Here is a man who was born in an obscure village the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty and then for three years he was an itinerant preacher. He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot inside a big city. He never travelled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself….. while still a young man the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away, one of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross in between two thieves. While he was dying his executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had on earth – his coat. When he was dead, he was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Twenty long centuries have come and gone and today he is the centrepiece of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever were built, all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.
In order to have an influence on a society it is vital first of all for Christians not to withdraw from the world into a Christian sub culture but to get involved in our society. God sent Jesus to get involved in society. He could have remained aloof and safe in heaven but he chose to get his hands dirty and become immersed in our world.
Being the salt of the earth we have no business to remain snugly in `elegant little ecclesiastical salt cellars. ` Since we are called to be the light of the world we must not put the light in a valley where it cannot be seen but on a hill. We do not put lamps under bowls but on stands so that they can give light to the whole house. So, Jesus says we must be out there in society letting our lights shine before others so that they may see our good deeds and give praise to God. As John Stott that famous Christian author puts it, Christians have been blaming the meat of society for going rotten when the preserving salt has been taken out of it and the house for getting darker when the light has been removed. It is time for Christians to recognise their responsibility to be salt and light in society. Or as someone else put it, if the world is in the soup that is where the salt needs to be.
Christians need to be salt and light in their work environments, in neighbourhoods and leisure activities. We are called to fight for justice, freedom, dignity of the individual and the abolition of discrimination, as well as taking social action to help those who are casualties of our society. Some will be called to devote their whole lives to the alleviation of global suffering and may like Mother Teresa or Jackie Pullinger have an influence far beyond their expectations.
Spare a thought for a homeless woman who turned to a vicar for help and received none;
I was hungry and you formed a humanities group to discuss my hunger
I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release
I was naked and, in your mind, you debated the morality of my appearance
I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health
I was homeless and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God
I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me
You seem so holy, so close to God, but I am still hungry and lonely and cold.
It’s challenging reading but we all look in the mirror in the morning but what does God see in our hearts? We are called to love one another as God first loved us.
Richard Allen Rector of Trelawny