Salt and Light

Gospel: Matthew 5: 13-16

The entire Sermon on the Mount has as its foundation the Beatitudes that Jesus gives to begin the sermon.  As Jesus goes through his preaching on various aspects of the law we are continually left wondering how to carry out this way of living Jesus proposes to us, and the Beatitudes will be our continual reminder and answer to that question.

So in being salt and light in the world, we do so in living out the Beatitudes - by repenting of our sin, accepting the mercy God extends to us, and then being instruments of mercy in the world by concrete acts of love and compassion to others.  In this way we provide preservation and seasoning to the earth and light for a world often in the throes of darkness.

But what if salt loses its savor? Can it be restored? In ordinary salt, the answer is no, though it would have value in composting and soil nutrition.  But in the analogous human life the answer is yes - our salt can be restored by recommitting ourselves to the Beatitudes, re-experiencing the mercy of God and being that mercy again to others.  We can always return to the Father's house at any time.