AFTER pointing out to His disciples the indispensability of the inner dispositions like poverty in spirit, cleanness of heart, hunger for justice, Jesus reveals to them their dignity and responsibility in society, therefore, as “salt of the earth” and “light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-16).
No mere flavoring
The metaphor of being salt of the earth does not mean being merely like a flavoring for food (Job 6:6), but something that purifies persons and things (Exodus 30:35; Ezekiel 16:4; Judges 3:45). Salt fertilizes the soil (Luke 14:35) and preserves from decay. In reference to Christ’s disciples, it means some quality and ability contributing to the enhancement of humanity. To make a substantial difference in being of service to others is what is here emphasized.
If salt loses its natural properties, i.e., if Christians are untrue to their own nature, they would be irrelevant to humanity, “no longer good for anything but to be thrown out”. To fail in their mission in the world to share with all the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ is to be useless, the Greek word means literally “to be crazy”—to be despised and gotten rid of like the tree without good fruit (Matthew 7:19), or the worthless fish in the net (Matthew 13:48-50). If instead of announcing and witnessing to all the imperative of conversion to Christ, and instead of opposing the forces of evil the Christians themselves adopt the spirit of the world, they would be rejected by the very world they should have served to transform.
Children of light
Two Sundays ago we were presented Jesus as “the great light” that shone on those living in darkness (Matthew 4:12-16), the messianic dawn and coming of the “light for the nations” making God visible to humankind (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6). Now the followers of Jesus are called through their baptism and confirmation to be bearers of this messianic light and to live as children of light (Ephesians 5:8-14)—like the moon reflecting the light of the sun.
As the light of the world, they must not be hidden, just as a city on a hilltop cannot but be visible. Or like a lamp that is placed on a stand precisely to have it cast its glow on those in the house. The mission of Christians in this one world we are in is to be a source of light, however modest, radiating the needed light to others.
The similes of salt and light bring out the ecclesial concern that Christians be true to their mission in the world all together. No one, however charismatic, can do it alone and be the light of the world or the salt of the earth.
One isolated candle cannot cast much light, but individual lights burning in all the houses make a community built on the brow of a hill very noticeable, indeed, from afar. Numerous little lamps lighted together can make a glow that overwhelms the surrounding darkness and shows the way to others. And, internally, one believer holding high his or her lamp can truly inspire the timid ones to also place their lamps on the stand.
Alálaong bagá, the Gospel proclaimed and lived wholeheartedly can set the world ablaze. The present-day gloom in many a de-Christianized nation in the world, where the lamps have been extinguished or allowed to flicker out, or where the light has not yet even been ignited, makes the baptismal vocation of every Christian urgent and vital. The work of evangelization is incumbent upon all believers in Jesus. It is by our lives in conformity with our faith, walking in the light of the Beatitudes, that we draw others to Jesus Christ. We must be “before others” and have our light shining brightly, so that others can see our witnessing and come to glorify God. Not in self-seeking and triumphalist ostentation (Matthew 6:1), we spread the Gospel in the authenticity of our Christian lives.
Join me in meditating on the Word of God every Sunday, 5 to 6 a.m. on dwIZ 882, or by audio-streaming on www.dwiz882.com.