In the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
I seem to have reached a particular age.
I seem to have reached the particular age which is that whenever I got to the doctor about anything I come out with a prescription for another regular medicine and an instruction to give something up.
Red meat was one of this first things. No more red meat.
Red wine was the next. No more red wine. (Though I’m not that much of a drinker anyway).
[This being St Mary’s I can see several doctors in the congregation working out what prescriptions I got for which pills too]
But then it was caffeine that had to go. No more ordinary tea.
And the latest of course was salt. Cut down, cut back, give up on the salt.
Now, I have, or at least had, rather a liking for salt on my food.
It makes other things tasty.
So being told to cut it down and try to cut it out was something of a bitter blow.
What’s a poke of chips without a good sprinkling of salt after all.
Oh, and I know what comes next – it’ll be the chips next. First they came for the red meat. Then they came for the salt. Then they came for the chips…
Steak and chips nae mair, nae mair.
But the salt thing really got to me.
I took myself off to the supermarket straight away to find an alternative. And sure enough someone produces this stuff. Lo Salt it is called.
And it has all the attributes of salt. Except one.
It looks like salt. It feels like salt. It sprinkles like salt.
It is perfect in every way except the rather necessary requirement.
It doesn’t actually taste like salt.
It proudly says on the tub that it contains 66% less sodium than regular salt. And by my reckoning you need about three times as much of the stuff for it to actually taste the same.
And, well, the truth is, I’ve kind of lost heart with it as a substitute. It has been sitting in the back of the cupboard for a year or more largely unused. Better to retrain my tastebuds to do without salt than to be disappointed with ever sprinkle.
This stuff is what Jesus is talking about in the gospel today. Salt that has lost its savour.
And it is good for nothing.
Well, except for one thing of course. Real salt doesn’t ever really lose its savour. Real salt itself can’t go off. You can keep it as long as you like and it will still be salt.
And, well, that’s just one of the points that Jesus is making.
In the gospel words we have just heard, Jesus says, You are the Salt of the Earth.
But the wee periscope, the section of the gospel that we heard did not really make it clear to whom he is speaking.
Jesus isn’t talking to the church – it hadn’t been invented then. Nor is he talking to a congregation in a synagogue. Though he went to such places, he was outside when he preached this sermon.
Nor was he talking just to his disciples.
For this is part of the sermon on the mount.
He’s speaking to those who crowded around him to hear.
He’s speaking to the crowd as well as to his friends.
You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.
Might it make a difference to how we hear the sermon on the mount to remember that he isn’t speaking only to us. He isn’t murmuring the sweet nothings of a personal saviour who has come just for me as an individual.
This isn’t just about my relationship with God.
He’s speaking to the crowd. To all of us. And more.
To all of us and a lot more.
To the forgotten and the poor and those with no influence and no power.
And he says, you, all of you, are the salt of the earth and the light of the word.
The crowd are the salt of the earth. The crowd are the light of the world.
When he’s talking about you, he’s not just talking to you.
In Old English, he’s talking to ye – all of ye.
In Southern American English, he’s talking to y’all – or even all y’all.
In Glasgow he’s talking to youse. Yes, all of youse.
Jesus seems to see human dignity and worth in every member of the crowd.
Each was part of being the salt of the earth. Together they were light to the world.
Every member in the crowd is made in the image of God and that gives us innate human dignity.
Dignity that Jesus sees and proclaims.
There are so many occasions when we can see simply the worst in people.
There are so many occasions when we experience a crowd as simply being the mob.
But Jesus looks with compassion at every soul there and says you – you collectively are the salt of the earth. You, yes, all of you are light.
What a world we would have if everyone was able to contribute to making the world tasty and full of light.
What a world we would have if the special dignity and gifts of every soul were recognised and affirmed and known.
What a world would we have if the innate goodness of everyone was visible and shining out like a light on a hill or a lamp put on a bushel basket.
Evil and sin abound are oh so real. Yet Jesus looks at the crowd and seems to see the vision of a kingdom altogether different and altogether new and altogether built on the goodness of every soul.
So, let your light shine in this city. Let your light shine in this land. Let your light shine in this world.
In loving you, God knows the light that is already in you. And God wants that light to be what you are known for.
Until the light illuminates everything and all wrongs are put right, and the tears are wiped from every eye so that every eye sees clearly that love has conquered. And love reigns supreme.
Look for the best in people.
Look for the love in people.
Look for the light in people. For the light in people is simply the sign of the love that is in them that connects them directly to God’s own being.
Look especially for the light in people in whom you don’t expect to find it.
And set that light high.
High on a bushel basket
And let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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