Salt and Light

Photo of a dung fire in Mongolia
from Mike Chu on Flickr

Last weekend the Revised Common Lectionary included Matthew 5:13-16. The typical discussions of this passage mention salt as a taste enhancer and preservative. Several years ago John Pilch wrote about a different interpretation: salt is also used as a chemical starter for dung cooking fires. The landscape of first century Palestine would not have produced ample firewood, so the people of Jesus' time cooked over fires made of animal manure. One essential chemical ingredient is needed to make these dung cakes light up and burn: salt.

I have never seen another scholar make this claim about Matthew 5, but I really like this way of reading the passage. That's because the church doesn't exist primarily to make a bland world seem more flavorful, nor is it called to preserve the status quo. Rather, the church exists to set the world on fire. It is (or should be) a catalyst for change.

The cooking fire image creates so many great ways of understanding our role as Christians. Fire is linked to the power of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2) and the presence of God (see Exodus 19). Jesus himself was said to baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (see Matthew 3). A cooking fire provides life itself through food production, as well as light and warmth. And a cooking fire doesn't burn out quickly. Rather, it burns steadily and faithfully for a long time.

How is the worship of the church preparing its members to be consistent and faithful witnesses that set the world on fire?