Sunday, February 8th, 2026

Meditation

During these long winter months, when most of us think about salt, we picture large plow trucks criss-crossing the streets sprinkling out salt behind them as they go. We might think of the salt we spread on the sidewalks in front of our homes or places where we work. Salt for us is a tool used in winter, coming by the truckful or in stiff fifty-pound bags. But in the ancient world, salt meant something very different. It was still a tool, but not for melting ice; it was critical for food preservation and flavoring. In our gospel reading today, Jesus speaks to the crowds during His “Sermon on the Mount”. And today, Jesus begins by calling His followers the salt of the Earth, a powerful tool of the Gospel in the world.

It is powerful because we see what happens when just a little is at work. We know when it is spread on an icy sidewalk or roadway, even as we know when it has been added to foods, even in small amounts. It is something that changes whatever it comes into contact with. And for Christians, that is what we are called to do, to change whatever and whomever we come in contact with. Because we see the impact even a few Christians can have in their neighborhoods, their offices, their communities, and wherever else they may find themselves.

And the one thing that sets the salt of Christianity apart from everything else is Jesus. The perfect life of Jesus, the innocent death of Jesus, and the resurrection and the forgiveness we have through Jesus change everything. This is the salt that changes us and which causes us to change wherever we may be. And the call of Jesus is simple: to stay salty, to keep the hope and new life we have through Him front and center and not be distracted by the things we see here and now, but instead to focus on the lasting things, the eternal things salt gives to us.

Prayer

Almighty God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we have been called and transformed into Your very own people. You have called us to be salt in a world desperately in need of Jesus. Let us change wherever we are with the certain hope we have through Him and with great faith and courage, remain faith-filled and sent by You. Amen.