Year A, Epiphany 5
Matthew 5:13-20
In
the 20th century, salt got a bad rap in the nutrition world. It became connected with high blood pressure and
heart disease. Today, if you are eating
hospital food, good luck finding salt.
Despite the fact that there have been numerous studies showing that salt
isn’t really as bad as everyone says, we still have negative associations with
it. So it’s kind of weird when the first
thing we hear in the Gospel story is, “You are the salt of the earth…” Salt
isn’t particularly inspiring, at least not today. However, in the time of
Jesus, salt didn’t have a bad rap. In
fact, salt was good for a lot of things.
The obvious one is what we still use salt for----seasoning. It was also a preservative for food, which was
important since they didn’t have refrigerators.
Additionally, it was sometimes mixed with manure to create
fertilizer.
And it was also used as
a catalyst for fuel. Typically when
cooking, they used outdoor earthen ovens.
Wood was not easy to come by and they didn’t have easy access to other
kinds of fuel. A cheap way to create
fuel was to use animal dung. They would
make it into patties and then add salt. For the outdoor oven, they would have a
slab of salt under the dung patty and that would essentially be the catalyst
for the fire. At some point, the salt
would lose its catalytic ability and become useless. It would simply be thrown out, which is why
Jesus said that when salt loses its taste, it isn’t good for anything.
Thus
when Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth,” he was not simply saying that
we give flavor or that we preserve, he was calling us the catalyst that start a
fire. We, as followers of Christ are the
ones who not only provide heat and light, but create the heat and light, enable
the fire to burn. Now, you may be thinking, well he probably wasn’t thinking of
Episcopalians. We aren’t exactly known
for our heat and energy. Or, you might
be thinking, well he’s definitely not talking about me. I’m tired and over committed. I don’t have the
time or the energy for fire, especially not on Sundays.
He is talking about all
of us. This text is part of the Sermon
on Mount. He has just finished telling people,
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be
comforted.” He is speaking to a crowd,
most likely a crowd full of beleaguered people, people who are hungry, people
who are tired, people who feel like they are anything but catalysts for
fire. He was speaking to a crowd then
and he is speaking to us all now…saying the same thing. “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.”
Notice
that he doesn’t say, “You will be the salt of the earth if you try hard enough
or if you do x, y, and z.” No, he is
saying, “You are the salt of the earth right now.” And it’s not because you have something no
one else has or that you simply have a fiery disposition. You are the salt of the earth and the light
of the world because that is what and who God created you to be. We are born into this world to be fire. I can’t speak for any of you, but I must
confess that I have a hard time really believing this. Because most of the time, I don’t feel
fiery. I don’t feel like a
catalyst. I don’t even feel particularly
salty. I feel kind of tired and stressed,
a little overwhelmed and weary. And
given the amount of energy drinks at the store, and the ever expanding reach of
Starbucks, I don’t think I’m alone in feeling weary and overwhelmed. Am I?
Have
you ever just eaten plain salt? Meaning, you aren’t adding it to something, you
are eating salt. I hope not, because
that’s kind of gross. Salt alone is no
good. Salt is only good when it
accompanies something. Animal dung isn’t
very useful, unless you add some salt, and all of a sudden, it heats an oven.
These metaphors Jesus is using cannot be taken singularly. They only work well accompanying something
else. So it is with us as
Christians. Sure, there are people who
can do amazing things all by themselves.
At least, I assume there are, but I’ve never met one. Most people find energy, power, and
fulfillment in their work with other people, or with the support of other
people. So if you think you are too
tired, too busy, too old, too sick, too young to be the salt of the earth, to
be the catalyst that sparks the flame, you might be right. You can’t do it alone. That’s why we have
Jesus to be that support. That is why we have the community of Christians, to
inspire and motivate one another.
I
witnessed this several times this week.
On Wednesday, we delivered 1594 cans of soup to the HELP food
pantry. Now, I admit, the Lutherans had
more and I was a little irritated about that, but then the Lutherans helped us
unload all our cans because they had more people. We all worked together and I was reminded of
the importance of Christians working together. Don’t get me wrong, we will win
next year, but I am still grateful to them for motivating us and supporting us. Then this Friday we hosted a dialogue of race
in our parish hall. The Unity Commission
of Hampton Roads organized it and there were a few people from our church
there. But there were also 50 other
people there who were committed to finding ways for people of all tribes, all
colors to work together. As many of you
know, I have an African American son. There are times I am overwhelmed by what
I don’t know and understand. But on
Friday, I was reminded that I am not alone.
And as I looked around that room, I could see there were people there
who would help, who wanted to help. All
of a sudden, I didn’t feel so weary. I
felt energized and hopeful.
Unfortunately
we are currently in a culture that doesn’t encourage people who are different
or who disagree to be together or even pray together. That is a travesty, because more than ever,
we need one another to inspire us, or sometimes just hold one another upright
and accountable. You are the salt of the
earth. You were born to be fire.
Together, as a community here at St. John’s and in the wider Christian
community, we must find a way to work together and if we can we will set a fire
this world has never seen. Once we have
done that, there is no way that anyone is going to hide that fire under a
bushel basket. No, we will be that city
on the hill, a city that no one will dare hide.
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