You are the Salt of the Earth

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.


You are the salt of the earth!!!!


Jesus speaks to us just as clearly now as he did 2000 years ago. You, Christian, are the salt of the earth.

What does it mean to be the salt of the earth?

Well, salt serves several purposes. What happens when we add salt to food? It tastes better. It brings flavours to life. What happens when we add too much salt? It becomes bitter. It loses all flavours except saltiness.

Salt – essential for all animal life. Too much salt – deadly. Dries out the body.


So if we think of ourselves, and all Christians, as salt, what does that say about us?

We have an essential role in the world.
We bring out the natural flavours in the world. We help the world to understand love.
If we lose track of our purpose we can do terrible things. Just think of what “Christian” explorers did throughout the world. The horrible things done in Christ’s name did not stop there. They still happen.

Too much saltiness is not only deadly to others, it loses its appeal. It no longer draws us to eat. This has happened to our church as well. Our gospel tells us that when salt loses its taste it is good for nothing and must be thrown out. Well, we’ve been there. But we didn’t throw anyone out, they just left.


How do we become salty again?

Our gospel talks about that too.

“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 in gives light to all 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.”


This year I believe we have made good progress. We have done a good job of becoming “more salty.” We have shown our light to others. We need to keep doing it.

We also have to be careful. It is easy to look at our lives, at our church, and see only what hasn’t worked. When we focus on our failures, our light gets dim. When we use our failures as an excuse to not try something else, our light goes out. It is overwhelmed by the darkness.


So as we move into our annual meetings, starting today, let’s look at where we have succeeded. Let’s build on our successes. We can let our light shine. Our church can become a beacon. Not because this building will be seen in our community. This building is not the church. You are.

And you are the salt of the earth!