As Jesus preached his Sermon on the Mount, he turned to his disciples and said in today’s Gospel, “You are the salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13-16).
Salt, in New Testament times, was seen as something that kept the world from spoiling and becoming tasteless. “Pass the salt,” Jesus said, in effect, to them.
Today’s Christian should pass the salt to an increasingly tasteless world. What the world needs is an ever-expanding number of salty characters – salty Christians who stimulate the spiritual appetites of everyone who comes into contact with them.
Jesus Christ was no passive patsy. He engendered strong opinions during his lifetime. He was the salt of the earth, and people’s lives changed as they encountered him. Jesus does not want us to be just good and kind church-goers who don’t make any trouble for others. Jesus wants us to be bold, imaginative and dynamic Christians.
For over 50 years now I have reflected on the words of the author and psychologist, Eugene Kennedy: “Better to be a lively sinner, than a dull saint!” The lively sinner can always go to Confession. But a dull saint….What do you do with a dull saint? They just take up space in the pew, the classroom, the office, and the dinner table. To Jesus, a dull saint is a contradiction in terms.
Pass the salt! For God’s sake, pass the salt! Yes, for God’s sake, let’s see some more salt. God needs us to present his message to his world in an exciting way. We are to be the salt of the earth.
It takes very little effort to be tasteless in today’s world. But God wants us to be salty characters … not in a racy, earthy sense but in an enhancing sense. Christians should enrich the lives of others. Having an engaging manner, we should cause people who meet us to comment, “He is so refreshing.” “She is delightful. Her faith makes her sparkle.”
The average 4-year old laughs 400 times a day. The average adult laughs 15 times a day. No wonder the grumpy, old grandparents want to go and be with their grandchildren. They want all that laughter of their grandkids to rub off on them.
Christians should never become completely satisfied with themselves. You must always believe that you are in the hands of God ready for remolding. You ought to be willing to pass God’s salt and BE God’s salt in whatever way God commands you. “Not my will, O Lord, but yours be done in my life,” is the Christian’s prayer.
A graduate student had just gotten his first job, a desk job, and he felt the job was far below his talents. He was probably right. He complained to his friend, but his friend gave him no sympathy at all.
His friend patted him on the back and said, “You know, the world is a much better place because Michelangelo didn’t say, ‘I don’t do ceilings,’ Moses didn’t say, ‘I don’t do rivers,’ Noah didn’t say, ‘I don’t do arks,’ Mary Magdalene didn’t say, ‘I don’t do feet,’ Paul didn’t say, ‘I don’t do Gentiles,’ and Jesus did not say, ‘I don’t do crosses.’”
We could add: “The world is a better place because four-year old children don’t say, ‘I don’t do laughs,’ They are all the salt of the earth.
My Commentary:
When Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth” in the Gospel of Matthew 5:13–16, He is not offering a compliment so much as a commission. Salt exists for what it does. It preserves. It brings out flavor. It keeps food from becoming dull or spoiled. Salt that stays in the shaker is useless.
That is why Jesus’ words are so bracing. He is telling His followers not to retreat into polite religion, but to engage the world in a way that actually changes its taste.
Today, millions of people are gathering around televisions for the Super Bowl. It will be loud, emotional, excessive, joyful, tribal, commercial, and communal all at once. It will be filled with drama, heroes, villains, hope, disappointment, and shared experience. In many ways, it is a perfect snapshot of our culture — hungry for excitement, meaning, belonging, and something worth cheering for.
Jesus does not tell His disciples to scold the crowd or withdraw from it. He tells them to season it. To be present. To add something that makes life richer, more humane, more alive. Christians are not called to drain joy from the party, but to deepen it. Not to turn down the volume of life, but to give it resonance.
That is what “passing the salt” looks like. It is faith with energy. Conviction with warmth. Courage with joy. Jesus Himself was anything but bland. People were drawn to Him. Lives changed in His presence. He unsettled complacency and awakened longing.
A dull saint, as I note, is a contradiction in terms. Faith that never sparks curiosity, laughter, hope, or generosity has lost its savor. The world does not need more tasteless religion. It needs Christians whose presence enhances life — people others describe as refreshing, delightful, and life-giving.
Salt does not dominate a dish; it disappears into it. It works quietly but decisively. Whether at a Super Bowl party, a workplace desk, a dinner table, or a hospital room, Christians are meant to bring out what is best in others simply by being there.
“Not my will, O Lord, but yours be done.” That prayer is the moment we leave the shaker and touch the world.
And like four-year-olds who never refuse to laugh, like servants who never say “I don’t do ceilings… rivers… arks… crosses,” we are reminded that the world becomes better — more joyful, more hopeful, more human — when God’s people are willing to be the salt of the earth.
Who are the people in YOUR life who have shown YOU how to be the salt of the earth? Does YOUR life ever bore YOU? If it does, then risk it! Not daredevil style. Rather, risk it in the service of the Lord of the universe.
LEAD LIKE MOSES. SERVE LIKE MARTHA. BELIEVE LIKE MARY. FIGHT LIKE DAVID. EDUCATE LIKE PAUL. LOVE LIKE JESUS!!
Enjoy the Super Bowl and please help others to make our country to be “a city upon a hill, a beacon of hope for the world” as President Reagan said in his Farewell Address in 1989.
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