Introduction

I have a question:

If I offered you a container of pure salt as a snack, would you enjoy it?  No, probably not.  What if I offered you salted potato chips instead?  That’s more like it.  Salt only tastes good when it’s seasoning something else.  It’s not very good by itself.

The thing about salt is that it is only useful because of the effect it has on other things.  Salt is useful because it seasons food, melts ice, and preserves meat.

Jesus has a lot to say about salt in today’s New Testament reading.  He says, “You are the salt of the earth.”  This morning, we’re going to focus on that phrase

You

But first, we should clarify just who it is that we’re talking about.  Who is the salt of the earth?  Jesus says that it’s “you.”  Who exactly is he talking about?  On the most general…