Sermon Central
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Are You Worth Your Salt?
Contributed by Dr. Odell Belger on Feb 16, 2026 (message contributor)
Summary: Introduction: Dr. Odell Belger said that his mother was a professional cook in his brother’s restaurant. People from all over the city would come each day to eat the delicious Southern food she cooked.
Text: Matthew 5:13
Introduction: Dr. Odell Belger said that his mother was a professional cook in his brother’s restaurant. People from all over the city would come each day to eat the delicious Southern food she cooked.
After she had worked for many years, she decided she would retire. Her son Martin, the owner of the restaurant, was concerned about her retirement because he knew that her good cooking was going to be missed by his many loyal customers.
He requested that she write down everything she did in the preparation of the food she was famous for, so the next cook could follow her instructions to the detail, and cook as good as she did.
She retired and the next cook was hired, and she was doing fine until she came to the part of the recipe that stated that she needed to add a “tad of salt”. She went to Martin and said, “What is a “tad of salt?” He explained what a “tad of Salt” was, and everything came out great.
All good cooks know that sometimes a teaspoon or tablespoon of salt is too much. They know sometimes it takes only a “tad of salt” or a “Pinch of Salt, because just a tad or a pinch will drastically change the taste of something.
• Add a pinch of salt to a jug of water, and in a short time all of the water will be salty.
• Put a pinch of salt on the tip of your tongue, and in just a matter of minutes it will permeate your entire body.
Because small amounts of salt can make a difference, the Lord had this in mind when He said that Christians are the “salt of the earth”.
In this sermon I would like to deal with THE DISCIPLE AS “YE ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH.”
Look at Matthew 5:13-16 "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under, foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.’ Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Mat 5:13- 16)
Salt has been used in many ways.
Did you know?
Illus: Some businesses have used it in hiring people.
For example, if a company wants to hire someone that has to do a lot of thinking, some of them will take a potential employee out for dinner. When the food is brought out, if the potential employee reaches for the salt before they taste the food, they know that this person is not a thinking person.
That is, they are salting the food before they taste it to see if it needs some additional salt.
Also, since earliest times, salt has been associated with value and worthiness.
• Homer called salt “divine”
• Plato terms it a “substance dear to the gods”
• Shakespeare mentions “salt” 37 times in his immortal plays
Also, we rightfully refer to salt as the “fifth element.” We are as dependent on it as we are on
1) air,
2) earth,
3) water
4) and fire.
God knew how important salt was to us, and when He created this earth on which we live, He gave us an abundant supply.
Salt is abundant on, and deep within the earth.
• Great veins stretch throughout Canada and the United States, many hundreds of feet below land
• Louisiana has scores of great dome-shaped deposits, mined much as coal is mined
• Utah’s Great Salt Lake is a source of much salt
• The oceans of the world contain 50 million billion tons
• Forty million tons are required each year to fill man’s needs
Also…
Here and in other parts of the world, salt is also produced by what is called the solar method.
HOW DOES THIS WORK?
The salt water is pumped into ponds. The sun evaporates the water and leaves the salt to be harvested.
• Salt in 1865 sold for up to a dollar a pound in the South.
• Roman soldiers were paid by salt
Salt was a very valuable commodity in the age in which Christ lived.
We have sayings to day to express that value:
• “He is not worth his salt”
• “You have to listen to him with a grain of salt”
After looking at some of the significance of all the salt God has placed on this earth, we can appreciate in a greater way that the Lord is saying to Christians, “Ye are the Salt of the Earth”.
