Matthew 5:13 you are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. This scripture is from what people say is the greatest sermon ever preached. Jesus Himself spoke it from the sermon called the Sermon on the Mount. His point was to tell the disciples and the others who were following Him; whose true home is in heaven how they should live while on this earth.
So, again we see that Jesus uses something that is well known and understood at this time. It's how He did things.
Salt is made up of two things; sodium and chloride.
Chloride and sodium ions, the two major components of salt, are necessary for the survival of all known living creatures, including humans, but the really interesting thing about it though is that if you ingest either of them alone you can die because they are poisonous… but when they combine they come together to form good old common everyday table salt.
How many of you have ever heard the phrase "they're not worth their salt." It comes from the time when Roman soldiers were paid for their work in salt because it was so valuable. In fact, the word salary actually comes from the word salarium which refers to payments made with salt.
What Jesus was telling those that were following Him was that they were special. He was giving them a great compliment.
Salt was a necessity of life in those days because it had great value.
It was like Jesus telling us today that we are worth much $$.
Obviously, things have changed – we no longer get paid or purchase things with salt but we still do consume it every day. Some people consume much too much of it….But to us today it's become common place; it sits on nearly every table in restaurants and we grab handfuls of packages when we pick up our McDonald's, Hardees, and Wendy's and we usually just throw away whatever's left without thinking about it.
Our Society doesn't really value salt like it did in the old days but God (who is AMAZING!) picked something that is quite valuable still today, but in different ways.
Salt is used as a preservative. We may not count on salt to keep our food from going rancid like they did in old times before refrigerators and freezers but we still eat ham, corned beef, pastrami, bacon and pepperoni that is preserved in this same way. Meat obviously will decay over time if it is not preserved.
Salt stops the growth of spoilage, killing microorganisms by drawing water out of the cells through osmosis. You take a piece of meat and pour salt all around it and on top of it and salt will keep it preserved.
Jesus tells us that He preserved us; that He stopped our decay; our death and now it's our job to do the same for others.
Jesus is telling us that we need to be the salt and it is the follower's job to show people that they need Jesus and to stop the worlds decay as much as possible.
God's word tells us that in end times when the faithful followers of Jesus (aka the salt) is taken away then the world is really going to break down. It is the salt; the Holy Spirit living inside of us that keeps this from happening.
Salt is used to season food. Job says himself in Job 6:6 … Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg, I refuse to touch it, such food makes me ill. We do not want to tell others about the good news by giving them a bland, boring message. We have something that makes this life taste good! It takes all that it is and it gives it flavor.
Salt just by itself is not that great but when we use it in the right proportions it makes things taste all the better. Life can look great, but to have a taste of it – it may be lacking in flavor until we as followers tell people of God's love for them and tell them of the dangers and distractions of this world and suddenly just like a juicy, ribeye that has been seasoned with just the right combination of pepper and salt becomes delicious.
Salt is used as an antiseptic. How many of you have ever gargled with salt water? A lot of people do it because it kills germs; we as the salt of the world need to keep sin out of our lives by living faithfully to God, and when we do that we will be shown to the world that this was God had planned for us. People around us will begin to see that living a life of faithfulness to God makes for a much better healthy life. Ephesians 5:1-4 The Message - Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with Him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of Himself to us. Love like that. Don't allow love to turn to lust, setting off a downhill slide into sexual promiscuity, filthy practices, or bullying greed. Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, Christians have better uses for language than that. Don't talk dirty or silly, that kind of talk doesn't fit our style.
Salt causes thirst. And who is it that is called the living water? Jesus. There should be something so genuine, so real about us that we make people thirst for a living God. John 4:14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." We should be making people thirsty for God. If you don't maybe you should examine just how salty you really are.
When Mahatma Gandhi who was the leader of India was asked by some missionaries "what is the greatest hindrance to Christianity? He replied Christians.
I think it's the Holy Spirit that lives inside of me that gets so frustrated with that thought. We are known all over for our lack of flavor.
How salty are you? It's a good question to ask yourself tonight.
Do you not like to make waves with your friends, don't want to come on too strong? Let me point out to you too that:
Salt also irritates a wound. Those that don't know the life and forgiveness of Jesus Christ are the walking wounded whether they know it or not…it is your job to irritate them a bit. If we are not salty enough then we need to change ourselves on the inside. We need to repent and submit; let God change our character –because our saltiness should be evident to everyone around us.
True salt – sodium chloride never loses its saltiness; there is no such thing as unsalty salt; but in Jesus' time they got their salt from the Dead Sea which was not pure; it was mixed with other materials that would affect its flavor, and over time it could become tasteless… it was then that it would be good for nothing except throwing it out. And then trampled upon by man.
Basically what Jesus was saying is that it's no use for Him. You're no longer useable….Just like those branches that I told you about in another message; they are gathered up, thrown out and burned up.
Jesus when He says the simple statement YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH, He is saying that it is our job and up to us to do the things that He came to do. If we as followers are going to change our world; then we have to be the real thing. Our lives CANNOT be mixed with all different kinds of impurities.
Long ago the Romans used to think that salt was the purest of all things because it came from the purest of elements – the sun and the sea. They might have been a bit confused believing in the creation and not in the creator but it makes a perfect point that we as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ need to be an example of purity to this lost and dying world that is not our home.
We ourselves need to be noticed (shaken out) because we notice when salt is in something, don't we? We especially need to be noticed for our purity in our speech, conduct, thoughts and actions. It's hard to influence others by our words when our actions don't back them up.
How many of you have ever had something to eat like a delicious sandwich or fries when you didn't have the salt to put on it?
Not as good is it?
When salt's not there we miss it.
You have to be worth your salt my friend!
Right before Jesus tells those that they are the salt of the earth He tells them the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount.
READ: Matthew 5
To continue to stay salty we need to stay humble before God and others, we need to use our God given strengths carefully and it will increase, we need to develop a greater appetite for what is right, and we need to show mercy to others who are in need of our help, and be patient with the weak.
It's those things that will keep us salty.
If you think about those things and see that you are losing your flavor then you better do something about it. To make it we need to be salty.
Isn't it amazing that all humans need salt to survive; it's like God telling us in another way that this message of salvation is for all mankind!
If you've never thought about it before…
Psalm 34:8 taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.
Remember; for salt to have its effect it must come into contact with whatever it is to affect it.
Pour yourself out – give this world some flavor!
Stay salty man!
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