The Sermon on the Mount is a long list of things you can’t do. It all sounds wonderful! Love your enemies, do not judge, do not worry. These are truly marvelous things to aspire to, but if we’re honest they are impossible to pull off under our own steam. That’s why Jesus starts his sermon about impossible things with a list of people who’ve given up. It’s a huge clue. He begins by listing a bunch of people who have tried and failed. Blessed are the poor, blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the peacemakers. All of these folks have tried, failed, and surrendered. They’ve given up and said to God, “We can’t love like you want us to love on our own terms, so we surrender. Love the world through us God if that is your desire and the fulfillment of your will.”
Right after he lists all the groups of surrendered people Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth.” This drives the point home. Jesus is saying:
I am calling you to do a whole bunch of stuff you can’t do as a result of your own effort.
The key is to surrender. Let go of trying to do it all on your own. Instead consent to God’s presence and action operating in and through you.
Consider yourself God’s salt. Allow yourself to be applied to whatever and whoever is right in front of you. You’ll end up doing what salt does which is bring out the best, the natural giftedness and flavor, of that to which it is applied.
Detach from all outcomes, let go of the knee jerk need to criticize, complain, and control; let God love the world through you. Surrender: be salt.
You’ll know if you’re allowing yourself to be God’s salt when a spontaneous, unexplainable love grows in you for other people, especially strangers and those who oppose you. You’ll know you're growing as a result of surrender if you notice your capacity for compassion begins to increase.
Do not worry, love your enemies, do not judge…these things and more are easily done if we allow God to do them through us.