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Gospel: Matthew 5: 13-16
Jesus said to his disciples:
“You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
It is no longer good for anything
but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;
it is set on a lampstand,
where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Here’s a question you might find on the game show, Jeopardy: “This highly sought after commodity was used to domesticate dogs nearly 10,000 years ago.”
The correct answer? What is salt.
For thousands of years, salt was used, not only to domesticate man’s best friend, but also to preserve food, to heal wounds, to seal agreements, and to pay soldiers. It’s from the word “salt,” that we get the word, “salary.”
Salt is still essential for our lives today – it flavors food, quickens water to a boil, serves as an antiseptic, and during snowy winters such as this one, melts ice on the roads.
Even our bodies are dependent upon salt for survival. Without enough of it, we’d die. Yet too much in our body can kill us. We have to strike a balance.
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In today’s Gospel, we hear a continuation of Jesus first public sermon, containing the lion’s share of his ethical teachings. He began last week with the Beatitudes, calling the poor in spirit, the peacemakers, those who mourn, and the persecuted, “blessed.”
Today Jesus continues by calling us, “the salt of the earth.” He does not say, “You might be salt.” Or, “Someday you will be salt when you have a little more faith.”
No, we already are.
This is our shared mission as Christians. Just as salt preserves food from spoiling, so we are called to preserve faith and virtue here on earth. But, notice how this must be done.
Salt does not exist to preserve itself. If locked away in a cabinet, eventually it loses its flavor. As Jesus says, “It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
Salt’s value is found in giving it away; in pouring it out; in scattering it; in dissolving it into something else. You might say, when it dies to itself.
This is the greatest paradox in all of Christ’s teachings – it is by dying, by pouring ourselves out, that we begin to live. As the prophet Isaiah proclaims in our first reading:
“Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them… Then you shall call and the LORD will answer…
…If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation, and malicious speech, then the light shall rise in the darkness.”
If we ever stopped caring for the poor, washing people’s feet, shouting from our rooftops, forgiving those who hurt us, fighting against corruption, or living with pure hearts, then we’d begin losing our saltiness. And what good would we be then?
So, in what ways are we the salt of the earth? How do we preserve faith in our homes and in this community? How do we pour ourselves out for the good of others?
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There is one caveat. Just as the human body would expire with too little – or too much – salt, so we must learn how to temper our zeal.
Too much salt can burn, sting, irritate, even destroy. Similarly, we need to be judicious with how much “salt” we pour into our words, actions, and relationships.
We should speak the truth, but always with gentleness.
We should shout from our rooftops, even march in the streets, but without letting our zeal for souls turn into hatred of our neighbors.
We should share our faith in public, but not to the point of shoving it down peoples’ throats.
We should correct people caught in sin, certainly those we love, but never with a judgmental eye or to the point of embarrassment. As the old saying goes, “Stop pouring salt in the wound.” Too much of it only makes things worse.
Faith is meant to season our conversations with love; to serve as an antiseptic; to heal wounded relationships by grace; to bring out the best in other people; and to inspire a genuine thirst in others for Christ.
But often achieving such goals comes with striking the right balance between zeal and patience, passion and reason, strength and kindness.
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“You are the salt of the earth,” Jesus says.
For better or for worse.
May it always be for the better as we pour ourselves out for the enhancement of others, the preservation of faith, and the healing of relationships.
You might say, in tandem with Christ for the life of the world.
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Image credits: (1) Group Bible Study (2) Franciscan Friars of the Atonement (3) Pastor Daniel Flucke, WordPress