Matthew 5:13-20
Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
This portion of Matthew’s Gospel is embedded in the larger Sermon on the Mount in which we learn about our inherent nature and goals. Jesus begins by telling us that we are the salt of the earth! It’s part of our composition, who we are, rather than something that we are striving to become. Some relevant characteristics of salt are that it isn’t useful to itself – it’s ability to enhance is only experienced when applied to something. It’s impure when taken directly from the earth; and if this earth salt loses its sodium chloride, all that is left is limestone – best used to create a stone path on the ground!
Being the salt of the earth is a metaphor about our purpose in life, that we haven’t been designed to exist for ourselves alone but rather to engage in God’s Creation with and for others. It’s not about our personal salvation; we are taken as God’s own forever through baptism. Our purpose engages our entire being, our beautiful and salty essence as we bring our full selves into relationship with God and others. The only way we can fail is to lose our saltiness, which means losing our earthy essence that enhances the world.
We are the light of the world! Jesus’ light shines in and through us. Light inherently dispels darkness, and when put on a lampstand it becomes the focus of attention for all around it. Then this beacon of light enables us to explore our surroundings, engaging in the wonder of God’s Creation. To put our light on a lampstand, however, requires us to put aside all fear of judgement by others. Our mission as God’s light is a public one, like boldly building a city up on top of a hill. This city and our light are not designed to be hidden - they are designed to be beacons for all to see. We endeavor to never let the light shining in us be hidden, because there is nowhere that God can’t or doesn’t want to reach and we extend God’s light to the world.
When we’re comfortable putting our light on a lampstand, we need to be mindful of not going to the opposite extreme and thinking that people turning toward us because of the brilliance of the light shining through us is about us. We’re cautioned by Jesus to remember that like salt not being designed for its own benefit, so too our light is not about us. We can’t make the light or keep it fueled; it’s God’s light and it is designed to illuminate God’s Mission of healing and reconciliation to the world.
Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets’ words, and we are called to live with faithfulness into who we’re created to be. The scribes and the Pharisees spent significant energy following the details of the Law and the Prophets’ words, but to the point that they lost the essence of what they were trying to accomplish. Our righteousness comes with humility through our faith in Jesus Christ. We always remember that it is by God’s grace that we can strive to serve God and follow the commandments we’ve been given, living into who we have been created to be and shining our light for all the world to see!
When have you experienced being salt for someone else, enhancing their lives?
When have you experienced God’s light? When have you been able to see this light being a beacon to others?
What are the ways we inhibit our saltiness?
What are the bushels that can we use to hide our light?
How do we encourage in ourselves being salt of the earth and letting God’s brilliant light shine in and through us?