“Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus said you ARE salt and light. By contrast, he did not say you should BE salt and light as if saltiness and light were things we could earn, or qualities only present through our effort. Saltiness and light are not acts of the human will, they are gifts we have been given by the will of God.
You ARE salt and light because that is God’s will.
Things go poorly, however, when we do exercise our will in ways that are contrary to the saltiness and light God intended us to be. You are salt, but get too caught-up in the way of self-service–the way of this world rather than the way of the Kingdom of God, and your salt loses its saltiness. You are light, but hide that light under a basket of greed, division, selfishness, or mercilessness–the power we see more and more celebrated in our world and on our streets, and you find yourself surrounded by darkness.
We are salt and light. What Jesus calls us to do as salt and light he has already revealed: be meek; be poor in spirit; be righteous; be merciful; be peacemakers; be pure in heart. In other words, submit to God’s will and exercise no other power than the power of God’s love which is the fulfillment of God’s law.
Oh, and I think that is also how salt gets its saltiness back.
