Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another

"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -- where

'Their worm does not die,
And the fire is not quenched.'

"And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -- where

'Their worm does not die,
And the fire is not quenched.'

"And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire -- where

"Their worm does not die,
And the fire is not quenched.'

"For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."

- Mark 9:42-50

Today's passage and yesterday's reading go hand in hand. They must be taken as two halves of the same text. Jesus is speaking of the importance of how we treat one another in his name - and especially in his Church. I believe we must extend the meaning of this text to cover the entire Body of Christ, and in that perspective understand our encounters with others as Christians.

"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off." In yesterday's passage, Jesus used the example of welcoming a little child in his name. It is to be exactly as if the disciples are welcoming Christ Himself, and therefore the Father Himself. All of this teaching is taken in the context of the need for humility in his Church, for, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." This is the "flip side," if you will, the negative side of that coin of welcome. Those who drive the little ones away, who cause them to stumble, therefore, are in tremendous peril themselves. My study bible says, "One of the sternest warning Christ ever gave is here directed at the disciples. Little ones, like the 'little children,' are humble believers with no pretensions to greatness. Leaders are to be 'last': faithful and serving. A major cause of stumbling for Christians is that their leaders seek to be great." To bring leaders to servanthood, Jesus requires not physical mutilation but uncompromising detachment, even from the most precious relationships or possessions, if they cause sin."

It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -- where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' This repeated refrain in today's passage comes from Isaiah 66:24. Of course, the important significance of these warnings is just what it says in the note quoted from my study bible above, in the previous paragraph: we need detachment from whatever it is that will cause us to harm the "little ones" in the church. It doesn't matter what it is that we cling to; our humility is much more precious, keeping us in touch with what we really and truly need. We must separate ourselves from whatever will lead us astray in terms of our own arrogance, and in turn will harm or cause the little ones to stumble in some way.

Jesus continues, making this a triple warning: "And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell ... And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire ... " I would say that this triple warning does, indeed, make this "one of the sternest warnings Christ ever gave," as my study bible noted. This very careful enumeration of not only a hand, but also a foot and an eye as things that are dispensable should they need to be cast aside is extraordinarily emphatic. Whatever we consider our most precious and needful possessions, if they get in the way of the "little ones" in any sense, they are to be discarded. We can live without them. Arrogance and pride will be harmful to believers who are not strong, and not in the leadership. The tenderest loving care is to be expressed to the little ones. This is a great task for the disciples, who've just been caught disputing who will be the greatest among them in the kingdom (see yesterday's reading).

"For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt." To my mind, this passage is a strong warning about what is to come in the life of service, and what it means to be a disciple. We'll all undergo a "fire" of purification on this road of discipleship. In that sense, like gold is tested in a fire, there will be experiences we go through that will help to "purify" - to burn off the impurities of things we'd be better off without, whatever that may be. Since it is Lent, it is a good time to talk about what we "give up." As Jesus indicates here, there may be times when our own pride (for example) has to be given up. Whatever stands in the way of proper humility, and understanding of right-relatedness, has to go. This may feel like we are casting off something as close to us and that we cling to as much as a hand, a foot, an eye. But we need to change. Jesus says that "every sacrifice is seasoned with salt." We recall in Matthew's gospel, the passage in which Jesus charged his disciples that they were to be "the light of the world, the salt of the earth." In that sense, whatever we sacrifice in His name - the things we give up of ourselves in order to be better followers and disciples - is a sacrifice seasoned with this quality of salt that Jesus wishes for us to retain always. My study bible notes that, "every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt tells us suffering will happen to all who follow Christ, a positive experience when undertaken in humble faith." But I think that to change is hard, and Jesus' equation of personal change with casting off an eye, a hand, or foot is very apt! We cast off the things we rely on in order to be good disciples, and it is not an easy task if one habitually relies on a particular way of thinking or behaving in life. But it is a "sacrifice seasoned with salt" - with the quality of discipleship, that which "flavors" His people.

"Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it?" My study bible notes: "Salt is good refers to the special quality of life expected of disciples, particularly those whom Christ has called to spread his gospel." Our 'sacrifices' - those things that we give up of ourselves in order to be better followers or disciples - are not meant as a pious offering, something we make a great show of for the sake of a great work. On the contrary, they are to be seasoned with that salt of discipleship, the flavor of humility before God, of service, and the joy that comes in that relationship. It is this quality of salt - right-relatedness before God - that we need to maintain and in the spirit of which we make those sacrifices, and change ourselves, transform in that fire that is Love.

"Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another." This salt is what Jesus wishes for them always to retain as a quality about themselves. It is the thing that preserves them, and it is precious. (We recall the uses of salt, and its precious quality in every day life for people at that time and place - and for many today in the Near East.) The way this is said indicates that "to be at peace with one another" is something that necessarily follows this quality of salt that Jesus wishes them to retain always. We come back, then, to the issue that sparked this whole discussion and Jesus' warning: the disciples "had disputed among themselves who would be greatest." This great quality of humility before God, the need to be aware that in this relationship with Christ we will be changed, transformed, through sacrifices of personal habit or thinking, is what we need to keep in mind. We are salted with the Spirit. In a sense, we must tie this in to Friday's reading - the Transfiguration. This is not just about dwelling in glory on a mountaintop - but that very glory is what tinges us with the salt that asks us to transform and change, and to give up the things we may think are precious but which stand in the way of right-relatedness, especially to the "little ones." I am also reminded of St. Paul's warnings about scandalizing those who are weak in faith; and I feel that it is in this same spirit that Paul's statement about gathering followers was made: "For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them." (See 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.)

So, we are coming closer to Passion Week, and nearing the end of Lent. Today we think about how we change in order to welcome the little ones, and to cast off anything in ourselves that might cause them to stumble. Can you think of examples in which leadership - through their own pride of place or arrogance - has led "little ones" away from the Church? I know some personal examples myself. But Christ's warning is to all of us who wish to follow and be his disciples. How do we remember that we are always to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world? What is the salt with which we are to be salted? And in what spirit do we make sacrifices of ourselves in order to change and become transfigured through time?