It must be remembered that this Sermon on the Mount was delivered by Christ to His disciples. This was a sermon to Christians – believers – those already redeemed. It was not shared as a gospel message with instructions for the salvation of the wicked. This isn’t a twelve step process to get into Heaven. And it actually commences with a description of the character of those Christian disciples. They began their Christian lives as “poor in spirit,” “meek,” “hungering and thirsting for righteousness.” And the Lord then promised to “bless” them as Christians. After He had described their character, Jesus moved on into pictures of several relationships – their relationship to God, to one another, and to the lost world around them.
Having a Christian nature – being different from the rest of humanity and the world – we must not conform to the world, but be transformed in order to inform sinners of Christ. But, the idea that WE can actually do some good in this sin-sick world might make us question our sanity. What lasting good can these meager, meek and mournful people do? I am just a single pebble tossed into the Columbia river of life. I am merely a maple leaf floating down the Fraser River of sin. Won’t I be simply overwhelmed by the floods of the evil when I go through Hell’s Gate north of Hope? Yes, I know that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,” so the question is even greater: how can we compete? Of course, Christ didn’t share our scepticism, despite the persecution He just mentioned in verse 11. We can and must serve God’s creation as ambassadors for Christ; that is our commission and obligation. Our retaliation for the world’s persecution is love, truth and good deeds.
Think of the scope of the original context. The Lord Jesus was speaking to a small band of peasant fishermen along with a few others. They weren’t a band of orators, philosophers and seminary professors. And still Jesus He spoke of their influence over “the earth” – the whole globe. And, in truth, hasn’t the salty savor of these few men lasted even unto this day? Of course the power that carried their influence was Heaven-sent, but still, it was through those men. To emphasize their responsibility – our responsibility – Jesus used 2 illustrations that everyone recognized. He spoke of the importance of light, and He mentioned salt.
Tonight, let’s focus our thoughts on the subject of salt. Of course, most of think about salt as it is used for seasoning. Sometimes it seems almost essential. Many of us enjoy salt, and some of us would love to be able to use it more often. I read of one little boy who said, “Salt is what tastes bad when you don’t have it.” Salt is used for seasoning and preserving, but also for a number of things after that. If I had to guess, I’d say that Jesus like salt. I can’t prove it, but I think so, because He mentioned it.
In making an application, the first thing that we need to see is that SALT is ESSENTIAL to life.
Every kind of warm blooded creature needs to have a little salt in its diet. Cats and dogs need a little bit salt every day, so do horses, cows, elephants and giraffes. And its obvious that pigs need lots of salt for making those wonderful hams and bacon. Poachers sometimes use blocks of salt to attract deer and elk, because those animals want and need it.
I remember a story about a frontier family living in woods three hundred years ago. Dad went out to chop some wood for the fire, and when he looked for his ax the handle was gone. No one could figure out what made a perfectly good ax handle disappear. Pretty soon he noticed that some of the other tools in the shed were being destroyed as well. For days, he and his family were trying to figure out what was happening. Then one night they saw it; a porcupine was nibbling on all wooden handles of their tools. That porcupine needed, and wanted, the salt from the sweat on the man’s hands. Like the porcupine, if you don’t get some salt every now and then you will get sick. Most of the time it’s already in your food, but then some of us add lots more.
Salt is also used for other things: Centuries ago people learned that they can keep foods from spoiling by mixing it with salt. It is very likely that Jesus’ fishermen-disciples used salt to preserve some of their fish.
And then salt is sometimes used to help things to heal. Have you ever gotten a scratch or a cut and then some sweat dibbled into it? Sometimes it stings as if it was acid, but while it hurts it is also killing some potential germs. If you ever get a canker sore in your mouth, it is helpful to mix some salt in water and swish it around. It used to be that nurses would wash new born babies in salt water.
And this reminds us that people can use salt for cleaning things, when they can’t use soap. I remember on childhood camping trips, my Dad and I would go down to the stream with our dirty dishes. First we’d pick up some of the sand along the bank and rub it on the plate or skillet to loosen up the food. Then we’d take out the salt shaker and we’d rub a little salt on the dishes rubbing it around to sterilize them. I don’t know what it did to the fish in the creek, but I didn’t worry about that back then. I just thought that was a great idea.
And then, of course, whether its healthy or not, salt sure makes a hamburger taste better. And french fries would be almost inedible if weren’t for salt. In lots of cases salt makes things taste better, and sometimes it seems to actually create the flavor. Eliphaz, asked Job a good question: “Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt; or is there any taste in the white of an egg?” If you are going to make me eat that egg white, at least give me some salt and perhaps a little pepper.
My encyclopedia tells me that there are over a thousand ways to use salt. Not the least of which, in times past, people used salt instead of money. In some societies where coins were scarce, bags of salt made a good medium of exchange. In fact, the word “salary” comes from the Latin word for “salt.”
There is a very real need in this world for salt.
And the Lord Jesus said to you and to me, “YE are the salt of the earth.”
As a Christian, your life is important to this world and everyone around you. You may look at yourself and laugh at the idea. And I’m not sure that a single grain of salt, laying all alone on the table, doesn’t laugh itself as well. Did the disciples chuckle when they heard the Lord Jesus make this statement? You may think that you are too dumb, too weak, too ugly, too old to be of much use to the Lord. But when I read that “ye are the salt of the earth” remember who first said it – it was the Lord Jesus. Just about everything that salt is to the world, you as a Christian are to the world as well – flavor, health, cleansing, value and preservation.
Salt is not the only way to keep food from rotting, and it is not the best kind money. There are better ways to wash your hair or your dishes than using salt. And a hamburger is still a hamburger with or without more salt. But there is no substitute for it in our bodies.
The first web-site that I consulted listed 22 reasons to ingest salt, and some of them go against common opinion. Salt is effective in stabilizing irregular heartbeats and, contrary to the misconception that it causes high blood pressure, a bit of salt is actually essential for the regulation of good blood pressure. Salt is vital to the extraction of excess acidity from the cells in the body, particularly the brain cells. Salt is vital for balancing the sugar levels in the blood; it’s a needed element in diabetics. Salt is used for local power generation in certain cells needing a burst of energy. Salt is vital to the communication that nerve cells’ have with one another. Salt is a natural antihistamine. And it is important for the prevention of muscle cramps. Salt is vital to prevent excess saliva production. Maybe our cat drools so much, because he doesn’t get enough salt. Salt is absolutely vital to making the structure of firm bones. Osteoporosis is to some degree a result of salt and water shortage in the body. And salt is vital for the prevention of gout and some forms of arthritis. These are just some of claims that web-site made. Even if they are not all accurate, it is safe to say that without salt we would all be a little more sickly.
And in the light of those things, Christ Jesus said that we “are the salt of the earth.” There are things that only the saints of God can do in this world. With the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and the gospel in our mouths, we are the health of the world. I believe that the Book of Thessalonians teaches that God’s saints, as temples of the Holy Spirit are the only reason that the wrath of God is not poured out upon this world. We have a preservative ministry.
Every Christian here is a little grain of salt with a commission from God to go into all the world and to spread the savor of the Saviour. You are the salt of the earth created by God to preserve life and kill the poison of sin. You are the salt of the earth which makes this place taste just a little bit better. “Ye are the salt of the earth.”
But obviously, when Jesus tells us we are the salt of the earth, the thought contains something a little scary. When salt is used, it changes its form. It might go from little crystals to invisible salt water. It gets mixed into things; sometimes it is spent and even appears to be gone. When we realize and relish the thought that the Lord says that we are salt, it sometimes means big changes in our lives. It might mean forcing ourselves to be more outgoing for the Lord than we usually are. It might mean contending for the faith. It might mean rebuking those who speak badly about our Saviour. Stephen was acting as salt when he was debating with Saul and the others, and look what happened to him. The Lord needs salt that is willing to pastor churches and to preach the Word. The Lord wants salt that would be willing to learn a new language and carry the gospel as a missionary. The Lord has need of all kinds of salts, for many different situations. And in the process of being salt, we just might loose whatever it was that we were before.
On the other hand, if the Christian is not being salty, then he’s not of very much use to the Lord.
When I was getting ready for this message, I was thinking about something from my past. Years ago, in among my mother’s jewelry resided a useless treasure – a piece of rock salt. I don’t know the history of this rock; it may have been hers as a child. But I do remember seeing it from time to time and getting permission to lick it. When I asked Judy, if she had seen my mother’s rock salt, she said yes, and we pulled out mom’s old jewelry box. I was delighted that Judy knew where it was. But then I licked it. It was not the rock that I was seeking. There are all sorts of rocks nearly the same color as this one. I was a bit disappointed, and began wondering where my mother’s rock salt could be. Then we looked through the box again, and finally along with other almost valueless things, was this rock. I put my tongue to it, and declared that it had been found. Eureka! This other rock is nice, but it’s nothing more than a piece of quartz. When salt has no saltiness, it isn’t much better than a piece of broken glass.
And that I’m afraid is true about a great many Christians who ought to be Jesus’ servants. In some cases they have spent so little time with the Lord that they are poor reflections of Christ. Or they have let some contaminant come into their lives which robs them of their saltiness. Perhaps it is lying, maybe its stealing, maybe that Christian has become addicted to some sin. Even pastors become saltless by becoming bullies. Some Christians are in so much love with their own beauty that they become saltless. They love the world’s entertainment, and they become saltless. They look like the world, and they dress like a piece of hamburger. They can no longer spice anything up except in a poisonous sort of way.
The fact is: many Christians are so unsalty that they need to be salted. And at that point they become useless to the Lord. At that point they are fit only to be thrown away. There is nothing I can do to turn this piece of quartz into salt. “If the salt have lost his savour wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men.” Unsalty salt is good only for building roads to nowhere.
Obviously, no true Christian will ever again cease to be a child of God. But I’ve seen many Christians loose their ability to serve and glorify the Lord. It is a fearful thing to be put on the shelf or cast onto the ground – or even to be hidden away in an old jewelry box. If the Lord has ordained that we be salt, why would we want to be anything else?
How salty are you this evening? I ask the question in a good way. We all need to be salty. We need to fulfil Christ’s purpose for our lives. This world needs our saltiness. Our service for Christ will be recognized by the Lord according to our saltiness. That is a part of Jesus’ message here in Matthew 5. “Let your salt be tasted by men, that they may recognize your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.”