You know, there's something fascinating about today's Gospel. Jesus uses two of the most ordinary, everyday things imaginable - salt and light - to tell us who we are as his followers. Not exotic spices or dazzling fireworks, but simple salt and simple light.
And here's what strikes me: both salt and light have this interesting quality. They're meant to be noticed, yes, but not as the main attraction. Think about it - when was the last time you sat down to a meal and said, "Wow, this salt is amazing!" No, you say, "This chicken is delicious!" The salt did its job by making the chicken taste better, but nobody's really focused on the salt itself.
Same with light. We don't turn on a lamp and then just stare at the bulb. We turn it on so we can read a book, see a painting, find our way across a room. The light reveals something else - something more important than the light itself.
That's exactly what Jesus is getting at when he tells us, "You are the salt of the earth" and "You are the light of the world." He's saying: your purpose is to point beyond yourself. Your life is meant to reveal something - or rather, Someone - greater than you.
But here's the challenge Jesus presents: salt can lose its taste, and a lamp can be hidden under a basket. In other words, we can fail to be what we are. We can become Christians who don't actually make any difference in the world around us.
So what does it look like to really be salt and light? I think it's simpler than we sometimes make it. It means living in such a way that when people encounter us, they get a taste of God's goodness. When they see our lives, they catch a glimpse of God's love.
This past week, six household items needed repair. The light in Sue’s study has been flickering for months, the shelves need sanding from kitty urine, my bathroom faucet was leaking, the porch outlet was sparking, the washer was beeping randomly and worse the copier cartridge was jammed. On top of all this mess, it was minus 3 degrees this morning, minus 26 wind chill and I have plowed over 110 inches snow this year.
.
Now I had a choice, I can be cranky and rattled, but instead I choose to contact friends who are blessed with amazing skills. First, I called Brad my builder who sent me Tucker, his carpenter and plumber. With a tweak here and a twist there, the light is working, the shelves are polyurethane, the faucet stem is not leaking and the electric outlet is replaced and safe. The appliance dealer sent me Jake and he replaced the washer computer board. But the copier, well Ben and Shasa spent 3 hours on the phone to upload a new operating system, but the copier still wouldn’t work. I contacted a Canon dealer, Adim a Lebanese Orthodox, kindly reviewed their steps and got the printer to work, but later it failed to print. On Saturday, I made my fourth call to AppleCare and Chris from Tennessee who has used Apple since the 90’s got the printing working again. This old religious guy needs to find a good IT expert. Any suggestions friends?
What does it really mean to be salt and light? It happens in the most ordinary ways. When you show patience with a difficult coworker, you're being salt - you're making that workplace environment a little more bearable, a little more human. When you take time to listen to a friend who's struggling, you're being light - you're helping this retired priest to make repairs in his home and get him through the darkness.
However, Jesus doesn't say, "Let your light shine so people will praise you." No - let your light shine so that people will glorify your Father in heaven. The attention goes to God, not to us.
This is where we can get it wrong sometimes. We can do good things but make it all about us - about how generous we are, how committed we are, how much better we are than those other people who aren't doing what we're doing. When that happens, we've become the main course instead of the seasoning. We've become the object to stare at instead of the light that reveals something else.
My friends who made these repairs helped restore my sanity. They were the salt and light in my life. I am grateful for Brad, Tucker, Jake, Ben, Shasa and the IT specialist whose light shines brightly because they chose to share their God-given talents to heal the broken light, washer, faucet, outlet and printer.
This week I was asked to: help find a children’s book about grief, provide an online grief support group, find a home health aide for my senior neighbor, a trauma counselor for a senior victim of violence, resources for a caregiver with a family member with dementia, counsel a firefighter with suicidal thoughts, counsel a working mom with teenage daughters coping with divorce, help a dad locate services for his young adult autistic son, provide onsite critical incident services to employees whose coworker died, publish immigration guidelines for pastors to protect Hispanic parishioners from deportation, and pray for all my Sonshine Friends
For you, maybe it was a neighbor who helped you through a difficult time. Maybe it was someone who simply showed you kindness when you needed it most. What made them memorable? Probably not that they drew attention to themselves, but that through them, you experienced something of God's goodness. That's what we're called to be for others. Not impressive or spectacular, necessarily, but genuinely helpful. Not calling attention to ourselves, but pointing toward God's love.
Here's what I find both challenging and encouraging about this: Jesus doesn't say, "Try really hard to become salt and light." He says, "You ARE the salt of the earth. You ARE the light of the world." It's already who we are by virtue of our baptism. The question is whether we're going to live into that identity or hide it.
When we let our light shine - when we live generously, compassionately, honestly - we're not earning God's love or trying to impress anyone. We're simply being what we already are: Christ's presence in the world.
And here's the beautiful part: when we do this, when we really live as salt and light, it's not a burden. Salt doesn't strain to give flavor; it just does. Light doesn't work hard to illuminate; it naturally reveals what's around it. When we're living in union with Christ, being salt and light becomes natural too. It flows from who we are.
So as you go through this week, pay attention to the opportunities right in front of you. Someone needs encouragement - give it. Someone needs help - offer it. Someone needs to see kindness - show it. These simple acts of love are how you season the world with God's goodness. These everyday choices are how you let your light shine.
And don't worry about whether people notice you or thank you or even recognize what you've done. That's not the point. The point is that through your life - through your ordinary, daily choices to love and serve - people encounter something of God's presence in the world.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends to be what you are. You are salt - so give flavor. You are light - so let it shine. Not for your own glory, but so that others might taste and see that the Lord is good.
