You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. [Matthew 5:13 (NLT)]
Today, when someone is called the “salt of the earth,” the speaker probably means he or she is a dependable, unpretentious and honest person—someone of moral integrity. That is well and good as far as it goes, but Jesus meant more than that when He called us to be “the salt of the earth.”
Nowadays, salt is inexpensive and a 26-ounce box of generic table salt cost less than 2 cents an ounce. Even if you wanted to go gourmet with some pink Himalayan table salt, you’d only pay about 25 cents per ounce. In ancient times, however, salt was so precious that Roman soldiers received their pay in it. When that became cumbersome, they received an allowance for its purchase. Called salarium argentum and meaning salt money, salarium remains in the English language as the word “salary.” Slave traders often bartered salt for slaves which gave rise to the expression that someone useless isn’t “worth his salt.” It was the preciousness of salt that made it so meaningful when making covenants or treaties in the ancient world. When Jesus said we are the “salt of the earth,” He meant we were as valuable as this precious commodity of the 1st century. But, aside from being valuable, what other qualities could Jesus have had in mind with His metaphor?
Salt is a flavor enhancer and we, as Christ’s disciples can add flavor and meaning to the lives of others. Salt makes people thirsty and we, as the salt of the earth, can make people thirst for and desire Christ. In ancient times, salt water was considered a natural antiseptic. Used to clean wounds and prevent infection, newborns were bathed in salt water. As salt of the earth, we can do our part in preventing sin’s infection.
Salt can lessen the pain of bee stings and bug bites and we, as salt, can lessen sin’s sting. On the other hand, salt rubbed into a wound stings and we, as salt, can rebuke and admonish the world with words that may sting. Salt can remove stains and, as Christ’s salt, we can remove the stain of sin with news of repentance and God’s forgiveness.
A paste of salt, flour and vinegar can remove rust and polish brass and copper; as salt in God’s service, we can certainly polish up this tarnished world of ours. Salt is used to stop food decay and we, acting as messengers of the Gospel, have the ability to keep people from perishing and rotting in Hell. Salt also has destructive properties and the term “salting the earth” refers to the ancient military practice of plowing fields of enemies with salt so that no crops could be grown. In the same way, we want to sow Satan’s fields with our salt to make them barren.
In spite of warnings from our cardiologists, a certain amount of salt is essential for life. Without it, our bodies become chemically unbalanced, our muscles and nervous system cease to function, and eventually we’ll die. Without a doubt, the message of Christ’s saving grace is essential for eternal life. Even though our body fluids (blood, sweat, tears) are salty, we cannot produce salt on our own nor can we obtain salvation on our own! Salvation comes by God’s grace through faith!
Finally, salt is white, the color of purity, and, as salt of the earth we should be pure, which brings us full circle to salt that has lost its saltiness or has become tainted. The salt used in Jesus’ time was obtained from salt marshes and salt lakes. Because it wasn’t refined, it always contained other minerals. If the sodium chloride was leached away by dampness or became fouled by dirt, what remained was without flavor and contaminated. Good for nothing, it was strewn on the roads like gravel. Like salt without flavor, disciples who don’t live out the values of the Kingdom cannot fulfill their purpose.
Moreover, no matter how valuable, pure, flavorful, or essential it is for life, salt that is kept in a sealed package is useless. Jesus wants us to get out of the box and into the world so we can spread our saltiness around in words and deeds as we share His Good News.
Salt, when dissolved in water, may disappear, but it does not cease to exist. We can be sure of its presence by tasting the water. Likewise, the indwelling Christ, though unseen, will be made evident to others from the love which he imparts to us. [Sadhu Sundar Singh]
For many in the Christian community, last Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent, a season in remembrance of the forty days Jesus fasted in the wilderness and was tempted by Satan. For them, Lent is a penitential season of repentance, fasting, and self-denial leading up to Easter. The idea of fasting as a form of preparation for Resurrection Sunday comes from Jesus’ statement, “But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; and when that day comes, they will fast,” found in Mark 2:20.
Back in 2008, my husband and I joined others from our church to see Fireproof, a movie by Alex and Stephen Kendrick. It was about Caleb Holt, a firefighter, who’s urged by a friend and his father to hold off on getting the divorce to which he and his wife have agreed. Counseling him to fight for his crumbling marriage, his father gives him a Christian self-help book called The Love Dare and urges him to go on its forty-day challenge. Having nothing to do with the game “Truth or Dare,” the book dares Caleb to improve his marriage, not by changing his wife, but by changing the way he treats her. After completing the forty day challenge, Caleb continues changing his behavior and he and his wife eventually reconcile. As I remember, the movie ends with them renewing their marriage vows. Several months after seeing the movie, I spotted The Love Dare book while browsing through a bookstore. Whether the movie gave birth to the book or the book gave birth to the movie, I don’t know. In any case, I purchased it and, without my husband knowing, took on its 40-day challenge.
When we spotted some Sandhill Cranes last week, I recalled the cranes we frequently saw when we lived in rural Illinois. In the fall, flocks of them could be found eating the crop residue remaining from the recently harvested fields. As they gleaned the corn fields, I thought of the words in Deuteronomy and Leviticus directing the Israelites to deliberately leave some produce behind for those less fortunate—the people who wouldn’t have land of their own from which to harvest. Allowing the poor to maintain their dignity as they labored in the fields, rather than a handout, the gleaning was considered a rightful opportunity to improve their lives. The command to leave left-overs from the harvest for the poor was not to be taken lightly. In fact, if nothing remained in his fields following harvest, a landowner could be punished.
Nowadays, we tend to think of “religion” as the institutionalized system of religious principles, beliefs, ceremonies, and practices to which we’re committed. The religion of which James spoke, however, isn’t limited to things like denomination or synod, liturgy, traditions, rituals, or special observances. Religion, as used by James, is the belief in, service to, and worship of God and encompasses our entire being. The ERV’s translation as “worship,” the NIRV’s as “beliefs and way of life,” the NTE’s and CEB’s of “devotion,” and even the Passion’s translation as “true spirituality” better capture James’ meaning. He is telling us that real religion is our way of life—the way we express our devotion to God hour after hour, day after day, in all that we think, speak, and do.
Devotions of the Heart 