You Are Salt of the Earth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HISdqVg9HHs

Gospel

THE HOLY GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

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 fulfil. 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."

MATTHEW 5:13-20

Sermon: The Rev. Dr. Maryann Amor

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.

Today Jesus continues his teaching from last week and, just as he did when he spoke the Beatitudes and claimed that people are blessed without any requirements placed on them — with no conditions — he again makes a simple declaration: you are the salt of the earth.

Jesus is not saying, “You are salt only if you do something.” He is not saying, “You are salt if you meet certain expectations or standards.” Instead, Jesus is saying that being salt is an inherent condition of who we are.

This matters, because Jesus is not issuing a command here. He is naming an identity. Just as last week he named people as blessed — not because of what they had achieved, but because of who they were — today he names them as salt, names us as salt. This is not something to earn; it is something to live into.

So what does this mean?

Salt is something that doesn’t exist for itself. It isn’t meant to sit in a cupboard to be admired or protected. Salt has a purpose. It is meant to be used — to be put into other things and to affect them. It changes what it touches. Food, especially, can only really be enjoyed because salt is present.

And in Jesus’ world, salt was even more essential than it is in ours. There were no refrigerators or freezers. Salt preserved food and prevented decay; it made survival possible. Salt was used for healing, for cleansing, and even as payment. Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt — which is where we get the word salary, related to the Latin sal, meaning salt. Salt was essential to daily life.

So when Jesus says to his disciples, to the crowd in front of him — a group of ordinary people — and to us gathered here today, “You are the salt of the earth,” he is saying: you matter. The world depends on what you bring, on the flavour you add.

But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He goes on to say that if salt were to lose its saltiness — if it lost the ability to do what it exists to do — then it would become useless. It would preserve nothing, heal nothing, change nothing. It would no longer be valued, and so it would be tossed aside and walked on.

By adding this, Jesus makes clear that we must not forget who we are. Not that we will never fail, struggle, or doubt — we will — but that we cannot lose sight of our purpose. If we decide to retreat inward, to separate ourselves from the world we are meant to serve, then our salt no longer does what salt is meant to do.

Our call today, then, is to recognise that being salt is part of our identity. And we are invited to live this fully — not out of fear or obligation, but out of faithfulness.

So what does this mean for our lives today?

Our saltiness — our calling to go out and affect the world — has not always been at the centre of the church’s life. Instead, the church has often emphasised knowledge: learning about Jesus, studying the Bible, accumulating information, reading about doctrine, creeds, prayers, and church history. As one scholar notes, Christians have often amassed information for its own sake, rather than for the sake of the difference it might make for another person.

Today we are reminded that it is not enough to know things about the faith. It is not enough to understand theology or recite beliefs. Knowing we are salt but never letting that shape how we live is a problem. When the church spends its energy debating theology instead of embodying love, debating who is in or out instead of caring for those who are hurting, debating who is allowed at the table instead of setting it wider so all can find a place — we miss the point. We lose our saltiness.

Last week, Jesus told us that blessing shows up among the poor in spirit, the grieving, and the meek. Today he tells us that these same people — the ones the world overlooks, all of us gathered here — are the very ones through whom God will sustain and transform the world.

We are broken people. We carry struggles with declining minds and bodies, loneliness, financial or relationship stress, job pressures — none of us live easy lives. And yet God says to us: you are blessed. And — oh yes — you are salt too. You can impact this world. Even in the midst of difficulty, you are called to bring flavour and life to those around you.

So today, remember this: we are the salt of the earth. Not because we are exceptional. Not because of what we know. But because God has chosen to work through ordinary people like us. Our call is not to become something else — but to live honestly and courageously as who we already are: the salt of the earth.