Salt & Light

Yesterday the preacher talked about salt and light. The man knows his science and his history. And his bible, of course. He was referring to The Sermon on the Mount, which states, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." (Matthew 5:13) To really "get" this it helps to understand that salt was a highly prized commodity in biblical times...valuable like gold, only perhaps more useful. People used it as currency. It cured meat, seasoned food, made fires hotter (chemistry!)...According to the Salt Institute, it has more than 14,000 known uses.
Jesus is telling us, "You are the most valuable and useful on this earth." As Pastor Scott put it, He is calling us to be salty, and to maintain our saltiness lest we be trampled by our own humanity. What a switch of focus for most Christians. We focus on giving, helping others. Jesus is reminding us that as His vessels, we can't give away what we don't have.
He continues,  “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 14-16). So we're called to be useful, and to maintain that usefulness, also to be openly good on purpose and with purpose. It reminds me of a parenting concept called "living out loud", in which we go about our daily tasks with narration so our children can hear the thought processes that go into our choices. It's not ostentatious or glamerous. But boy will it keep you accountable.
My oldest (affectionately called Thing 1) volunteers helping at Children's Church. Yesterday she said, "Mom, what did you learn in big people church today?" I summarized. She responded, "We learned that sometimes you are supposed to give even when it's hard. But then you feel so good about it." She gave away her gold dollar coin to help the poor. "At first I didn't want to, but I did anyway. I'm proud of myself," said my daughter. She didn't even mention that as the "helper" she set an example for all the little ones. She gets it.