Salt And Light
Preaching
Preaching The Parables
Series III, Cycle A
1. Text
"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.
[14] "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. [15] No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house. [16] In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."
2. What's Happening?
First Point Of Action
Immediately after speaking the parables, Jesus speaks the salt and light sayings.
Second Point Of Action
Jesus tells the gathered folk the salt metaphor. They are the salt of the earth. But how, he asks, can its saltiness be restored if salt loses its taste?
Third Point Of Action
He concludes that then it is no longer good for anything. But, he says, it is thrown out and trampled under foot.
Fourth Point Of Action
Next, Jesus tells the gathered folk the light of the world metaphor. They are the light of the world.
Fifth Point Of Action
Adding a third metaphor, he notes that a city built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Sixth Point Of Action
Returning to the light metaphor, Jesus reminds that no one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket.
Seventh Point Of Action
Rather, put it on the lamp stand. Then it will give light to all the house.
Eighth Point Of Action
Jesus tells us in the same way to let our light shine before others.
Ninth Point Of Action
In this way others may see our good works and give glory to God.
3. Spadework
City Built On A Hill
A hill is a place of power, a natural fortress. Those on a hill can look down on others. They can also look down upon others. Those on a hill can see everything all around. Others can see them.
A hill is a traditional and holy place where God meets those God has chosen for leadership positions. God's hill is a holy hill. See Psalm 2:6, 3:4, and 24:3 (holy place). Consider the powerful image of Moses standing at the top of the hill holding "the staff of God" to encourage Joshua in the fight with Amalek. (See Exodus 17:9--13.) Pilgrims of all ages climb Japanese mountains at whose peaks one finds a shrine and a holy person living in a tiny building. The king asked the man of God, Elijah, "who was sitting on top of a hill," to come down. (See 2 Kings 1:9.)
David held a shouted scolding to Abner from the "top of a hill far away, with a great distance between them" (1 Samuel 26:13ff). Jesus was crucified "on a hill far away." Why a hill? The hill is also a vulnerable place that brings one to stark reflection with no shelter from the wind. The chancel hill is the last place in the church to be made welcome and accessible to all, the holy high place, even if it has one step, yet one step too many.
If all that happens on the hill, what happens in the valleys? A valley is protected from the weather yet vulnerable to floods. It holds the fertile river bottom for growing crops and the sweet "clods of the valley" (Job 21:33). A valley yields wells of spring water and growth. (See Genesis 26:19.) It is the place of nut orchards and pomegranates. (See Song of Solomon 6:11.)
Sun and light seem not to reach into the valley, yet God's light finds its way there also: "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff - they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4).
City sidewalks are valleys between opposing skyscraper hills. When a catastrophe comes, the tower becomes a crater. When any major change occurs in a life, all is turned around: "Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain" (Isaiah 40:4).
Light Of The World
According to the Gospel of John, Jesus uses this phrase twice: "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life' " (John 8:12) and "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world" (John 9:5).
Consider how close this phrase is to the Isaiah term, "a light to the nations": "I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations" (Isaiah 42:6). See also Isaiah 49:6b.
From creation's beginning to New Testament reaffirmation, light carries the image of hope: "Then God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good" (Genesis 1:3--4). Through John, Christ embodies the spirit of that affirmation: "All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it" (John 1:3--5). See also John 1:7--9, 3:19--21, 5:35, 11:9--10, 12:35--36, and 12:46.
Light appears 178 times with 121 occasions in the Hebrew Scripture, 27 in the Gospels, and thirteen in the epistles. Light occurs 27 times in Job. Throughout Job's diatribe of yearning, he uses the light/dark metaphor of his depression: "the land of gloom and chaos, where light is like darkness" (Job 10:22) and "They grope in the dark without light; he makes them stagger like a drunkard" (Job 12:25). Because of Job's honesty about his despair, all who experience bleak times know both that they are understood and that they will overcome that dark time. (See Job 18:5--6, 29:2--3, and 30:26.)
Now and then, Job allows in the light: "You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways" (Job 22:28). See also 33:28.
While the Psalmist's image of light (23 occurrences) carries some yearning, it also follows a positive path. God is the source of light:
"It is you who light my lamp; / the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness" (Psalm 18:28);
"For with you is the fountain of life; / in your light we see light" (Psalm 36:9);
"O send out your light and your truth; / let them lead me; / let them bring me to your holy hill / and to your dwelling" (Psalm 43:3);
"The Lord is God, / and he has given us light" (Psalm 118:27); and
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105).
We can be light to others: "They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; / they are gracious, merciful, and righteous" (Psalm 112:4). We can be darkness to others: "Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness" (Luke 11:35).
Contrast the above text with that of Job: "Surely the light of the wicked is put out, and the flame of their fire does not shine" (Job 18:5). Compare "The light is dark in their tent, and the lamp above them is put out" (Job 18:6) with the Psalmist's "[E]ven the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you" (Psalm 139:12).
Isaiah, the prophet of light, also proclaims the antidote: "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness - on them light has shined" (Isaiah 9:2). Hear its echo in Matthew, whose focus is to fulfill Hebrew Scripture: "[T]he people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned" (Matthew 4:16). Isaiah uses "light" twenty times.
Hear the caring interaction of an enthusiastic God with humankind expressed in the action words of Isaiah 42:6: "I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations." (See also Isaiah 49:6.)
Isaiah explores the ways in which light comes. Light comes as justice. (See Isaiah 51:4.) It comes as healing: "Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard" (Isaiah 58:8). Light comes as caring for those with special needs: "[I]f you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday" (Isaiah 58:10).
Light, or its absence, transforms one's whole being:
"The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!" (Matthew 6:22--23). See also Luke 11:34 and
"If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays" (Luke 11:36).
Salt
Of the thirty references to salt, 25 are in Hebrew Scripture. Salt has destructive as well as life--giving qualities. Some householders shake salt in sidewalk cracks to prevent weed growth.
Mean--spirited victors of ancient battle razed a city then "sowed it with salt" to make the land unproductive (Judges 9:45). God turned "a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the wickedness of its inhabitants" (Psalm 107:34). "They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land" (Jeremiah 17:6).
Salt was in ample supply in the Dead Sea area. For the five references to the Valley of Salt, see 2 Samuel 8:13, 2 Kings 14:7, 1 Chronicles 18:12, 2 Chronicles 25:11, and Psalm 60:1. These passages refer to victorious battles fought with the Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
Salt also served in a life--giving capacity. Along with cutting the umbilical cord of a newborn, cleansing the infant with water, and wrapping it in cloths, folk rubbed the baby with salt. (See Ezekiel 16:4.) This practice may have had a medicinal reason or might have offered a safeguard against evil forces.
Elisha asked that salt be put in a "new bowl." He threw this salt into a spring of water: "Thus says the Lord, I have made this water wholesome; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it" (2 Kings 2:20--21).
Wheat, wine, oil, and salt were precious commodities. See Ezra 6:9 and 7:22. Incense "seasoned with salt" is considered holy and to be used not for oneself but only for God. (See Exodus 30:35.)
Salt accepted a dimension of the holy. Priests threw salt on both animal and grain offerings. (See Leviticus 2:13 and Ezekiel 43:24.) Hebrew Scripture refers twice to "a covenant of salt" in Numbers 18:19 and 2 Chronicles 13:5. Phrased as "the salt of the covenant" in other passages that read: "All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the Lord I have given to you, together with your sons and daughters, as a perpetual due; it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and your descendants as well" (Numbers 18:19). See also Leviticus 2:13 and 2 Chronicles 13:5.
The covenant of salt indicates a "permanent covenant" of relationship. Sharing a meal together creates a bond of loyalty. Consider this in terms of Christ's words to his disciples about being the salt of the earth, not of a particular city or area but the earth; the loyalty brought about by breaking bread together, and sharing the salt of the palace. (See Ezra 4:14.) Are the many promises from God in 2 Samuel 7:12--16 part of a covenant of salt?
Shine
Shine is what light does. The shine of the Sunday school song, "This Little Light of Mine," emanates from the gift of the light of God's face having shone upon us. The first words of the benedictory blessing, "the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you ..." (Numbers 6:25), prompt us to respond in turn. Psalm 31:16, 4:6, 67:1, 80:7, and 119:135 all speak of the light of God's face shining on us.
No matter what the darkness, with the light that God brings that darkness does not overcome us: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it" (John 1:5). See also Isaiah 9:2 on page 13.
Taste
Have you ever tasted bread without salt? Have you tasted soup that contains too much salt? Does salt ever lose its taste? One must have a sense of taste in order to tell if salt has lost its saltiness. Is the loss in the taster or in the salt? Is the zest of a worship service the perception of the worshiper or does it rise from the content and the worship leader's presentation?
"Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt, or is there any flavor in the juice of mallows?" (Job 6:6). In fact, without added salt, one begins to appreciate the natural flavors of a food. Popcorn, when first eaten without salted butter or even a sprinkle of salt, tastes bleak. However, once accustomed to unseasoned air--popped popcorn, the delicate popcorn flavor appears.
Great--grandmother adds more and more salt to the pot because her salt--perceiving taste buds are blunt. "Today I am eighty years old; can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? Can I still listen to the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?" (2 Samuel 19:35).
Taste is one tool of perception: "Is there any wrong on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern calamity?" (Job 6:30). Taste is a seldom used descriptive: "O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him" (Psalm 34:8).
To taste can be an expression of experience or of meeting. Jesus speaks of tasting death. "Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom" (Matthew 16:28). See also Mark 9:1, Luke 9:27, John 8:52, and Hebrews 2:9.
"Just a taste," says the diabetic, the dieter, the connoisseur, the eater of the forbidden fruit. A taste suggests eating not even as much as a bite, a taste: "For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner" (Luke 14:24). See also 2 Samuel 3:35 and Jonah 3:7.
Of the twenty occurrences of taste, half are in the Hebrew testament. The taste of manna was like "wafers made with honey" (Exodus 16:31); like "cakes baked with oil" (Numbers 11:8).
Trampled
Why not just throw the salt into the trash? Trample is a ruthless action. It is harsh and destructive. Trample carries the intent of injury by beating down, crushing, bruising, or destroying.
This forceful word was used in Hebrew Scripture for such violent acts as trampling people (Judges 8:16); trampling "flesh on thorns" (Judges 8:7); people trampling a person to death (2 Kings 7:17, 7:20); horses trampling the woman Jezebel (2 Kings 9:33); a thornbush trampled by a wild animal (2 Kings 14:9 and 2 Chronicles 15:18); and Job's God who has power to "trample out the waves of the Sea" (Job 9:8). See also Zechariah 10:5.
Six references in Isaiah suggest the origin of the trampling image began with wine--making. "I have trodden the wine press alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their juice spattered on my garments, and stained all my robes" (Isaiah 63:3) and "I trampled down peoples in my anger, I crushed them in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth" (Isaiah 63:6).
Isaiah speaks also of breaking down the hedge walls to trample a vineyard (Isaiah 5:5) and employs the image of being trampled underfoot (Isaiah 14:19, 28:3, and 63:18). The psalmist offers these graphics: "[T]hen let the enemy pursue and overtake me, / trample my life to the ground, / and lay my soul in the dust" (Psalm 7:5). See also Amos 2:7.
Of 43 references to "trample," five occur in the Synoptic Gospels. Luke spoke of people in the crowds trampling on one another, the trampling of seed on the path, and Gentiles trampling on Jerusalem. (See Luke 12:1, 8:5, and 21:24.) In addition to the present text, see Matthew 7:6.
4. Parallel Scripture
Salt
In the Mark and Luke parallels, Jesus declares first that "salt is good" (Mark 9:50 and Luke 14:34). Matthew is at once personal, engaging the reader with "You are the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13).
All three Synoptic Gospel writers qualify the statement with "but." Matthew and Luke are identical, "but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?" (Matthew 5:13 and Luke 14:34). Mark uses "saltiness" in place of "taste" and asks, "How can you season it?" (Mark 9:50).
Matthew and Luke state the value of salt that has lost its taste in negative terms. Matthew says, "It is no longer good for anything" (Matthew 5:13), while Luke says, "It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile" (Luke 14:35).
Matthew submits this double action in the passive voice, "is thrown out and trampled under foot" (Matthew 5:13). Luke uses the reporter's "they." "[T]hey throw it away." He adds, "Let anyone with ears to hear listen!" (Luke 14:35).
Mark uses positive terms, "Have salt in yourselves." Further, Mark suggests terms of relationship, "and be at peace with one another" (Mark 9:50).
Light
Matthew and Mark use the "put under the bushel basket" image (Matthew 5:13). Mark adds, "or under the bed" (Mark 4:21). Luke first uses "hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed" (Luke 8:16). Later Luke says "puts it in a cellar" (Luke 11:33).
Mark alone uses the impersonal question, "Is a lamp...?" (Mark 4:21) while Matthew and Luke make a statement using "no one" (Matthew 5:15 and Luke 11:33).
All three writers use "lampstand." In Luke 8:16, "a lampstand" brings greater distance. In the other references, "the lampstand" brings the image into an existing room.
In both Lukan references, the writer explains, "so that those who enter may see the light" (Luke 8:16 and 11:33). Matthew explains, "and it gives light to all in the house" (Matthew 5:15). Mark clarifies, "For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light" (Mark 4:22). The writer adds, "Let anyone with ears to hear listen!" (Mark 4:23).
Luke adds, "For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light" (Luke 8:17).
In a mini--sermon in the second Lukan passage, he personalizes:
Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light; but if it is not healthy, your body is full of darkness. Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.
- Luke 11:34--36
Matthew places the lampstand image into broader perspective both with prefatory remarks, "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid" (Matthew 5:14), and through an afterward, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).
5. Chat Room
Mara: It's about integrity.
Tom: Integrity?
Mara: Yes, integrity of being. This parable is one of three about integrity in this parable cycle. Parable 3 strengthens the integrity of spirit, and Parable 13 is about integrity of talents.
Tom: That is worthy of pondering. Tell me about integrity.
Mara: I would suppose that honesty is the best word, an honesty within ourselves and to ourselves that stretches beyond us to others. It shines in all our actions.
Tom: That degree of honesty is difficult to maintain or even to approach.
Mara: Integrity wants to become a lifestyle, a way of being.
Tom: It becomes a goal or an ideal that improves with practice.
Mara: Integrity rings of one's own truth and our own value.
Alan: The "You are the salt of the earth" integrity is basic, simple goodness.
Mara: The right amount of common table salt has both qualities of flavoring and of preserving. Too little salt fails to bring out the best flavor of a food. Too much salt makes food unpalatable or, in soil, kills plant growth.
Alan: Integrity of being is as delicate a balance as the amount of salt that heightens the flavors of a homemade soup.
Mara: Integrity is as tender as your relationship with one with whom you share a meal in your home.
Tom: How can salt's saltiness be restored if salt loses its taste?
Alan: If salt loses its taste, it is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
Tom: Salt is not meant to be either a mountain or cayenne pepper. How can your relationship with another person be restored if you have been too dominant?
Mara: Salt of the earth integrity is an inner promise to be sensitive to what is right.
Tom: In many ways, integrity is the balance of opposites.
Mara: Then there is the "Let your light so shine" integrity of being. "We are the light of the world."
Julie: Of 25--watt or 100--watt strength, no matter, someone will see your light. Is your light worthy of its glow?
Mara: "A city built on a hill cannot be hid."
Julie: On the mid--American plain, the hill is a slight rise in the terrain. Nightime lights of Seattle and San Francisco cascade to the coast. In school, hospital room, or office lane, spirit--raising attitude is a hill refusing to be hidden. Where is your hill?
Mara: Again, "A city built on a hill cannot be hid."
Julie: How are you to be not hidden? How are you vulnerable? What truths that you are want to shine?
Mara: "No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket."
Julie: It takes effort to bring to fruition a good idea. What a waste to file it within a pile of hidden possibilities.
Mara: "Rather, put it on the lampstand."
Julie: Give quiet honor to who you are and to the light your being might ignite in someone else.
Mara: "Then it will give light to all the house."
Julie: So even the lampstand is not in a corner but in a prominent place where it will do some good.
Mara: "In the same way let your light shine before others."
Julie: A light shining before others might reveal a path, a sense of hope, the warmth of community. Upon what part of someone's life do you hope to shed a bit of light?
Mara: "So that others may see your good works and give glory to God."
Julie: So, we need to stand out of the way so others will recognize in our good works the activity of God. Then we are not center--stage people but arrows, conduits, emissaries, and missioners for a purpose greater than only ourselves.
"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.
[14] "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. [15] No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house. [16] In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."
2. What's Happening?
First Point Of Action
Immediately after speaking the parables, Jesus speaks the salt and light sayings.
Second Point Of Action
Jesus tells the gathered folk the salt metaphor. They are the salt of the earth. But how, he asks, can its saltiness be restored if salt loses its taste?
Third Point Of Action
He concludes that then it is no longer good for anything. But, he says, it is thrown out and trampled under foot.
Fourth Point Of Action
Next, Jesus tells the gathered folk the light of the world metaphor. They are the light of the world.
Fifth Point Of Action
Adding a third metaphor, he notes that a city built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Sixth Point Of Action
Returning to the light metaphor, Jesus reminds that no one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket.
Seventh Point Of Action
Rather, put it on the lamp stand. Then it will give light to all the house.
Eighth Point Of Action
Jesus tells us in the same way to let our light shine before others.
Ninth Point Of Action
In this way others may see our good works and give glory to God.
3. Spadework
City Built On A Hill
A hill is a place of power, a natural fortress. Those on a hill can look down on others. They can also look down upon others. Those on a hill can see everything all around. Others can see them.
A hill is a traditional and holy place where God meets those God has chosen for leadership positions. God's hill is a holy hill. See Psalm 2:6, 3:4, and 24:3 (holy place). Consider the powerful image of Moses standing at the top of the hill holding "the staff of God" to encourage Joshua in the fight with Amalek. (See Exodus 17:9--13.) Pilgrims of all ages climb Japanese mountains at whose peaks one finds a shrine and a holy person living in a tiny building. The king asked the man of God, Elijah, "who was sitting on top of a hill," to come down. (See 2 Kings 1:9.)
David held a shouted scolding to Abner from the "top of a hill far away, with a great distance between them" (1 Samuel 26:13ff). Jesus was crucified "on a hill far away." Why a hill? The hill is also a vulnerable place that brings one to stark reflection with no shelter from the wind. The chancel hill is the last place in the church to be made welcome and accessible to all, the holy high place, even if it has one step, yet one step too many.
If all that happens on the hill, what happens in the valleys? A valley is protected from the weather yet vulnerable to floods. It holds the fertile river bottom for growing crops and the sweet "clods of the valley" (Job 21:33). A valley yields wells of spring water and growth. (See Genesis 26:19.) It is the place of nut orchards and pomegranates. (See Song of Solomon 6:11.)
Sun and light seem not to reach into the valley, yet God's light finds its way there also: "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff - they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4).
City sidewalks are valleys between opposing skyscraper hills. When a catastrophe comes, the tower becomes a crater. When any major change occurs in a life, all is turned around: "Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain" (Isaiah 40:4).
Light Of The World
According to the Gospel of John, Jesus uses this phrase twice: "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life' " (John 8:12) and "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world" (John 9:5).
Consider how close this phrase is to the Isaiah term, "a light to the nations": "I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations" (Isaiah 42:6). See also Isaiah 49:6b.
From creation's beginning to New Testament reaffirmation, light carries the image of hope: "Then God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good" (Genesis 1:3--4). Through John, Christ embodies the spirit of that affirmation: "All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it" (John 1:3--5). See also John 1:7--9, 3:19--21, 5:35, 11:9--10, 12:35--36, and 12:46.
Light appears 178 times with 121 occasions in the Hebrew Scripture, 27 in the Gospels, and thirteen in the epistles. Light occurs 27 times in Job. Throughout Job's diatribe of yearning, he uses the light/dark metaphor of his depression: "the land of gloom and chaos, where light is like darkness" (Job 10:22) and "They grope in the dark without light; he makes them stagger like a drunkard" (Job 12:25). Because of Job's honesty about his despair, all who experience bleak times know both that they are understood and that they will overcome that dark time. (See Job 18:5--6, 29:2--3, and 30:26.)
Now and then, Job allows in the light: "You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways" (Job 22:28). See also 33:28.
While the Psalmist's image of light (23 occurrences) carries some yearning, it also follows a positive path. God is the source of light:
"It is you who light my lamp; / the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness" (Psalm 18:28);
"For with you is the fountain of life; / in your light we see light" (Psalm 36:9);
"O send out your light and your truth; / let them lead me; / let them bring me to your holy hill / and to your dwelling" (Psalm 43:3);
"The Lord is God, / and he has given us light" (Psalm 118:27); and
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105).
We can be light to others: "They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; / they are gracious, merciful, and righteous" (Psalm 112:4). We can be darkness to others: "Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness" (Luke 11:35).
Contrast the above text with that of Job: "Surely the light of the wicked is put out, and the flame of their fire does not shine" (Job 18:5). Compare "The light is dark in their tent, and the lamp above them is put out" (Job 18:6) with the Psalmist's "[E]ven the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you" (Psalm 139:12).
Isaiah, the prophet of light, also proclaims the antidote: "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness - on them light has shined" (Isaiah 9:2). Hear its echo in Matthew, whose focus is to fulfill Hebrew Scripture: "[T]he people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned" (Matthew 4:16). Isaiah uses "light" twenty times.
Hear the caring interaction of an enthusiastic God with humankind expressed in the action words of Isaiah 42:6: "I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations." (See also Isaiah 49:6.)
Isaiah explores the ways in which light comes. Light comes as justice. (See Isaiah 51:4.) It comes as healing: "Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard" (Isaiah 58:8). Light comes as caring for those with special needs: "[I]f you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday" (Isaiah 58:10).
Light, or its absence, transforms one's whole being:
"The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!" (Matthew 6:22--23). See also Luke 11:34 and
"If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays" (Luke 11:36).
Salt
Of the thirty references to salt, 25 are in Hebrew Scripture. Salt has destructive as well as life--giving qualities. Some householders shake salt in sidewalk cracks to prevent weed growth.
Mean--spirited victors of ancient battle razed a city then "sowed it with salt" to make the land unproductive (Judges 9:45). God turned "a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the wickedness of its inhabitants" (Psalm 107:34). "They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land" (Jeremiah 17:6).
Salt was in ample supply in the Dead Sea area. For the five references to the Valley of Salt, see 2 Samuel 8:13, 2 Kings 14:7, 1 Chronicles 18:12, 2 Chronicles 25:11, and Psalm 60:1. These passages refer to victorious battles fought with the Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
Salt also served in a life--giving capacity. Along with cutting the umbilical cord of a newborn, cleansing the infant with water, and wrapping it in cloths, folk rubbed the baby with salt. (See Ezekiel 16:4.) This practice may have had a medicinal reason or might have offered a safeguard against evil forces.
Elisha asked that salt be put in a "new bowl." He threw this salt into a spring of water: "Thus says the Lord, I have made this water wholesome; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it" (2 Kings 2:20--21).
Wheat, wine, oil, and salt were precious commodities. See Ezra 6:9 and 7:22. Incense "seasoned with salt" is considered holy and to be used not for oneself but only for God. (See Exodus 30:35.)
Salt accepted a dimension of the holy. Priests threw salt on both animal and grain offerings. (See Leviticus 2:13 and Ezekiel 43:24.) Hebrew Scripture refers twice to "a covenant of salt" in Numbers 18:19 and 2 Chronicles 13:5. Phrased as "the salt of the covenant" in other passages that read: "All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the Lord I have given to you, together with your sons and daughters, as a perpetual due; it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and your descendants as well" (Numbers 18:19). See also Leviticus 2:13 and 2 Chronicles 13:5.
The covenant of salt indicates a "permanent covenant" of relationship. Sharing a meal together creates a bond of loyalty. Consider this in terms of Christ's words to his disciples about being the salt of the earth, not of a particular city or area but the earth; the loyalty brought about by breaking bread together, and sharing the salt of the palace. (See Ezra 4:14.) Are the many promises from God in 2 Samuel 7:12--16 part of a covenant of salt?
Shine
Shine is what light does. The shine of the Sunday school song, "This Little Light of Mine," emanates from the gift of the light of God's face having shone upon us. The first words of the benedictory blessing, "the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you ..." (Numbers 6:25), prompt us to respond in turn. Psalm 31:16, 4:6, 67:1, 80:7, and 119:135 all speak of the light of God's face shining on us.
No matter what the darkness, with the light that God brings that darkness does not overcome us: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it" (John 1:5). See also Isaiah 9:2 on page 13.
Taste
Have you ever tasted bread without salt? Have you tasted soup that contains too much salt? Does salt ever lose its taste? One must have a sense of taste in order to tell if salt has lost its saltiness. Is the loss in the taster or in the salt? Is the zest of a worship service the perception of the worshiper or does it rise from the content and the worship leader's presentation?
"Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt, or is there any flavor in the juice of mallows?" (Job 6:6). In fact, without added salt, one begins to appreciate the natural flavors of a food. Popcorn, when first eaten without salted butter or even a sprinkle of salt, tastes bleak. However, once accustomed to unseasoned air--popped popcorn, the delicate popcorn flavor appears.
Great--grandmother adds more and more salt to the pot because her salt--perceiving taste buds are blunt. "Today I am eighty years old; can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? Can I still listen to the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?" (2 Samuel 19:35).
Taste is one tool of perception: "Is there any wrong on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern calamity?" (Job 6:30). Taste is a seldom used descriptive: "O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him" (Psalm 34:8).
To taste can be an expression of experience or of meeting. Jesus speaks of tasting death. "Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom" (Matthew 16:28). See also Mark 9:1, Luke 9:27, John 8:52, and Hebrews 2:9.
"Just a taste," says the diabetic, the dieter, the connoisseur, the eater of the forbidden fruit. A taste suggests eating not even as much as a bite, a taste: "For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner" (Luke 14:24). See also 2 Samuel 3:35 and Jonah 3:7.
Of the twenty occurrences of taste, half are in the Hebrew testament. The taste of manna was like "wafers made with honey" (Exodus 16:31); like "cakes baked with oil" (Numbers 11:8).
Trampled
Why not just throw the salt into the trash? Trample is a ruthless action. It is harsh and destructive. Trample carries the intent of injury by beating down, crushing, bruising, or destroying.
This forceful word was used in Hebrew Scripture for such violent acts as trampling people (Judges 8:16); trampling "flesh on thorns" (Judges 8:7); people trampling a person to death (2 Kings 7:17, 7:20); horses trampling the woman Jezebel (2 Kings 9:33); a thornbush trampled by a wild animal (2 Kings 14:9 and 2 Chronicles 15:18); and Job's God who has power to "trample out the waves of the Sea" (Job 9:8). See also Zechariah 10:5.
Six references in Isaiah suggest the origin of the trampling image began with wine--making. "I have trodden the wine press alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their juice spattered on my garments, and stained all my robes" (Isaiah 63:3) and "I trampled down peoples in my anger, I crushed them in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth" (Isaiah 63:6).
Isaiah speaks also of breaking down the hedge walls to trample a vineyard (Isaiah 5:5) and employs the image of being trampled underfoot (Isaiah 14:19, 28:3, and 63:18). The psalmist offers these graphics: "[T]hen let the enemy pursue and overtake me, / trample my life to the ground, / and lay my soul in the dust" (Psalm 7:5). See also Amos 2:7.
Of 43 references to "trample," five occur in the Synoptic Gospels. Luke spoke of people in the crowds trampling on one another, the trampling of seed on the path, and Gentiles trampling on Jerusalem. (See Luke 12:1, 8:5, and 21:24.) In addition to the present text, see Matthew 7:6.
4. Parallel Scripture
Salt
In the Mark and Luke parallels, Jesus declares first that "salt is good" (Mark 9:50 and Luke 14:34). Matthew is at once personal, engaging the reader with "You are the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13).
All three Synoptic Gospel writers qualify the statement with "but." Matthew and Luke are identical, "but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?" (Matthew 5:13 and Luke 14:34). Mark uses "saltiness" in place of "taste" and asks, "How can you season it?" (Mark 9:50).
Matthew and Luke state the value of salt that has lost its taste in negative terms. Matthew says, "It is no longer good for anything" (Matthew 5:13), while Luke says, "It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile" (Luke 14:35).
Matthew submits this double action in the passive voice, "is thrown out and trampled under foot" (Matthew 5:13). Luke uses the reporter's "they." "[T]hey throw it away." He adds, "Let anyone with ears to hear listen!" (Luke 14:35).
Mark uses positive terms, "Have salt in yourselves." Further, Mark suggests terms of relationship, "and be at peace with one another" (Mark 9:50).
Light
Matthew and Mark use the "put under the bushel basket" image (Matthew 5:13). Mark adds, "or under the bed" (Mark 4:21). Luke first uses "hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed" (Luke 8:16). Later Luke says "puts it in a cellar" (Luke 11:33).
Mark alone uses the impersonal question, "Is a lamp...?" (Mark 4:21) while Matthew and Luke make a statement using "no one" (Matthew 5:15 and Luke 11:33).
All three writers use "lampstand." In Luke 8:16, "a lampstand" brings greater distance. In the other references, "the lampstand" brings the image into an existing room.
In both Lukan references, the writer explains, "so that those who enter may see the light" (Luke 8:16 and 11:33). Matthew explains, "and it gives light to all in the house" (Matthew 5:15). Mark clarifies, "For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light" (Mark 4:22). The writer adds, "Let anyone with ears to hear listen!" (Mark 4:23).
Luke adds, "For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light" (Luke 8:17).
In a mini--sermon in the second Lukan passage, he personalizes:
Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light; but if it is not healthy, your body is full of darkness. Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.
- Luke 11:34--36
Matthew places the lampstand image into broader perspective both with prefatory remarks, "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid" (Matthew 5:14), and through an afterward, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).
5. Chat Room
Mara: It's about integrity.
Tom: Integrity?
Mara: Yes, integrity of being. This parable is one of three about integrity in this parable cycle. Parable 3 strengthens the integrity of spirit, and Parable 13 is about integrity of talents.
Tom: That is worthy of pondering. Tell me about integrity.
Mara: I would suppose that honesty is the best word, an honesty within ourselves and to ourselves that stretches beyond us to others. It shines in all our actions.
Tom: That degree of honesty is difficult to maintain or even to approach.
Mara: Integrity wants to become a lifestyle, a way of being.
Tom: It becomes a goal or an ideal that improves with practice.
Mara: Integrity rings of one's own truth and our own value.
Alan: The "You are the salt of the earth" integrity is basic, simple goodness.
Mara: The right amount of common table salt has both qualities of flavoring and of preserving. Too little salt fails to bring out the best flavor of a food. Too much salt makes food unpalatable or, in soil, kills plant growth.
Alan: Integrity of being is as delicate a balance as the amount of salt that heightens the flavors of a homemade soup.
Mara: Integrity is as tender as your relationship with one with whom you share a meal in your home.
Tom: How can salt's saltiness be restored if salt loses its taste?
Alan: If salt loses its taste, it is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
Tom: Salt is not meant to be either a mountain or cayenne pepper. How can your relationship with another person be restored if you have been too dominant?
Mara: Salt of the earth integrity is an inner promise to be sensitive to what is right.
Tom: In many ways, integrity is the balance of opposites.
Mara: Then there is the "Let your light so shine" integrity of being. "We are the light of the world."
Julie: Of 25--watt or 100--watt strength, no matter, someone will see your light. Is your light worthy of its glow?
Mara: "A city built on a hill cannot be hid."
Julie: On the mid--American plain, the hill is a slight rise in the terrain. Nightime lights of Seattle and San Francisco cascade to the coast. In school, hospital room, or office lane, spirit--raising attitude is a hill refusing to be hidden. Where is your hill?
Mara: Again, "A city built on a hill cannot be hid."
Julie: How are you to be not hidden? How are you vulnerable? What truths that you are want to shine?
Mara: "No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket."
Julie: It takes effort to bring to fruition a good idea. What a waste to file it within a pile of hidden possibilities.
Mara: "Rather, put it on the lampstand."
Julie: Give quiet honor to who you are and to the light your being might ignite in someone else.
Mara: "Then it will give light to all the house."
Julie: So even the lampstand is not in a corner but in a prominent place where it will do some good.
Mara: "In the same way let your light shine before others."
Julie: A light shining before others might reveal a path, a sense of hope, the warmth of community. Upon what part of someone's life do you hope to shed a bit of light?
Mara: "So that others may see your good works and give glory to God."
Julie: So, we need to stand out of the way so others will recognize in our good works the activity of God. Then we are not center--stage people but arrows, conduits, emissaries, and missioners for a purpose greater than only ourselves.
