“Strategic minorities”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Friday, September 22, 2023
Matthew 5:11-16 (Forward, p. 55) CEV p. 986
I guess that I have a flair for the dramatic, but I greatly relish the idea that Christians can be a kind of subversive, a sort of strategic minority planted within a society or culture that is quite different to it. In today’s passage, Jesus uses two images, that of salt and light, to describe this. (Elsewhere, we are also called ‘leaven’—see Matthew 13:33).
So, what is it about ‘salt’ that can describe our role, our subversive presence and impact on our world? Salt is necessary in our bloodstream, necessary for our health and well-being, especially in warmer climates. That is why troops have often been given supplementary salt tablets when serving in such conditions. On this note, don’t we believe that we bring life and health to our world? Moving on, we note that salt is also a seasoning which brings out taste and makes various foods much more appetizing and appealing which, hopefully Christians can do in their lives within the wider community. And salt is a preservative, used in meat for instance, to keep it from spoiling, from going bad, which, most surely is also one of our roles as Christians. And, on a somewhat ‘naughty’ note, salt also makes people thirst—thirst for water in a physical sense, but should we not also be helping people thirst for the living water, which is Christ? Should not our Christian lives as living out before them be so appealing, so attractive, so winsome, that people ‘want more’?
But here there is a ‘catch’—actually, two of them. Salt only works properly when it is in minority situations. Too much salt sprinkled on food renders it unpalatable and of no use, and with some medical conditions, too much salt proves quite unhealthy. Normally, just a pinch, just a little bit, is quite sufficient. The other catch? Jesus also says that salt can lose its saltiness. I have never quite understood, from a physical point of view at least, just what that means. I have never heard of salt somehow changing its chemical composition. However, salt can certainly become polluted, corrupted by other things, so that it doesn’t fulfill its proper function. And, can that not happen with Christians as well? I would say that it certainly can, such that Christians lose their effectiveness, their subversive, strategic impact and importance within society.
The other image that Jesus uses here is that of ‘light’, and only again, it is most effective in ‘small doses’. An overpowering light, such as a spotlight or searchlight can be quite blinding to somewhat caught in its gaze. But a flashlight or the gentler light of a light fixture or desk lamp or living room light, well, that’s another story. They provide illumination for a multitude of tasks ranging from waking or reading or preparing or eating food. They are quite necessary both for safety and for ‘healthy’ living in general, but usually only in small doses or quantities.
So it is with our Christian witness: we do not have to be the majority where we ‘throw our weight around’ or control the entire conversation—in fact, we often do a better and more effective job in ‘small doses’. Here I often think of my father, who at a meeting where there’d been ‘much talk’ and rather divergent viewpoints, would stand up at the end and quietly and succinctly sum up the conversation and bring it to its logical conclusion. Often that small contribution was much more strategic than all the verbiage that had preceded it. And so can it be with us, with both our words and our actions.
Forward notes: “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot” (verse 13).
“I have tried and tweaked many recipes in a quest to produce different varieties of tender, delicious muffins. Recipes often call for more sugar than I prefer, but occasionally a recipe yields muffins that don’t taste sweet enough. The problem is not usually about the sugar but about the salt.
“Salt is an essential ingredient in most breads. As I’ve learned, the dough may not need much, but salt’s presence significantly impacts flavour. Without enough salt, bread can taste bland even with other flavourful ingredients.
“Jesus connects the metaphor of ‘salt of the earth’ to those in the crowds who were poor, low-status people. They would not have been accustomed to hearing that they are essential on this earth. By deeming them salt, Jesus undercuts the unjust social order and affirms that their lives make a powerful difference to this world.”
Moving Forward: “Who is the ‘salt’ in your life? If you can’t think of anyone, go out and find them. Imagine how much flavour they might add!”
A concluding note: just as a minor correction, verses 1-2 of this chapter says that Jesus was addressing His own disciples with this Sermon on the Mount, not the crowds in general or ‘poor, low-status people’ in general