You Are the Salt of the Earth

(Mat 5:13 NIV) "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

Salt here is obviously symbolic.

The context makes it a good thing.

However, if the salt loses it saltiness then it becomes worthless.

Worthless, “Salt” will be thrown out and trampled on.

What are the attributes of salt in this context?

A. Salt adds flavor.

B. It is necessary for life.

C. It has healing properties.

D. It can preserve food.

E. It can make you thirsty.

F. It has permanency, that is, it is not easy to make it unsalty.

G. There are different kinds of salt.

H. Salt in excess can be as bad as not enough salt.

I. It can be used to harm or kill as well.

(Mark 9:50 NIV) "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."

(Job 6:6 NIV) Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg ?

Once you lose a good thing it is often difficult or impossible to get it back.

So we must be salty but also we must be aware of how we are salty.

The misuse of salt in our lives can make peace difficult or impossible.

(Col 4:6 NIV) Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Here the focus of “Salt” is speech. Speech is probably the number one way we interact with people.

We want to be interesting.

Perhaps offering friendly challenges.

Perhaps offering ways we can help.

At times sympathetic and at times holding the mirror of reality.

Our goal is to be effective and to optimize our efforts.

The analogy is with salt, not pepper.

(Lev 2:13 NIV) Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.

(Num 18:19 NIV) Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD for both you and your offspring."

Salt is a covenant symbol.

When we make an offering to God perhaps we should keep these verses in mind.

(Judg 9:45 NIV) All that day Abimelech pressed his attack against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he destroyed the city and scattered salt over it.

(Jer 48:9 NIV) Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste ; her towns will become desolate, with no one to live in them.

The very thing that is necessary for life can cause utter desolation.

(Ezek 16:4 NIV) On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.

Salt has been called the spice of life. That being said it seems quite appropriate that the Bible has used it as a symbol very much related to life. With the right amount and kind of salt we can help bring people to health and life. We can help preserve relationships and standards. We can make all of these things palatable.

Our goal is to optimize the work we do for God, Family, and Community.

With a little bit of salt the Word of God can become very interesting and not only change lives but also save them.

We have a great story to tell and it’s a true story. Consider the following verses as an example.

(Psa 107 NIV) Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. {2} Let the redeemed of the LORD say this-- those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, {3} those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. {4} Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. {5} They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. {6} Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. {7} He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. {8} Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, {9} for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. {10} Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains, {11} for they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. {12} So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. {13} Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. {14} He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. {15} Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, {16} for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron. {17} Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities. {18} They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death. {19} Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. {20} He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. {21} Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. {22} Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy. {23} Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. {24} They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep. {25} For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. {26} They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away. {27} They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits' end. {28} Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. {29} He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. {30} They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. {31} Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. {32} Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders. {33} He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground, {34} and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there. {35} He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs; {36} there he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle. {37} They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest; {38} he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish. {39} Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow; {40} he who pours contempt on nobles made them wander in a trackless waste. {41} But he lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks. {42} The upright see and rejoice, but all the wicked shut their mouths. {43} Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the LORD.

(Mat 5:13 NIV) "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

The Bible is not dull.

The stories are not frivolous.

The job we have been given is important.

We need to offer the hope of salvation to everyone we meet.

We need to be smart in executing our job.

(Col 4:6 NIV) Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.