Stay Salty

Good morning. As always I am glad that we can be here together this morning.

I have to admit I am a little excited about this mornings passage. Mostly because it allows for me to talk about a subject that I love.

Food. Honestly specifically salt.

Now I know many of you were looking at this title and thought oh goody I am about to be encouraged to stay salty in life. I mean come on pastor Andy isn’t that we all want is to be a little angry or bitter about something. Now that doesn’t quite sound right maybe we are talking about a different kind of salty.

Let’s talk about salt though.

Sodium Chloride—also known as White Gold.

When we are talking about the idea of salt as white gold we aren’t talking about the metal we are talking about the Color description and the value of the mineral that Salt is.

Salt is an extremely valuable substance for us. We may not realize that it is as valuable as it is but salt is something that we prize highly and use in many things. Now an ounce of salt today doesn’t cost us a whole lot.

in fact it cost us only .12 cents an ounce. A dime and 2 pennies. Most of us can handle getting an ounce of salt into our lives.

Did you know though that in ancient times Salt was worth a lot more than that?

It is thought that in terms of today’s dollar this ounce of salt would be worth about 2,000. That is actually as of today more valuable than an ounce of gold.

In fact, the origin of the word salary is tied back to the Latin word “salarium”. This was the allowance for the purchase of salt. It was often also used to pay roman soldiers.

Think about how wealthy you would be if you went back with this. (pull out a box of kosher salt”.

This 3lbs box would be worth about $96,000. It cost me $3.82. That’s a pretty good increase in value.

How many of you would take a $95,996.12 increase in value.

Salt was valuable but why.

The Value of Salt

Both in ancient times and today we use salt to preserve and to enhance food. When we think about salt and its uses we have to be honest it is in almost everything and for good reason.

We actually need salt to survive. Salt is an essential mineral to our survival as humans. We have biologically aspect of our bodies that our tongues are able to sense when something is salty.

This is why we also love to use it to enhance our food and make it taste better.

I would love to tell you there is some great way to scientifically share with you why it works and how it changes food but even science can figure that out.

Yet, I know of one practical experiment that we can do to help share the power of what salt does to food.

Tomatoes

How many of you love a fresh tomato? I mean I know its February but we still are able to get these but they aren’t the same as a fresh tomato off the vine in the summer.

I loved when we would grow cherry tomatoes. I would pluck them off the vine and eat them on the spot. I am sure some people would do the same with larger tomatoes off the vine and eat them like an apple.

Yet, my life was changed while watching the food network one day. A chef was making a BLT and he was talking about the tomatoes and the importance of salting your tomatoes.

When I would make a BLT previously it was a relatively simple process. Toasted bread, A little bit of mayo, lettuce, bacon and a good slice of tomato. Great sandwich.

I listened to this shelf talk about taking that sandwich to the next level. Add a simple small amount of salt to the tomatoes.

Have you ever done this. Add a little salt to your tomatoes? It makes that Tomato go to a whole other level.

Want to make it more exotic you find things like this. Smoked or flavored salt and wow it makes it pop.

You might be saying now Pastor Andy is this a culinary class or a sermon.

It will all make sense when we read this mornings passage. In fact let’s go ahead and read that together.

Matthew 5:13–16 NIV

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.

The Salt of the Earth

Have you ever thought about what this really means?

When you first hear the idea of salting the earth if you didn’t know that is not a good thing. Salting the soil can result in the destruction of the ability for anything to grow. Is Jesus really talking about that or is he maybe referencing a different idea.

Surely Jesus wouldn’t be encouraging us to destroy. No, instead there is a common consensus that Jesus is referencing the idea of salt as either a preservative or as a flavor enhancement. When Jesus gives this title of the salt of the earth he is calling us as believers to be the preservative or the flavor enhancer of the world. The ones who work to save and to build up the message that has been given to us.

It is a call back to the value of what salt does for us.

It is a preservative. We can store food better because of it.

It is a mineral that is essential to our ability to function as humans.

It is a resource that increases the appeal and quality of our food making foods easier to eat.

We are called to be the enemy of decay. The ones who share the good news of the Gospel to the world. The people who stand out and bring truth.

But as Jesus goes on what happens if Salt loses its saltiness?

Salt Losing its Saltiness

If you read this statement and say what in the world how would that be even possible. How would salt loose it’s saltiness.

My favorite example of this question being asked is this picture right here.

Insert Salt photo here

I mean look at this picture

250 million year old salt. It has a long shelf life but its coming to an end here. IN fact as of today its already expired. If you have this 250 million year old salt at home you better throw it away when you get home I don’t want any of you to get sick.

Salt Losing its Saltiness

There is an important piece of information though that we need to realize. That salt in Ancient times is not as pure as it is today. Much of the salt we use and have is processed to eliminate other minerals that can affect the salt and its effectiveness. This is done to create a more stable consistent product. Yet, even with the impurities salt itself is very stable. It takes an outside force for Salt to lose its saltiness.

One of the most common things is the introduction of water. Water changes Salt and it can dilute the power of salt if enough is added. IT can wash away the Sodium chloride and leave behind the other minerals that don’t accomplish the same thing that Salt does.

A Warning from Jesus

This is a reminder then for us that idea of salt loosing its saltiness is the introduction of outside things to dilute down the effectiveness of who we are.

There are a lot of ways that if we aren’t careful we can dilute our faith and our ability as Christians. One of the best ways to help make sure we are staying the people we are called to be is to be constantly working on our faith and growing in it. There are so many ways that this can be done and I could talk for hours about those but the most common and best way is to connect with the local church and the body of believers to help us guide each other along the way.

Yet, if we aren’t careful we slip into the danger of losing that saltiness and then what is the value of the salt.

Jesus uses a similar analogy to show us this with the idea of lighting a lamp then placing it under a bowl. When we find the light of Christ we don’t want to hide it we are called to let it shing out before others.

The Beacon and Salt

We are called as a church to be that for the world to step out and to set the example for all of the world. I talk about it a lot and I want us to hear this as a church. We are called to be this for the world.

Matthew 5:14 NIV

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Interestingly enough we are built on a hill and all who come around the corner of Sylvania know there is a church here. I mean many of them turn around or pull off to the side in our parking lot on a regular basis.

This place is known. Is it known though only as the church on Sylvania or are we known because of our faith and who we are as Christians.

I am happy to say that our light is getting brighter and our community sees that but there is a lot of work still to be done. There are still many different ways that we can be the salt of the earth to the people of our community.

Let’s make sure we hang on to this saltiness and this beacon of light and shine out for others to see. Not for our glory but for his. We must remember the simple charge that Jesus gave us at the end of this passage.

Matthew 5:16 NIV

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

let’s pray.