tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912800736431926417.post8394246629564009153..comments2024-03-12T05:57:28.113-04:00Comments on Rich's Ruminations: Salt and LightRich Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673981090399476002noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912800736431926417.post-12831646308585295512014-02-09T16:48:16.910-05:002014-02-09T16:48:16.910-05:00Rick, thank you for your thoughtful response. Soun...Rick, thank you for your thoughtful response. Sounds like good news was preached at Church Without Walls today...yes, I think context is critical, then and now - both Biblical and beyond. So yes and yes...blessings and Torah fulfilled from the Mt. of the Beatitudes in first-century Palestine to the congregations in our neck of the woods from Church Without Walls to Rochdale and all the other places too, where we try to more faithfully be that Body for the sake of the world. Peace, and good. Rich Simpsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05122934536485681589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912800736431926417.post-78962720165595512462014-02-09T16:02:41.386-05:002014-02-09T16:02:41.386-05:00Thanks RIch for your thoughts. I spoke briefly ab...Thanks RIch for your thoughts. I spoke briefly about salt and light, too, at Church Without Walls. I told them they were the salt of the earth in a way that is similar to the salt on a potato chip. The salt draws out the flavor in such a way as it makes a potato and the oil on it taste good. Salt draws out the best flavors in food without drawing attention to itself; it draws attention to the taste of the food it is put on. Likewise the church is to humbly draws out the best in the world. <br /><br />I also told them the people that they are the light of the world. I asked them to imagine for a moment the museum up the hill. If there were no lights and no windows, the beauty of the art could not be seen. Light reveals the beauty. The light of the world brings out the beauty of the people of the world. We don't generally look at pure light-from the source it is too intense. We see it reflected off of others. <br /><br />Do you think that the context is important? Before the salt/light passage, Jesus presented the surprising notion that all sorts of people are blessed whom we would not otherwise think were blessed. Couldn't God be blessing them through the church that is salt and light? Following the salt/light passage, Jesus spoke about the fulfilling of the law. Jesus fulfills the law, but how is the church, the body of Christ involved in fulfilling the law? Could being salt and light be our way of fulfilling the law? Rick Bellowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17215671602382451225noreply@blogger.com