Salt of the earth
Jesus Christ said to his apprentices:
“You are the salt of the earth” (Gospel of Matthew 5:13a).
When Jesus said that in the first century, his apprentices would not understand him to be talking about something to sprinkle on for flavor.
They would understand him to be talking about something people in those days used to preserve the food they put in storage. Salt would keep food edible for a long time.
How important was that in a world where food was not as easy to get as it is for us today? How important was that in a world where things like canning, freezing, and refrigeration did not yet exist?
Salt, in those times, could be the difference between having enough good food to eat (to stay alive) or having none.
So, when Jesus told his apprentices to think of themselves as “the salt of the earth,” what would they take him to mean?
That the presence of the people of Jesus Christ acts as a preservative for all people on earth. That where go the people of Jesus Christ, there goes life and sustenance for all people.
The clue is in the ten verses that come before Matthew 5:13. These verses are what Christians call ‘The Beatitudes.’ You can read them for yourself here.
You will notice that, in ‘The Beatitudes,’ a lot of blessing is happening. Nine times–over and over–people are being blessed.
The other thing you will note (maybe with surprise) is that the people being blessed are not the kind of people that we think of as being blessed.
Who are they?
The poor, those who mourn, the meek, the hungry, the thirsty, the merciful, the simple, the peacemakers, the persecuted, the insulted, and the slandered.
Be careful to note that Jesus does not teach that these people are blessed because of these things. They are blessed in spite of them.
The point of ‘The Beatitudes’ is not to look at the people who are receiving the blessings, but to look at the God who is giving the blessings. Jesus is trying to show us something about God.
As in: God’s blessings are so big and so free and so generous and so kind and so unstoppable that they immerse even those who seem beyond the reach of any blessedness.
It is God’s will to overwhelm and redeem every curse in his own blessing.
This truth is important to Jesus’s apprentices for two very big reasons.
First, it reminds them that their blessedness does not come from themselves. It reminds them that they live in a state of blessedness by God’s choice and God’s good pleasure alone. In other words: God chose to bless you before you knew it. God chooses to bless you in spite of the choices that you make for yourself. It is God’s will to bless, not to curse!
Second, we need to know that God’s blessedness cannot and will not be taken away from us because things are going to get bad sometimes. When we are humiliated, hungry, poor, persecuted, and slandered, we are tempted to think we fell outside the circle of God’s blessedness. Jesus teaches us that this is not so. The blessings remain and are sure!
So, then, the people of Jesus Christ are people who know this. We know the will of God to bless all life on earth and that that will is fixed in love upon us. We know that the blessedness of God is going to keep coming for us, immersing us and surrounding us, no matter how bad things get or how far we fall.
We, the people of Jesus Christ, have faith and hope in the blessings of God.
And this is what makes us the salt (the preservative) of the earth.
In a time of cursing and cynicism, darkness and despair, when everything seems to be going to “hell in a hand basket”, whose faith channels blessedness and embodies hope? To whom do the people of earth look and say: “We know it is going to be all right because we can see faith, hope, and love reflecting the blessedness of God back to us?”
This is what it means to be “the salt of the earth.”
But Jesus also gave his apprentices a warning: “But if salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot” (Gospel of Matthew 5:13b).
How do we, the people of Jesus Christ, lose our saltiness?
By losing our faith and hope in the God who blesses, which then leads us to lose our love for the people of this earth.
When we let fear take over our hearts and minds, we cast doubt on God himself. We let our fear cause us to stop believing that God will bless. We let our fear take control of our behavior and language. We become dupes for leaders who tell us that God’s blessedness is conditional upon us following them and supporting their agenda. We give up on the way of Jesus Christ to follow corporate and political leaders.
When we do that, we have fallen from grace. We are no longer salty. We no longer radiate and reflect the blessedness of God.
As people of Jesus Christ, our calling is not to conquer the world or convict it. There is already plenty of that and it always leads to more of the same. Rather, our calling is to live our lives believing in the blessedness of God. When we do that, our lives reflect that blessedness to everyone.
Will you give in to fear and let that drive you to anger?
Will you follow those who want you to spread fear and anger?
Or will you choose to believe in God’s blessedness that nobody and nothing can ever take away? Will you choose to let that blessedness shine from you in every way and in every word?
Will you choose to be salty?
Grace and peace.