Being the Salt of the Earth

            A couple of weeks ago, I was in the coffee hour following a service at which I had preached when I was approached by a ragged woman with cast down eyes and a desperate look on her face.  She quickly asked me to give her some money so that she could live.  I didn’t hesitate.  I reached into my pocket and gave her an amount of money that I had placed there earlier in the day.  I had been warned about her earlier by someone in the congregation, that this woman frequented the coffee hours and always wanted money.  I went ahead, heedless of the warning because I didn’t know what her need was, only what she said that it was.

            Often, when I have walked downtown, beggars have come up to me on the street and have asked for money.  I have always given them what I had.  I have often been told that I have no idea what these people do with the money that I give them, that they probably just head for the nearest liquor store or drug dealer and when I give them money, and I am just contributing to their bad habits.  Well, I don’t know if that is true or not.  All that I know is what I have been told by the people asking for the money.

            One time when I was working in Washington, DC, I was at an intersection waiting to turn onto 14^th street to go back to my apartment in Alexandria, VA when a man pounded on my window and shouted: “Hey, preacher, give me ten dollars so that I can go into this liquor store and get me a bottle.”  I’ve always thought that was the most honest request for money that I have ever heard.  That time, I was scared badly and quickly turned the corner and sped toward safety. 

            What I am trying to say is that we have no idea what our acts of kindness will do to benefit the people who ask us for help.  We only make a mistake when we assume the worst and don’t do anything at all.  Sometimes, taking them by the hand and listening to their story is all that is needed.  We don’t always have to give money.  Friendship and understanding is the most wonderful thing to be desired by somebody in need.

            Jesus told his disciples to be the Salt of the Earth.  That is a kind of obscure statement that only means something when you think about it.  Salt is a simple element that is on most of our dining tables and in our kitchens.  It does a lot of wonderful things, it makes dishes taste better; before refrigeration, it was often used to keep meat from spoiling over a long period of time.  But what was it that Jesus meant when he told his disciples to be salt?  When I look at the whole of Jesus’ ministry on this earth, it is clear that he meant  for us to do the little things that are needed to get the lives of people back on track: to feed those who are hungry; to clothe the naked, to heal the sick and when we can, to raise the dead.  These were the things that Jesus did through all of his life, and the things that eventually got him crucified.  He told his disciples to do these things over and over again.  In the 25^th chapter of Matthew’s gospel, he tells the story of the sheep and the goats, how the sheep were blessed because as he tells them, “When I was hungry, you fed, me, when I was in prison, you visited me, when I was naked, you clothed me.”  When they asked him when they did these things for him, he replied, “When you did this for the least of my people, you did it for me.

            In the Old Testament, in Isaiah, we hear about the requirements of God for those who would want to be righteous.  It is not simply fasting and expecting by the fast to be beloved of God.  God tells his people that such a fast that only humbles the self is not pleasing to God.  Instead, he tells the people:

                                  Is not this the fast that I choose:
                      to loose the bonds of injustice,
                      to undo the thongs of the yoke,
                      to let the oppressed go free,
                      and to break every yoke?
                      Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
                      and bring the homeless poor into your house;
                      when you see the naked, to cover them,
                      and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
                      Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
                      and your healing shall spring up quickly…

        That is what God has in mind for all of humanity.  To simply be kind to one another and to pay attention to one another’s needs.  That is the road to happiness not only for those whom we encounter in this world, but for ourselves.  It is truly the path to a healthy relationship with God, and our savior, Jesus Christ.  It is also the road to a healthy, peaceful world, where everyone’s needs are met and we can live in a harmony that all of us yearn for over and over again.  God bless us as we work toward this wonderful goal.