Promised Treasures: Salt that Keeps Matthew 5:13–16

 

Grace, mercy and peace to you, from God our Father, and our Lord, Jesus Christ, who gives us the treasures of His Word.

 

Our midweek Lenten series is, Promised Treasures, based on Matthew 13:52: Jesus said, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

 

By old treasures, Jesus meant all that God has taught and promised us in the Old Testament. 

 

By new treasures, Jesus meant all that He came to teach and do, especially to die and rise for us, which is recorded in the New Testament.   

 

So in His Word, both New and Old Testaments, God gives us His promised treasures, especially the treasure of His Gospel.

 

Tonight we’re going to talk about the promised treasure of salt that seasons and preserves, from Matthew 5:13-16.

 

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 

 

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

 

In these verses Jesus uses salt as a metaphor for the Church, His sanctified people.

It seems that people first started using salt a few thousand years ago, and it quickly became popular. So for millennia, salt has been valued and used in a variety of ways.  

 

Salt is used to preserve meat, because it draws out the moisture, and dries it before it can spoil. 

 

And so in ancient times, when there were no freezers or refrigerators, and especially in warmer climates, where there was no or little ice, we can see how helpful and valuable salt would have been.

 

So much so, that sometimes people were paid in salt; it acted as a kind of currency. Roman soldiers were often paid in salt, which, if they were enterprising, they could turn into more money. 

 

In fact, the word salary, comes from the Latin word, salarius, which means, salty.

 

Sometimes when we use the word salty, it can mean or gruff or onery or rough around the edges. 

 

In ancient times it meant the opposite: sweet and refined, or well to do, or well thought of, or bringing out the best in someone, which is how Jesus uses the word salt in our text.

 

This correlates with salt’s use and value in seasoning food, to make it taste better, to bring out the best in it. 

 

Salt can accent the sweetness in food, which is why some people put salt on watermelon, and you get that tasty contrast of sweet and salty. Does anyone do that?

 

Salt has other applications, as well. For example, since it lowers the freezing point of water, it’s used on roads and driveways and sidewalks to melt ice. 

 

And again for something sweeter, and delicious, salt is used to make homemade cream. We would always have homemade ice cream at my grandparent’s place for Christmas, and it was the best ice cream!

 

Ice cream has a lower freezing point than water does, so when salt is added to the ice around the base it gets it cold enough to make frozen ice cream as you crank it. 

 

Without the salty ice-brine you’d just end up with cooled cream with 

sugar and vanilla flavoring. 

 

So in this case salt ends up making something sweet.

 

In tonight’s Old Testament reading, Elisha used salt to sweeten or purify polluted water. 

 

Salt was associated with healing, so God had Elisha, heal the water, if you will, with salt. It didn’t make the water salty, it made it pure, a miracle.

 

Elisha said: “Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” 22So the water has been healed to this very day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.

 

Likewise, the Word of God and holy Baptism heals and purifies us of our moral pollution, forgiving our sins, empowering us to believe, and to be like Jesus to the world.

 

As we say in the liturgy before we confess our sins, from 1 John 1:9, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins, and cleanse (or purify) us from all unrighteousness.   

 

In the early Church, salt was sometimes used at baptisms, especially for adults. 

 

The catechumen, who had been instructed in God’s Word, was given salt to taste at Baptism, as a sign that God would preserve him or her in faith, even as that person would endure the trials and troubles of living as God’s child, in the midst of a sinful world.

 

It was also symbolized that his or her mind would be seasoned with wisdom and grace whenever God’s Word was preached and taught to him or her.

 

St. Augustine, the early church father whom Martin Luther thought so highly of, included salt in the form of baptism he used. 

 

Candidates received salt right after the sign of the cross, reminding them that God would preserve and season them, make them salty, in a good sense, with a well-kept faith, and a life seasoned with godly love.

 

Because of this symbolism, Martin Luther included salt in an early form of Baptism that he used. 

 

The analogy of salt remains a valuable gift, a promised treasure, to teach us what Christians are to be in the world -- how the Holy Spirit is forming us,  helping us to be as Christ to the world, and to remain in Christ and bear witness to Him as we live in the world; to be His promised treasures to the world.

 

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 

 

If we lose our saltiness, if lose our faith and love in Christ; if we forget how to be like Jesus in this world, how to walk with Him, how live in fellowship with Him; if we fail to reflect His love, and share His truth, and shine with His Spirit with in us, then what are we doing here?

 

Then what are we here for? What are we good or useful for? Not good for being Christian, or serving God. 

Without Christ in our life, all we’re good for is being thrown out like bad, tasteless salt, and trampled on.

 

May God make and keep us salty, if you will, less like the world and more like His Son, for the sake of the world, that we might serve the world with God’s Word, and His healing love.

 

As we sing in the hymn, Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word. 

 

Renew and wash us in our Baptism. Nourish our souls with Your body and blood.

 

Keep us focused on the cross of our salvation, remembering Your bitter suffering and death to save our lives.

 

Keep us ever grateful for Your amazing grace; keep us forever in faith.

 

Keep us as salt to the world; make us to be what is good and loving and true… Lord, make us like You.

 

We know what this world needs, Lord, for us all to be more like You! 

 

Make us and keep us as the salt of the earth.

 

And as we live as salt and light and love in this world, the peace of God, that passes understanding, will guard our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, who keeps us in faith, and seasons our lives with love. Amen.