Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”

Last week I made soup. I made a lovely French onion soup full of healthy onions, garlic, cheese, and fancy toasted breadcrumbs; and salt – I also used salt. I packed the soup up into containers and took it to work with me where I was going to eat it for lunch. Lunchtime came around and I reheated my soup. I grabbed my spoon and took a slurp. Yuck. I did not use enough salt! I needed more salt to make the soup taste better.

I like to eat. I am sure that there is no surprise there because we all enjoy eating - especially food that tastes good. Oh yes! we all really like eating various foods that taste good. That is why we have so many restaurants of so many styles of cooking. There are Mexican, Chinese, Italian, and French restaurants. There are burger joints, cafeterias, ritzy 5 stars, fast food, hot dog stands, sandwich shops, cafe's, and more for people out looking for a good taste. All these places use salt to enhance the flavor of the various foods,

Salt is an important part of any meal. Salt makes roasted peanuts taste better, it enhances and enriches limp, boiled carrots. Salt gives some zest to ground beef, and it gives flavor to cardboard-like ramen. Without salt, most foods would not taste very good.

Without salt, you would die of dehydration in the desert. Without salt, your body could not regulate it's fluid levels. Without salt your sweat would not work as well to cool you off. Salt is necessary for a more enjoyable life. Can you image life without salt. I can image living without a lot of things. I can live without sugar. I don't mind not having chocolate. I could probably even go without coffee or tea, but I need salt.

In this passage of Matthew, our Lord compares us, His followers, to salt. At the time, salt was valuable. Salt was important. Sometimes in lieu of money, roman soldiers would be paid in salt (thus the phrase “worth his salt”) but I digress. Christ told us that we are the salt of the earth. We are the flavoring, the spice, the necessary ingredient for balance and to prevent the spiritual dehydration of this world. We are what enriches and emboldens the life experiences of our planet's population. This is good as long as we are fresh and true to what salt is. This is good and true for as long as we truly act and live as Christ told us to. Salt can loose it's flavor. I know because I have a little can of salt in my cupboard that has “expired” its just plain rocks with no taste. I found out that this little can of salt has no taste after I made my soup. I knew I put salt in there. Did I put enough salt in though? When I came home I tasted the salt and I found that even though I had put salt into my soup, the salt I used had no flavor, no taste. Despite the garlic and the onions, the water, the cheese, the croûtons, and the other spices which I put in, for lack of good salt my soup was not very enjoyable.

Often times we find ourselves acting like the people around us. We fit in and suddenly we don't really have anything special to add to the recipe. We become useless. When we focus on Christ and what He wants, how He desires and bids us live, then we can be a positive influence. At work, a group of us were talking after all the planes had left the hanger for their flights to San Francisco, to Dallas, to New York, to Chicago, and other destinations. One guy stopped, looked at me and said “You know, I would have said something and have used some words, but I see your tool box and I know you are a Christian, and I couldn't say it!”

Lets be good salt! If we are, then things will change around us and things will be influenced for the better, even when we don't know it!