- I’m going to take a deep dive into the words of Jesus here about salt.
- At one level, this seems a simple metaphor. But I have long been frustrated that the actual words used here create some confusion. I leave with more questions than answers. Thus, I want to use this as an opportunity to dig deeply into these words and see if we can figure things out.
- We are doing a sermon series through the book of Luke, but tonight we will combine this Luke 14 passage about salt with the two other places in the gospels where Jesus talks about salt: Matthew 5 and Mark 9.
- I want to disassemble these passages and study the phrases that Jesus uses, getting down into the details, rather than just making conjectures about the metaphor of salt in general.
- In each case, the salt verses represent a pretty short statement before Jesus moves on to other things. Because of that, I think they often get overlooked or ignored. Folks consider the larger passage’s ideas and then maybe tack on a closing thought about salt at the end of that. Or they just skip over the salt verses and move on to what’s next.
- There isn’t a lot of deep thinking about the specific statements that are made with regard to salt.
- This is made worse because when you do start to think about the specific statements, they seem surprisingly complicated.
- So I want to use this as an opportunity to dig deeply. I want to hop back and forth between these three passages. I want to break down each specific phrase that is used to see if we can make everything fit together.
THE LARGER PICTURE: For all three of these “salt” passages, the larger context is the radical nature of the Kingdom.
- Matthew 5:3-12; Mark 9:42-48; Luke 14:26-33.
- At this point, you all are tired of hearing me say that “context is key.” But it is in general and it’s especially important in situations like this one. What’s that situation? A passage where you’re having trouble understanding the point that Jesus is getting at. When the verse itself is not self-evident in its meaning, one thing that can help you to fill in the blanks is to look at the context. That can help lead you in the right direction.
- This is a situation where that is going to be helpful. Why? Because while each of the three “salt” passages has something different around it, all three are preceded by something that points to the same larger idea.
- Let’s look at all three contexts.
- Yes, just so you know, we are going to be flipping back and forth a ton in this sermon between Matthew, Mark, and Luke, so just get ready for it.
- Let’s start where we are in Luke 14 and examine the context.
- What precedes vv. 34-35 on salt?
- Verse 26 speaks of family sacrifice in following Christ.
- Verse 27 speaks of carrying your cross.
- Verse 28-33 shares two parables about counting the cost of discipleship.
- There are a variety of ways to accurately summarize that, but I’m going to choose one that will (I hope) mesh well thematically with what we see in the other two gospel passages. My summary statement is that it speaks of the radical nature of the Kingdom.
- This is not a $5 a month social club membership. This is not a once-a-year dinner obligation. This is not a “sign-here-and-forget-it” paper.
- This is a big commitment. This is one that will cost you. Indeed, you are specifically warned by Jesus to ponder whether you’re ready to step into that level of commitment. That's a big part of the gospel - it requires a radical commitment.
- Moving back to Mark 9, let’s look at the context of a second “salt” passage.
- The passage before it is vv. 42-49.
- Verse 42 speaks of the danger of causing a little one to sin.
- Verses 43-49 speak to the urgency of avoiding sin. It would be better to cut off a hand or pluck out an eye if that could help you to avoid sin than to go to hell bodily intact.
- This, similarly, points us to the radical nature of the Kingdom. This is an urgent issue that demands that we give it the attention it deserves. We need to want sin out of our lives. We can’t be content to dwell in the filth of our sinfulness.
- Finally, we go to Matthew 5 and the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.
- First, it’s worth noting that this is the beginning of the greatest sermon ever preached. It gives us Jesus’ vision of His Kingdom.
- Second, it begins with the litany of “blessedness” that we call the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes could be (and have been) an entire sermon series unto themselves, with each saying providing material for an entire sermon. Let’s just briefly summarize by saying that these are not pie-in-the-sky platitudes, but insights into the types of people who will find blessedness in Jesus’ Kingdom.
- This is something that many people blithely reject because the “blessed” statements are so different than the way that we normally do business in this world. “Surely Jesus wasn’t serious.” Yes, He was. But they are right in this point: this is a wildly different list of “blessedness” from the way we normally act like the world works.
- This leads us right back to the statement we’ve made twice already: the radical nature of the Kingdom. This is a Kingdom that is playing by different rules. It’s wildly different than what you’ve been used to seeing in the world.
- In sum, and this is important going forward, the Kingdom is radical. There is a radical nature to the Kingdom of God. It is wildly different than the world we see around us day by day. It is wildly different than business as usual. It is something that stands steadfastly apart. It is radical.
- Now, having set the context, I want to begin my looking at the only phrase that shows up in three of these passages.
“LOSES ITS SALTINESS”: What happens when the radical Kingdom becomes bland?
- Matthew 5:13b; Mark 9:50b; Luke 14:34b (“. . . but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?”).
- We are starting our exploration of these “salt” passages with a phrase that stands out in two ways: (a) as stated, it is the only phrase in this section that shows up in all three passages and (b) for its presence in a straightforward metaphor, it immediately creates some questions and uncertainty.
- Luke’s version is “. . . but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?” (v. 34).
- One immediate problem is if you presume that the salt is a picture of our salvation. Then it would be a statement that if we get compromised then there is no way back. Our salvation is lost - “how can it be made salty again?” That is problematic in the extreme.
- I don’t think it’s intended to be a statement on individual salvation. Rather, when you look at the larger context, I think it’s intended to be a statement on the nature of the Kingdom.
- In Luke it is preceded by talk of carrying the cross and counting the cross. Defining the nature of the Kingdom.
- In Mark it is preceded by talk of the urgency of getting rid of sin. Defining the nature of the Kingdom.
- In Matthew it is preceded by the Beatitudes and defining what “blessedness” looks like. Defining the nature of the Kingdom.
- In all three we have details about the type of Kingdom that Jesus is inaugurating and what it looks like to be a part of it. None of them talk about grace or forgiveness or other things we would put under the category of how to be saved. This is more telling us what the Kingdom is like that we are signing up for.
- If true, then what’s the point of this statement?
- The statement is telling us that it is important to keep this radical Kingdom radical.
- Salt is sometimes used as a metaphor for being a preservative. That's not the case here. It can also be used as a metaphor for flavoring. That's the point here.
- When you add salt to something you’ve cooked, you’re adding flavor. If the salt loses its saltiness (exactly what’s said here) - that is, it no longer has any flavoring to it, it has become banal, it is bland, it is flavorless - then what good is it in adding flavor? None.
- Going back to the context statements in all three gospels before the salt teaching, the Kingdom is portrayed as something radical. Remember under the last point all three times I said the thing that was being pointed to was the radical nature of the Kingdom.
- Jesus came to bring something radical into the world. The point being made here is that if you take away that radicalness, that flavor, then it has lost something essential.
- Specifically it says “how will it be made salty again?”
- Given all we’ve talked about up to this, I think the point of that statement is basically, “What in the world (literally) could add flavor back if you’ve allowed the Kingdom to become banal?” The implied answer: nothing. The Kingdom is the radical thing, the flavorful thing. There’s nothing else that is going to add that flavor.
- To use an analogy, if you’re cooking and the spice you put in doesn’t seem to create the flavor you’re looking for - maybe another ingredient neutralized it - you might think about putting something even more spicy in there with the hope that the more spicy thing might end up providing a mild spiciness given the neutralizing factor. This, of course, presumes you have something spicier you can add.
- In this case, the Kingdom is the “spicier” thing. The Kingdom is the salt. The Kingdom is the radical thing. The point Jesus is making: if the spiciest thing loses its spiciness, you don’t have anything else you can do.
- The other point is that something is ruined about the Kingdom if it loses its radicalness.
- This is a crucial point because it’s something that people have long tried to do.
- Trying to change the Kingdom into a social club.
- Trying to change the Kingdom into a political campaign.
- Trying to change the Kingdom into a personal fiefdom.
- Trying to change the Kingdom into a debate society.
- Trying to change the Kingdom into a religious bureaucracy.
- Trying to change the Kingdom into a societal improvement effort.
- The Kingdom is far more than any of those. The Kingdom is far bigger than any of those. The Kingdom’s vision and agenda is far more radical than any of those.
- Just to pick one of those that is particularly pressing today, the Kingdom is not a political campaign. There are many people who want to reduce the Kingdom of God to a lobbying agency for one political party or another. The vision of the Kingdom of God is seen as identical with the political party. Indeed, to cite one example, amazingly, we are seeing people now claiming to be evangelical Christians who never attend church simply because their politics is conservative. They presume those two entities are identical.
- The point here is that if we allow the Kingdom to become less than the radical thing that Jesus intended, there’s nothing in the world we can use to get that radicalness back.
- The Kingdom is salty and we should hold onto that flavor tightly. We don’t want it to become banal.
- This “lose its saltiness” obviously doesn’t imply that once it’s lost in a particular situation that it’s lost forever globally. We know that there are constantly people becoming enchanted for the first time with the incredible vision of the Kingdom that Jesus gave.
- I’m not even sure it implies once a church has lost that vision that it is absolutely impossible for them to reclaim it, although that could be true. I think the point is more that there is nothing in the world that will help you to get it back.
- It is true, though, that we so often see churches and individuals lose the radical vision of the Kingdom and spend the rest of their days slowly and sadly sliding into deeper and more ridiculous compromise. The United Methodist Church stands as the most prominent recent example. There are lots of other examples of compromised faith that never recovers.
- Sometimes the hardest thing is keeping the main thing the main thing.
- Why does this type of compromise happen so often? Precisely because the Kingdom is radical. It pushes us in uncomfortable directions. It demands more of us than we are readily prepared to give. It presents a vision we don’t see anywhere else. It gives us counter-intuitive truths. It wants to conform us to Christlikeness. Given all that, it is easy at multiple points to reduce what is being offered to something more palatable. It is easy to shave a little off around the edges. It is easy to find ways to get it to dovetail with what we already believe on important issues. So we end up with a compromised Kingdom.
- Where does that leave us here tonight? The most obvious point is this: are we eagerly embracing the radicalness of the Kingdom?
- Given Jesus’ warning here, am I someone who wants the radicalness of the Kingdom to pervade my life? When challenged by Kingdom truths, am I eager to embrace what Jesus is trying to teach me? Do I want to be changed in ways that will make me more like Jesus?
- In sum, do I see the radicalness of the Kingdom as a good or a bad?
- It makes me think of the words that proceed the “salt” sayings in Luke. Jesus’ two parables warn people to count the cost. This is a radical thing you’re entering into - think about whether you’re willing to pay the price. Jesus is going to ask a lot of you.
- This stands in stark contrast to the way that invitations to the Kingdom are often given today. Any cost or price is minimized just to get the person to say yes so that the “conversion” numbers are pumped up for the church. It’s not the way Jesus did it.
“[NOT] FIT . . . FOR THE MANURE PILE”: A Kingdom that isn’t radical is a Kingdom that is worthless.
- Matthew 5:13c; Luke 14:35a (“It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.”).
- Note verse 35 in Luke 14 about the value of a Kingdom that isn’t radical.
- Matthew 5:13 has the same point in slightly different words: “It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”
- This is not an idea I need to spend a lot of time on because we have talked about this under the previous point.
A compromised Kingdom is a worthless Kingdom.
- I’ll add one point here: why is a compromised Kingdom so worthless that it isn’t even good for the manure pile? (Which is a pretty low standard!)
- There may be additional reasons but one in particular comes to my mind. It is that a compromised Kingdom leads people to feel that they have the real thing when they don’t. It deludes and confuses people. It gives false security. It gives empty promises.
- The conclusion Jesus shares about the utter worthlessness of the compromised Kingdom stands in sharp contrast to platitudes like “a little religion is better than none” or “some church is better than no church.” In many instances, what the person is getting from those situations is deceptive.
- The language that Jesus uses here could not be clearer on this point. It’s not half-valuable or partly-valuable - it is utterly worthless.
“SALT IS GOOD”: The presence of the radical Kingdom in the world is an immense good.
- Mark 9:50a; Luke 14:34a (“Salt is good.”).
- This is another statement that is kind of implied at this point but that we want to make explicitly.
In both Mark 9 and Luke 14 that section begins with a simple statement: “Salt is good.”
- This ties in with the points we’ve made up to this point but let’s be explicit about it. The salt that Jesus is talking about is a good thing.
- The salt is, as we’ve been saying, a picture of the radical nature of the Kingdom. This radical nature - this “flavor” - is a good thing.
- This is Jesus’ Kingdom, so it makes sense that is a good thing. It is adding Christlikeness to the world, which is an immense good.
- It is, as we’ve stated, an agenda and a vision that is unlike anything else in the world. And that unusual thing is an incredible good.
- This is questioned by many people reading the words of Jesus or pondering the parables about the Kingdom of God.
- When they are taken seriously, they add great good to the world and to our lives. But many read them and think of them as odd or impractical or naive or quizzical. Some people don’t take them seriously. Some people see them as having brought bad things into the world.
- But Jesus sees the Kingdom as a great good.
- Again, the goodness of it is tied to its radicalness.
- We must maintain the radicalness of the Kingdom if we want it to be a good thing.
- When others would push us to compromise about the Kingdom or see it as a mixed blessing at best, we have a simple retort: salt is good.
“HAVE SALT IN YOURSELVES”: We are to take this radical Kingdom into our personal lives.
- Matthew 5:13a (“You are the salt of the earth”); Mark 9:49 (“Everyone will be salted with fire”); Mark 9:50d (“Have salt in yourselves”).
- Mark 9:50d says, “Have salt in yourselves.”
- This radical Kingdom that we’ve been talking about is not one to admire from the outside. It’s not something for us to study academically.
- No, it’s one that Jesus wants us to take into our own hearts. The salt of the Kingdom is something He wants to see manifested through our lives.
- This shows up in the more direct version of this statement in Matthew 5:13a: “You are the salt of the earth.” That makes sense. The Kingdom is not a building or a book. The Kingdom is the power of God manifested in the lives of the disciples of Jesus.
- Many people want goodness in the world. Many people want Christlikeness in the world. But that's not the same thing as having it in our own lives. Jesus wants it in our own lives.
- And then Jesus wants that radical Kingdom to manifest through our lives. This is why the right way to say it is not that “we go to church” but rather that “we are the church.”
- Again, let’s apply this to our lives: do I want myself to become radically changed? Do I want my life to embody the radical nature of the Kingdom?
- Finally, there is one other statement along these lines, back in Mark 9. This is the most difficult and obscure of the statements.
- It’s verse 49: “Everyone will be salted with fire.”
- This is a tough one. Let’s see what we can figure out.
- The “fire” reference is straightforward. The previous verses (vv. 43-48) have clear references to hell. So the “fire” reference is about hell.
- Then v. 49 stands between those references to hell and the statements about salt that we’ve been unpacking up to this point in this sermon. It’s almost a bridge statement between the two.
- Let me acknowledge that this is the point I am the least confident with regard to interpretation, and that in a sermon filled with things difficult to interpret.
- I wonder if v. 49 is saying something like “An understanding that there is a hell, which is a radical truth, will salt those who understand it. That is, knowing of the realities of the fires of hell will cause you to be more aware of the need to be a part of the radical Kingdom of Jesus.” That is, the knowledge of the fire of hell will cause you to be saltier in being open to the radical nature of the Kingdom.
“BE AT PEACE WITH ONE ANOTHER”: We are signing up for something much bigger than ourselves.
- Mark 9:50d (“. . . and be at peace with each other.”).
- This is our final point and it comes on a statement that only shows up in Mark’s version.
- Let’s start again with context. I think that's helpful here.
- We spoke earlier of what immediately precedes the Mark 9 salt statements. That is the talk of hell that we just referenced. Before that, though, we have a scene where Jesus rebukes His disciples because they are mad because someone who is not in their group is driving out demons in Jesus’ name. That disunity ties well into this closing call for peace.
- What’s the point Jesus is making here?
- I think it’s a call to recognize that we are all signing up for something bigger than ourselves. We are not calling the shots. We are receiving.
- There is a tendency to think that the way to maintain unity among God’s people is to go to the lowest common denominator. Dump the radical teaching and dumb it down. The problem, as we’ve discussed, is doing that would cause our salt to lose its saltiness and that makes it worthless.
- Instead, Jesus closes out this version of the salt saying by pointing us toward maintaining our saltiness (v. 50 - “Have salt in yourselves”) while also maintaining our unity (v. 50 - “. . . and be at peace with one another”).
- This Kingdom is bigger than any of us. We don’t get to mold it or change it. We get to be molded and changed by it.
- Unity does not require compromise. We rather should be unified in our radicalness.
