"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."    Matthew 5:13 NRSV
 
"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage."    The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language

When Jesus said this, he provided his hearers with an expression that has become the greatest compliment that can be paid to any person. When we wish to stress someone's solid worth and usefulness, we say of him or her, "People like that are the salt of the earth."

In the time of Jesus salt was connected in people's minds with three special qualities.

1. Salt was connected with purity. The Romans considered salt the purest of all things. It was the most primitive of all offerings to the gods. The Jewish sacrifices were offered with salt. So then, if the Christian is to be the salt of the earth her or she must be an example of purity.
 
One of the characteristics of the world in which we live is the lowering of standards. Standards of honesty, standards of diligence in work, standards of conscientiousness, and moral standards, all tend to be lowered. The Christian must be the person who holds aloft the standard of absolute purity in speech, in conduct, and even in thought.
 
2. In the ancient world salt was the commonest of all preservatives. It was used to keep things from going bad, and to hold putrefaction at bay. If meat is left to itself, it goes bad; but salt preserves it and keeps it fresh. If the Christian is to be the salt of the earth, he or she must be the cleansing antiseptic in any society in which he/she happens to be. He/she must be the person who by his/her presence defeats corruption and makes it easier for others to be good.
 
3. But the greatest and most obvious quality of salt is that salt lends flavor to things. Food without salt is a sadly insipid and even a sickening thing. Christianity is to life what salt is to food. Christianity lends flavor to life. Men and women need to discover the lost radiance of the Christian faith.

An essential point that the New Testament makes and remakes again and again is that uselessness invites disaster. If a Christian is not fulfilling his/her purpose as a Christian, then he/she is on the way to disaster. We are meant to be the salt of the earth, and if we do not bring to life the purity, the antiseptic power, the radiance that we ought, then we invite disaster.

Heavenly Father, we give thanks to you for this day, and for the gift of the Holy Spirit who is ever near us.
    Forgive our mistakes and selfish ways.
    Don't let us be discouraged by the failures we have had.
    Help us to think of your forgiving love.
    Teach us how to choose those things
      that are good in your sight.
    Help us each to be like the salt of the earth
      and to see where we may serve you more faithfully. Amen.

Contributed by Jessie
Sunday March 2, 2008
Liturgical Year A Week 14
Sunday Gospel reading:
First Sunday in Lent