16. Salt & Light

You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Matthew 5:13a &14a

(Full passage: Matthew 5:13-16)

It is difficult to grasp the significance of salt and light in a world where we are drowning in too much of both. Doctors urge people to cut back on salt for the sake of their hearts and we’re told the constant light emanating from our screens is harming us. Yet, to Jesus’ audience, salt and light were deeply tied to their survival. In order to understand the significance of salt and light to an ancient people, it might be helpful to understand their opposites—decay and darkness.

Decay is just not something we come across often in our modern world of refrigeration, preservatives and antibiotics. Sure, you might have poured yourself a glass of sour milk a time or two and you might dread lifting the dumpster lid in the heat of summer. But in the ancient world, the fight against decay was a constant battle. The smell of decay was familiar—rotting flesh and produce emitting a smell that would cling to the walls of your nostrils and threaten to turn your stomach on itself. Dead bodies weren’t tucked away in refrigerated morgues, they decayed quickly in homes. Without antibiotics to fight infection, living bodies could be riddled with active decay—a tooth gone bad, a damaged limb or open wound could cause a deadly infection to slowly eat its way through living flesh. Flies swarmed the carcasses of dead animals, laying eggs and birthing maggots in any dead flesh they detected. Meat slaughtered to feed a family turned quickly and would be worthless in a day or two. Unless, of course, you had salt.

Salt was vital. Salt stopped the spread of decay in meat and allowed it to be preserved and stored. A common practice in ancient times, pressing salt into meat, drew out the water and prevented the spread of bacteria. This allowed meat that would otherwise rot to be stored for times of scarcity, providing a more stable food supply. Jesus’ audience was all too familiar with decay and fully understood the value of salt in fighting it.

Similarly, Jesus’ listeners lived in a world where the sun and moon were the only guaranteed and consistent sources of light. When the sun sunk below the horizon, darkness overtook the world in a way we cannot comprehend as modern humans. The darkness was heavy and crushing and in it lay incalculable danger—predatory animals and men, tripping hazards and unseeable trenches and chasms. Not to mention the inconvenience of lost items and tasks left half-finished. It took an incredible amount of work to create “artificial” light. Olive oil used to light lamps meant that olives had to be grown, harvested, crushed and processed. Olives were seasonal and the oil was finite—once it was gone, it couldn’t be replenished until the next harvest. Any manmade light source was precious and limited.

So, when Jesus told His disciples that they were salt and light, they understood the importance of His teaching. They understood that these were two resources that the world around them desperately needed. And although our modern world has more actual salt and light than we know what to do with, in a spiritual sense, we are still plagued by darkness and decay. Jesus is still calling us to be salt and light in the midst of it.

In order to become this for others, we have to first allow the Lord to be salt and light in our own lives. We have to invite the cleansing Salt to work its way into every decaying and rotting part of our broken flesh. We have to invite the Light to illuminate the darkest parts of our souls. This is not something we do in our own strength. This is a byproduct of living our lives in complete dependence upon the ultimate source of light and life. As we connect ourselves to Him like a branch to a vine, His life-force flows through us, pushing out the darkness and decay.

And then? And then that light and life will flow out of you into everyone around you. As you walk through a world filled with darkness and decay, the light and life of Christ will radiate from you in a way that is undeniable. It’s important to know that the “you” Jesus is addressing isn’t a singular “you.” Jesus is saying you as in “all of you.” We are not called to push back against the darkness alone, God calls us to walk this out together, in families and in communities. Those lost in darkness, the ones searching for the light, will see it in us and be drawn to Christ through our lives and through the way we love each other. Those who are fed up with decay will immediately see the life in us. They will recognize that we don’t reek of death—that in us there’s a fragrant aroma of life, the life they’ve been longing for. Our lives will point clearly to the words of Jesus in Revelation, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Our remade lives, free from darkness and decay will be an open invitation to everyone around to come and see what Jesus is like.