God's Salt

It has been pretty icy around here lately. You have had to watch where and how you step. Yesterday, Nancy Powell watched me walking across the ice toward her car when she picked up her stew. With every step, Nancy, said, “Careful...careful...careful...” Walking over here has been treacherous for a few weeks. So, I’m grateful for the men who brought their tractors and their shovels—as well as rock salt to help us get back in here today, after one of the craziest storms we’ve ever had in these parts.

But what if those guys had salted our sidewalks five months ago? That would be crazy.

Still, imagine for a moment that last August, there was this fellow tossing salt all over his neighbors’ sidewalks. One after another, the doors of the houses on his street swung open. People came out, demanding to know what he was doing.

“Salting your sidewalks,” he replied with a goofy grin.

“Why?” they demanded again but now clearly concerned for the man’s sanity. But the man simply smiled and went on down the street, spreading more salt on his neighbors’ sidewalks.

When the man got home, his neighbors were confused and upset. What’s worse is, the man was quite satisfied with his labors, figuring that now not only would his neighbors notice what a godly man he was, but so would God.

Prayer: We ask, Lord, that you would reveal yourself to us in the Holy Texts this morning, and in the breaking of the Bread. Amen

Of course, the first thing wrong with the salter in this scenario is that salting sidewalks in August does no one any good. There is no ice to melt in August in North Carolina. Of course, with the weather changes in any given week around here, who knows?

Then, there is the fact that his neighbors are upset with him. They not only did not understand his act, they were unhappy about it.

But that is not the worst misstep in his thinking. He, like so many, imagine that figuring out some religious sounding labor to do in God’s name will get them favor with God.

I remember visiting my mother-in-law in a nursing facility in Ohio, and running into my old gym coach. He was there with a team from his church, going door to door to visit and pray with the residents. A nice enough thing to do, right? I spoke to him, reminding him that I had been one of his students. He then, without realizing I was standing in the same facility as he, admonished me to do like he was doing because one day I would be old and lonely—so you better do like I am doing so you have better odds at someone coming to visit you one day.

That’s hardly the best motivation. I don’t think it works that way either. Besides, Coach used to routinely paddle my backside over the dumbest things in Junior High gym class. Why would I want him to visit me?!

Yet, we are commanded to do good works. The question is which good works and why? Or better, what makes them good works?

Are we to do good works so that we will earn God’s favor and be made righteous? If so, then God sent his Son to earth for nothing. If we can earn our keep, what was Jesus trying to pull off?

Why are we to keep the commandments? Is it so that we will show God and our neighbor how dandy we are, and be rewarded with eternal life? That’s like salting sidewalks in August. Doesn’t do anything—except maybe exasperate our neighbors—and God. Our boast is not in the good we do, nor is it in our religious zeal. We must instead, be ignorant of any personal virtue or piety, being mindful only of “Jesus Christ and him crucified.” At the same time, we must delight in God’s commandments and do good to our neighbor so that our heavenly Father is glorified in our lives.

So, we see that our trust must be in Christ, not self. Our trust is in his work, not our own.

If we trust in our labors, then any good we might have done our neighbor becomes a sad little ritual that accomplished nothing more than salt on a hot sidewalk.

If we trust our religious zeal, then are we really putting the Lord our God above all things? If our confidence is in ourselves, then aren’t we taking the name of the Lord in vain? What good is keeping the Sabbath day, if we unholy his day with faith in ourselves instead of in him? It all becomes religious ritual. It is not transformative; it is instead folly.

Isaiah condemns religious ritual, noting that God takes no knowledge of such things. They count for nothing, since God does not look at the outward but looks upon the heart. That is what the Lord told Samuel when he went looking for a king over Israel to replace King Saul.

1 Samuel 16:7 ESV

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

How we apply our religious makeup does not impress God. What brand of rock salt we use makes no difference to him. Fasting, salting, and any other such rituals do not reveal the heart. If you wish to please God, be of benefit to others in a manner that brings God the glory. That is the fast God desires, and such fasts always originate from faith, not religion.

This does not need to be a program. The grace of God produces a fear of the Lord that causes the love of God to shine forth. Now, the follower of Jesus delights in the commandments. The commandments are not followed because of compulsion, but because of a love of God. In fact, Luther said that the one who delights in the commandments will find ways to go “beyond the law” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 11).

Paul said it this way to Timothy. “The law is good, if one uses it lawfully” (1 Timothy 1:8). That is, when used legitimately, the law will produce a “steady heart,” a firm mettle, a righteousness that is not one's own, as he wrote in Philippians (Philippians 3:9), that endures forever.

That does not mean that the world will understand your actions—even if you salt sidewalks at the right time of the year. Doing good for your neighbor is not always met with thanks, or even cheerfulness. But we must learn to see beyond the world’s response to the God who nonetheless calls us to love and serve our neighbor.

This means making Christ the focus instead of the good we would do. But the one who focuses on the wide-ranging philosophies of religion runs the risk of not knowing Christ at all. We, instead, are to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified (v. 2). Then, despite any weakness of our own, the knowledge of Christ will reveal the things of God through his Spirit (v. 10).

The natural person cannot perceive the things of the Spirit. They seem ridiculous to those without “the mind of Christ” (v. 16). But to those who are being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18), focus on Christ brings revelation and wisdom and the power of God. This is what God has prepared for those who love him—those who are engrossed with Jesus Christ and him crucified. Such a person will never be moved because he is focused on Christ instead of self. This is the revelation of God's power at work in the believer, despite his weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

His power is made perfect in your weakness. You may think that the salt you spread is ineffective, inconsequential. Well, that would be putting trust in yourself. God has promised to work his power and wisdom in your good works. In fact, he has promised to reveal himself in those works—because they are not your works at all. They are good and salty works only because they are his works in you, inspired by his own Spirit at work in your heart.

The earth needs salt. But it needs the right kind of salt delivered at the right time. The earth needs “God’s salt,” Luther said (Luther’s Works, Vol. 21). The Church is called by Christ to be this salt of God.

Yet, salt does not only bring out the flavor of things. Salt preserves; it also heals—but not without pain. Do not imagine that by being God’s salt, you will bring flavor and healing to a corrupt world without the world crying about your saltiness. Do not expect that by setting your Lamp upon a stand that those who have been dwelling in darkness will not feel some pain in the retinas of their souls.

Be God’s Salt but be salty for him and for your neighbor—not for you.