Wednesday, July 27, 2022
“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.” (Matthew 5: 13, The Message Bible)
This was the smart-aleck comment
from my oldest son when the news went out to the family at the end of last week
that I had tested positive for Covid. It serves me right as I had gotten very
sloppy about wearing a mask when out-and-about. At worse, it has been like a having a very bad head
cold, the roughest being the first couple of days. I am feeling much better
today.
The first inkling that I might
have Covid was that I lost my sense of taste and smell. Totally. You could have
fed me a good steak and it would have tasted the same as a piece of cardboard. Nada!
I had none of the basic taste senses - bitter, salty, sour, sweet and savoury. They were all gone and I am just starting to
get them back.
I missed the saltiness the most.
I admit that I love salt on a lot of things – fries, potato chips, steak, soup,
etc. etc. I’ll even add a pinch of salt to some fruit like cantaloupe. It seems
to enhance the flavour and make the taste pop. I know that too much salt is not
healthy for us but I hope and pray that I will never have to go on a salt-free diet.
That might kill me faster than the salt.
Jesus wants his followers to be
the “salt of the earth”. We will use that expression to describe someone who is
a cut above average in their good disposition, their compassion for others, their
humility, their positive outlook on life. They are wonderful people to be
around and to have as friends. Their presence helps make life a little brighter
and beneficial.
But we also need to understand a
somewhat deeper connection between being salt of the earth and Jesus. Jesus doesn’t
need bland followers. He needs disciples who make a difference in the lives of others
and in the world around us. If we are active followers of Jesus, we “season”
the world with Love, Compassion, Justice, Peace, Good Fruit (i.e. works), and actions that
speak louder than words.
A lot of people ignore or reject Jesus because his Church has
become too blasé, too tasteless, too mild, too out-of-touch. We play it safe. We
stick to old traditions that have long outworn their usefulness. We say the
same old things in the same old ways (which is why I like using the Message Bible,
to change it up.) We get stuck in the past.
“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?”
We are not here to be caustic,
sour, bitter, tart, or vinegary. We are here to enhance people’s hunger and thirst
for God by adding the seasoning of God’s Love to the words and actions which we
speak and do. When salt loses its flavour, it is not any good for anything. Elsewhere,
as here, Jesus says that one might as well throw it away (Luke 14:35). It’s
garbage!
Salty language may not be a
virtue, but being a salty Christian is. It means to live in a way that makes a
difference, even if it is in only small ways and means. It is doing unto others
what is kind, good, loving, caring and sharing.
“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.” (Ephesians 5: 1 -2, The Message Bible)
Pass the salt, please!
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