The text for this morning’s church service was Matthew 5:13: “Ye are
the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith
shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast
out, and to be trodden under foot of men” (KJV).
In light of this Thanksgiving season, the pastor was talking about
turkeys. You put a turkey in salt to bring out the good flavor of the
turkey. The turkey, however, is resistant to tasting good because it
does not want to be eaten, and so it has evolved the ability to dump its
tasty juices into a small place inside of it, such that most of its
meat dries up.
I do not know if this is scientifically accurate, but I liked the
pastor’s allegorization of this. We are the salt of the earth. We are
supposed to bring out the good that is already in the world. The pastor
may believe that people are good, in the sense that they bear God’s
image, yet they are broken. He said, however, that the Gospel assures
us that there is good in the world because God is there.
The pastor was talking about how those who have much for which to
give thanks have an obligation to give back, to share some of what they
have with others. The pastor was also talking about how we each have
something to contribute to the world: the world can benefit from what we
have to offer. This theme overlapped with the children’s part of the
service. The pastor was asking the kids how they can help, and who in
their life helps them. When the pastor asked the congregation how these
kids help, some responded that the kids help just by being
themselves—-by smiling, by being happy, by making people laugh, by being
there for people to mentor.
In his sermon, the pastor said that we may feel like the turkey: we
are resistant to tasting good because we do not want to be eaten. I
guess that he was likening this part of the analogy to people being
broken and not feeling that they can be salt of the earth, that they can
contribute positively to the world. The pastor said that, if this is
the case, then we can benefit from the salt of God’s grace. God’s grace
can bring out the good that is in us. We were made in God’s image,
after all, and Jesus went to the effort of coming and dying for us.
The pastor did not mention this passage, but Mark 9:50 came to my
mind: “Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith
will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with
another” (KJV). In Mark 9:50’s version, salt is something that we have
inside of ourselves, and it contributes to peace. That overlaps with
the pastor’s point about not just being salt, but receiving salt from
God.
Ordinarily, when I hear sermons about obligations that I have as a
Christian, I feel as if I am being told to climb Mount Everest—-either
being told to do something that I cannot do that well, or being told to
do something that I do not want to do. I did not feel that way after
listening to the sermon this morning. I can think of ways that I
already contribute to the world, bringing who I am and what I do to help
bring good out of people, or at least to make life a little more
comfortable to them. And I am encouraged by this morning’s sermon to do
that more: to let God bring out the good that is already in me, and to
be a positive influence on the world—-by writing to bring people closer
to God (while being honest about my doubts and avoiding inaccurate or
pat-answer apologetics), by sharing my faith journey, by being friendly
to people, and by doing work that can take a load off of other people’s
minds.
Today, I am being salt by sharing my pastor’s message with you.