Just a Little Salt

Table Salt on Glass reflecting “God’s Covenant with Noah,” February 2011, First Presbyterian Church Edwardsville, photo by the author.

Sermon Series “Through the Bible,” № 50, Matthew 5:13-20

You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.—Matthew 5:13

Scholars who study the gospels say that Matthew almost certainly wrote for a Jewish-Christian audience. Why? He took great care to show that events from Jesus’ life corresponded exactly to Old Testament prophecy, as if thinking that be important to his readers. Compared to the other gospel writers, Matthew uses Old Testament citations and indirect references 102 times, compared to Luke’s 68, John’s 49, and Mark’s 39.[1] Matthew is less inclined to explain Jewish  customs, expressions, and interpretative traditions, as if he assumed his audience already understood them.

If you look closely, then you’ll find clues that Matthew is interested in showing how the story of Jesus parallels the story of Moses. Like Moses, the identity of Jesus’ true father is cloaked in mystery. As a baby, he escapes a slaughter of innocent children ordered by a king. Before his ministry begins, he is tested in the wilderness. Early in his ministry, he ascends a mountain where God’s word is given and received.

In the midst of the similarities, there are also differences.  For instance, Moses on the mountain receives guidelines in the form of the Ten Commandments, whereas Jesus on the mountain GIVES guidelines in the form of beatitudes. “Beatitude” is a strange-sounding word; it’s derived from the Latin beatus, meaning “blessed” or “happy.”  Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” After Jesus speaks the beatitudes, he goes on to explain the difference it will make for his disciples to practice his teaching: Those who hear and obey his word will be light in a world that often is dark, and salt in a world that often is tasteless. 

These days, it’s more difficult to feel like I have enough emotional resilience to be the salt of the earth. I watch a news broadcast that seems framed in a way to antagonize, and I feel angry. I drive around town while other cars dart in and out of lanes like they’re positioning themselves in a Nascar race, and I feel the beginnings of road rage. My neighbor hosts another loud late-night hot-tub party, and I’m sorely tempted to respond with a 6 a.m. airhorn blast.

All around, the world seems a little more rude, angry, and mean-spirited than it used to be. We know that Christians are supposed be different, but we wonder whether we ever could follow Christ’s example and teaching enough to be worthy. When he says, “if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot,” we may wonder whether we are among the tasteless ones being thrown out.

Yet, for all the apparent harshness, Jesus teaching as a whole seems to take aim mainly at those who put faith in their own righteousness, rather than trust in God’s mercy.  The Jesus who calls us to be the salt of the earth also acknowledges our needs: “Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him?”[2] The Jesus who calls us to be the salt of the earth responds in mercy to those who approach in humility and trust. Again and again, he listens, cares, enlightens, and heals. Those who follow him need not be perfect, just different enough to draw attention to him, different enough to be salt in a tasteless world.

I was motivated, in part, to preach on today’s text by recent experience. Usually, my annual preventive care exam goes routinely, but this year there were some things that require follow up. One of those things were high blood pressure readings. My doctor sent me home with educational literature, links to videos, and a referral. While I was watching a video on sodium intake, it was as if a light switch turned on in my mind. Some of you of a certain age know just what I learned, don’t you? I opened my food-tracking app, and turned on the little widget that tracks sodium. Looking back on the previous month gave me quite a surprise! I’m not just talking about sodium in weekend splurge foods like pizza, French fries, or bacon.  I’m also talking about the fish I was eating to raise my good cholesterol: Italian tuna on crackers (salt!), smoked salmon on toast (salt!) Even broiled cod, which I usually season with pepper and SALT! 

Long story made short: My sodium-tracking journey is moving in the right direction, and my blood pressure is in the healthy range more often. If you’re in the grocery store, and see a gray-bearded guy with reading glasses reading nutritional labels, then pray that God gives him patience. I’m learning in a personal way that just a little salt is all you need. For flavoring purposes, you don’t need a whole carton, like the salt container Robin Paproth has hanging as a teaching prop in the doorway of her Sunday school room.  A little packet – a teaspoon per day – is more than adequate to fulfill the needs of an average adult. 

When Jesus compares our Christian witness to salt, we may think we have to pour it on to make a difference. But remember how we react to people who aggressively try  to convert us to their way of believing or thinking, with little regard for our feelings. It’s like too much salt! Just a little bit of salt is all you need.

I got to thinking about the Christian witness that made a difference during my growing up years, and the adults in my church who served as my teachers and mentors.  They spent considerable resources to raise us. From the perspective of a young person, we got to know them well enough to understand their faults, and sometimes even push their emotional hot buttons.  They weren’t perfect. But they were just different enough to draw our attention to Christ, just enough salt to give us a taste of God and God’s ways in a sometimes a tasteless teenage experience of growing up.

One of my favorite pastor-authors is Barbara Brown Taylor, who describes her salt-of-the-earth people. “The reliable witnesses in our own lives have been those who embody the word they speak …. Their lives match their speech. This is true even when they fail spectacularly to love God and their neighbors as themselves. Even then they show us what repentance and resurrection look like in the flesh. They are our reliable witnesses not because they are flawless but because they are honest, humble, brave, and kind.”[3]

When we search our memories, each of us can call to mind a few “reliable witnesses” who pointed us in the right direction. Be encouraged by the knowledge that not one of them was perfect, and the realization that neither do we need to be perfect.  If we allow God to guide us, correct us, feed us at the table, and support us through this community of faith, then we will be Christ for the world today. If we trust God to make us more honest, humble, brave, and kind, then we, too, will be the little bit of salt that makes this world a more tasteful place.

NOTES

[1] Parallel Passages in New Testament Quoted from Old Testament, Blue Letter Bible, https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/misc/quotes.cfm

[2] Matthew 7:9-11.

[3] Barbara Brown Taylor, “Virtues and Imposters,” The Christian Century, 26 July 2005, p. 35.

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