Matthew 5:13 You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

Salt is a multilayered metaphor in the Bible. Salt is used to purify, preserve and season. It is also an implement of punishment and cursing (Lot's wife becomes a pillar of salt, a victorious ar "salts the earth" and so on). Jesus calls his audience the "salt of the earth" and cautions that flavorless salt is good for nothing but being gravel. As hearers of Matthew 5:13 now, how are we to receive these words?

In the very next verse, Jesus uses metaphors of light that cannot be hidden - while salt can be used as punishment, Jesus seems here to be calling us to be a flavorful and preservative presence. St. Augustine once wrote in praise of God, "Thou hast put salt on our lips, that we may thirst for Thee." As a flavorful presence, we season and preserve the world if we possess the Beatitudes Jesus mentions in his Sermon on the Mount, and these same traits might also provoke thirst for the things of God that Jesus has mentioned earlier in the sermon (the thirst for righteousness). Today, we may think about whether we ourselves are truly "salt of the earth" and about those in our lives who might be whetting our thirst for the things of God.

--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Luke 24:30-31 - When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.

The last few days, we read about how God accompanied the ancient Israelites and provided them with mann in the desert. Here, in this story of the Emmaus Road from the New Testament, disciples find themselves coming alongside a fellow traveler, a companion on their journey. As they walk, their new companion explains to them the meaning of the events they recount. Then, when they sit down for the evening, he breaks bread with them, and they realize in that bread-breaking moment it is Jesus, their teacher.

"Companion" comes from the Latin words meaning "with" and "bread." It is one with whom we break bread. On the road to Emmaus, Christ gives the Bread of the Word to the disciples as well as the Bread of the Table that he takes, blesses, breaks and shares. In offering us the Bread of Life, Christ has become our companion. Emmanuel is with us, even as we anticipate his coming. In this time of "already but not yet," we pray that we will invite him, as these disciples did, to stay with us.

--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 6:32-33 - Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

When things seemed grim for the Israelites, God sent manna from heaven to sustain them on their sojourn in the desert. Here, in what is often called the Bread of Life Discourse, Jesus says that he is the Bread of Life come from heaven to give life to the world.

Ancient Christians tell us that the "bread of heaven" is nothing other than the Word of God, which normally sustains the angels and has become foor for us in the Incarnation. A mother nursing her infant is an apt metaphor. We cannot eat the food of heaven as we are but infants not ready for the solid food. This food must first be made milk. The food is made milk for us only by passing through the flesh. The metaphor here is saturated with an excess of meaning, and Christians have pondered this to great lengths, but the important thing is that the Word of God, by whom the angels are sustained, has become True Bread for us.

--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Psalm 78:24-25 ...he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. Man ate the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance.

This passage from the Psalms is but one of a half dozen references in the Bible to the story of the manna in the desert. The frequency with which the biblical authors go back to this story tells us that they see it as an important event in God's relationship with Israel: The Lord not only freed the people but nourished them, even when they grumbled and complained.

The grumbling of the Israelites and God's response may remind us of a common scenario between children and parents: Even in lean times, good parents will do all they can to provide for their children, even if those children grumble and complain. Confronted with this story, we are convicted. How are we sometimes like the grumbling Israelites? How has God provided "bread" for us or our community? How can we imitate a God who provides "bread" for even those in our life who seem not to appreciate us? As we journey together through the desert of Advent, how can we practice trust and gratitude for a God who has given us and will give us each day bread from heaven?

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

1 Kings 17:13 And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son.

When Elijah encounters the widow of Zarephath, they both are in the midst of a terrible drought and famine. Elijah, for his part, has been wholly reliant on God, being ministered to by ravens. When God sends him to Sidon, he does not know how he will continue to survive in the drought-stricken land. The widow has resigned herself to the likelihood that she and her son will starve. However, through her hospitality to God's prophet, she discovers what Elijah has already encountered: God's abundant care.

The bread that the widow gives Elijah is all that she has. And yet, she finds that despite, or maybe because of, this radical act of hospitality, she is always able to offer more. Her food stores, though meager, do not run out. The daily bread she bakes for Elijah and her son does not diminish how much she can give. In this way, it is a symbol of love. No loving parent ever runs out of love for their children, just as there is no limit to God's love for us.

--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Colossians 3:12-17

Some of us have been told what we want our whole lives. We’ve been told whether we should want to go out for sports or not. We should want a college education or a graduate degree or a particular career. We should want to date this person and not the other one. None of it is mean-spirited, of course, and no one means any harm. It just doesn’t sit well with us.

It happens in our churches and schools and faith communities too. We’re told by someone what God wants us to do and not do. We’re told we shouldn’t drink or cuss or watch certain movies. We’re told we should want to have “quiet times” in the mornings and talk to strangers about “a relationship with God.” We’re told we should want to go on “mission trips” and “witness” to people, so we do it even if we don’t really know what the words mean. But often just for a while. After long enough, what looks like faith isn’t really faith anymore. It’s just compliance.

The problem with mere compliance is it turns us into posers. Rather than making decisions ourselves, we do what everyone we respect tells us we ought to do, and we sacrifice our ability to make choices of our own. The fix is as easy as the problem is hard. Instead of telling people what they want, we need to tell them who they are. This works every time. 

We’ll become in our lives whoever the people we love the most say we are.

God did this constantly in the Bible. He told Moses he was a leader and Moses became one. He told Noah he was a sailor and he became one. He told Sarah she was a mother and she became one. He told Peter he was a rock and he led the church. He told Jonah he’d be fish food and, well, he was. If we want to love people the way God loved people, let God’s Spirit do the talking when it comes to telling people what they want. 

Our first goal in ministry is to show broken people they are loved and worthy of God's grace and forgiveness.

All the directions we’re giving to each other aren’t getting people to the feet of Jesus. More often, the unintended result is they lead these people back to us. When we make ourselves the hall monitor of other people’s behavior, we risk having approval become more important than Jesus’ love.

--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

Our Lutheran churches teach that the remembrance of saints may be commended to us so that we imitate their faith and good works according to our calling. . . . However, the Scriptures do not teach us to pray to the saints or seek their help, for the only mediator, propitiation, High Priest, and intercessor whom the Scriptures set before us is Christ.  [Jesus] is to be prayed to, and he has promised to hear our prayers. Such worship Christ especially approves, namely, that in all afflictions he be called upon. “If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father,” etc. (1st John 2:1).

First, a definition of who is a saint. The apostle Paul wrote to the saints at the various Christian churches. Obviously he was not writing to those who had already died, rather he was writing to those who had been blessed with faith by the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ.

We are to honor the saints in three ways.. The first way is to thank God for saints because He has shown examples of His mercy, because He wishes to save people and because He has given teachers and other gifts to the Church. Thank God for saints!

The second way to honor those who have been blessed with faith is by being encouraged by them to believe all the more that grace truly superabounds over sin. What an encouragement to observe the faithful who attend weekly worship, who care for the sick, who open their homes and their hearts to those in need, and who keep the faith in spite of ridicule and persecution.

The third way to honor saints is through imitation, first of faith, and then of the other virtues. In other words, to heed the voice of Jesus, the good shepherd, and be like Him!

Jesus invites you to pray to Him and in His name, He is more than willing and able to intercede for you as your High Priest, seated on the right Hand of God His heavenly Father.

--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,