Leviticus 2:13 & Mark 9:50
{Prayer}
The number one, most important ingredient for seasoning is … salt. While salt has it own unique taste, as a seasoning … it is like a chameleon in that can blend and balance a recipe’s flavor together like no other. Salt can reduce bitterness, increase and enhance sweet, sour, and savory flavors. Salt has a greater impact on flavor than any other ingredient out there.
I’ve mentioned before how my family likes to watch cooking competition shows with international sensation Chef Gordon Ramsey. We love watching shows like Hell’s Kitchen, Next Level Chef, and Master Chef. When Gordon is critiquing the professional or home chefs … besides the food being raw or overcooked, the most common complaint he has is that the food is bland. His suggestion to add flavor, to elevate the dish is simply to add salt.
From watching these shows, I’ve learned the value of using salt in my cooking, especially in my cooking of proteins. It’s amazing what a little bit of freshly ground salt can do during the cooking process. And then when the protein is done and is being served, to top it off with a little bit more, it just helps bring the amazing flavors out.
Besides enhancing flavors, salt is a great preservative. It has been used to preserve meat, vegetables, seafood, and as we heard in our Old Testament reading, grain. The reason salt is used is because it has the ability to draw out moisture, which is the breeding ground for bacteria and other things. Salt keeps the food edible for a longer period of time.
We heard early in Leviticus, “Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings” (2:13). The reason for adding salt is not only because it is a preservative, but because it was to remind the Israelites that God would preserve His covenant, His binding promise with Abraham. But Israel was forgetful, like we can be at times. Thus why the Israelites needed reminders. The offer of salt with grain is a gesture of friendship, of an alliance. The use of salt says, “Abide with us, stay with us Lord. Pitch Your tent among us. Come stay with us for we are Your people and You are our God.”
When writing to the Colossians, Paul uses the same kind of language. So when he says that the people are to be “seasoned with salt”, he is getting to this act of sacred hospitality (4:6). For Paul, Christians are wise and know how to respond because they have first been hospitable listeners and they have committed themselves to the sharing of the Good News of Jesus in love. Salt with its purifying, preserving, and flavoring properties, Paul is saying that Christian speech, that our speech, like the grain offerings of old, should be pure. Our speech should be life-giving and pleasing to those seeking the truth. Our speech is also to be friendly and hospitable.
Jesus does the same thing. Jesus says to His disciples “have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other” (Mark 9:50b). In this Jesus is going back to the meaning used in Leviticus. Essentially, “remember our friendship. Remember our common purpose.”
When a dish is bland tasting, the first and best seasoning to add is salt. Salt can significantly enhance the flavor.
Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, says to His disciples, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salt again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men” (Matt. 5:13). In other words, Jesus is telling them to be flavorful, to be exciting, and enriching. Also, in greater quantities, salt makes us thirsty. Jesus wants His disciples to be thirsty for serving God, thirsty in serving others, and to be thirsty for sharing the Good News.
These words that Jesus speaks here in the Sermon on the Mount, they come right after He finished proclaiming the blessedness of all those who are poor in spirit, who are meek, mourning, or who hunger and thirst for righteousness. The blessed are the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemaking, and those who endure persecution. These blessed people are the salt of the earth. They are the people who suppress bitterness, who bring out the sweetness of creation and who awaken a thirst like their own, a thirst for righteousness. To be salt in this way is to come to a special realization of Christ’s presence in the world, to become disciples, to become followers of Jesus who, by their own enjoyment of creation, bring about this joy in others.
The 17th-century English poet and preacher Thomas Traherne writes movingly about savoring and enjoying creation in his work Centuries of Meditations. In it he writes:
“You never enjoy the world aright, till you see how a sand exhibiteth the wisdom and power of God: And prize in everything the service which they do you, by manifesting His glory and goodness to your Soul, far more than the visible beauty on their surface, or the material services they can do your body. Wine by its moisture quencheth my thirst, whether I consider it or no: but to see it flowing from His love who gave it unto man, quencheth the thirst even of the Holy Angels. To consider it, is to drink it spiritually. To rejoice in its diffusion is to be of a public mind. And to take pleasure in all the benefits it doth to all is Heavenly, for so they do in Heaven. To do so, is to be divine and good, and to imitate our Infinite and Eternal Father.”
Let’s simplify or summarize this. From this writing, we’re reminded that we need to savor the smallest elements of God’s creation, recognizing that even a grain of salt points us to the glory of God. Jesus then takes this idea a bit farther. Jesus invites us not only to savor His creation but to actively reflect His love in the world.
Jesus calls us to be the salt of the earth … a calling that flows from His work in us. Just as salt enhance, preserves, and purifies, so Christ has come to establish a covenant relationship with us and preserve us through His life, death, and resurrection. Jesus purifies you and me from sin and purifies our lives with His grace. Jesus empowers you to reflect His love to a world longing for peace and joy.
As we approach Christmas, we remember that Christ’s first coming was the ultimate act of divine hospitality. Jesus stepped into our broken world. He did so to bring flavor to our lives and to preserve us for eternity. In Jesus, we find not only the forgiveness of sins and a new life, but we also find the strength to live as His disciples, His followers, flavoring the world with kindness, truth, and love.
This Advent season, let’s challenge ourselves by asking ourselves: Where can I enhance someone’s life with God’s love? How can I preserve peace and purity in my home, workplace, school, and community? Let’s bring out the sweetness of God’s creation and awaken a thirst for righteousness in those around us. And as we do that, we keep our eyes fixed on the One who has seasoned our lives with His salvation, promising that He will come again to restore all things.
Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth.” In Him, you are flavorful. You are life-giving. You are a witness to the hope and joy that only Jesus can bring. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Amen.
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