***
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.
***
***
In today’s Gospel, we hear a continuation of Jesus first public sermon, containing the lion’s share of his ethical teachings. He began with the Beatitudes, calling the poor in spirit, the peacemakers, those who mourn, and the persecuted, “blessed.”
Now he 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.
***
Consider the nature of salt.
Salt does not exist to preserve itself. If locked away in a cabinet, then it loses its value. As Jesus says, “It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
The value of salt is found in giving itself away; in being poured out; scattered; dissolved into something else. You might say, when it dies to itself.
***
This is the greatest paradox in all of Christ’s teachings – it is only in dying to ourselves, or giving ourselves away, that we truly begin to live.
If we Christians ever stopped caring for the poor, washing other people’s feet, shouting from our rooftops, forgiving those who hurt us, fighting against corruption, or living with pure hearts, then we’d lose our saltiness.
And what good would we be then?
***
How am I like the salt of the earth? How do I pour myself out for the good of others? And how do I preserve faith and goodness in my heart, in my home, and in the world around me?
***
May the Lord season all of us with his grace, lest we be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
***
***
Image credits: (1) Vegetarian Society (2) Greystone Baptist Church (3) The Light of Christ Journey