You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?
I mentioned at the beginning of my sermon Sunday that it was a series of texts from Justin that got my thoughts started about Matthew 5:13-20. One of the things he did was draw my attention to the verb “has lost its taste” in the Greek text. I was delighted to see that the word’s literal root meaning is “to make foolish.” What a fantastic play on words that reveals so much!
You are the salt of the earth, but if you have become a fool, how shall your saltiness be restored?
At first glance this may seem to be nonsensical, and you might say, “I like my translation better!” But remember what it means to be a fool, according to the Scriptures:
A fool is the one who lives as if God doesn’t exist. In contrast, a wise person lives in the fear of the Lord. In other words, the wise person does everything in God’s presence and in light of God’s character. God is holy, so the wise person avoids wickedness rather than participating in it. God is merciful, so the wise person freely shows mercy to those in need, rather than ignoring them. God is savior, so the wise person turns to him for rescue, rather than trying to save himself. God is judge, and so the wise person acts in obedience and humility. Conversely, the fool is oblivious to the presence and character of God and does whatever he feels like doing.
Jesus is hinting at something, and his hint answers his own question. What does it mean to lose saltiness? We lose our saltiness—our purpose before God as restorative agents in the world—when we live as if God is distant or non-existent. If we go about our days doing what seems best to us, never considering God’s perspective, we are fools, and have lost our salt. But how might saltiness be restored? The answer from Proverbs is clear—the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When we begin to consider the presence and character of God in each and every moment, our salt is restored!
Steven+
Scripture Reflections
In his sermon on I Corinthians 1 and the Beatitudes. Michael alluded to something that is worth wrestling with: things aren’t what they seem. What makes sense from the perspective of this world doesn’t make sense from God’s perspective.
Consider the Beautitudes:
Spiritual beggars are blessed—they can claim the kingdom of heaven as their own.
Those who weep for the brokenness of the world are blessed—a shout of joy is coming!
The meek, humble, and gentle are blessed—the promised land is their particular inheritance.
Those who are desperately hungry for righteousness are blessed—they will someday be given an abundance of the righteousness for which they long.
The merciful, those who give themselves to the hurting rather than take care of themselves, are blessed—they will be given the mercy they need.
Those with pure hearts are blessed—they will actually be allowed to look upon God!
Those who step into the midst of conflict to find peace will be blessed—they will discover that they are God’s sons and daughters.
And those who are persecuted are blessed—like the spiritual beggars, they can claim the kingdom of heaven as their own.
Each of these statements challenges the way we think, what we value, and what we pursue. I have never seen a commercial that said, “Be the spiritually poor,” or, “Be meek.” Instead, our commercials and culture say, “Be assertive! Treat yourself! Get what you want!” Even the values Jesus mentions that our world claims to believe in—mercy and peacemaking—fly out the window when showing mercy or pursuing peace means losing one’s identity, voice, and goals. We might admire Mother Teresa, but people aren’t lining up to take her place. Self-sacrifice is only desirable in the abstract; the assumption of our world is that we need to take care of ourselves first.
Yet Jesus is explicit. It is these people who are blessed—not the spiritual millionaires, nor the cynical and callous, nor the confident and assertive, nor the “I’m satisfied with the way I am,” nor the “I’ll take care of myself first,” nor the “I don’t need to change; I just need to be true to myself,” nor the apathetic and uncaring, nor the one who won’t stick out his neck for righteousness because of fear of criticism. To pursue the world’s values is to risk losing the blessing of God. Things aren’t what they seem.
It takes faith to trust Jesus in this. But if you find yourself feeling spiritually poor, or weeping for the brokenness of the world, or wishing you could mediate between two people who are fighting, don’t be frightened! Step forward in faith as a spiritual beggar, a mourner, a peacemaker, and assume that God will bless you in a place that does not make sense!
Steven+
Scripture Reflections
When Matthew (4:18-22) tells us about Jesus’ call to Simon and Andrew, and later to James and John, he includes some interesting details. Simon and Andrew, for example, aren’t casting any sort of net into the sea. They’re using a dragnet—a weighted net that would sink to the bottom of the lake and scoop up whatever it caught. He gives us little details about James and John, too. We hear the name of their father, and we see them mending their nets, taking care of the small but important details.
We hear Jesus call to them, complete with a promise to make something useful out of them. What we don’t hear is the motivation behind their response. What did Simon and Andrew see in him that caused them to quit their jobs and follow him? What did James and John hear that caused them to leave not just their nets, but their father behind?
Matthew isn’t interested in showing us the psychology of conversion, or the internal motivations that drive it. Instead, what stands out in his account is the seeming irrationality of their abrupt response. I think Matthew is doing something clever here. Jesus does not persuade these fisherman with compelling arguments or promises of a reward. His call takes hold of their hearts like a net snatches a fish. Before they can be fishers of men, they must first be caught by their Lord.
It is tempting to use a story like this to build an argument—for predestination, rigorous discipleship, extreme faith, etc. For now, let’s simply marvel at something obvious, but true. It is such a blessing to be caught in Jesus’ net! Romans 6:20 says that all of us are, by nature, bound by sin. We are slaves to it (Rom. 6:16-18). From a spiritual standpoint we are the sick, afflicted, and paralyzed that Jesus healed in 4:23-24. But in Jesus’ net we find not bondage, but healing, freedom, and new life. To be snared in Jesus’ net is to be bound to Christ, and to receive the righteousness and the inheritance that is given to him.
Does this passage answer our deepest questions about the human will, and how it relates to God’s? Probably not. But it does give us a stunning picture of the grace of God, and of the power of Jesus’ call to us. All of us who belong to him have been snatched out of the jaws of death and brought into new life. He is taking hearts of stone and replacing them with hearts of flesh (Ez. 36:26). And if all of this saving work can be hurled on us like a net by the Savior who calls, then his voice is worth listening to now. His promises are worth believing over the world’s false promises. His presence is worth seeking over all the world’s riches.
Justin+