2Ki 2:19-22 “And the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold, please, the location of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees. But the waters are bad, and the ground is barren. And he said, Bring me a new jar and put salt in it. And they brought to him. And he went forth to the spring of the waters and threw the salt in there, and said, So says Jehovah, I have healed these waters. There shall not be any more death or barrenness from there. And the waters were healed to this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spoke.”
Elisha had just received the mantle of Elijah and returned to Jericho. Jericho had a problem, the water was bad and it caused the land to be unfruitful. This is a type of our world and our local communities. Waters often refer to people in the Word of God, and the waters are causing barrenness. The people in our world our tainted by sin and their sin destroys the productivity of the land and causes misery and poverty (either naturally or spiritually). In Malawi it is estimated that 40% of the national budget is siphoned off (ie. graft and corruption) at various levels, this is one of the main reasons that this is one of the 5 poorest nations in the world.
When they came to him with their problem, he gave them a solution by the wisdom of God. In this solution and this miracle lies the answer to seeing our communities and nation and even the world changed.
His solution was twofold, a new vessel with salt in it.
A New Vessel
When we had finished repairing the house here in Malawi, we ran some new pipes. For the ones that ran to the kitchen sink the plumber had lubricated the joints with old motor oil. For about six weeks the water was tainted with it. I remember the one morning I went to get some coffee and as I raised it to my lips I smelt a strong oily smell. Being the good experienced missionary that I am, I overcame the urge to chuck the coffee out and took a drink. It tasted nasty, so bad that even though I need my morning dose of Java, I couldn’t finish my mug (I usually have at least 2-3). Actually the reoccurrence of the after-taste for the rest of the day made me sorry I had drunk as much as I had.
It was not the water that was the problem, but it was the channel that delivered it. Many times, as Christians, people are not able to receive from us because we taint our message with our attitudes and our walk. We need to become purified vessels of honour that are fit for every use the Master has for us (2 Tim. 2:20-21). The more Christ-like we are, the less nasty after-taste people will perceive when we share the Gospel.
Salt
Merely being good vessels will not change the world. We must have something in the vessels. We need the salt of the Gospel in all it’s potency working in our lives. Jesus said in Mark 9:49-50 to have salt in ourselves and be at peace one with another. The salt of God enables us to be peacemakers, and the peacemakers will be called the children of God (Matt. 5:9). When we are at peace with God, ourselves and each other, we have a powerful something that other people will see and desire.
So let’s be new vessels, with salt in us.
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