[A transcript of a midweek message published by Horley Baptist Church on YouTube[1], June 2020]
Jesus told his followers that they should be ‘salt of the earth’ but what does that mean? Do we have an infectious faith that stands out and brings real change in our society?
I’ve been on YouTube for most of lockdown now; I wasn’t really on it before but we’ve been producing lots of videos and hopefully you’ll have seen many of them and there’s always that hope that one of those videos will go viral. Suddenly I will be known to millions of people because of something I’ve said or something I’ve done. Probably not going to happen but the reality is it’s really easy to be famous. All you need to do is do something really, really bad or stupid. In recent times our media has been full of people doing really really bad or stupid things – corrupt cops, inept politicians, violent looters. It’s so easy to fill our screens and our newspapers with bad people.
[01:10] There’s a phrase, an old phrase, that talks of someone being the salt of the earth. What it means to be the salt of the earth is to be someone who is very good and honest, someone who represents the best of society. This phrase ‘salt of the earth’ is actually from the Bible, it’s from some words of Jesus found in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 13. I’ll read it to you now:
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt loses its saltiness how can it be made salty again? It’s no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
These words were spoken to crowds that had gathered to find out what this Jesus was all about. Jesus presented something known as the Sermon on the Mount; his manifesto, the things that he stood for and also what he required those who are about to follow him. He says to those people “If you want to be a follower of mine you need to be the salt of the earth.”
[02:21] I remember once making some bread as a gift for someone and I thought ‘I don’t need a whole loaf, I’ll just halve the ingredients’. I made it, wrapped it up nicely and took it to them. We took one bite of it and we just spat it out because I’d halved everything except for the salt. You cannot miss salt, salt is all-pervasive, salt enhances flavour, salt makes really mediocre dishes tastes better but you cannot miss salt. On the flip side, if you try and make bread without salt, it is really pretty disgusting and you just want to throw it away.
[03:00] When Jesus was talking about those people had lost their saltiness he was referring to those religious leaders, those people in authority who should have stood for goodness and honesty, who should have represented the best of society but in fact they were corrupt and violent and inept. Jesus said if you want to be a follower of me you can’t be like that, you need to be salty, you need to be salt of the earth, you need to be honest and good. You need to be pervasive, you need to go against the flow, you need to stand out in the crowd, to stand up for justice and peace and all that is good so much so that the people look at you and your good deeds and praise your father in Heaven. That’s what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
[03:56] Gandhi said “I like your Christ but I don’t like your Christians because your Christians are not much like Christ.” That is a massive indictment on us as the Church of Jesus Christ. In this time of lockdown when our churches are shut and the followers of Jesus are scattered into their homes and their communities, my question for you if you are a follower of Jesus Christ is “Are you the salt of the earth, do you represent the best and the noblest that society can offer?” That’s who Jesus was and you as a follower of Jesus are likewise called to be like Jesus, you are called to be salt of the earth
[04:46] Are you infectious? I don’t mean that in a bad way, I mean in a good way. Are you an influencer? Are you a role model? Are your good works, your good deeds, your honesty, the fact that you are salt of the earth bringing about positive change in your family and in your friendship groups and in your community? Are people wanting to be like you? Are they praising their father in Heaven because of what you have done? Are you salty?
[1] YouTube link: Are you infectious?
Bible references: Matthew 5 v13
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Contributed by Martin Storey; © the Author
