Reflection on the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

A few years ago, I led a Bible study. It was for people who did not know much about the Bible, and it was simply an attempt to help them see what an extraordinary book it is — a series of books, really — and how many phrases and metaphors we use in our daily lives are from the Bible. 

Most of the attendees were very secular. In fact one person said with great surprise, “Jesus was Jewish?” So I knew I was starting from scratch. 

I made a list for them of things we say that have Biblical origins: 

Going the second mile

Casting the first stone

The writing on the wall

The Good Samaritan

Escaping by the skin of your teeth

A labor of love

The straight and narrow

For everything there is a season,

And many more. 

But we had the most fun when we considered the two back-to-back statements in the reading today. First, “You are the salt of the earth.” Then, “You are the light of the world.”  

We agreed that when we were growing up, the highest praise you could say about someone was that they were the “salt of the earth.” The saying was shorthand for many of the things we value: A person who was the salt of the earth was not a snob, not pretentious, did not put on airs, listened well, was reliable, did not seek the spotlight, was moral but not righteous – just an all-around good person.

But what might Jesus have meant by these statements? One thing to keep in mind when reading the Bible is that when the speaker uses the word “you,” they are often using it in its plural form. We, as Americans, seeped in individualism, read it as singular. “I am the salt of the earth.” But Jesus means we are collectively the salt of the earth, and if we behave like that, we become the light of the world.

Salt and light were very important commodities in Jesus’ time. We, as people of the 21^st century in a very developed country, have way too easy access to salt and to light. Salt is on every table. Light is produced by a switch — we don’t work hard for either thing. 

Salt In Jesus’ time was a valuable commodity with a very practical use, which was to keep food, particularly meat, from spoiling. In fact, it was so valuable that Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt, hence our expression, “that person is not worth his salt.” Many scholars believe our word, “salary” is from the word salt. Light was produced by fire — candles, torches, things that had to be tended and taken care of. You don’t put a light under a bushel, in part because the bushel will catch on fire.

Today the only people who think a lot about salt are those of us with high blood pressure who are not supposed to have much of it.  But if we set out to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, how would we behave? 

Actually, I think at Loretto, we would behave much like we behave now. We are to preserve each other from rotting — from succumbing to despair or hopelessness or allowing the toxic division in our country to permeate our relationships. We have a lot of ideas in Loretto, and we don’t all agree, but we know that disagreement is not disrespect. We tend to give people the benefit of the doubt and we assume good intent. One of the best examples of this are the people going to Lebanon, Ky., every Wednesday with their signs. The sign-wavers hope that their witness will cause people to think. The times I went, we all waved at everyone, smiled at everyone, regardless of how they treated us. As a result, while some of the people driving or walking by disagree with one or more of the signs, they are generally not rude or disrespectful and even when they are, we just smile and wave. We are not rude back.

Salt adds flavor and we are to do that for each other — listen, respond, offer hospitality, make everything in our collective lives more enjoyable. People who are the salt of the earth are fun to be around. When we are these things, people see us as a light, as a town on a hill. 

Jesus states as a fact, a verifiable observation: “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.” Not “you should be, you better be, you could pray to be” — You are. 

So, when we leave here today, let’s say to ourselves individually, “I am the salt of the earth. I am the light of the world.” And let’s say collectively, “We are the salt of the earth. We are the light of the world.” We don’t need to strive or try to be those. According to Jesus, that is who we are now. And believe me, in these times, nothing is more needed.