The Similes of Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13-16

“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lamp stand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.

Discussion Questions:

1. How do you consciously let your light shine (glorify God), making God’s truth and goodness visible for others?
2. Where do you draw your energy or “zest” for life from, and how do you use it to express your faith?
3. Where have you noticed invitations to be, “salt and light” for others recently? How did you respond?
4. In what different ways do you experiment with living your faith? Where could you stretch a bit beyond your comfort zone to be “salt and light”?

Biblical Context

Matthew 5:13-16
Sr. Mary McGlone CSJ

As we continue through the Sermon on the Mount, we must remember that although many see Jesus here as the new Moses, he is not acting as a law-giver, but rather a dispenser of wisdom. The Beatitudes were conundrums, counterintuitive sayings that make sense only when we reflect on them from practice. In addition, although the entire sermon is generally thought to be a collection of teachings rather than a homily delivered all at one time, Matthew framed it as a discourse and therefore wanted his readers to take it as such. With that in mind we need to remember that Jesus addressed the statements about salt and light to you, meaning those disciples to whom he had previously just stated “blessed are those who are persecuted.”

Jesus was a great one for playing with words, and he did so in the saying about salt. Salt, in addition to its attributes as a flavor enhancer and food preservative, was a common metaphor for wisdom. So, the word Jesus used for the idea of salt losing its flavor was one which could connote foolishness. That concept makes for a great addition to what Paul had to say about human wisdom and the power of God. Following up on the last phrase of the beatitudes, Jesus indicates that persecuted disciples who are blessed and possess the kingdom of heaven are the salty wise ones. But if they lose that saltiness, their wisdom truly becomes folly, not only for them, but in the sight of the world that laughs because they gave up on what they had begun.

The second pair of images, the light and shining city on the hilltop is even more powerful when understood in a biblical context. Light was a common symbol for God’s word: “Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105); and even for God: “The Lord is my light and my salvation” (Psalm 27:1). The city on the hilltop was Jerusalem, the dwelling place of God (Micah 4:1-3). With these images Jesus teaches that the persecuted and blessed disciples are an extension of God’s very presence in the world, a presence that can never be hidden or snuffed out.

Flavoring the World and Dispersing Darkness

Fr. Michael K. Marsh

What are you doing with your life? It is a question I think we all ask ourselves at various points in our life. It is the question behind children’s dreams and stories about what they will do and be when they get big. Young people wrestle with this question as they plan their future, choose schools, pick careers, make a new home for themselves. Those of us who are older sometimes look back on the past and wonder what we have done with our life. The difficulties, challenges, and losses of life often bring us face to face with this question. It is really a question about meaning, significance, purpose. In that question God is drawing us to himself. It is a question with which we will always struggle until we begin to seek meaning, significance, and purpose on God’s terms and for the love of others.

It is the question behind today’s gospel. Jesus is continuing the Sermon on the Mount. He is speaking to those he has just declared to be blessed; the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.

To live the beatitudes is our way forward in this life, it is also our blessing.

You blessed ones, Jesus says, are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Our blessedness, however, is not for ourselves alone. It is a gift given us to be held and used for the life of the world. The Christian life is not lived in isolation from or without regard to others. If we do not flavor this world with Christ, we are like salt that has lost its saltiness. If we do not illuminate darkness with Christ’s presence, we are like light hidden under a basket. We are useless. We are not living as the people Christ knows us to be and we have rejected our blessedness.

Some of us will hear Jesus’ words and think that we need to become something we are not or that we need to get something we do not yet have. That is not, however, what Jesus says. He does not say we should become salt. He says we already are salt. He does not say we are to become light. He says we already are light. We already are what we need to be. We already have all that we need. Now we must go live the life of ones who have been blessed, the life of salt and light.

This is really the call to make our inner life and our outer life congruent. Our actions and our beliefs must reflect and reveal each other. Our faith in Jesus, our life of prayer, our blessedness must be made visible by how we live, speak, and act. They must become the foundation for our relationships with all people; family, friends, strangers, and enemies. It is one thing to believe in Christ. It is another to live a public life that demonstrates that belief.

We can say our prayers and sing our praises to God but if they do not govern and guide our actions in this world, they are only self-serving words that fall deaf on God’s ears. Perhaps we should spend less time speaking the truth about God and more time doing the truth of God. What is that truth? How do we do that truth?

The prophet Isaiah is clear and concrete about how we do God’s truth. We loose the bonds of injustice, we undo the thongs of the yoke, we let the oppressed go free. It means we share our bread with the hungry, we bring the homeless poor into our house, and we do not hide ourselves from each other. It means we don’t point at another in condemnation and we don’t speak evil of another. We satisfy the needs of the afflicted. In short, doing God’s truth means doing what is right, what is Godly. We live with and care for each other in such a way that our blessedness makes a difference in the lives of others.

When this is how we live our light breaks forth like the dawning of a new day and the darkness is dispersed. That light is the presence and love of Christ. As we live for others, we discover that our soul is healed, our needs are satisfied, our life is rebuilt, and God is ever present saying, “Here I am.”

The meaning, significance, and purpose of our life are found in the life and well-being of another. Every time we offer forgiveness, seek reconciliation, or act with compassion we sprinkle salt. Every time we speak a word of hope, work for justice, or do for another what we would have them do of us, our light pushes back the darkness.

Much of our world is dark and tasteless. Too many people live a bland existence amongst the shadows. The world and its people need flavor. They need light. They need you and me to make a difference. How are we being salt, flavoring the life of another? Where is our light dispersing darkness?

 

Reflection excerpt from: Interrupting the Silence by Michael K. Marsh, www.interruptingthesilence.com

Used with permission