Nine years ago, the Boy Scouts of America decided that the Cooking Merit Badge should be one of those merit badges that every scout must earn in order to become an Eagle Scout.
Don’t you think it’s great that boys are learning to cook?
Anyone who cooks knows the importance of salt. Just about every recipe requires at least a little bit of salt - even sweet recipes like the banana bread and granola I often bake at home require salt.
When you add a little bit of salt to a sweet treat, it reduces the bitterness and enhances the sweet and umami flavors. That’s part of the secret as to why boy scout popcorn tastes so good!
Jesus told his followers that they are the salt of the earth. This week I’ve done a little more reading and reflecting on salt, to try and understand a little more about what Jesus meant. I read a book by Amy-Jill Levine on the Sermon on the Mount, which today’s scripture is part of, and I consulted a few other articles and webpages… Here’s what I learned.
The first thing is that SALT IS GOOD. Salt is a blessing. As I said, it enhances flavor; without salt, the flavor just isn’t right.
Jesus calls his followers the salt of the earth because he wants them to know that they are a blessing. YOU are a blessing. And just like a recipe without salt just isn’t right, a world without you just isn’t right. Without your gifts, your talents, and all the things that make you unique, the world just isn’t right.
You enhance the world’s flavor.
For some of you, it may be weird to hear me talk about how good salt is, because you’ve been told that salt is bad, or your doctor has told you to eat less salt; but salt isn’t bad; too much salt is bad. You don’t need a lot of salt. Just a little pinch is enough.
In the same way, you are enough.
You may be just one person; one person in a world of eight billion people. Comparatively speaking, that’s less than a pinch.
But you know what? It’s enough. YOU are enough. You are just what the world needs, just as you are.
One year at Thanksgiving, someone brought a homemade pie to share. My brother-in-law was the first to take a bite, and when he did, his face contorted into a startled expression. He immediately jumped up and ran to the sink to spit it out, knocking over his chair in his haste.
The person who made the pie got things mixed up, and when the recipe said to add one cup of sugar, they added one cup of salt. You don’t need that much salt! You don’t need a million dollars or ten thousand followers on youtube or 100,000 followers on tiktok. What you are able to do for the world, just as you are, is enough. Just a pinch of salt is enough.
You know, Bixby Knolls Christian Church isn’t as big as it once was. We’ve gotten even smaller since the start of the pandemic. And troop 29 isn’t as big as it once was. A small church and a small troop do present some challenges, but that doesn’t mean they are no longer blessings to the world. Remember: just a pinch of salt is enough.
One more thing about salt: In Jesus’ time, salt was valuable. Even though people only needed a little bit of salt, everyone needed salt, which made it a valuable commodity. Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt. In fact, the word salary comes from the Latin word for salt.
That’s something else to remember when you hear Jesus say, “You are the salt of the earth.” You are worth something. You are not worthless. You are valuable.
Jesus also says to his followers: “You are the light of the world.” If salt is valuable, necessary, and a blessing, that’s even more true for light.
Light is necessary for plants to grow. Plants take in water and carbon dioxide and energy from sunlight to create glucose energy for the plant, and oxygen which humans and countless other life forms depend on.
But we don’t just depend on the oxygen; we depend on the plants themselves. Think of all we depend on plants for:
We depend on the food plants provide. Even the meat we eat comes from animals that eat plants.
We depend on trees for wood, which most of our houses are made of.
Animals, plants, and humans all depend on each other; and that entire system also depends on the light of the sun.
Sunlight can provide us with the energy we need. Solar power has become so much more technologically advanced, and economical. If it weren’t for all the subsidies our government gives to fossil fuel companies, solar power would be just as cheap, or cheaper, and it’s certainly better for the planet and better for humanity.
Maybe that’s why Jesus said “You are the light of the world,” instead of, “You are the oil of the world.”
You are the light of the world, so let your light shine. Let it shine forth in all the colors of the spectrum. Let it reflect the image of God that is in you. Let it illuminate the world.
There is a verse from Psalm 119 that says: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” The light that shines has a purpose. It is to help you find your way along the path, along your life’s journey. And when you reflect that light into the world, it helps other people find their way along the path.
And I admit, there are some people - some Christians - who think it’s their job to shine their light right in the eyes of those around them. That’s not helpful. If you’re on a camping trip and you’ve got your flashlight, it never helps to shine it in the eyes of those around you. It’s not helpful, and it annoys and aggravates them.
But if you’re walking along, and you shine your light on the path, you’re helping another find their way.
I know that some of my fellow Christians and some of my fellow pastors like to enter the public arena and shine their light in everyone else’s eyes. They’ll go into public spaces and declare, “THE BIBLE SAYS…”, and to me, that’s like blinding those around you with the light of your flashlight… it’s like a car coming toward you on a dark road with their high beams on.
But if we act in love, with humility, showing kindness to one another as Jesus taught…I remember some years back, on Scout Sunday, I talked about how kindness is the most important point of the Scout Law.
I didn’t used to think that; I used to think that kindness was maybe the least important point of the Scout Law. Who really thinks about being kind? Kindness isn’t going to save the world!
But once I took the time to ponder what kindness truly means, and what it means to show kindness to others, I realized that actually, yes, kindness can save the world.
Anyway… If we act in love, with humility, showing kindness to one another as Jesus taught,... that’s allowing the light within us to light the path, and is helpful when it comes to journeying through life.
And it doesn’t take much light. On a pitch black night, a single candle provides more than enough light to see by. The light of the stars, which does little to illuminate the earth, can guide voyagers across land and sea.
On the other hand, if you walk out of a dark movie theater on a sunny day, you better have a pair of sunglasses, because otherwise that sun is too bright.
So, again, don’t worry if your light doesn’t seem as bright as someone else’s. It’s more than bright enough. Your light is more than enough to help someone find their way. YOU are more than enough.
A candle in the night… a small pinch of salt. No act of kindness is too small. No act of love is too insignificant.
On other occasions, Jesus used other metaphors. A tiny mustard seed. A small amount of yeast…
We all want to be the biggest, we all want to be the brightest, and we all get discouraged or depressed when our light doesn’t seem to shine as brightly as the light of those around us.
It doesn’t matter. Your light is enough.
And the gifts you have to share with the world - everything that makes you unique - is just what the world needs.
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