Salt is Good (Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost)

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There are lots of things Jesus tells me to do that, frankly, I don’t like to hear.  They’re things like “love your enemies”; “pray for those who persecute you”; and “take up your cross and follow me.”

And so I’m particularly alert to those time when Jesus tells me something I think I DO want to hear.  And I found it in today’s Gospel reading: “Salt is good”!

I love salt!  I often look for snacks that are salty.  And I’m inclined to add salt to already salted food so much so that a bunch of my friends routinely refer to salt as “spice of Steve”!  And so far, my doctor keeps telling me that my blood pressure and blood work are great, so a little extra salt doesn’t seem to be an issue for me at this point.

But when Jesus talks about “salt” being good, he’s not really talking about salty snacks.  He’s using salt as a metaphor, because salt in the ancient world wasn’t thought of as a blood pressure risk, but as a valuable resource.

Salt, for people in the first century, was important because salt was:

• A valuable commodity – you’re probably aware that the word “salary” derives from the Latin word for salt, because Roman soldiers were partially paid with an allowance of salt; and since salt was valuable, it was often added to sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem… (you would add the salt to the fire as you were burning the sacrifice)…

• A preservative – even today, salt can be used to preserve meat and fish and other types of food; before refrigeration, this was essential; for instance, when the Risen Jesus appears in the locked room and his disciples offer him fish (in Jerusalem), it’s surely fish that’s been preserved with salt…

• A way of adding flavor to otherwise bland food – there weren’t lots of spice options back then, but a little salt can bring out flavor and add taste to the routine food that gets eaten every day…

And so when Jesus says, “have salt in yourselves”, he’s not really telling you to imitate me and eat more salt!  Rather, he’s calling his disciples to be the salt of God in the world around them.  And being salt is about living in ways that:

• Bring the value of God into the world around us – and this isn’t done by making people live according to however we define “Christian values.”  Instead, it’s done by living in ways that demonstrate how we value God’s love and mercy and forgiveness in our lives; and that’s almost always done by sharing love, mercy and forgiveness with others….

• Seek to preserve and protect the lives of others and the world God made – “stewardship” is a big churchy word that basically reminds us that God has entrusted us with ourselves and the world we live in; and how we care for and preserve one another and the world we share is one of the “salty” things we’re called to be about…

• Act as the spice that brings out the best – not the worst – in what’s going on in the world around us – there are plenty of people who can and do complain loudly about how bad things are going; I’m often one of them, and maybe you are, too!  But our “salty” calling is to lift up, especially in bad times, the good things – the signs of God – that we see and experience around us. Just as salt isn’t really supposed to be the dominant flavor, but rather bring out the flavor of something else, our “salty” work is supposed to be about lifting up not ourselves but what we see and experience God doing in our lives and in the life of the world around us…

And often, since salt is a small thing, we do “salty” work in ways that maybe don’t seem like they’re making a big splash in the world.  But sometimes, that’s the point.  We’re often called to do the little things that bring God’s flavor to others in ways that may go almost unnoticed.

So, over these next few weeks, we’ll do some “salty” work together as we:

• Continue to collect peanut butter and jelly for hungry kids in our community – I haven’t had to make any announcements or pleas about that, because each week people quietly bring in PB & J and put them in the box.  We really do this with Gaithersburg HELP all year long, and as we do that, we demonstrate our love for God by caring for people God made who we may not even know; but that’s what it means to be “salt” in the world around us…

• Plant our “Sacred Grounds” garden – all summer, the mulch behind me has been preparing ground for what we’ll be planning the week after Posaunechor is here.  The garden will be nice, but not a huge thing.  And yet, it’s a way of taking care of the world around us by planting native plants and restoring some of the ecosystem that goes away when we need to have roads and parking lots.  But it’s a part of being “salt” by acting to preserve and protect the world God has given us…

• Listen to Faith Statements from our Confirmands – our 7 confirmands are now working on their faith statements, and they’ll read them to Council in mid-October.  It’s the final piece of Confirmation preparation for them, but it’s important because it helps them – and those of us who listen – to reflect on the ways God has worked in their lives so far.  And usually, those are simple ways and through ordinary people.  But it reminds us that the “salt” that brings the flavor of God to our lives usually comes in the form of ordinary people who, even if they don’t realize it, have been the “salt” of God in the lives of others…

So, maybe DON’T be like me and eat as much salt as I tend to eat!  But DO be the salt of God in the life of the world around you.  Remember the call of Jesus to have salt in yourselves.  That way, you can actually be salty!

And being salty – in the Jesus way – means sharing with others the love, forgiveness and mercy you’ve received.  Being salty – in the Jesus way – means living in ways that preserve and protect the lives of your neighbors and the world around you.  And being salty – in the Jesus way – means being open to being the spice of God in the world so that Jesus can work in and through you to make the flavor of God a living reality in the lives of others.

Amen.