Matthew 5:13-16

¹³ “You are the salt of the land, but if salt has lost its taste, with what will the land be salted?[1] It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a 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 who is in the sky. _________________________________________

Tasteless salt and hidden light

Disciples of Jesus are designed to influence the world in which they are placed. A disciple of Jesus who does not lead is an oddity. It is like tasteless salt, which turns the land into garbage. It is like a lamp hidden from view, so that only darkness shows. Jesus had first challenged his disciples to accept the fact that the world would reject them. Now he tells these same disciples that they must lead the world anyway! In humility, as rejected, persecuted saints, disciples are still to keep showing Christ to their neighbors. Why? Because there are no other lights. There is no other salt. We are it.

LORD, grant us the faithfulness to keep shining and flavoring the world you put us in.

[1]The phrase en tini alisthésetai is usually translated as referring to the salt. But it makes more sense as a reference to the land. Jesus’ point is that if his disciples do not salt the land, it will not be salted.