September 27, 2015
It was 1977, I was Colby’s age and the Broadway hit Godspell came to my town. I saw it more than once and was captivated by the simple message of the Gospels it told through story, song and dance. Musical parables were woven into a modern day story of how Jesus’ kindness recruited followers. This group of disparate individuals band together with a common purpose to face the ordinary challenges of life. From that they created a community of trust and love.
There were particular lyrics that have played in my head for years. This past summer, I took Colby (and our theater buddy Emmy Lu) to see it for the first time, the 40th anniversary revival of the show. Imagine the fun to be sandwiched between 16-year-old Colby and 90-year-old Emmy Lu reliving this magical performance that was so spiritually formative to me as a teen.
The same lyrics spoke to me again.
“You are the light of the world!
You are the light of the world!
But if that light is under a bushel,
It’s lost something kind of crucial
You’ve got to stay bright to be the light of the world
You are the salt of the earth
You are the salt of the earth
But if that salt has lost it’s flavor
It ain’t got much in its favor:
You can’t have that fault and be the salt of the earth!”
After the Transfiguration, Jesus gave very explicit examples of who we are to be in the world. This week’s passage of Mark 9 offers an account of Jesus deliberate description and demand: we are the SALT of the Earth; not that we are to become salt, but that we ARE salt.
For the longest time, I wondered what that meant, maybe for 40 years.
Let’s talk about some of the uses of SALT.
(community shares)
Sodium chloride is in the ingredient list of just about everything from cleaning products, medicine, highway de-icing, photography, ceramic glaze, soap, fire extinguishers, Epsom salt for baths, nuclear reactors...and of course, our food.
Since it is dissolved in seawater or mined from rocks, salt is plentiful but valuable, maybe the most valuable of all minerals.
This past week, when I asked Don McClanen, a senior and very beloved member of Church of the Saviour, what he thought about salt and why Jesus talked about it he said, “Salt has characteristics that are needed for human existence.”
Gloria, his wife who has significant dementia, chimed in: “Salt is good and Jesus expects us to be good.”
Later, Don added a thoughtful comment...”You cannot use salt and not expect a change. Like the Pope’s recent message of radical love, it is what changes everything.” Indeed Don nailed it: The Pope’s blanket of love on our city had an effect, hopefully a changing effect. This week, Jim Wallis wrote that the Pope’s visit was “stunning”… “an extraordinary moral leader who literally transformed our public discourse in the 48 hours he was in the nation’s capital.”
A few weeks ago, during a visit with Mary Cosby, I asked her, “What does Jesus mean about us being salt?”
Without missing a beat, this frail little 93-year- old thoughtfully answered..”Well my dear, you know that salt is very purposeful and at the same time it is very flavorful. Among all it uses .. preservation and taste are it’s most important qualities..”
“What other qualities does salt mean for you?” I pursued.
Mary spoke of salt as if it was the most important thing she had ever come across but then again, Mary can embellish the value of just about anything or anyone.
(pass our salted and unsalted pretzels)
In Roman times, it was so precious it provided a means to pay soldiers. Salt received the nickname of white gold sometime during the Middle Ages. Our English word salary comes from the word salarium, a name given to the mineral when it functioned as currency. The phrase that a person is “worth their salt” means they are worth the wages they receive.
Matthew tells us that Jesus, during his famous Sermon on the Mount, stated that believers were the "salt of the earth” and warned that it was possible for them to lose their "saltiness.” If believers lost their “flavor,” they would be of no benefit to others. They would then only be worthy of being “thrown out and trampled upon by men” (Matthew 5:13). We begin to find our answer regarding the meaning of what Jesus stated by noting the context in which it was given.
You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a mountain cannot be hid. Neither do they light a lamp and put it under a bushel basket, but on the lamp stand … you are to let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works, and may glorify your Father … (Matthew 5:14-16)
Jesus tells those wishing to follow him that they must make a difference in the world. The difference made is “the flavor” or the good works believers are to do that are to shine like a light on a lamp stand and offer a witness for Christ.
While the United States uses salt primarily for industrial purposes, most underdeveloped countries use it primarily for food preparation and preservation. Consider that for many years salt was used as an agent to slow the decay of meat and other foods so that they could be edible for a longer period.
This past summer we traveled to southern Spain to visit Colby and Maria’s family whom she was living with. Every relative in her extended family had one common feature in their home--no, not a dog, not a cat. On every kitchen counter was a pig. Yes, a leg of pig, not cooked but cured in SALT. It is called Iberian ham. Of all the amazing things we discovered in this beautiful nation, nothing captured Collin’s interest more than access to salted pork.
Since Roman times, Spanish ham has always played an important role in the history of Iberia. Spain has a interesting and tragic history of domination--Romans, Visigoths, Muslims, Catholics. When the Catholics imperialized Spain during the Inquisition, PORK became important. This symbolic food was forbidden by the Moorish community (whom the Catholics conquered) as eating it was considered a sin. Throughout the Middle Ages, SALT was an important mineral used to preserve this essential commodity. This ancient tradition of curing meats and fish with salt became an important way for the Christians to display their culture.
What does it mean to be worth your salt?
How is salt define us beyond cultural norms but as agents for justice and mercy?
How is salt an earthly expression of our human expression of God’s divine love?
While I have been thinking more about salt as a force for change, recent stories have given me some tangible understanding of what SALT can be.
On the fifth anniversary of Katrina, on the cover of The Wash Post, a caption caught my eye: “ A man with a stolen boat rescued 400 people after the hurricane.”
It told of the story of Ken Bellau, who stole a boat, looted homes for gas and started rescuing animals and people in the murky waters after the storm.
Salt of the Earth
Every year our family enjoys the Little League baseball championship. Imagine the thrill for these 12 yr olds from across our nation and around the world who compete on a grassy field with a ball and a bat. This year, we were most amused by Uganda vs Chinese Taipei game. The children arrived Uganda had ratty gloves and shoes so their opposing team purchased all new equipment for them. After Chinese Taipei won, the Ugandans boys picked up their smaller Asian counterparts and carried them for their victory lap. Both teams were all smiles.
Salt of the Earth
We all have heard the grueling stories of how the effects of war in Syria have forced people like you and me to leave their homes, their jobs, their schools, and their families in search of safety. The overwhelming numbers have been hard for neighboring European nations to absorb. Germany made a generous offer to accept thousands. Iceland, a smaller nation, reported they would accept 50.
An ordinary Icelander who heard this felt that was too modest an offer and sent a message to Iceland’s Minister of Welfare suggesting he could take five refugees into his home, bringing the number to fifty-five. Another friend heard about this on Facebook and offered to pay for the flights. Others offered food, clothes, extra bedrooms
The idea took off and the page already has 12,000 members, no mean feat given the country’s population is only about 300,000. Proportionately, that equates to some twelve million people signing up in the United States.
Inspired by the Icelandic example, a US group has also been set up on Facebook, called “Americans Supporting Syrian Refugees: Open Homes, Open Hearts.”
Of course, Pope Francis drew much attention to the Biblical command to welcome the stranger on our borders and those fleeing war in the Middle East.
Salt of the Earth
More local expressions of being salt...
Marja and her beautiful kindness and patience to members in this community who are so challenged.
Gail and her relentless advocacy for those who have paid their debt of time behind bars and simply want to be a citizen.
Mo, Jimmie, Helen, Eugene, Cruz, Dottie and Gail for the ways they show up each week to help create the sacred space for worship.
In each of you, I could name the ways you reflect the distinctive flavor of salt, the distinctive nature of being followers of Christ in our world.
As a member of the Potter’s House Board of Directors, I realize that many of our meetings are spent examining how we can be salt in this community at this time. There are thoughtful and intentional dialogues about values to serve those on the margins as well as welcoming the new neighbors of Adams Morgan. The challenge is how to be salt for the whole community who need to discover their God given flavor and purpose in the world.
Jesus said that we are “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” Being salt and light is not optional. Jesus did not say you can be …, or you have the potential to be…. He said “You are. Salt”.
Jesus knew the value of SALT. It cannot be under estimated.
The Mosaic Law required that all offerings presented by the Israelites contain salt. When he told his disciples they were Salt, they understood the metaphor.
The mandate that Jesus gave to his first disciples is still relevant and applicable to His followers today. What are the characteristics of salt that caused Him to use it in this context? Theologians have different theories about the meaning of “salt” in Matthew 5:13.
Some think that its whiteness represents the purity of the justified believer.
Others say that salt’s flavoring properties imply that Christians are to add divine flavor to the world.
Still others believe that Christians are to sting the world with rebuke and judgment the way salt stings an open wound.
Another group asserts that, as salt, Christians are to create a thirst for Christ.
Salt, however, has another vital purpose which is what I believe Jesus had in mind. It stops decay. When Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth”, He meant that all of His disciples, (that’s you and me) were to serve as preservatives, stopping the moral decay in a world full of greed, injustice, deterioration and ruin.
If you obey God’s example of love, your actions serve as a preservative for the whole human race and protection for the Earth.
(A message the Pope echoed in the halls of Congress)
Those first disciples would have been intimately familiar with this function of salt. Without refrigeration, the fish that they caught would quickly spoil and rot unless they were packed in salt. Once salted, the fish could be safely stored and then used when needed. The spiritual health and strength of the Christian is to counteract the corruption that is in our world. Christians, as salt, are to inhibit the destruction of our lives together.
We have been given a wonderful privilege to be the salt of the earth, but Jesus gave us a warning. “If salt loses its taste, how would its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.” He warned that we can lose our saltiness. When salt is contaminated it becomes corrosive and poisonous.
When Gail asked me to teach this week, I trusted it was a way for me to intentionally move into some self-examination.
The lectionary scriptures mention of SALT initially made me think of three things:
1. As mentioned, my teen obsession with Godspell.
2. Frank Kerr: He was my great grandfather who left Northern Ireland for Philadelphia to sell Kerr Salt. And that is all I know about him. He was an immigrant who became a business man with something of good use for the new world.
3. Eugene Kerr, his son, my grandfather, was a family doctor who graduated medical school in 1905 and practiced in rural Maryland, often compensated with chickens and potatoes. Mother said that he used salt to treat almost every ailment and frequently, took the family to the Maryland shores just to breath the salty air.
There is a proverb that suggests that sweat, tears and the salty sea can cure just about anything. My mother would agree.
When I explored what “salt” meant to Jesus and the instruction to be SALT, I had to ask myself..
How am I salt? How am I flavorful?
How do I offer useful preservative function?
When do I become too salty?
How am I purposeful or when am I unusable?
What makes my flavor weak and not a benefit to myself or others?
I could ask these questions daily and get all kinds of answers. As a menopausal woman with my own set of emotional ups and downs, I find there are days when I am of less use to others. My flavor is weak.
Then there are other days when I am sitting on the bed of a dying patient, talking about their life, their fears and the surrender to let go of life as they know it. They are like a child whose legs are stretched from one platform leaping on faithfully to the next. These are the times, in the presence of such profound courage, I often feel both useful and flavorful.
Around Church of the Saviour, I suppose we have named this CALL, that sweet space where our gifts meet some pain in the world.
But when does “Call” become too much...When does having a good salty flavor become too salty, like you can’t even bear the taste any longer?
I made mashed potatoes this week and Collin commented that the bowl needed more flavor. Moments later after some additions, he said with a mouthful of creamy potatoes, “God, I LOVE SALT”.
This is the work Jesus is describing. Being Salt of the Earth is GOOD work, life-changing work, life-giving work. YET, it is not easy stuff. You can over-salt those potatoes. Sometimes it can destroy our spirits.
As I understand the scripture lesson today, it is speaking to me about BALANCE, a delicate balance. I want to make a public confession that I struggle with a unbalanced life. My growing edge is the practice of saying NO...no to things I absolutely love to do: To take classes, to be with friends, to plan events, to be physically active, to tangibly help seniors in our community, to play with my family, to be an engaged mom... and on and on. There is a reason saints are rarely married women with kids. It has nothing to do with chastity. It has to do primarily with distractions: the daily bearing, rearing, feeding, educating of children. There are thousand details of running a home and human relationships. There must be a balance between the extreme of solitude and communion with others.
This simple substance, salt, has profound meaning. It represents both abundance and balance.
Jesus asks us to be salt of the earth.... to be in the spirit of abundance but to also value balance, like a chef who seasons with just enough salt; too much destroys the taste.
Would anyone like to taste a spoonful of salt?
(Putting the nurse hat on, I have to make a public service announcement)...Too much salt leads to heart attacks, stroke, and kidney disease as it makes your body hold fluid. The very role of sodium chloride is too regulate our body’s fluid, transmitting nerve signals and muscular contractions on a cellular level. Salt is just that basic. It affects our cells!
Jesus is clear:
SALT is really an incredible metaphor for us.
So simple, so ordinary and yet so delicate and mysterious.
Like David’s discussion on money two weeks ago, exploring how we are salt to the earth takes on new meaning within the context of community life. The questions are hard and we need each other to unlock some of the answers or maybe just live more deeply into the questions.
We have many in this community whose lives are marked by meaningful, purposeful, generative, life-giving call. As our community ages, I suspect there are many elders among us who have begun to feel they are losing their purpose and flavor. As our bodies age, we must turn more inward to our need for physical comfort and safety.
This is a new era for our community. I would suggest that despite our individual calls, collectively, WE ARE SALT. We need to find ways to recognize and taste the flavor of each other. It is truly what will “preserve” us a body of believers. The role of salt in the Old and New Testament as it related to the Hebrew society, is just as relevant to our little collection of believers here and now in the Potter’s House.