Everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt

 "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

On Saturday, we read that, as they passed through Galilee, Jesus did not want anyone to know it.  For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.  And after He is killed, He will rise the third day."  But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.  Then He came to Capernaum.  And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?"  But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.  And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."   Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them.  And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."  Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us."  But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me.  For he who is not against us is on our side.  For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."

 "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.'"  Of this entire passage, my study bible says, "One of the sternest warnings Christ ever gave is here directed at the disciples.  Little ones, like the 'little children' [see Saturday's reading, above], 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.  As a negative motivation, He portrays eternal torment."    The thrice-repeated quotation is from Isaiah 66:24.  It is the strongest possible warning against abuses of the "little ones."  Instead, leaders must sacrifice their own interests, no matter how seemingly precious, if they would do harm or lead little ones astray.

"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."  My study bible has another lengthy note that helps us with this passage:  "This difficult passage, directed specifically to the disciples, mixes both negative and positive images of salt.  This may be a combination of statements made by Jesus in different contexts:  (1) The fire with which everyone will be seasoned (literally 'salted') seems to refer back to the fire of judgment [in the quotation from Isaiah].  (2)  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.  (3)  Salt is good (v. 50) refers to the special quality of life expected of disciples, particularly those whom Christ has called to spread His gospel.  Have peace with one another suggests that one way to lose flavor as salt is to be striving for greatness [see yesterday's reading]." 

What does it mean to be salt?  What does it mean to be salted with fire?  These things are important for us to think about as we go about our daily lives.  There is first of all the greatest warning ever given, under no uncertain terms whatsoever, that these disciples are to always think of the little ones of the Church.  No matter what, it is real ministry that comes first.  Let us remember that in yesterday's reading the disciples were arguing among themselves as to who was the greatest.  Jesus' stern warning here is against self-aggrandizement and the temptations of power, and instead is an admonition to self-sacrifice should any of their own desires get in the way of real ministry and care for the little ones.  Self-sacrifice is symbolized by the word He gives to cut off a hand, a foot, or pluck out an eye if it becomes a way of stumbling in ministry:  one can think of a hand that wants to take or have something, a foot that wants to walk in the wrong path, an eye that covets in an unhealthy way.  These issues of self-sacrifice constitute discipline, self-mastery, and always with an overriding goal of teaching and doing what is best for the littlest among them.  One ordinarily thinks of teaching or guiding as correcting what is false or unhelpful in the pupils, the littler ones.  But instead, Jesus puts the strongest discipline on those who would be great in His church; they must first be seasoned or salted with fire themselves.  Fire is like a testing agent, something that burns away whatever is unnecessary and undesirable, not of value.  It speaks to us of sacrifice through the difficulties of experience in ministry, in their ministry.  This is the real salt He seeks, the salt that comes as a result of hard-won experience, of learning to cast away from ourselves the things that don't make for ministry, of sacrificing whatever it is that gets in the way of mission for Him -- especially in the care of the little ones.  Salt, in this sense, can also be thought of as the preservative it was.  In a time of no refrigeration, salt was the great thing that preserved; and it is what will preserve them (and us) for an everlasting life.  In places where salt is scarce, it is still that extraordinary valuable commodity!   How have we learned through our lives?  Have there been things we would prefer, but have done away with because those desires weren't helpful in terms of how we relate to others in showing an example?  We aren't each of us the great apostles He speaks to here, but each of us teaches by the way in which we live our own lives, and we each must have "little ones" we know one way or another -- those who may look to us to teach them, even if by example.  It's this care Jesus warns us about.  Salt is also the great enhancer of all flavor, it makes everything else taste better, more vivid, and more complementary to one another.  This experience of fire and salt is what gives us vivid life to share with others, a character that makes a mark, and enhances what is around it, and it gives us life (and all the abundance the word life suggests when Jesus uses it) within ourselves.   He also teaches, "You are the salt of the earth."  Let us remember here that Jesus' final words put this in context:  it is the desire for greatness, this jockeying for position, that gives them problems.  They are to have peace with one another; focus on what is best for the littlest ones.  This is where greatness truly lives.  The temptations of power are things they must sacrifice; it is the mission of compassion and love - and self-correction - that builds up the real valuable salt in us.