(Predigttext: Mt 5, 13-16)
13 “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 underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Part I (HJ)
Dear congregation,
Various names gives God his children in the Bible: sheep, brothers and sisters, little ones: In the Sermon on the Mount, we are called ‘salt’, as we heard in the Gospel reading.
No human life is possible without salt. It is the only trace mineral that is found in every cell in the human body. Without it, the organism would cease to function. Therefore, salt is a biological necessity. Without salt there is no life.
Salty sea water will support many more organisms than fresh water. As a preservative, it retards spoilage. Also it is a splendid condiment, adding zest and savour to our food.
The value of salt, in the ancient world was known and cannot be underestimated. Roman soldiers received their wages in salt. This payment was called the "salarium." Still nowadays people are paid a ‘salary’. By the way, this is where the expression, "Not worth his salt." comes from!
The Greeks considered salt to be divine. The Mosaic Law required that all offerings presented by the Israelites contain salt. (Lev. 2:13) When Jesus told his disciples that they were "the salt of the earth", as recorded in Matthew 5:13, they understood the metaphor, this image, the name given.
And they were very aware of what else was mentioned. If the salt loses its saltiness, it is no longer good for everything. In ancient times, when salt lost its savour, it was taken out and cast into the footpaths. It was used much as gravel is in our day. Its only purpose then was to kill out the weeds that might grow in the road. Literally, it was to be trodden under the foot of men.
‘You are the salt of the earth’, Jesus gives those who listen to him and follow him not really a choice. He does not say, “You all can be the salt of the earth.” Nor does he say, “You all should be the salt of the earth.” Jesus says “You are the salt of the earth” and in the Greek it is literally “You and you alone are the salt of the earth.”
Does the image of the salt represent the purity of the justified believer? Do Christians have to add divine flavour to the world, according to the salt's flavouring properties? Are our congregations to sting the world with rebuke and judgment the way salt stings an open wound? Isn’t it more right to say that, as salt, Christians are to create a thirst for Christ?
Wherever you put the emphasis on, all approaches to understand the metaphor Jesus uses in the Sermon on the Mount, don’t exclude each other. When Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth", He meant that all of His disciples were to serve like salt: As a life-preserver in all its aspects.
Christianity has in fact had a profound positive effect on the world. The most dramatic impact of Christianity on the world is that it has attached new value to human life: freedom, equality, tolerance, human dignity, peace and reconciliation instead of war.
The spiritual health and strength of Christianity is to counteract the corruption that is in the world. As a moral antiseptic, Christians keep the corruption of society at bay by opposing moral decay by their lives and their words.
But, if we as Christian’s lose the qualities of Christlikeness that make us distinct and become like the society around us, we no longer have a positive impact. We become a hindrance instead of a preservative of life. We become useless.
When Mahatma Gandhi was the spiritual leader of India, he was asked by some missionaries, “What is the greatest hindrance to Christianity in India?” His reply was, “Christians.”
Wouldn’t it be nice, if others could see the difference that Jesus Christ makes in our lives? What, if they would look at us and say, “I don’t know what they have, but I want it.”
Part II (CN)
Dear sisters und brothers,
“You are the salt of the earth”, “You are the light of the world.” These words of Jesus are not to be understood as a challenge, but as an encouragement. They do not accidentally follow the Beatitudes that position those who stand at the edge into the centre of God's promises: the mourners, the merciful, the persecuted, etc. The Beatitudes are not about the reward of proper conduct. They rather are beneficent attributions that don’t portray man from the perspective of man, but rather from God's perspective. Man, as he is before God, as God has created him in his image and as he wants him. It's not about people who live only for themselves. It's about people who live in God. Therefore the blessed are not those, who, according to worldly standards, belong to the elite, to those that are recognised by society. That means: You are not what you achieve, but you are that which you are in God’s eyes before you achieve anything. God does not recognise me for what I represent, but rather for what he sees in me with his loving eyes. God does not challenge us to be something. To the contrary, he entrusts us to be something. … light of the world, salt of the earth.
These two images of light and salt are interesting. They are both things that do not have value as such, but only become meaningful in conjunction with other materials. Christianity, as illustration, is not in itself meaningful. It becomes meaningful in our engagement with the world in which we live, by making a difference in this world Jesus makes one thing clear through these words: to be a child of God, to be a Christian, is not something isolated that speaks for itself. Christians should not only think of themselves and their piety. Being a Christian should not only perme-ate one’s own life, but it should perme-ate the world in which we live too. Jesus always had a wider and further view on this and he expects us to do the same. Just as the apostles did not keep Christianity amongst themselves, but created it through growth into the world, we should do the same. They did not keep it to themselves, but went out into the world with all its contradictions and challenges.
For Jesus, the people who belong to God are essential to the world’s survival. But is that really so? Are we truly so valuable and indispensable? Precious and indispensable, like the salt, is how one might think about the fidelity to the Torah the Jews had – the world of the scribes and Pharisees. Survival depended on the compliance with the instructions to Israel. The Torah was the world principle, obedience was survival power. Internalising the Torah’s statutes was the motto of Israel, justice and covenant faithfulness too, especially in resistance to those that distanced themselves from the Torah. That was the challenge.
For Jesus it is not about the challenge, it is about the encouragement. Therefore: You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world! “People who live in the hope, see further. People who live from love, see deeper. People who live by faith, see everything in a different light“ (Lothar Zenetti). They are the salt of the earth, they are the light of day.
We are the salt of the earth, the light of day. We do not have to be heroes, only humans. In Jesus' view the closed world of the Torah is not the foundation of the cosmos, but the open circle of people awakened by God's love is. The people who blossom in God’s love are seen by Jesus as the salt of the earth, the light of day. It is the open circle of those who hear his word on the Mount of Beatitudes and take it to heart. No Torah, no submission, no obedience to a law of God. No vision of a theocracy, but the open circle of those whose hope rises, who have regained their hope in a piece of meaningfulness, a piece of recognition, a piece of appreciation, who have found peace and deal with each other in the spirit of hope, the Kingdom-of-God-Hope. That is how we are the salt of the earth, the light of day. It works in us, around us and through us.
And it will work today, in our country. Sometimes we think: Our country is burning away. We have drifted far from the ideals we once cherished for the new South Africa. There is disappointment, anger and sometimes hate. The colours of the rainbow country and the rainbow people seem to be fading. We as Christian need bridges to be built over the many chasms dividing us. We as Christians, we should stand united. Because Christ has already united us. Because he said to his disciples and to us:
You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Amen.
Prayer
Father God, I honour You today as my God. I honour Jesus Christ as my Saviour. I honour your Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God who dwells in me. Please forgive me when I have caused your Name to be dishonoured because of my attitudes and actions. Please forgive me when I have dishonoured people through racism, superior attitude, rejection, violence, cursing and other ways, even when I was just doing it in my heart. Please wash and cleanse my heart with the blood of Jesus. Please cleanse my lips with your fire. Give me a clean heart and empower me to respect and honour You and other people around me. I want to be salt and light!
Amen!
