What if I were to ask you, what is quite interesting about Scotland, kilts, bagpipes, haggis, porridge, whisky and tartan?

You may have an answer in mind; the answer is that none of them is Scottish. Even the name ‘Scotland’ seemingly comes from a Celtic tribe from Ireland, the Scoti who arrived in what the Romans called Caledonia in the fifth or sixth century AD. ‘Scots Gaelic’ is actually a dialect of Irish. And we already know they stole the Irish reputation for kilts and whiskey! (By the way, bagpipes are mentioned in the Old Testament, although it’s a bit tenuous, and haggis was an ancient Greek sausage!)

The question comes from the television programme ‘QI’. Stephen Fry has become a kind of legend in his own lifetime and his programme can be very entertaining. It’s called the ‘impossible quiz’, because nothing is ever taken for granted, and all the answers that we have presumed are correct all our lives, turn out not to be as correct as we thought! Perhaps it’s all in how you phrase the question!

In Matthew’s Gospel, this evening, Jesus asks an impossible question. He is talking about us being salt and light in the world.

To be referred to as the ‘salt of the earth’ is a compliment indeed. It emphasises someone’s solid worth and usefulness.

But here is the question; if salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? Well, it can’t. If salt loses its saltiness, it cannot be made salty again. It is no longer good for anything - except to be thrown out.

When we were trying to sum up the Gospel in our Confirmation class recently, we decided that John 3: 16 is a pretty good summation of the whole thing; and you know it well: ‘God so loved the world that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life’.

If someone or something is broken, it can be put back together again; it can be fixed. But if something perishes, then the only thing that can be done with it, is for it to be thrown out. It’s useful for nothing.

Here’s another question; how many times did Jesus talk about hell? The answer is that Jesus never used the word hell. ‘Hell’ is, as far as I know an Anglo-Saxon word which was used in place of the actual word Jesus used which was ‘Gehenna’. Gehenna was the rubbish tip outside of Jerusalem; it was where things were thrown that no longer had any use. Yes there were spontaneous fires there, that Jesus mentions, and it was an extremely unpleasant place. It was the common waste-yard for all the refuse of the city of Jerusalem; even dead bodies of animals and criminals were cast in. But it was just a rubbish tip!

I think that over the centuries we have got far too much hung up on what ‘hell’ is, and what Jesus meant by it:

Considering he never used the word makes the discussion about ‘hell’ a little difficult

The simple point that Jesus is making is surely that we need to be salt and light in the world – the antithesis of this is to be worthless, to be ‘no good’. If you are no good, then you might as well be thrown into the rubbish pit.

But you’re not! You have meaning and purpose and direction and you are being the salt and light in our world, in our society, in our families, and in our churches.

Let’s not ask non-sensical questions and get so caught up in ridiculous discussions about things that Jesus never even talked about. All you have to do is read your Bible. By your very presence here tonight, you are being salt and light in the world. Let’s not be hard on ourselves; let’s not ask ‘impossible’ questions that have no easy answer.

If you strive to love the Lord you God and your neighbour as yourself, then you are being salt and light in the world, for that is the fulfilment of the law; as such, you have great worth and you are not going to be thrown out onto the rubbish tip!