Sayings

Perhaps one of the most biblically recognised sayings that has passed into everyday usage us the phrase ‘Salt of the earth.’ In English this can refer to someone who is very good, honest, and reasonable, and not thinking you are special in any way - He was the sort of person referred to as salt of the earth: very friendly and straightforward.

Of course, in biblical terms, Salt of the earth comes from a phrase used by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, part of a discourse on salt and light. “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Matthew 5:13 

Jesus uses contrasting metaphors for Christian life in Matthew 5, and they apply at different times in each person’s life and in the church’s life. Sometimes we are put in the spotlight, and we have our fifteen minutes of fame: briefly we are the light of the world, and we can pray that when we are in such focus, we may be worthy of our Christian vocation. Most of the time we are more like salt, or leaven, working for good even when unseen. Salt is a less attractive image than light. If there is anything of the exhibitionist in us, this image will discover it.

There’s a story, at a meeting some young people were discussing the text “You are the salt of the earth.”  One suggestion after another was made about ‘What is the meaning of salt?’  ‘Salt imparts desirable flavour’ one said.  ‘Salt preserves from decay,’ another said.  Then a Chinese Christian girl spoke out of an experience none of the others had.  She said, ‘Salt creates thirst.’  And suddenly there was a hush in the room. Everyone was thinking.  ‘Have I ever made someone thirsty for the Lord Jesus Christ?’  Are we making people thirsty for Jesus Christ?  Are we salty?

Rev’d John Stott one time of All Souls Langham Place, London Suggests, “God intends us to penetrate the world. Christian salt has no business to remain snugly in elegant little ecclesiastical salt cellars; our place is to be rubbed into the secular community, as salt is rubbed into meat, to stop it going bad. And when society does go bad, we Christians tend to throw up our hands in pious horror and reproach the non-Christian world; but should we not rather reproach ourselves? One can hardly blame unsalted meat for going bad. It cannot do anything else. The real question to ask is: Where is the salt?”

God of grace and glory,

we are so grateful for the leadership of extraordinary people,

shining light into the darkness of climate disaster,

transforming a curse into a blessing,

the gift of salt into a new harvest of hope.

Make us like that, Lord,

so that our faith is not in our words but in our lives,

not in what we say, but in what we do;

passing on your love like the salt that blesses,

like a city on a hill, like a lamp on a stand,

light for life, your light for the world.

Amen