Sunday, February 8, 2026
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (Epiphany 5A)
Text: Matthew 5:13-20
Sermon Audio
As we gather… Nowadays, salt and light might be considered bad things. We go for low sodium foods. We worry about skin cancer from too much light and light pollution making it impossible to see the stars at night. However, the ancient people considered salt and light precious. The word salary comes from the Latin word salt. Salt was so important that part of a Roman soldier’s compensation was salt to help preserve food and to help nourish the body. There were no streetlights in ancient cities, light was also a precious commodity. When Jesus is calling us to be salt and light, He is calling us to stand out in the world. This is not something we can do by our own efforts or merit, but we are made salt and light as the Holy Spirit works in our hearts through Word and Sacrament to confess our faith boldly, and love others through our words and deeds.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Jesus said you are the salt of the earth. Jesus said you are the light of the world. These indeed are beautiful words, but they are challenging words. Jesus gives us a tall order in these words. Nonetheless, we take hope because JESUS’ PERFECTION MAKES CHRISTIANS INTO SALT AND LIGHT.
First, I. Jesus makes Christians into the salt of the earth. Jesus said, ““You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” Salt adds taste and salt preserves.
We see that Jesus is the prime salt of the earth. If any Christian is the salt of the earth, it is because Jesus was first this salt of the earth. We see that hanging out with Jesus was never dull. At the end of the sermon of the mount, we read, “And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.” His teaching isn’t stale. It has a bite to it. It has salt!
Likewise, we see that Jesus preserves the world. We see the teachings of Jesus provide sanity in an insane world. His death and resurrection reconciled us to the Father, so that God no longer is angry at us and we have peace with God.
However, salt has a bite. Not everyone liked Jesus’ preaching. The scribes and pharisees didn’t like Jesus when He condemned them for their holier than thou attitude. For this Jesus was trampled underfoot as they sent Him to die.
If you’re not going to use salt to flavor food or preserve it, you can throw it on the ground and leave the ground fallow. If you put enough salt on the ground, no plants can grow. There is wrath when the world rejects the salt of the earth.
We too are the salt of the earth. As Christians, we are to add taste and to stand out from the crowd. It means going above and beyond caring for those around us. It also means saying the right thing even if it’s the hard thing.
We too are the salt of the earth. The Church is a bastion of sanity in a world that is insane. Contrary to popular belief that the Church ruins everything, the Church preserves the world around us through God’s Word, keeping the good and rejecting the bad.
Sometimes we can be rejected when we speak a hard truth or share Jesus with others, but it beats the alternative. We are called to stick out rather than go along to get along. Salt, be salty! Even if our message is rejected, understand they are rejecting the savior rather than us, and even as salt is tossed underfoot as it is rejected, there is a result as the ground refuses to let plants grow. In societies where the Church has been rejected, sadly, we see the destruction this rejection causes.
Second, II. Jesus makes Christians into the light of the world. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” First of all, we need to remember Jesus also said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
As a kid I remember turning off all the lights in a windowless basement and playing hide and seek in the dark. When it was that dark, a little light goes a long way. The light from the DVD player display became a beacon that guided us to find where our friends were hiding.
Jesus is the light of the world. He is a beacon who draws the world to Himself. When you don’t know which way to go, you can turn to Jesus to give you guidance. Look no further than His Word. Pray for guidance, and He will speak to you through the Bible. In the darkness of our sins, our fears, and our anxieties, He shines light and gives you comfort. If the light of a DVD player display can brighten a dark room, how much more does Jesus brighten our lives?
Light also shows us reality. Playing hide and seek in pitch black has the unintended consequence of stubbed toes and tripping on furniture. Having the lights on means you see what’s around you and prevent stubbed toes or worse.
Jesus being the light of the world meant that He showed the world reality. Things are not always as they appear. In this world the Lord, “…has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” Furthermore, we need to live from a different kind of righteousness and mercy than that which was taught by the pharisees.
“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” The people rejected the light because they don’t want their evil deeds revealed. The forces of evil put the light of the world under a bushel so they wouldn’t have to see Him. They crucified the Lord of glory.
Yet, Jesus, this light of the world left many smaller lights of the world after His death, resurrection, and ascension. You are the light of the world. “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
The Roman Catholic church will put a piece of consecrated bread from the Lord’s Supper in a display case and pray to it as Christ. We reject such a practice as the Lord said to take eat of His body rather than to set it aside and pray to it. However, this display case is called a monstrance.
Martin Luther called Christians living monstrances. When you receive the Lord’s Supper, you receive Christ, the light of the world, and you are fed to go out into the world to display that light of Christ to others. As you receive the Lord’s Supper regularly, you become that display case that shows forth Christ’s love in a broken and dying world.
As we hear God’s Word. We take it back to our homes and our communities, also.
Again, shining that light might look like a stern but loving word from time to time. No, girls cannot be boys and your daughter is seriously going to hurt herself if she continues on male hormone treatment. No, you cannot earn your salvation by works. No, Jesus is the only way to heaven. No, marriage is between one man and one woman. No, sleeping with whomever you wish is going to cause heartbreak and other unintended consequences. Shining light like this may not always be welcomed.
Regardless, if they rejected Jesus, they will reject us also, and even a little light makes the difference between life and death.
All this may seem discouraging. It may seem like a tall order. What’s more, Jesus concludes this reading by saying that He isn’t here to relax the laws. He said, “Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” What hope is there for any of us to be salt and light?
Yet, III. Jesus does all this through His perfection. The point with all of this is not to be salt and light through trying harder, faking it until you make it, or bending the rules in your favor. The standard was and is perfection.
The scribes and Pharisees were the holiest of the holy in the time of Jesus. He said that even their righteousness is not good enough. And that’s the point. It’s their righteousness. We need Christ’s righteousness, not ours.
When Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth, it isn’t an invitation to be saltier. When Jesus said that we are the light of the world, it isn’t a command to get brighter. When He says these things, He is inviting us to be who He has made us to be, namely, His salt and His light in the waters of baptism.
In the waters of Holy Baptism, you have been made the salt of the earth. You have been made the light of the world because in Holy Baptism, you have been made sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father. Stop trying to be anything other than who you are!
In Christ, you are perfect. In Christ, you are righteous! In Christ, you can let your light shine! And this happens as the Holy Spirit works in your heart through His Word and Sacrament. Draw close to God by reading His Word. Draw close to God by receiving the Lord’s Supper regularly. Draw close to God as He drowns the old sinner in you through regular confession and absolution.
Be who you are which is salt and light, and before you know it, you’ll see the difference you’ll make. Not through your own works, but by people seeing Christ in you!
The peace of God which passes all understanding guard and keep you in the true faith unto life everlasting. Amen.