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Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany – February 8, 2026
Matthew 5:13-20
Dear friends, grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks new realities into being. Just as God the Father said, “Let there be light,” and there was light, now God the Son is speaking new things into existence.
Last week we heard Jesus say, “Blessed are you,” over and over again. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” Jesus said. “Blessed are those who mourn, and those who are meek. Blessed are the pure in heart and the peacemakers. Blessed are you when you are rejected and reviled for my sake,” Jesus said. And as Christ spoke these blessings, they came to be. Jesus’ word does what it says! Just as God the Father spoke creation into existence, so too now God the Son is speaking new realities into being by the power of his Word.
Today we hear a second installment from the Sermon on the Mount, and as we pick up where we left off last week, we hear Jesus continuing to do this. “You are the salt of the earth,” Jesus says. This is a declarative statement. Christ has defined his hearers in this way, and so that is what they now are! “You are the light of the world,” Jesus says, echoing the Father at creation. Jesus calls this light into being and then says, “Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
What does it mean to be the salt of the earth? Throughout most of human history salt has been used as a seasoning. It is really quite an amazing substance. Salt is a flavor enhancer. It draws out the goodness of the food being seasoned. Salt also neutralizes bitterness, which is why you almost always need a pinch of it even in sweet recipes. Salt, of course, is still widely used today. It is found in every kitchen around the world, and on the table of every restaurant.
In the ancient world, salt was also used as an essential preservative. In Jesus’ time there were no refrigerators. There were no Coleman coolers. You couldn’t grab a bag of ice on your way out of the grocery store. The only way to preserve meat was to salt it. Even just a thin layer on a fish filet or a slab of lamb would keep it from rotting, preserving those important sources of protein.
To be the salt of the earth, then, is to bring out goodness. It is to neutralize bitterness. It is also to be a preservative for the sake of the world, for the sake of human society, keeping it from rotting.
What does it mean to be the light of the world? From ancient times and across cultures, light has represented truth. Many educational institutions use a torch as part of their insignia to represent the pursuit of truth. Light has long represented hope and comfort, like the first light of dawn after a long night of darkness. Light has long been a symbol of goodness and holiness and life, in contrast to the darkness of evil and sin and death. To be the light of the world, then, is to be bearers of truth and hope and goodness and life. It is to reflect the light of Christ into the darkness of the world.
And so as Jesus continues in the Sermon on the Mount, he is calling into being the new life we live as Christians.
We are the salt of the earth. As we are scattered and sprinkled throughout our communities, we bring a measure of goodness that preserves God’s world. This isn’t a goodness that comes from us, it is a goodness that Christ has given us. It is a goodness that is drawn out of us as the Holy Spirit shapes our thoughts and actions.
Sometimes we might feel discouraged as we increasingly seem to be pushed to the margins of society and the fringes of culture. We might get discouraged as we continue to see the church losing numbers and Christianity losing influence in society. But it doesn’t take much salt to make a difference. Many recipes call for only a pinch, right? It doesn’t take much salt to preserve something. A thin sprinkling, spread out, can be very effective in keeping things from rotting.
We are the light of the world. “Let your light so shine before others,” Jesus says, “that they will see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” The light of our faith is illuminated in the good works that we do. How do we know what these good works are? Do we just make them up ourselves? Do we let the world define for us which works are good? No. Jesus immediately goes on to point us to God’s law. He says that whoever breaks one of the commandments of the law, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them, Jesus says, will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus specifically points us to the Ten Commandments, which he unpacks in great detail later in the Sermon on the Mount. None of these commandments are to be watered down or relaxed. They all remain in effect: We are to worship God alone, making God the most important thing in our lives; we are to use God’s name rightly, for prayer and for praise; we are to spend time in God’s Word in the fellowship of the church; we are to honor fathers and mothers and show respect to others in authority; we are to uphold the sanctity of human life and honor marriage; we are to deal honestly and speak truthfully; we are to be content and grateful for what we have.
These are the good works that give glory to our Father in heaven. And that’s really the point – giving glory to God. We are not to do those things to shine a light on ourselves, but to give the glory to God, who has given us the will to do them through the Holy Spirit.
But to bear this light is not only to bear the truth of God’s law. It is also to bear the truth of the gospel. It is to bring the light of God’s grace. It is to bring hope to those who have broken these commandments by assuring them that Christ has come to be their savior, to give them forgiveness and new life. It is to bear witness to the goodness of God, who ultimately sent Christ to fulfill the law for us. Jesus talks about the necessity of having a righteousness which exceeds that of the Pharisees, and our only hope of having that kind of righteousness is by receiving it as a gift of grace, given to us by Jesus, who has taken away the condemnation of the law for us by dying for our sin on the cross and rising to give us this new life. This is the righteousness of faith. This is also the good news of the gospel, and it is always a good work to share the light of this good news with others!
Living as salt and as light isn’t always easy. Sometimes the salt we bring stings those who have rejected God. Sometimes the light we bring hurts the eyes of those who have lived too long in the darkness. We are called to navigate this hostility very carefully, in ways that neutralize bitterness – in us, as well as in others. We are called to bring light, not heat – there’s plenty of that in our culture already!
But no matter how careful or winsome we are, not everyone will be seasoned by the salt. Not everyone will bask in the light. But as we heard Jesus tell us last week, we can rejoice when we are reviled, for that is what happened to the prophets. We’re in good company, Jesus promises, and our reward will be great in heaven.
Today Jesus declares us to be salt and light. He isn’t giving us a suggestion or an invitation, he just up and says it! By his Word he is bringing a new reality into existence. He has said that we are salt and light, and so that is what we are! Jesus is calling into being the new life we live as Christians.
With these words, the Lord Jesus has infused your life with purpose and meaning.
You are the salt of the earth. In ways that might seem very small, you bring the flavor of Christ – which brings goodness to others, which neutralizes bitterness and preserves this fallen world from going completely rotten. You are being sprinkled around in order to enhance and preserve the world God so dearly loves.
You are also the light of the world. God has lit a lamp in your heart in order to bring a ray of hope into the darkness of the world. You are a light that bears the truth of God’s law and the grace of God’s gospel.
So stay salty. And let your light so shine before others that they would see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. Jeffrey R. Spencer
Oak Harbor Lutheran Church