Unless you close your eyes, you see constantly, without effort. Hearing is the same, sound simply
comes and you process it. Smell is automatic too; it comes by simply breathing. But taste takes
action on your part. You must purchase or prepare your food; you must lift a fork or spoon to get
the food in your mouth. Or raise a glass to taste a drink. Someone had to grow the food or crush
the grapes before you can chew or sip. Taste takes work. Also, you must eat and drink to stay
alive, which means the actions that precede taste are part of a lifegiving process. As you know,
people who are blind or deaf can live very full lives, but someone who does not eat/taste would not
live very long without medical intervention. So even though taste is the last sense in our Epiphany
series, it certainly is not the least.
Yet Isaiah just took issue with Israel’s way of fasting, of not eating. They thought coming back to
Jerusalem and rebuilding the Temple would be enough, so their religious fasts were enough. But
God said no. Fasting is not a way to serve our own interest, but a way to become partners with God
in restoring righteousness. The fast that God chooses loosens the bonds of injustice, lets the
oppressed go free and shares bread with the hungry. The fast that God chooses takes action on our
part, just like taste does. God wants to partner with us in bringing light to the world.
Jesus started his Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes which we read last week. In them Jesus
described this inhabited world riddled with wealth and poverty, oppressors and oppressed, injustice
and acts of justice, war and peace. Now Jesus is calling his followers, calling all of us, to be the
antidote to this world. To be the change agent. Jesus said, “You are the Salt!” “You are the Light.”
READ Matthew 5:13-20.
“An ancient king once asked his three daughters how much they loved him. One daughter said she
loved him more than all the gold in the world. One said she loved him more than all the silver in the
world. The youngest daughter said she loved him more than salt. The king was not pleased with this
answer. But the cook overheard the conversation, so the next day he prepared a good meal for the
king, but left out the salt. The food was so insipid that the king couldn't eat it. (He didn’t like the
taste.) Then he understood what his daughter meant. He understood the value of salt.
(Sermons.com, King Duncan). So did Jesus.
You see, “Salt performs multiple functions: transforming, flavoring, preserving, and purifying
substances. Salt does not exist for itself but affects other elements” (Working Preacher, Warren
Carter). Sprinkle salt on popcorn and the popcorn tastes better. Cure meat with salt and it lasts
longer. Salt on its own is not very powerful. But salt combined with food enhances, transforms,
taste. When Jesus calls us “salt” he is calling us to be the transforming elements that change the
world, that can show the world God’s love and righteousness. We are to be missional participants,
salting and transforming the world. And if we lose our saltiness then what good are we in that
mission? Remember taste takes action, so when you are the salt of the earth, you take action too.
Eugene Peterson in the Message translates our passage this way, “Let me tell you why you are here.
You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your
saltiness, how will people taste godliness?” Think about that. If you lose your saltiness how will
people taste godliness. How will people know God’s love? How will people know God’s glory, if
you do not maintain your flavorful saltiness?
Now with salt in almost every processed food we eat and light on demand 24/7, it’s hard to
understand what a radical teaching this is. But “salt and light were both precious commodities in
Jesus’ time. Both sustain life. Neither can be produced easily on one’s own. They are gifts of
creation that require careful ingenuity to access and conserve. And they make all the difference! (Working Preacher, Amy G. Oden). So, Jesus is calling YOU a precious commodity, one that
sustains life, one that makes all the difference.
When Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth.” “You are the light of the world” Jesus is rallying
the troops, motivating the disciples, encouraging us, to help transform the world. That “you” here is
plural. It’s like Jesus saying all of you are the salt, all of you are the light. Not sometime in the
future, but right now, you are salt and light. Right now, you are change elements in this world.
Your flavorful faith combined with the ills of the world will transform those ills and show forth
light. That’s what Jesus means when he says, “Let your light shine before others so they may see
your good works,” they may see your salty actions. Actions Isaiah taught, working for justice,
caring for the homeless, breaking the yoke of oppression. For when you do “then your light shall
break forth like the dawn” and “the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard” (Is. 58:8).
Amazingly in Matthew, we are the light of the world. Our actions show forth God’s light. The
Message says it plainly, “You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world.” I
imagine the God-colors to be the colors of the kingdom of heaven- all the actions from Isaiah and
the Beatitude that show us how to change the world. We are the light-bearers. In contrast, in John’s
gospel, Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus even says, “I am the light of the world” (8:12). But for
Matthew, Jesus comes, teaches, heals and empowers US to be the light of the world. That explains
why Jesus talks about not hiding your light under a bushel basket. Note that Jesus does not say,
“Don’t let your light go out” instead he says, “Don’t hide your light.” We are the ones who limit
our ability to be God’s light. We hide our light when we don’t think we have anything to say.
When we doubt our ability to bring someone to Jesus. When we hide behind church attendance
rather than shining our light for all the world to see. How can God build the kingdom of heaven if
we are hiding out light? If we, who are the light of the world, are simply content to come to church,
have our own personal faith and hide our light under a bushel basket? We are supposed to be the
light on the lampstand for all the world to see. So let your light shine!
Taste takes action. Being salt demands action, allowing our salting character to combine with
community needs. Letting our light shine takes courageous action so that others may see the glory
of God in heaven. Jesus calling us salt and light is not just some metaphor, but Jesus is defining our
identity in Christ. “Jesus is talking here about a life that makes a difference for others in the world.
We are the tastiness that adds salt to lives around us. We are light that makes plain the justice way
of the kingdom of God. Jesus says we must be tasty and lit up in order to make a difference for God
in the world. Neither salt nor light exists for themselves. They only fulfill their purpose when used
(and) poured out” (Working Preacher, Amy G. Oden). That means we cannot remain in “our
default setting which leans toward comfort, conformity, and complacency when what Jesus really
needs from us is to be the salt and the light—the salt that just might sting and the light that just
might expose what we do not want to see” (Working Preacher, Karoline Lewis).
As we conclude this sermon series on the senses, I want to pause and consider pizza, a food many
will taste while watching the Super Bowl. Pizza is a processed food rich in salt but with such depth
of tasty varieties it can wow almost any food palette. Classic Pepperoni, Veggie combo, Hawaiian,
each offer their own pizzaz. Yet Thomas Monaghan was founder and president of Domino’s Pizza.
Domino’s grew from a small debt-ridden chain to the second largest pizza company in America,
with sales of over one billion dollars. When asked to account for the phenomenal growth of the
company, Monaghan explained, “I programmed everything for growth.” And how did he plan for
growth? “Every day we develop people—the key to growth is developing people.”
Not special cheese, not a tasty crust, not fast delivery schedules, but people! People are the key”
(Sermon.com Michael P. Green). Jesus would agree. Jesus is developing you as the salt of the earth
and the light of the world. He called you to grow the kingdom of heaven by being salt and light to
the world. “So live the tasty, lit-up life!” (Working Preacher, Amy G. Oden) Amen.
