You Are Salt – Br. James Koester

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Matthew 5:13-16

There are a great many scriptural phrases that have slipped into common parlance. Many use them now, without knowing where they come from, and if pressed, would not really be sure what they mean. Tonight’s brief gospel is a case in point. How often have we heard someone described as a real salt of the earth sort of person? My sense is that when we say that about another, what we are actually saying is that they are good, basic, decent people. But is that what Jesus is saying when he tells his audience you are the salt of the earth?[1] Is he only saying to the crowd assembled, hey you lot, you’re a good, basic, decent, bunch of folks? Or is there something more to this phrase that has been lost over time?

I’d say, a great deal has been lost, because today we only ever see salt in small saltshakers, or in boxes of salt that sit in the cupboard for months and months. Once upon a time, salt was used, not by the pinch, but by the pound. It was used to preserve, pickle, and cook food, and not simply flavour it. It is used to clean things, melt ice, and treat sore throats. It can be used in the kitchen, around the home, and in the garden.

Because salt was so useful it came to acquire a variety of symbolic meanings over time. In Exodus, God tells Moses how to make incense, using salt as one of the ingredients, which is described as pure and holy.[2] In 2 Kings, salt is used to purify water[3] so that it’s drinkable. In Ezekiel we learn that at birth babies were rubbed with salt to cleanse and toughen them.[4] In Colossians we are told to let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt.[5] So salt was used in the ancient world as a symbol of purity, holiness, and cleansing as well as truth, graciousness, understanding, and ultimately wisdom.

Over time salt was used liturgically, notably in the baptismal rites when a pinch of salt was placed in the mouth of the catechumen symbolizing their purification and their search for wisdom. At the time of baptism salt was added to the water as a sign of purification, protection and preservation.

So, Jesus’ description of his followers as the salt of the earth carried much more weight that a descriptor of a bunch of good, basic, decent, folks. In the mouth of Jesus, it is an admonition to be pure, holy, and wise. You are the pure, holy, and wise ones of the earth, Jesus tells us, giving flavour, wisdom, and truth to the world around.

As such, as Christians, our vocation is to be salt. In the seventeenth century, William Laud,[6] one of the great, albeit controversial Archbishops of Canterbury wrote the following prayer:

Gracious Father, we pray for thy holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior. Amen.[7]

In many ways, it could be described as a prayer for salt and for us as the Church to become salt. As we watch the US Marines enter Los Angeles, drones employed as weapons of war in Ukraine and Russia, and children starve in Gaza we may want to remember that our vocation is to be salt, to be people of purity, holiness, truth, and wisdom, and pray Laud’s prayer for ourselves.

Gracious Father, I pray for myself and those I love. Fill us with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where there is corruption, purify us; where we are in error, direct us; where in any thing we are amiss, reform us. Where we are right, strengthen us; where we are in want, provide for us; where we are divided, reunite us; for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior. Amen

Remember, you are the salt of the earth, and your vocation as a Christian is to be salt, pure, holy, truthful and wise.

You are the salt of the earth.

[1] Matthew 5: 13

[2] Exodus 30: 35

[3] 2 Kings 2: 20

[4] Ezekiel 16: 4

[5] Colossians 4: 6

[6] William Laud, Arcbishop of Canterbury (1573 – 1645) He was successively Bishop of St. David’s, Bishop of Bath and Wells, Bishop of London, and from 1633 until his execution at the hands of the Puritans in 1645, Archbishop of Canterbury.

[7] Episcopal Church, Book of Common Prayer, 1979, page 816