I remember the days of the great basketball player, Michael Jordan. When he came off the bench the whole tone of the game changed. His teammates seemed to come alive, the fans became more excited, and the opposition began to brace themselves because Jordan was about to bring the game to an entirely new level. There was something about Jordan that added new “spirit” to a basketball game. In a way, he “salted” his team.
When Jesus walked the earth, he, like Michael Jordan, “salted” every situation he entered. When he walked into a town, people became excited. They began to carry sick people to him, the elders gathered to listen to his wisdom, and the whole tone of the town was rejuvenated. When he met with his disciples, he inspired them to embrace his vision for the world. Jesus had the power to sprinkle God’s presence into the drabness of human lives.
What was this “salt” that Jesus sprinkled on the earth? We know that it was the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is poured out upon a person, that person begins to change and become more alive with the presence of God.
Jesus surprised his disciples by saying that they also would become “saltshakers” to the world (Matthew 5:13-16).
“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
Jesus spoke of a day in which his lowly disciples would have the same power inside them that he had. They would walk into a group of people the way Jesus did, and things would begin to change—the blind would see, the lame would walk, the poor would become hopeful. Was this just a pipe dream or would it really happen? We know that it happened on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit that poured out from Jesus came into the hearts of each of the disciples gathered in the Upper Room. Each became a “saltshaker.” Evidence that they had the Holy Spirit was seen in the way each of them spoke in tongues, and the way the once “saltless” Peter, stood up and preached in a way that stirred the hearts of his listeners. Three thousand people were added to the Christian community that day! One priest commented: “I preach three thousand sermons and maybe one person is saved; Peter preached one sermon and three thousand were saved.” The salt of the Holy Spirit had “flavored” the lives of these early believers to the point that the whole world began to change through them.
We like to hear about Jesus being salt and the early disciples being salt, but what about us? Is Jesus’ teaching meant for us as well? Have we been so soaked in the power of the Holy Spirit that we have the kind of impact on our world that the early Christians had? We know of course that the Holy Spirit was given us at baptism. Have we asked that a new Pentecost happens in our lives to bring the gift of the Holy Spirit to maturity, so we can become “saltshakers” in our world? Or has our salt lost its taste. Have we let the life of the Holy Spirit die inside of us, so that we are “no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
Let us pray with expectation, “Come Holy Spirit stir anew in me that I might truly be salt to the earth.”
