Jesus reminds us in this week’s Gospel message that we are the salt of the Earth. As followers of Christ, we cannot be bystanders. We are the preservative that keeps his word fresh in our world today. The challenge in our world is that many see Christianity as not good seasoning for the world but that which takes the taste out of it! Jesus comes to us to add life he does not take it away. Many people have become so much a part of the world that it becomes difficult to separate the truth from the lure of the subjective. It is from this backdrop that Jesus calls us forth to be the seasoning in the lives of others. How we do that is by being intentional in word and deed. We don’t just sit around praying and worshiping amongst ourselves. I read a story on a web page called, Pastor Life and I believe it will add some light for you!
A man walked into a little mom-and-pop grocery store and said, “Do you sell salt?” The man said, “Do we sell salt?! Just look!” The man showed the customer an entire wall of shelves stocked with nothing but salt-Morton salt, iodized salt, kosher salt, sea salt, rock salt, garlic salt, seasoning salt, Epsom salts-every kind of salt imaginable. The customer was amazed. “If you think that’s something, come over here.” He led the customer to a back room filled with shelves and bins and cartons and barrels and boxes of salt. The customer said, “This is unreal!” The man said, “You haven’t seen anything yet.” He led the customer down some steps into a huge basement, five times as large as the previous room. It was filled wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling with every imaginable form, size, and shape of salt you could imagine. The man looked at him and said, “You really do sell salt!” The store owner said, “No, we don’t, that’s just the problem! We never sell salt. But that salt salesman that comes by every week, boy does he sell salt!”
If we do not get up and get out to be a witness of Christ, then we lose our saltiness. We cannot add flavor to the world. As a people created by a loving creator it seems many have taken a few steps in the wrong direction. Our Lord comes to us through scripture and emphatically declares we are his salt and light of the Earth. We are baptized to carry on his mission even amid darkness. He beckons those who have fallen away to return to his flock, but this cannot be achieved behind closed doors. Pope Francis said, salt is something to be used, not to keep for oneself, but to give to others. Salt does not flavor itself; it is that which imparts flavor to something else. May the Lord continue to strengthen us to be disciples on the go for our schools, businesses, marketplaces, and leaders in government as we remind others through word and action of the radiance of Christian life.
