What Flavor Are You? – February 18, 2024, The First Sunday in Lent
Isaiah 42:5-13, Matthew 5:13-20
February 18, 2024
Today we’re going back – back to the famous speech of Jesus we call “The Sermon on the Mount.” Again, this is called one of the greatest speeches of all time! If you remember a couple of weeks ago, we looked at the first part of that speech, that part known as “The Beatitudes.” But then last week stepped away from it so we could celebrate “The Transfiguration.”
Well I’d like to go back this week and look at the next part of this sermon. And as I begin, I think a case could be made that this was part of Jesus’ whole line of thinking, a line which began with the Beatitudes, and went all the way to verse 20.
Look at it again sometime. I think it works together as a whole. This is Jesus telling about the kind of people he wants us to be. First told us about those who are “blessed,” and I think it’s obvious that he wants us to be those people. And in the last beatitude he said, “Blessed are you” – in the second person. That leads very nicely into, “You are the salt of the earth,” and “You are the light of the world.” Do you see?
Then, after verse 20 he went on with a different kind of thought. “You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ But I say to you…” That’s a different thought. But I think this first section holds together. And it focuses on the characteristics Jesus wants his people to have as part of his kingdom.
So, I’d like to start this next part – this second half – by looking at his conclusion. I want us to see where Jesus is headed here. Because I think this is the underlying thought for this whole first section. In verse 20, he concludes, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 5:20)
I think that’s the focus of what he’s talking about here. Righteousness. Think about that. Righteousness is inherent in the Beatitudes, and if you recall, one of the beatitudes was “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.” I believe that’s important to Jesus. And I would not be surprised if he had in mind that day the passage we read from Isaiah 42. God said, “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness. I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations.” Jesus was saying the same thing that day. “You are the salt of the earth.” And “You are the light of the world.”
Think about the second one of those for a moment. “You are the light of the world.” Light we get. But there’s a little confusion because Jesus would also say, “I am the light of the world. That’s different. That has to do with what we read in the prologue of John’s Gospel. “The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.” That’s him! “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never conquered it.”
I don’t think he meant that we were the light of the world the way he was the light of the world. I think this statement goes back to that Old Testament understanding. God’s people were to be the light of the world. They were to bring the light of God to all nations. But Jesus was taking that thought further by saying it was not just about their message to the world, it was about the quality of their lives. It was their righteousness that would shine for the world to see. And what was that righteousness? Isaiah says it. “To open the eyes of that are blind, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and from the prison those who sit in darkness.”
In contrast to that, God gave an indictment against Israel in Isaiah 58, an indictment that was all about righteousness, or lack thereof! There he says,
“Cry aloud, spare not,
lift up your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their transgression,
To the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet they seek me daily,
And delight to know my ways,
As if they were a nation that did righteousness!”
For the people of God to be a people of righteousness was very important to him, and that’s what we have reflected here in Jesus’ words.
So, I’d like us to keep that idea of righteousness in mind as we think about this first statement. “You are the salt of the earth.” That’s the statement that’s been tromping around in my head for a while now. And that’s the one I want you to be thinking about as you go out those doors. “You are the salt of the earth.”
That one’s not so easy to understand, is it? Of course, there are some traditional understandings about that. First, we know that salt was valuable. It played an important role in the ancient world. My understanding is that a measure of salt was given to Roman soldiers as part of their pay. That’s the origin of the expression that says that someone is “worth their salt.”
Of course a big reason salt was valuable is that it’s a preservative. In an age where people had no concept of refrigeration, it was used to preserve food. It’s been suggested that Jesus was saying that the people were to be the ones to “preserve” the faith. They were the ones to “preserve” that righteousness.
Maybe there’s something to that. But the thing I’ve been thinking about lately is that salt is a flavoring. I think that’s what Jesus meant when he said this. He went on, “If salt has lost its saltiness – if it’s lost its flavor – what good is it?”
So, we are the salt of the earth. In other words, we add a certain flavor to the world. And I’m asking today, what flavor is that? What flavor are you? How good a taste to you add to the world?
I read recently that cats have way more smell sensors than we do. But, we have way more taste sensors than they do! So smell is a very important part of their food, but taste is an important part of our food! And that’s what we’re talking about. I don’t know, can you even smell salt? Maybe, but you sure can taste it!
You can crave salt, too, can’t you? The people in Jesus’ time didn’t know it, but salt is an important substance in our bodies! We are ½ to 1% salt. It’s in our blood, sweat, and tears. (One of my favorite bands!) And our bodies need a certain amount of sodium to function properly. It plays a vital role in maintaining fluid balance, transmitting nerve impulses and supporting muscle function. Salt is that important! (And of course it’s part of one of the most important food groups on earth – pretzels!)
So, with all that in mind, I ask again, “what flavor are you?” That’s what I’ve called this sermon. I think it’s an important question. Because we “flavor” the world around us. And we can leave a good taste in people’s mouths. We can flavor their lives in a good way. But we can also leave a bad taste, can’t we? We can leave people with a flavor about us that is unpalatable, can’t we? We can leave them with a flavor that reflects poorly on us!
While you’re thinking about that, keep in mind that a lot of it has to do with the righteousness Jesus has been talking about. That’s the flavor he has in mind. Remember his conclusion here. Because it’s the conclusion of all that he’s been talking about so far. “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 5:20)
Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth!” God said, “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness.” (Isaiah 42) As we close, think about the words of our last song “Jesus Messiah.” The first line comes from the scripture we read at the Ash Wednesday service, “He became sin, who knew no sin, that we may become his righteousness.” That’s from II Corinthians (5:21) Listen for it as you sing! And think about what flavor you are. And remember as you go, that Jesus said – about all of us – “You are the salt of the earth.”
Prayer
Eternal God, help us to be the people you called us to be, blessed and filled with your righteousness. Help us to flavor the world in a good way, to shine the good light to the people around us, to be aware of and to promote your kingdom in our midst. For we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.