Matthew 5:13 reads, “‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.”
Often this is understood as some sort of unique characteristic of the disciple of Jesus and that we are being cautioned to retain this characteristic (saltiness) otherwise we will be good for nothing and trampled under foot. We are cautioned to retain our saltiness so that we are useful to God and that our purpose is to “season” the world. This is a nice sermon.
However, this interpretation assumes that God would be the one tossing us aside if we loose our saltiness. And that seems a bit unlike God. Especially the God of Jesus who always redeems that which is thought to be unredeemable. Do you know who tosses out people to be trampled under foot? Humanity.
However, it is difficult to miss that salt was a common use of currency in the Roman army. The word “salary” comes from the word salt, so I wonder if Jesus is making a connection about the poor and the current economic system of the day. Could it be less that Jesus is not talking about some characteristic but a reflection that the poor were considered as expendable as salt. Could it be that these words of Jesus reflect the ways the rich view the poor? Could it be this is less about God’s actions and more about how humans treat other humans? Could it be that the salt of the earth verse is related to the ways people persecute others?
Consider context of the two previous statement Jesus makes prior to the salt comments:
‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Jesus says we are blessed when we are persecuted and that we are to rejoice when we are treated as such. Then Jesus says, “‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.”
If salt is thrown out and trampled under foot then it is no longer good for taste. That means it cannot be used for human consumption or to be a product of the marketplace. Salt that looses its saltiness is no longer subject to the economic grind that values people only for what they can produce. Humans think the value of a person is in relationship to what they produce.
I am confident that God thinks differently.
God does not value humans on what we produce or contribute. God values humans because humans are God’s children. And as God’s children, we are called to be with and for one another. That is to say, we are to support and care for one another.
Salt that looses its saltiness is no longer good for the market because it has lost its economic value. However, I wonder if there is redemption for the salt-less?
Salt that has been baptized (that is salt that becomes saltwater) becomes a body makes it easier for people to float. The salt supports others regardless of how it tastes. Saltwater becomes a body of support for others who struggle. In this way, saltwater is not unlike what Jesus talks about in the next verses:
You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.
Saltwater and light on a hill are not in service of themselves or gain value to what they add to the system. They are aids for others who are lost and struggling. The lift up those who are drowning. It lifts up the eyes of those who are lost.
For too long, Christians have tried to safeguard saltiness with a fear that loosing saltiness disappoints God. However, I wonder if this approach fails to imagine that God can redeem the salt-less?