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Jesus had a lot to say during his Sermon on the Mount. Some parts of his message are enigmatic for those of us living a couple millennia later. Back in Jesus’ time, salt was an important agent in preserving food. Without salt, food would rot. Jesus told his listeners, “You are the salt of the earth.”
What Good Is Salt That Isn’t Salty?
You are the salt of the earth! Most of us take that as a
compliment — we’re down to earth, upstanding people, truly God’s
chosen. But in these verses, that compliment is quickly
followed by a reminder that being the noun isn’t enough — we
have to keep making the adjective apply.
In both Matthew and Mark, this verse comes in the middle of some
pretty severe instructions. In Matthew, as part of the Sermon on
the Mount, we get the Beatitudes but we also are
told that if someone wants our shirt, we should give them our
coat as well. In Mark, this comes after we are told to pluck out
our own eyes if they cause us to sin. In both cases, we’re
reminded that it isn’t enough to follow God’s law to the letter
— there is no such thing as just doing enough. Matthew tells us
that salt-less salt isn’t good for anything except to be
thrown out and trampled underfoot. While that’s probably
accurate (throw out the old salt and find some new salty salt in
your soul!), Mark’s finish to the teaching is easier to see at
work: Have salt among yourselves and be at peace with each
other.
Who among us hasn’t looked around our house, work or community
and thought, “I don’t have anything left to give. I am out of
steam?” This, to me, is the root of the verse later in
Matthew, “Wherever two or more are gathered in my name, there I
am also.”
Frankly, we’re pretty bad at being Christians alone. It’s too
easy to look away from a homeless man on the side of the road
and think, “Nothing I can do will make a difference.” Part of
the joy of being part of a community in Christ is that you don’t
have to have all the salt in yourself; you can borrow from a
neighbor. Feeling low on salt? Don’t know how to solve
hunger in your community? Commit to bringing in the yellow bag
of food identified in the Re-Focus for two months. On the flip
side, if you’re feeling particularly salty at the moment,
find a project you’re passionate about and try to share your
salt with others.
And keep in mind, too, that although Christ challenges us to
keep striving, he knows we’ll never actually get there. His joy,
and ours, too, is in the work. It is truly God’s work and our
hands, but the good news is that it isn’t just your hands or my
hands alone.
Amy Pletcher Borgmeyer
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