, even though they may still accuse you of doing wrong. Then on the day of judgment, they will honour God by telling the good things they saw you do” (1 Peter 2:12). So, you just never know just what impact, what influence, we will have, simply by loving and following our Lord and being faithful to Him. So, my friends, keep at it. Amen.
Forward notes: “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” (verse 13).
“A cow consumes several ounces of salt every day, and we add trace minerals to the salt to supplement her diet when required. In the spring, lactating cows on new grass are vulnerable to grass tetany, a calcium imbalance that can be fatal. Adding a bit of magnesium to the salt can prevent the condition. Unfortunately, magnesium is very bitter. The mixing is tricky: too much and the salt is not consumed at all; too little and the risk of grass tetany increases.
“In our relationships with each other, we are the salt of the earth. Our experiences, perspectives, preferences, and choices are like trace minerals. How we express and share them is a tricky business. Every year, I am reminded of how we walk a fine line. We can care too little for the concerns of this world. Or we can take too many precautions and become no longer good for anything because there is no zest for life. And then we give up altogether.”
MOVING FORWARD: “How can you find the right balance of saltiness and trace minerals in your life?”