Matthew 5:13-20
Unlike some scripture that strikes fear in preachers' hearts, this scripture has way too many topics that someone could use. But I want to strike at the core of what Jesus tells us who we are.
But first, I must ask you a question:
Has anyone ever told you that you are a pile of manure?
Did it ever occur to you that, according to Jesus, they might be right? [1]
Jesus said,
You are the light of the WORLD (Matthew 5:14) -
something we should be flattered at because Jesus also refers to himself as the ‘Light of the World.’
But what about Jesus calling us the salt of the EARTH – not the salt of the world, but
You are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13)
Jesus isn’t saying,
“You should be the salt of the earth and light of the world.”
Or,
“You have to be….”
Let alone “You better be….”
Instead, he is saying we are
the salt of the earth. . .
As in already are. Even if we don’t know it; Even if we once knew it and forgot it; Even if we have a hard time believing it.
Too often, we take Jesus’ words as commands instead of descriptions. We start beating up on ourselves because we are not salty enough or not shining our light. We make it all about ourselves instead of about Jesus. Jesus promised his disciples their very being; he is not commanding or threatening them about what they should be doing; he is promising what they will be in the future. In this scripture, Jesus is making promises and giving out these gifts:
We are the salt of the earth.
We are the light of the world.
Take a few minutes to consider your life over the last couple of weeks and think about how God has used you to be salt and light.
• Your words of encouragement to others
• Your faithful work at your job
• The volunteering you have done
• The prayers offered for people you don’t even know
• The promises you have made and kept.
The salt translation in this scripture is from the Greek words tes ges, meaning ‘of the earth,’ meaning soil. Jesus says we are ‘salt for the soil.’
What if what Jesus really meant was,
We are the ‘Miracle Grow’ for the earth.
But Miracle Grow has never improved the quality of a single ounce of soil without someone first opening the bag. The church is where ordinary fertilizer becomes Miracle Grow and where we go forth to love and serve the Lord by sharing our saltiness with others. The church just might be where the bag must get opened.
Does the rest of Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdom of God sound like a warning for us to go out and become the Sodium Benzoate of the earth? The Kingdom of God is most often described by metaphors of seeds sprouting, fig trees blooming, and leaven rising. Do we really feel called out into the world to help keep things as they are?
We need to go into this rising, sprouting, blossoming the Kingdom of God, feed and nurture God’s people until they grow tall, bloom, and flourish, right where they stand. We can do that by sprinkling a little bit of the salt of the earth, simple gestures of love that help others believe in their worth and worthiness.
Being salt and fertilizing the modern cultural barrenness means getting deep beneath the hard-baked surface and causing significant movement. We have to go out into the world and start fertilizing!
In Jesus’ day, salt was often connected with purity. The Romans believed that salt was the purest of all things. As followers of Jesus, we are committed to preserving Christian principles that keep ourselves and others from ‘going bad.’ As the salt of the earth, we can help prevent spoiling and corruption wherever we find it.
Do you feel called to go into the world and preserve things, or keep them as they are, and maintain the status quo? Jesus didn’t say we are the salt of the meatloaf; he said we are
the salt of the earth.
We are in good company. Being Miracle Grow for the Kingdom of God goes back a long way. In the Book of Genesis, we are told that God toiled in the soil to fashion us.
But are we ready to turn in our stained-glass image of the church for one that is more earthy? Are we prepared to consider that the church has been called to be on top of the compost pile?
Some years back, there was a sign that used to hang in a locker room that read,
Cause Something to Happen.
It even has its website, causesomethingtohappen.com. My prayer for each person is that they might have the courage to become
• the Salt of the Earth,
• the Miracle Grow for others;
• to know God is always in the garden with us;
• to have the courage to spread thin and to sink in, and
• to cause the Kingdom to rise, sprout, blossom, and grow.
WE are the salt of the earth!
I want to tell you a story:
A teacher decided to make chocolate chip cookies with her class of 6-year-olds. They carefully measured the flour, creamed the butter, and mixed in the chocolate chips and nuts. The children all wanted to eat the batter and lick the spoons. But the teacher made them promise to wait.
She planned to have them all eat their first cookie together so they could share in the joy simultaneously. Twenty minutes later, the first batch came out. Oh, the students were excited! They could smell the cookies. These weren’t small, scrawny cookies from a package. No, these were great giant golden and beautiful chocolate chip cookies. Two cookies could make a meal. MMMM, delicious! Can you imagine the smell and the size of them right now?
Finally, the cookies were cooled and ready. Each child grabbed their own. On the count of three, they all took a huge bite. Yuck! Gross! The cookies tasted so bad that each student spat out their cookie! These were the worst-tasting cookies anyone had ever eaten! They tested each batch, and the outcome was the same.
Sadly, all the cookies were dumped. The poor staff couldn’t figure out what went wrong. They looked very carefully at the tried-and-true recipe. As they looked down the list, they suddenly realized they had forgotten the salt. Without salt, the cookies were not sweet. Chocolate didn’t taste like chocolate. What was to be delicious turns into a tasteless mess when no salt is added.
Our lives can easily be like those cookies.
It has been a little over five weeks since Christmas. Most of us focused on the manger and shared our warm memories of Christmas. Even though the days were shorter than they are now, didn’t life seem lighter? There was an air of hope and expectation. The Baby Jesus was about to enter our lives. Then a short time ago, we were focused on the Star in the East that signified “God with us.” Now it’s a month later, and winter is upon us. The children are back in school; bills are due, and some of us have overspent. It is cold; days are short and dreary for many of us. And where is spring? Isn’t it amazing how the whole focus of our lives and society has moved so far in such a short time?
Can anyone here relate to any of that?
What did Jesus mean by this metaphor of salt? In studying for this message, I found there are many references to salt in the Scriptures --
• 43 references to Salt in my Bible Concordance
• We know Lot’s wife was turned into a Pillar of Salt
• The Bible also refers to the SALT SEA several times, better known today as the DEAD SEA. The Dead Sea has the highest concentration of salt of any body of water in the world; the concentration of salt in the Dead Sea is ten (10x) times greater than any sea or lake on earth. Every liter of its water contains an average of 30 Grams of salt and other minerals.
In the ancient biblical world, salt was a precious commodity.
• It gave flavor and zest to food –
• It served as an essential preservative
• Salt also made people thirst for something more.
Jesus wanted his disciples to give flavor and zest to the world through His teaching
• To preserve the truth as He proclaimed it to the world
• To make the world thirst for more.
Jesus takes a simple image – no ambiguity - no hidden meanings - nothing out of the ordinary -- just common, everyday salt. Jesus uses a simple, ordinary substance to teach the people a profound lesson about the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus told us
we are the salt that is added to the world!
Jesus empowers us to purify, heal, nurture, thaw the frozen, preserve, and season the people of the earth. The power of God supports and sustains us and stands with us if we risk whatever it takes to become salt to the world. And when we fail in this effort, God will raise us up and renew us and give us strength to persevere again and again.
We are the salt of the earth.
We’re called to season the world with the flavor of grace. We’re called to help preserve the world from decay. We’re called to help bring healing. And we’re called to make people thirst for Jesus.
Amen
Delivered at Saint John’s Episcopal Church, Columbus, OH; 5 February 2023
[1] Rev. William Joseph Adams, Sunday Gospel Talk
