Trinity Sermon


	Return to Sermons \| Home
“Salt of the Earth: Precious, Peculiar, Preservative” Luke 14:34-35 *Click for Audio* Pastor Kevin Vogts Trinity Lutheran Church Paola, Kansas Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost—September 4, 2016 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text is the little parable Jesus tells at the end of today’s Gospel Reading: “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” That last statement, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” is like an exclamation point, emphasizing that what Jesus has just said is particularly important, and must be given careful attention and consideration. This teaching about his followers being like salt is also included in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in the Gospel of Matthew: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” We consider this teaching of our Lord under the theme, “Salt of the Earth: Precious, Peculiar, Preservative.” What does Jesus mean when he says, “You are the salt of the earth”? He means first of all that you are PRECIOUS. The most valuable item ever found on the television show Antiques Roadshow was from a man in Tulsa a few years ago. He paid $5,000 for some Chinese cups carved from rhinoceros horns, but they were valued at $1.5 million. Makes you want to search your attic, doesn’t it? But, did you know you’ve already got an absolutely priceless treasure, right in your own kitchen? At least they would have thought so in ancient times. For, ALL our kitchen cupboards contain what in ancient times would have been a vast fortune, in the form of SPICES. The wise men brought to Baby Jesus not only gold, but something just as precious, even more precious, than gold: the spices frankincense and myrrh. The book of Revelation gives a list of the most valuable worldly treasures: “gold, silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth . . . ivory. . . bronze, iron and marble . . . cinnamon and SPICE.” Among the MOST valuable and sought after spices in ancient times is something we don’t give a second thought to: salt. Salt was so important to them because they lacked something else you take for granted: refrigeration. Before the relatively recent invention of the refrigerator and the deep freeze, for thousands of years the ONLY way to preserve meat was with salt. And you may not realize that salt does MORE than just preserve and give flavor. Salt is also an essential nutrient, a mineral that the body cannot manufacture, but is required for good health, and even life itself. But, in ancient times, salt was very difficult and dangerous to mine underground, and very labor intensive and time consuming to extract from the sea. So, salt was PRECIOUS. So precious that people were often paid, not with silver or gold, but with salt. That’s actually where we get the word “salary,” which literally means your allotment of salt, and from that comes the expression “worth his salt.” “You are the salt of the earth.” Jesus means first of all that like salt in ancient times you are PRECIOUS to him. All of us deserve, on account of our sin and wickedness, the judgment Jesus pronounces in this parable: “It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out.” You deserve to be thrown out into eternal damnation in hell. But, the Good News is, you are PRECIOUS to God, so precious that he sent his own Son to be your Savior. As John says, “This is how God showed his love for us: He sent his only-begotten Son into the world that we would live through him. . . he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” “For God so loved the world,” Jesus says, “that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. . . For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” You are so precious to God that his Son Jesus gave his life as a ransom for you: by his perfect life fulfilling God’s will, to earn you God’s favor; by his death atoning, making up for your sins; by his resurrection assuring you of eternal life. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed,” Peter says, “but with the precious blood of Christ.” When Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth,” he means that like salt in ancient times you are PRECIOUS; and PECULIAR. Recently on Antiques Roadshow, they had a large, elaborate salt cellar from the Middle Ages. They explained that because salt was available only to royalty and the very rich it was put in such containers as a sign of status—I have salt, and you don’t. If you were a common person invited to eat with them, salting your food at the table would have been a new, unusual, peculiar experience. When Jesus calls his followers the “salt of the earth,” he means you are PECULIAR to the world, in the sense of something rare, not often encountered, even odd from the world’s perspective, like salt was for most people in the ancient world. “Let your light so shine before men,” Jesus says, “that they may see your good works and praise your Father in heaven. . . This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” That is the #1 way you bear witness for him, by living your everyday life in a way that is considered unusual, different, PECULIAR from the world’s perspective. The word “peculiar” occurs in this sense in two Bible verses in older translations, in 1st Peter: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a PECULIAR people; that you may show forth the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” And in Titus, “He gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness, and to purify for himself a PECULIAR people, eager to do what is good.” When Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth,” he means that you are PRECIOUS; PECULIAR; and PRESERVATIVE. The people in the vicinity of Galilee, where Jesus was teaching both times he gave this parable, were more familiar with salt than most in the ancient world. Because, about 70 miles from the Sea of Galilee is the Dead Sea, called “dead” because it is over ten times more saline than the ocean, so salty that nothing can live in it. But, the concentration of salt in the Dead Sea allowed for easy harvesting of this precious mineral, and the Dead Sea was one of the main sources of salt in the Roman Empire. One reason the Romans were so intent on conquering and holding onto the Holy Land was the supply of priceless salt, essential for their empire, that they mined from the Dead Sea. In contrast to the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee was thriving with fish, including many species considered delicacies in the ancient world. So, they put the two together: Salt from the Dead Sea was used to preserve fish from the Sea of Galilee, which became like the caviar of the Roman world. Jesus grew up about 12 miles from the Sea of Galilee, most of his disciples had been fisherman there, and he made his second home at Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. So, when Jesus says, “Salt is good,” he knew what he was talking about. It’s like someone from Kansas City saying, “BARBEQUE is good.” Thanks to the preservative effects of salt, Galilee had a thriving industry. “But if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?” If someone foolishly doesn’t take care of their precious supply of salt, but allows it to become diluted and contaminated, “How can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Paul says in 2nd Timothy, “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” Reading the paper or watching the news confirms how accurate the Apostle’s description is of our world today. Unfortunately, even some Christians and church bodies have given in to the wicked ways of the world. But, if we acquiesce to the ways of the world, we are like salt that has lost its saltiness. In the old west, unscrupulous speculators would “salt” with bits of gold an otherwise worthless mine. “You are the salt of the earth” means that our Lord has “salted” this fallen world with his disciples, “salted” YOU into this world, for a purpose. Our world is decaying all around us, and YOU are to have a PRESERVATIVE effect on the world, by remaining faithful and bearing witness to Jesus. “You are the salt of the earth”: PRECIOUS; PECULIAR; PRESERVATIVE. Amen. Return to Top \| Return to Sermons \| Home \| Email Church Office

“Salt of the Earth: Precious, Peculiar, Preservative”
Luke 14:34-35

Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost—September 4, 2016

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text is the little parable Jesus tells at the end of today’s Gospel Reading: “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

That last statement, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” is like an exclamation point, emphasizing that what Jesus has just said is particularly important, and must be given careful attention and consideration. This teaching about his followers being like salt is also included in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in the Gospel of Matthew: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”

We consider this teaching of our Lord under the theme, “Salt of the Earth: Precious, Peculiar, Preservative.”

What does Jesus mean when he says, “You are the salt of the earth”? He means first of all that you are PRECIOUS.

The most valuable item ever found on the television show Antiques Roadshow was from a man in Tulsa a few years ago. He paid $5,000 for some Chinese cups carved from rhinoceros horns, but they were valued at $1.5 million. Makes you want to search your attic, doesn’t it?

But, did you know you’ve already got an absolutely priceless treasure, right in your own kitchen? At least they would have thought so in ancient times. For, ALL our kitchen cupboards contain what in ancient times would have been a vast fortune, in the form of SPICES.

The wise men brought to Baby Jesus not only gold, but something just as precious, even more precious, than gold: the spices frankincense and myrrh. The book of Revelation gives a list of the most valuable worldly treasures: “gold, silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth . . . ivory. . . bronze, iron and marble . . . cinnamon and SPICE.”

Among the MOST valuable and sought after spices in ancient times is something we don’t give a second thought to: salt. Salt was so important to them because they lacked something else you take for granted: refrigeration. Before the relatively recent invention of the refrigerator and the deep freeze, for thousands of years the ONLY way to preserve meat was with salt.

And you may not realize that salt does MORE than just preserve and give flavor. Salt is also an essential nutrient, a mineral that the body cannot manufacture, but is required for good health, and even life itself.

But, in ancient times, salt was very difficult and dangerous to mine underground, and very labor intensive and time consuming to extract from the sea. So, salt was PRECIOUS. So precious that people were often paid, not with silver or gold, but with salt. That’s actually where we get the word “salary,” which literally means your allotment of salt, and from that comes the expression “worth his salt.”

“You are the salt of the earth.” Jesus means first of all that like salt in ancient times you are PRECIOUS to him. All of us deserve, on account of our sin and wickedness, the judgment Jesus pronounces in this parable: “It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out.” You deserve to be thrown out into eternal damnation in hell. But, the Good News is, you are PRECIOUS to God, so precious that he sent his own Son to be your Savior. As John says, “This is how God showed his love for us: He sent his only-begotten Son into the world that we would live through him. . . he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

“For God so loved the world,” Jesus says, “that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. . . For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

You are so precious to God that his Son Jesus gave his life as a ransom for you: by his perfect life fulfilling God’s will, to earn you God’s favor; by his death atoning, making up for your sins; by his resurrection assuring you of eternal life. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed,” Peter says, “but with the precious blood of Christ.”

When Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth,” he means that like salt in ancient times you are PRECIOUS; and PECULIAR.

Recently on Antiques Roadshow, they had a large, elaborate salt cellar from the Middle Ages. They explained that because salt was available only to royalty and the very rich it was put in such containers as a sign of status—I have salt, and you don’t. If you were a common person invited to eat with them, salting your food at the table would have been a new, unusual, peculiar experience.

When Jesus calls his followers the “salt of the earth,” he means you are PECULIAR to the world, in the sense of something rare, not often encountered, even odd from the world’s perspective, like salt was for most people in the ancient world.

“Let your light so shine before men,” Jesus says, “that they may see your good works and praise your Father in heaven. . . This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” That is the #1 way you bear witness for him, by living your everyday life in a way that is considered unusual, different, PECULIAR from the world’s perspective.

The word “peculiar” occurs in this sense in two Bible verses in older translations, in 1st Peter: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a PECULIAR people; that you may show forth the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” And in Titus, “He gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness, and to purify for himself a PECULIAR people, eager to do what is good.”

When Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth,” he means that you are PRECIOUS; PECULIAR; and PRESERVATIVE.

The people in the vicinity of Galilee, where Jesus was teaching both times he gave this parable, were more familiar with salt than most in the ancient world. Because, about 70 miles from the Sea of Galilee is the Dead Sea, called “dead” because it is over ten times more saline than the ocean, so salty that nothing can live in it. But, the concentration of salt in the Dead Sea allowed for easy harvesting of this precious mineral, and the Dead Sea was one of the main sources of salt in the Roman Empire. One reason the Romans were so intent on conquering and holding onto the Holy Land was the supply of priceless salt, essential for their empire, that they mined from the Dead Sea.

In contrast to the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee was thriving with fish, including many species considered delicacies in the ancient world. So, they put the two together: Salt from the Dead Sea was used to preserve fish from the Sea of Galilee, which became like the caviar of the Roman world.

Jesus grew up about 12 miles from the Sea of Galilee, most of his disciples had been fisherman there, and he made his second home at Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. So, when Jesus says, “Salt is good,” he knew what he was talking about. It’s like someone from Kansas City saying, “BARBEQUE is good.”

Thanks to the preservative effects of salt, Galilee had a thriving industry. “But if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?” If someone foolishly doesn’t take care of their precious supply of salt, but allows it to become diluted and contaminated, “How can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Paul says in 2nd Timothy, “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”

Reading the paper or watching the news confirms how accurate the Apostle’s description is of our world today. Unfortunately, even some Christians and church bodies have given in to the wicked ways of the world. But, if we acquiesce to the ways of the world, we are like salt that has lost its saltiness.

In the old west, unscrupulous speculators would “salt” with bits of gold an otherwise worthless mine. “You are the salt of the earth” means that our Lord has “salted” this fallen world with his disciples, “salted” YOU into this world, for a purpose. Our world is decaying all around us, and YOU are to have a PRESERVATIVE effect on the world, by remaining faithful and bearing witness to Jesus.

“You are the salt of the earth”: PRECIOUS; PECULIAR; PRESERVATIVE.

Amen.

Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office