"Lord," he said, "if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance." – Exodus 34:9

Today's Scripture Reading (October 21, 2021): Exodus 34

Inspirational writer, Israelmore Ayivor, reminds us that "You are the salt of the earth. But remember that salt is useful when in association, but useless in isolation." It is the mistake that I believe that the church often makes. We recognize that Jesus said that we were the salt of the earth, and then we hide ourselves away inside our buildings and Christian social groups. We take refuge in our echo chambers where everybody espouses precisely what we believe, and in the process, we, the salt of the earth, become salt with no earth; we are salt in isolation. As such, we are useless and, often, we know it, which only causes us to hide deeper inside our buildings.

It is a topic that Christian musician Steve Taylor tried to deal with in the 80s. In his song, "I Want to Be a Clone," Steve has his Christian make this statement; "Ah, I kind of wanted to tell my friends and people about it, you know." Then, the musician offers the church's response.

What?
You're still a babe
You have to grow
Give it twenty years or so
'Cause if you want to be one of his
You got to act like one of us.

It is the response of a pile of salt with nowhere to go.

Israel was designed to be the "salt of the earth" long before Jesus challenged his followers to do that exact thing. But before they could become salt, someone had to be salt for them. And that someone was Moses. And so, as Moses speaks to God, he makes this assertion. "If I have found favor in your eyes, let me be the salt for the nation of the Israel. You know that they are a stiff-necked, but forgive us our wickedness and our sin. Take us as your inheritance" (my paraphrase).

As I read Moses's response to God, my attention is brought to the communal nature of Moses's reaction. It might be his favor that he is basing his request on; it is not their sin and their wickedness, but rather our sin and our wickedness. Moses places himself squarely in the center of the community of Israel.

God had offered to make the descendants of Moses his people and his inheritance, but Moses turns that idea back once more; God, take us as your inheritance. Moses understands that salt alone remains useless. For salt to do its work, it needs to become part of the whole, and in the process, it spreads its saltiness and flavor through the entire portion. And that was Moses's intention for his presence in Israel. And God hopes that Israel and the Christian Church would continue that task in the world. Because being the salt of the earth requires both salt and earth.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Exodus 35