Do you have a favorite way to season food? I like to cook and I enjoy the various ways that I can season food. I enjoy using fresh herbs and I have a whole range of spices that I use. In the parish office this week Lena had made a cardamom cake and we had a discussion about the exact taste of cardamom. Like many of you I’m sure, I have to be careful with my salt intake these days and so I use it sparingly. My dad always admonished us for putting salt on our food before tasting it. But some foods do need salt, and from my point of view, all food is enhanced by some sort of seasoning. Sometimes though, seasoning loses its pungency and has to be discarded. I have recently discovered that some of the large containers of spices that I bought from Costco are no longer very spicy and need to be replaced. 

Which brings me to today’s Gospel. Jesus tells us that we are to be salt for the earth and light for the world. But what does that mean?  

This Gospel implies two fundamental questions of life: who are we? and what are we to do? 

The situation of Matthew's congregation is similar to that of many congregations today.  Matthew lived in a time of theological and social tension following the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. The Jewish community was in conflict regarding the future of Judaism and what it meant to be Jewish. The church in our own time faces similar issues. Many values and practices from previous generations are being questioned and jettisoned. Congregations are getting smaller and the denominations are losing social power.  

What does it mean to be disciples of Jesus Christ in this time? How are we to live?  

In Judaism, salt was a symbol of covenant. Matthew believed that his congregation was living shortly before the apocalypse that would fully establish the realm of God. What is commonly called “the end times”. Covenantal community for Matthew thus included eschatalogical community. 

Matthew refers to salt losing its saltiness and having to be thrown away. In this context, the seasoning of our lives is faithfulness. If we call ourselves Christian but are not faithful to the teachings of Jesus, we have nothing to offer to the building of God's kingdom. We are like salt that has lost its flavor. 

In the time of Jesus, and before refrigeration, salt was a preservative. It kept meat and fish, e.g. from going bad. So, when Jesus says to us. 'Be the salt of the earth', he's asking us to save the world around us, the society to which we belong, from going bad. Food without salt or a salt substitute is bland, insipid, unattractive, even depressing. In using this image Jesus is suggesting too that our task, our mission in the world is not be negative kill-joys, but people like himself, who love life and live it to the full, people who care so much, people who love so much, that we bring joy not sadness, hope not gloom, to those we meet daily.  

The Gospel writer reinforces the theme of covenantal relationship with the words “You are the light of the world” from the prophet Isaiah. Light has the purpose of illumination, of bringing clarity to circumstances and situations. 

Both images Jesus uses - being salt to the earth and light to the world suggest that faith and good deeds, belief and action, cannot be separated. Walking the walk is, in fact, more important than talking the talk. So, he says to you and me: Don't hide or water down your love for Christ. Shine it, show it, prove it, do it! Your faith is a gift to be shared with others: with family, friends, parishioners, strangers, indeed with all human beings, because, like you, each one is a beloved child of God. Amen.

 

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Faith in Formation