For most of my thirty years of life, I have thought of salt simply as a seasoning. Like pepper or curry or Mrs. Dash. Salt is something added to food to alter the flavor a bit; at least, that's the way I looked at it, until about a year ago. I took notice when my husband sat down at the dinner table and basically proceeded to add what seemed to be half the shaker of salt to his food. Now, I exaggerate a bit, of course, but Ken really does love a lot of salt on just about everything he eats. When I asked him why he likes salt so much, he told a story of his childhood. Ken recalls running into the kitchen at about the age of five and seeing his father putting salt on a slice of apple before eating it. When Ken asked why he was doing that, my father-in-law explained that salt brings out the flavor of foods.
Now, for whatever reason, this was not a way I had ever heard the function of salt described. Like I said, to me, salt was just a seasoning. Then, just a month or so ago, I was watching a cooking show, and the chef explained that just one grain of salt could bring out the flavor of the food. So, naturally, I thought to myself, "Wow, there must really be something to that!" So I decided to look into it. In preparation for this sermon, I did a little research about salt, and I'd like to share with you some of my findings.
How valuable is salt? 40 million tons are required each year to fill our needs. Homer called it divine. Plato called it a "substance dear to the gods." Shakespeare mentioned salt 17 times in his plays. Perhaps Leonardo da Vinci wanted to send a subtle message about purity lost when he painted "The last Supper." In that painting an overturned salt cellar is conspicuously placed before Judas. In ancient Greece a far-flung trade involving the exchange of salt for slaves gave rise to the expression, "...not worth his salt." Special salt rations were given to Roman soldiers and known as "Solarium Argentums" the forerunner of the English word "salary." Thousands of Napoleon's troops died during his retreat from Moscow because their wounds would not heal--their bodies lacked salt. The human body contains about 4oz. of salt. Without enough of it, muscles won't contract, blood won't circulate, food won't digest and the heart won't beat a beat. Without a doubt, salt is the essence of life. And Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth."
Sure enough salt is quite important, and Jesus hit on it precisely as he preached to the disciples gathered around him. Salt does not exist for itself, salt functions to enhance other foods. And just as salt does not exist for itself, nor do the disciples, the followers of Christ. You see, the life a disciple is to be turned outward to the world. This is not an option, it's not even a commandment! Much like the Beatitudes, Jesus is stating the simple facts of Christian discipleship. "You are the salt of the earth!", he says, "You are the light of the world!" Like Jesus himself, the faithful followers of Christ bring out the best in the world!
So here we sit, followers of Jesus Christ in various stages. Though Jesus was surrounded by crowds as he spoke these words, they were intended for his disciples. And though each of us here are in different stages of our walk with Christ, we are all in some way followers of Christ. These words are spoken to us as well! "You are the salt of the earth!" It's kind of intimidating, isn't it? All around us are the crowds, the people who need salt and light. And Jesus is telling us to go be the disciples we are so that the people of this world can be the people God intended them to be! When we function as salt and light, amazing things will happen!
I read a news story this week about some students at American University in Washington D.C. I think they demonstrate a bit of what Jesus was talking about when he declared his followers to be the salt and light of the world. Here's what happened. Several weeks ago, the Westboro Baptist Church announced that they were going to picket American University. Now, even if the name of this church doesn't ring bell, their actions will; this is the group that pickets soldiers funerals and comes out in praise of people like Jared Loughner, who is responsible for the shootings in Arizona a few weeks ago. So when the students of the United Methodist Campus Ministry at American heard that members of Westboro Baptist Church were coming to their campus in protest, they decided to respond.
Now, it seems that a natural response to such an invasion would be a counter-protest; to return hatred with hatred. Westboro Baptist Church shows so much hate, they should know how much they are hated in return, right? But the United Methodist students at American University decided they needed to meet the hate of the Westboro Baptist Church members in a different way, with love. So on January 14, when four members of the church arrived on campus, they were met by a crowd more than 1,000 students, offering hugs, cups of hot chocolate with Bible verses taped to them, and words of love and acceptance. The students had rallied the night before with a prayer service, and they had also organized a poetry reading that turned Westboro's hateful messages into words of love. It's easy to get locked into cycles of hatred and violence, but as Christians, we are called to step out of that cycle and follow the radical way of Christ. When we follow Christ's teaching and examples, his radical way of inclusive love, it changes the world, just like salt changes food and light brightens darkness. And these students at American University did just that, they changed hate into love, they were salt and light in the world!
As Christ's followers, we don't have salt, we are salt! When we are frustrated, as those students were surely frustrated by the Westboro Baptist Church, we need to pour out the salt that we are -- pour out the patience, the forgiveness, the helpfulness, and the love -- which is able to preserve the goodness of the world and make it a more savory place in which to live. But as Jesus warns, salt can lose its flavor, just as Christians can lose their saltiness, by getting mixed up with salt-substitutes. All that looks like salt is not necessarily the real thing.
The world needs salt and light because the world is callous, fearful, and violent. The world needs salt and light because it is full of grief, frustration, and powerlessness. We have to be able to see those places in the world that are not of God's kingdom; places of hatred, violence, grief, frustration, and greed. We have to see those crowds gathered all around that need salt and light! And then we have to go there and be the light of Christ's love that illumines the darkness, we have to be the salt that changes the flavor and brings out the best of the world! We do this together, as the body of Christ, but not for our own benefit. As one archbishop says, "The church is the only organization on earth that exists for those who are NOT its members." Together, we are salt and light when we are in Christ, and when we allow Christ's light to shine through us into the world. Many people find life to be without flavor, bland and uninteresting. The church as the salt shows them the joy and purpose of God's good creation. And as with salt, the light is to benefit others as well; it is not hidden, but put in a prominent public place so that all can see.
I think the interesting thing about being salt and light as Christ declares his followers are is that it requires change. Salt changes food -- it works as a preservative, altering food so that it can be kept for longer periods, or it brings out more flavor. And light changes things too, it illumines darkness. Salt and light stand out, and Christ's disciples, we should too; we should be different from the world. Like those students at American University who met hate with love, we have to shine the light of God's grace. We should seek to change those things that bring pain to this world, so that the love of God's kingdom abounds!
In 1963, my grandfather was serving as the Senior Minister of West End United Methodist Church in Nashville. West End is situated right across the street from Vanderbilt University, and has always been a wealthy, predominately white church. One communion Sunday, a black family happened to be worshipping at West End, and like the rest of the congregation, they came forward to receive the meal. Without a sidelong thought, my grandfather served them the bread and juice just as he did the rest of the congregation. Now, as you know, the Southern U.S. in 1963 was caught up in the height of the Civil Rights movement. And as soon as church dismissed that day, the Administrative Board went into a meeting. A few hours later, they called my grandfather into the room, and though my grandfather was greatly liked by all the people of West End, they asked for his immediate resignation because he served communion to blacks. My grandfather told the gathered group that if that was really the way they felt, then he was not the right minister for them anyway. In stunned silence, the members of the board said nothing more. They knew my grandfather was the right pastor for West End at that time, and they knew that he was right. My grandfather stayed at West End for many more years, and in that time, other blacks came to worship there as well. Here is a light that illumined a darkness of our world.
When we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, it means that we change the things of this world to be the things of God. And sometimes that means we have to take a tough stand; whether against the hatred of the Westboro Baptist Church, the prejudice that still rocks our world, or the greed that seems to rule all these days. My friends, we know the dark and bitter places in this world, and we know the ones right here in this community; perhaps we are even a part of them. We know about the meth-infested trailer parks. We know about churches that lock their doors against all who are unlike the ones gathered inside. We know the wars that rage over religion, and those about economics. We know the prejudices that desperately need to be changed. We know the hearts that need to be transformed. These are the places we need to be! With holy boldness we have to be change-agents, we have to be the salt and light that will make God's kingdom real on earth! If every true Christian would light just one little candle, what a bright world this would be! Jesus tells us WE are the salt and light. The world needs us! Let us fulfill our calling!
