Apples of Gold

There is something special about the aroma of homemade bread baking in the oven. It fills the whole house with a scent that awakens your appetite as you watch the timer countdown, anticipating the taste of a slice slathered with melted butter. A few years ago I pulled a loaf out of the oven and, after a brief cooling period, I cut into it only to find myself disappointed as I quickly realized that I had forgotten to add the salt to the dough. I was left with a beautifully risen and lovely browned loaf that had absolutely zero flavor. Even though I had followed every other step meticulously, and it looked and smelled great, the omission of salt ruined the final product. It was awful! Turns out salt is a critical ingredient.

Jesus refers to his followers as the salt of the earth. We have been given the task of seasoning the world around us.

Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand! Luke 14:34-35

Salt is designed to bring out the flavors of other spices. If the integrity of salt has been compromised, and it no longer has the ability to enhance flavor, there is no sense putting it on our food. It becomes useless or as Jesus puts it-even the manure pile won’t benefit from flavorless salt.

While studying this text, I wondered why Jesus mentioned salt in connection with soil. The brilliance of this comparison is lost on the average modern reader. We tend to focus on the familiar and can easily miss so much of what is actually being expressed here. A little research revealed that in ancient times salt was often used as a fertilizer. At this point I was intrigued, so I searched for the benefits of using salt in this manner. Here are some of the things that salt can do for soil:

Help the soil retain water

Make fields easier to plow

Kill weeds

Protect crops from disease

Stimulate growth & increase yields

Who knew salt did all that? Well, likely his original audience did. That one statement encapsulated an entire sermon, or even a whole series on how our lives should be benefiting those around us. The obvious and powerful spiritual applications jump off the page. The bar is set pretty high here. The divine expectation is that our lives are going to be effective. Jesus says the flavorless salt is thrown away. It is useless. It begs the question, how are we doing in each of these areas?

Salt seems to help the soil in many different ways. From enhancing soils ability to retain water to destroying the weeds and disease that later attempt to invade it, to super-sizing the actual harvest-it is a non-stop process of continual effectiveness. Who knew that when I grew up one of my goals would be to become high quality fertilizer?

Fertilizer is often pretty strong stuff. Too much fertilizer in a concentrated area can go from being helpful to harmful, even toxic to the plants it is meant to strengthen. This is an area that the church often stumbles in. We all probably like a bit of salt on our popcorn, but if we pour a whole box on top of a bowl it becomes inedible. Salt is meant to be scattered. When the church remains within the walls of its own building things can get pretty salty! Church hurt is much more likely to occur in an enclosed environment.

Carpet colors and sanctuary temperatures are of little importance to the body of believers actively spreading the message of hope to those who have never heard the Gospel. The congregation pursuing and applying truth, preparing to help others, doesn’t have time to point fingers or elbow neighbors. The desire to be effective salt keeps us open to correction-even hungry for it. The vessel longing to be used cries out with David:

Search me, O God, and know my heart: test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Psalm 139:13-14

The focus goes from what can the church do for me to what can I do for God? So many potential issues dissipate into vapor like the residual moisture on hot pavement when the sun returns after a summer rain.

Even as a flavor enhancer the purpose of salt is outward focused. Salt is not a spice. The goal isn’t to make things taste salty, but rather to enhance all of the other flavors around it. Salt can bring balance to a dish by enhancing sweetness and suppressing bitterness. May our lives cause others to thirst for living water and may we be ready and willing to be the vessels that carry and distribute the remedy.

Good news from far away is like cold water to the thirsty. Proverbs 25:25