Salt in our World, life in our land


Matthew 5: 13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

Thank you David for bringing God’s word this past Sunday. God is always faithful. God is always good.

This past Sunday you reminded us, that we are “the salt of the earth”. That Jesus used a life essential mineral, as a personification of a Christian’s life. You helped us understand that salt has a number of benefits associated with good health, safety, seasoning, and food preservation.

While somewhat plentiful and ordinary, the use of salt is essential to life. Health experts tell us that our salt intake, due to the presences of sodium has to be in balance. To little or too much will affect our health even to the point of death, so awareness is key. In a sense, the balance of a life essential mineral is critical to our condition of life. I find that to be a powerful metaphor for a Christian’s walk.

As Christians, we must be aware of God’s presence within our lives as we affect others. People perceive our uniqueness and then assign “labels” to be used according to their purposes. As long as “their” purpose and God’s purpose align, no problem, BUT when they misalign “things” happen. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are you when…” the message is clear, it is not a matter of if we will be “persecuted”, but “when”.

Within the workplace, a misalignment can be a “code of silence”, the expectation of saying nothing as others commit unethical, immortal, and/or illegal actions. Within our society, it could be the attitude “I”, the commoditizing of fellow humans beings to get everything “I” want. At home, it is “me centric”, when others demand to be the center of your life. The “salty” ones are deemed benign until “it” happens.

Jesus designed every Christian to be IN the World but not OF the World, which misaligns each one of us with our “go with the flow” World. It places every Christian on a collision course with a system of inequality, injustice, and unrighteousness. We collide into a society, which values birds of prey and dismisses an unborn life, we smash into a worldly value system where the end justifies the means, and encounter situations where those with the gold make the rules.  John 15:18 states “…If the world hates you…” it is because “it” hates Him. So why doesn’t God “fix it”?

I love this part of Sunday’s message, when you pointed out in Matthew 13:29 “… for while you are gathering up the tares you may uproot the wheat with them.” We should not consider what we perceive as inaction as unfair, but inversely as “grace full” as we avoid God’s full wrath.

To me, Sunday’s message is… as long as there is salt in our World, there is “life” in our land.

Thank you David for giving God’s message. 

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