Sprinkling some salt

 Matthew 5:13-20

I know lots of pastors today will talk about light, shining light into dark places. In fact, we have two songs about light today. And in the past, I have talked about light. But today I’d rather talk about salt.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t eat potatoes without salt. We don’t eat a lot of salty food, but my potatoes – baked, fried, roasted, boiled, stuffed, whipped, smashed – they all need salt for me to find them tasty. Or maybe I should say, appealing.

Life without salt would be a challenge. Ancient people used salt as a preservative. We still use salt today to prepare ham and similar foods. Doctors give patients saline – a mixture of water and salt – to be sure we are hydrated. We can use salt water to soothe a sore throat.

“Up North” a mixture of salt and sand is used on roads to melt snow and ice on roads. And I just found out that if you drop an egg, you can sprinkle it with salt and leave it for 20 minutes. When you come back, it will clean up easily.

Of course, we don’t want too much salt.  It makes food tastes bad, and it is harmful to the environment. But just enough salt makes food tasty and safe, and life interesting. Another thing to note: we don’t pour salt, we sprinkle it.

We were told in last week’s reading that the hearers – and we – are already blessed, favored by God. Today, we hear that we are also light … and salt. It’s up to us to pass the salt so others can savor the flavor Jesus brings. What is that flavor? Jesus tells us to pass the salt and light the lamp for all to taste and see the Reign of God, the Dominion of Heaven, the Kin-dom of God.

So, some stories about some people who sprinkled the salt as they spread the good news of God’s justice in the world.

… As we observe African American History month, we remember Rosa Parks. Most of us know she triggered the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 60s by refusing to give up her seat on the bus. She was arrested and charged a fine, which she refused to pay. Instead she filed an appeal, challenging the validity of segregation laws in Alabama.

A year-long bus boycott began as a way to call attention to her court case. The case went to the US Supreme Court in November, 1956, and a court order to integrate the buses soon followed.

I had heard she had been preparing to do something like this for some time. But I was surprised to learn that as she was involved as early as 1943, when she joined the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). She served as its secretary until 1956. Rosa sprinkled a lot of salt as she sought freedom and justice for Black people in the US.

… You can read the fuller biography of Pastor Jehu Jones in the bulletin. The pastors who noticed him shook out some salt on him, encouraging him to study and be ordained and serve as a Lutheran pastor. It makes me smile to think that his first congregation was made up of twenty poor Black people, and it started with the assistance of two White pastors in the area. In his life, his travels, and his persistence, Pastor Jehu sprinkled a lot of salt.

… The third story about spreading salt is not about a famous person, but a dear friend. I met Sister Dede at the first meeting I attended of the Order of Lutheran Franciscans. Over time, I learned that Dede was divorced and raised her two children on her own. They were vegetarians often, because meat was too expensive.

Sister Dede was quiet, the type to sit in a corner and watch others, rather than insert herself into a group. She had a ready laugh and enjoyed a glass of wine or beer with the rest of us. She battled cancer for several years, also so quietly most of us didn’t know about it. I wept when she died a couple years ago.

I admired her because she expressed her faith in ways that I never dreamed of doing. She took part in protests – standing on street corners or elsewhere with signs protesting one injustice or another. When we talked about it, she said she had been arrested several times. Since I would never dare to do something that would get me arrested, I was amazed. But Sister Dede just said, “Sometimes, it happens.”

Surely, Sister Dede sprinkled salt on her companions while she stood with them in protest, and on those for whom she was protesting. But she also sprinkled salt on those who knew her quiet and persistent faith. We never doubted she knew Jesus and was part of God’s family.

… ULC sprinkles salt in a few organized ways.

In a couple weeks, ULC will host Family Promise families. Sharing our space, our food, our friendship with them is a way of sprinkling salt on them. We pray with them that permanent housing will soon be available.

The donations we gather and send to Village of Hope School in Haiti spread salt liberally on children in need of education and health care. Because of the political unrest in Haiti, it is currently impossible to know how this organization is doing. But salt has already been sprinkled on previous students and their families and on the teachers and staff. Because of us and other supporters, many in Haiti are aware of Jesus and his love for all people.

Joan has informed us that visitation is now possible again at Baker Detention Center. Imagine the salt that is spread when the immigrants and refugees housed there receive visits from people like us. And let’s remember that salt is sprinkled on staff as well as on those who are detained.

… Sprinkling salt can be done every day, in lots of ways. Smiling, opening doors, saying thank you and you’re welcome are not just common courtesies. In today’s world, they seem to be rare. Say, “Jesus loves you” to someone. Give someone a hug or a pat on the shoulder in sympathy. Let someone with 5 items go ahead of you at the grocery store.

When Jesus tells the disciples that they are salt, he means that they should be sprinkling the good news on those who need to hear it, just like we sprinkle salt on food to make it tastier. How do you spread salt? I’d love to hear your stories… Amen