Salt of the Earth

A Sermon preached at Evensong on Sunday September 6, 2020 at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden

Revelation 14: 1 – 7, 13, Matthew 5: 13 – 20

You won’t find the Season of Creation in the prayer book. Liturgically, we are still in Ordinary Time, counting our Sundays from Pentecost. Nevertheless the Season of Creation or Creationtide as it is also called, is something that Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion have part of for some years now. In fact, the participation of the Anglican/Episcopal churches in Germany in the Season of Creation predates that of our “parent” as we agreed to recognize it in response to an ecumenical invitation, I think around 2008.

The original initiative came from our Orthodox brothers and sisters. In 1989 the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I proclaimed 1 September as a day of prayer for creation for the Orthodox and invited all Christians to participate. The World Council of Churches was instrumental in making the special time a season, extending the celebration from 1 September until 4 October. And the churches in Germany have celebrated the season since 2010 when it was proclaimed at the Ecumenical Kirchentag in Munich. So here, this has always an ecumenical celebration with a central ecumenical service on the first Friday in September, this year in Landau, as well as regional ecumenical services, for Hessen next Sunday in Worms.

This book recently came out to commemorate the first 10 years with articles and interviews highlighting each year’s special theme – often, but not always a sentence from scripture. This year’s theme is W/Einklang, which doesn’t really work in translation as it’s a play on words – the sound of whine and the word for harmony. The Season of Creation is the annual renewal and reminder of the call to live in harmony with nature and one another, to be grateful for God’s gift of creation and to care for on God’s behalf – as stewards. And we need reminding, because we don’t do this particularly well!

Coincidently, last year‘s theme was “”Salt of the Earth,” which comes from the Gospel reading from Matthew you heard earlier: “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

What does it mean to be the salt of the earth, as Jesus tells us that we are, in the context of creation care? When I think of salt, I think first of all of its role in preserving things. Creation changes all the time; we can’t preserve it like food – but in a wider sense sustainable development, the sustainable use of the gifts of creation, is a form of preservation that we are called both to advocate for, and commit to in our own lives. The measures that Susan Pinnells presented to us at this morning’s service, coming from the Convocation’s task force on Creation Care, are all about our commitment both as a community and as individuals.

Salt is also a taste enhancer, without it, food would be bland. Without the diversity of species – plants, insects, animals, birds – this world would be very bland indeed. To be the salt of the earth also means doing all we can to maintain diversity, supporting or initiating conservation projects, and challenging things like the mass destruction of rain forests that not only impacts diversity, but is also unjust to all those who live there and whose livelihood and culture depends on the rain forests.

And finally, when I hear salt, I think of the saying to rub salt in wound. That has two levels: Salt really helps the process of cleaning and healing and, also by hurting and stinging, it reminds us that there is a huge wound to be healed. And we are in the healing business.

There is much to celebrate at this time, as we use this season to renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation. But there is also a need for conversion and commitment, and that is where our role as the salt of the earth is most important.

Bountiful God, you call us to labor with you in tending the earth: Where we lack love, open our hearts to the world; where we waste, give us discipline to conserve; where we neglect, awaken our minds and wills to insight and care. May we with all your creatures honor and serve you in all things, for you live and reign with Christ, Redeemer of all, and with your Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.