It was the day that the world went weird. The first clue was when the airports started cancelling flights across the nation. For some inexplicable reason, the wings on the nation’s airplanes could not create the natural air foil that causes lift. The ends of the nations runways were looking like used plane lots. Turning the channel on the TV, I found that Regis Philbin was not saying anything annoyingly funny and when switching over to the radio, I heard Rush Limbaugh doing the impossible, praising a liberal.
To sooth my nerves over the strangeness of the day, I picked up my guitar and started to plunk. That is all I got, an empty plunking sound; the vibrations did not bring about any beautiful music. Turning to my coffee for comfort, I found that it was not bitter nor did the sugar I dumped in offer any sweet treat. Dipping my finger directly in the sugar I found that it tasted like flour. In an experiment, I grabbed the flour container, put my finger in, and the substance inside tasted like, flour. The day was ridiculous. I had enough with it. I grabbed the salt shaker, stuck my tongue directly in, and I found that the salt had lost its saltiness. Wondering if it was good for nothing, I threw it over my shoulder and our ceiling fan immediately unscrewed itself from the ceiling and fell on my head. I concluded that the salt was good for nothing.
Of course, the day I just reported never happened. Air foils always lift planes, sound always comes from taut strings on guitars, and salt cannot possibly lose its saltiness.
So, when Jesus calls you the salt of the earth, he is saying something quite incredible. You are already who you need to be to have an impact on God’s kingdom. You need not strive to be more than who God shaped you to be. You are the salt of the earth. You are a gift from Christ to the world.
As Pastor Roger Prescott, my internship supervisor, walked with me into the congregation that I would be serving for one year, he started to describe the people. He described them as real “salt of the earth” people. Previous to this, I had always heard this as a half derogatory comment…referring to people who are nice, but extremely uneducated. To my surprise, I found that I was wrong. Roger’s “salt of the earth” people ended up being a small, biracial congregation, who were passionate about God’s love, passionate about equality in everything that they did, desiring very much to do the right thing to their neighbor, and wanted to make an impact for the good of their community. They knew that their little congregation would not survive in their tucked away neighborhood (in fact, they just closed their doors a couple of weeks ago). They had the opportunity to move to an affluent part of town and potentially build a huge mega church. But, they stayed where they were. Such aspirations were not what they were about. They were salt of the earth people. They stayed because they cared about the small, forgotten community around them. They could not leave. They were salt. How could they choose to do otherwise?
You are the salt of the earth. It is who God created you to be. You cannot be otherwise. You do not have a choice; you are the salt of the earth. You are God’s people and you became one of God's when Christ chose to die for you. Loving you and including you in the kingdom was what Christ was about. He could not rightly do otherwise.
I suppose it is at this point that I have to bring up an unfortunate point. My youth ministry professor put the point this way in class. “As an adult in the faith, children will look to you. You do not have a choice. You are a youth minister. The only question is, what are the children learning about God when they look to you? Are they learning that God does not care about the “least of these,” or are they learning that God loves all? Are they learning that caring for the poor is not important, or are they invited along with to care for others. All adults are youth ministers, the only question is, what the children learning about God when they look to you?”
So, when I declare that you are the salt of the earth, it is more than sending good vibes your way. It is declaring the truth about you. You are God’s representative wherever you are.
What are the people at work learning about God when they talk to you? Do your emails reflect God’s love and forgiveness for the whole world? What would people say Christ is like when they describe your life? This is what some people are saying when they look at the faithful in our area:
“I saw God when I was having an audition and my friend helped me get ready for it so that I would not be nervous.”
“I've seen God this winter when my neighbor shoveled my driveway while I was at work.”
“I saw God today when we overslept and I gave my 15 yr old the chance to stay home or go to school and he choose to go to school.”
“I saw God when I forgot to light the candles on the altar this morning, and my pastor giggled and said ‘It happens.’"
“I saw God these past couple days when a friend made me smile when I definitely needed one.”
You are the salt of the earth. Just as Christ was a gift to you, you are created to be a gift of God to the world. Because God chose you to be, you can be salt wherever you are.
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