Jump Start # 1429

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”

  This week we are exploring things that God considers to be worthless. The opposite of worthless is worthy or something of value. Value is an interesting concept. We go places and see the prices and sometimes we think “that’s a good deal.” Other times, we think, or at least I do,  “they must be on drugs to think someone would pay those prices.” I’ve seen sports cars that cost more than $300,000. That price would buy a fine home. Value, how is it determined?

• Value is determined by how much something cost to make. The materials involved are reflected in the cost.
• Value is determined by demand. People will pay $100 for a concert ticket, because they really want to go to that show.
• Value is determined by how rare something is. When there are only a few around, the price will go up.
• Value is determined by what it means to you. Most moms have some artwork done by their kids where they were toddlers. Those stick figure pictures wouldn’t bring much on Ebay. They wouldn’t find a showing in an art gallery. To those moms, those pictures are priceless. They wouldn’t take anything for them.  Value.

When we think about our salvation we understand how valuable it is. It costs Jesus His blood. Jesus was the only begotten of the Father. It is only through Jesus that we can be saved. And in those terms, our salvation is priceless.

Worthless things. Our first lesson was about worthless people. Last time, we saw that idols are worthless. Our verse today is about our influence. Jesus uses the analogy of salt to his disciples. In a world without refrigeration, salt was something that preserved meat. In many times, salt was more valuable than gold. Here in this country, the early pioneers found salt-licks and towns were built near them. Salt was important.

Jesus tells us in his sermon that we are the salt of the earth. We are the quality that preserves the world. Without Christians, without God’s impact through our lives, the world would be much darker and bleak. In our culture, salt adds flavor. Corn on the cob just has to have some butter and salt or it’s hardly worth eating. When cooking, you don’t see salt, but you can sure tell when it’s missing. Much like us, we may not be all that visible, but without our moral goodness and love of the Lord, it sure can be noticed in the world.

Jesus puts forth a question and then answers it. If the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? Does a person “salt” salt? That doesn’t work. If it has lost the very qualities that make it salt, then what purpose or value does it have? Jesus said, “It is good for nothing.” In other words, it is worthless. It is only good to be thrown on a path where people will trample upon it. You can’t throw it in the garden, it will ruin the soil. You can’t throw it in the water, it will ruin the water. Unsalty salt doesn’t have any purpose. It is worthless.

The thought points to you and I. What good are we to God when we are no longer the salt of the earth. If we are not preserving the world, then we become rotten and diseased like the rest of the world. In other passages, Jesus would say, “If you are not with me, you are against me.” There is no non-committal, middle ground, undecided position for the disciple to fall into. He is the salt of the earth. Jesus didn’t allow us to “Become salt some day,” implying right now we are not salt. He did not say, “the most mature among us are the salt.” His words were, “You are the salt of the earth.” We are. We must be.

Two illustrations about influence, both using the expression, you are. You are light, you are salt. One attracts, the other saves. Both are necessary. Both are to be in each of us. Jesus didn’t say, some be light and the rest be salt. I need a light team and I need a salt team. He said, “You are.” You are light, you are salt.

I’m not real sure how salt becomes “unsalty.” I expect there is some chemical breakdown. Maybe being left out to the elements of weather or time will do this. I do know, all too well, how a Christian loses his influence. We blend in instead of standing out. We go along instead of making a difference. We conform rather than transform. We laugh at things we shouldn’t. We watch things we shouldn’t. We do things that we shouldn’t. Like the chameleon, our colors change with who we are with. We can sing with the best of them in church. But at work, we can laugh with the worst of them. Changing colors, changing out tune—this is the easiest way for salt to become unsalty. The pressure is on when with friends and even with family. We let our guard down. We don’t want to seem too holy so we come across as not holy at all. Things seem to go pretty well until someone has the nerve to say, “Don’t you go to church?” Our behavior shocks them. Even they notice. Even they expected something better out of us. The blending in catches up with us. Now what good are we? Too much Christ in us to go along with the world completely, and too much world in us to go along with Christ, as we ought to. The unsalty Christian is the most miserable person in the world. He has too much guilt and too much temptation racing through his heart. He can’t make up his mind which way will win, Christ or the world. So, often times, he doesn’t decide. He just goes along with the crowd. He’s not happy and he’s definitely not scoring any points in the way of leading some to Christ. His hypocrisy is seen.

And in the words of Jesus, he is good for nothing. He doesn’t fit in anywhere. He is a man without a country. A soul that doesn’t have a safe harbor. I’ve known many like this through the years. They can talk a great game when with Christians, but at the ballgame, they can drink and cuss and seem so void of God. Typically, their lives are a mess. Their families are lost. There is no consistent message. No solid ground to stand upon. They might be at church Sunday, or they might be at the lake fishing. No one knows. Even they don’t know. They get real upset when their kids mess up and make poor choices, never realizing that the lack of godliness in the home and the failure of a godly example was part of the cause. Unsalty disciples can pray great prayers at church and be so selfish and mean at home. They can lie, cheat and steal to cut a deal at work, never once thinking that what they do outside the church building is just as important as what they do inside the church building.

True salt can’t be made salty again. However, the unsalty disciple can. He can get his act together. He can get focused upon the Lord. He can make a difference for the Lord at home and at work. It is possible. It takes effort and it takes a plan. Doing nothing, as generally happens, leads to his kids growing up and having nothing to do with Christ. It leads to an emptiness that he doesn’t understand in his heart. It leads to wondering and even fearing what happens at his death. It’s a terrible way to live and a terrible way to die.

Unsalty…it’s not good for anything.

Roger

Jump Start # 160

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”

  The salt of the earth and light of the world passages immediately follow the beatitudes. Jesus switches from defining the inner qualities of the citizen of Heaven’s kingdom to showing the response the disciple of Christ has to the world. The last two beatitudes illustrated how the world responds to the disciple—persecution. But here we see our response to the world.

  Jesus begins by saying, ‘You are salt…’. You are. He didn’t say, ‘you ought to be,’ nor, ‘you need to become,’ but rather, ‘you are.’ We become salt when we become a disciple of Jesus. We live in an age where many folks are trying to cut down on their salt. That wasn’t the thought in the first century world. Salt had two main uses: first, it was used to cake meat to preserve it. In a time before refrigeration that was the only means of keeping meat. The other use, as we do to, was to enhance flavor. Jesus said, if the salt has become TASTELESS. We put salt in food to bring out flavor.

 There are some wonderful qualities about salt. First, salt works in so many different things. Think about it—on popcorn, in mashed potatoes, on watermelon, on corn on the cob, on roasts. Salt doesn’t have just one application –there are many. Secondly, salt isn’t visible. When you mix it in you can’t really see it. You notice it when it is not there, but it does it’s work without being seen. Thirdly, salt doesn’t get much praise. We don’t thank the cook for the great tasting salt, but rather, the great tasting roast. The salt added to the great taste, but it doesn’t get the praise. There are no restaurant reviews that praise salt.

  You are salt. You work in many different applications. In a dying and rotten world you are preserving it. You add flavor to the world. You make the world better. You are salt. You do not get attention or praise. What you do may not be noticed, but it is certainly noticed when it is not there.

  Jesus said, if salt becomes tasteless it is good for nothing. I’ve never experienced that. The salt I’ve used has always been tasty. Tasteless salt can’t be made better by adding more salt to it. That won’t work. What do you do with old salt? In Jesus’ day, you couldn’t just throw it out the back door, as my grandmother used to do with table scraps. The reason is, there would still be just enough salt to ruin the ground. The grass would die, no crops could grow because of salt in the soil. Supposedly, General Sherman in his march to the sea, had some of his troops plow salt into the southern soil to destroy crops. That was mean. It was effective.

  Jesus said, the only good for tasteless salt is thrown it on the road or path where it will be trampled under foot of man. It no longer adds any value. That is the image of the disciple who is no longer influencing the world. He has become tasteless. He has become of no value to the kingdom. How sad.

  You are salt. You add flavor to a dull world by showing Jesus. Your attitude, choice of words, and connection to the Lord, enhances a world that is decaying. We need you! We need salt. Doctors want you to cut down on literal salt. Preachers want you to increase your spiritual salt. Just don’t get these reversed!

Roger