Feb 8, 2026

 Matthew 5:13-16

 “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.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵ People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ 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.

Sermon

This week, I read a justification of American immigration policy using Romans 13 by a modern-day equivalent of the scribes– a lawyer. I was appalled. The argument was the worst form of eisegesis (reading your preconceived ideas into the scriptures, as opposed to exegesis, bringing out of the scriptures what it has to say), interpreting scripture horribly out of context. On the surface, the argument sounded so logical, but it was essentially blasphemy. I’m not going into it right now - I’m going to write up a counter argument so when someone throws Romans 13 to justify government excesses, you’ll have a response. But that’s beyond the scope of this sermon. 

I bring it up because it’s a perfect example of what Isaiah was preaching against. This particular modern-day scribe is a follower of Jesus (at least he attends church) Isaish is preaching against people who show outward signs of piety but in practice, are unjust, and self-centered. They are fasting and sacrificing for their own benefit: to obtain God’s favor for themselves, performing holiness to reap the acclaim of others, and in the very worst cases, to manipulate God’s word for their own gain and to promote their own ideals.

As we discussed the Isaiah text at Wine and Word last Tuesday, someone said “Isaiah was talking about those who aren’t doing the work.” I think that’s a rather good explanation.

God is pretty clear in Isaiah - this is what I want: feed the hungry, provide shelter and basic necessities for those without, comfort and heal the afflicted, remove oppression from weary shoulders, to not speak slander and lies and accuse others.

God promises that if we do so, our light will break forth and healing will spring up.

Jesus tells us the same thing in the beatitudes that we heard last week; God’s favor on those who are in need and God’s favor on those who care for them, who stand in solidarity with them and working to address those needs. People who are walking the walk and doing the work. And immediately after that, after says “YOU will be persecuted and reviled and hated because of my name. Rejoice and be glad for they did the same thing to the prophets and you reward is great in heaven. Immediately after that Jesus calls us salt and light. Not will be, someday, but right now, right here. I said last week that Jesus fully expected his listeners (us) to be able to live into his description of the kingdom of heaven. And not only that, but we are also to be even more righteous than the Pharisees!. 

Jesus, that's a pretty high bar- my righteousness must be greater than the Pharisees?

What does that even mean, be more righteous?

I’m going to start with a couple of definitions. I know I’ve sent it before, but I want these definitions to become second nature to you as they are to me. Righteousness means right relationship. It’s not primarily holiness - holiness comes out of righteousness. It’s not primarily morality - morality comes out of righteousness, out of right relationship, because if you're in right relationship with God, with the other, with yourself, you are going to act in holy and moral ways. This is what the law and the prophets are all about. The Bible has 2,000 references to justice, injustice, and God's concern for the poor, oppressed, and marginalized, most of which are in the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures, First Testament). God is exceedingly concerned with how we care for the stranger the widow and the orphan the poor and the needy the vulnerable among us. That’s right relationship.

Now for justice - and again I'm pretty sure I said this last week - so often we think of justice, and we think law and order. (and in my brain playing the duh-dun from “Lan and Order) And that is only part of justice: for someone to be held accountable for the things they've done wrong. It's part of justice but that's not the whole of justice. Justice is a sibling to righteousness - it comes from the same word. Justice is acting with integrity and honesty, standing up for the rights of others. And that sounds an awful lot like what we've heard Isaiah say God wants and what we heard in the Psalms that the person who is happy, who is favored by God, is doing.

This is what Jesus is asking us to do when he says your righteousness is to be greater than the Pharisees: to be in right relationship, to stand up for the needy, to show integrity and honesty.

Next let’s talk about the scribes and Pharisees. The scribes of the day were learned men. They were the lawyers. They would sit at the gates and adjudicate the law and teach. They would help with legal matters, like writing a will - that kind of stuff. The Pharisees are best described as lay leaders of the church. Think revered elder, vestry member, Bible study leaders, and Sunday school teachers. The best example of the pharisee would be someone like Jimmy Carter, who not only taught Sunday school for 40 years, and was really learned in the Bible, but also carried his faith with him each and every time he walked out the door of the church. He walked the walk too, doing justice loving mercy, waking humbly, he was the kind of person the psalmist describes.

There most definitely were Pharisees like that in Jesus’ day. You never hear about those Pharisees in the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew is not interested in the best of the Pharisees, who are doing the work and walking the walk. No, for the story Matthew is telling, he’s only interested the Pharisees who weren’t doing the work. Because those are the ones who are coming against Jesus. And the way Matthew describes they are a caricature of the worst kind of Pharisees - the ones who loved the theatrics of holiness, indulging in the pageantry without integrity. They are the folks that Isaiah was talking about. They are the religious insiders who should know better. 

It was at this point in our discussion at Wine and Word, as we talked about the difference between talking the talk and walking the walk, that someone said, “it’s a choice.”

Choice. That’s the difference, really, between the best of the Pharisees and the worst of them. The best are choosing to serve God by serving others. Their faith naturally acts for the good of the community because that is what faith is for. The worst of the Pharisees, those people Isaiah is talking about, claim citizenship in the kingdom of heaven, but don’t participate in the kingdom of heaven society.

Did you hear the SDPB interview with Mother Lauren? The interviewer asked, “Why did you go to Minneapolis?” Mother Lauren’s answer was “to stand witness, to intervene, to make the voices for justice, mercy, and peace heard.” She answered the call to demonstrate love. To be salt and light.

Another thing she said was that she doesn’t like what ICE is doing and the values they hold, but she remembers they too are beloved children of God. God doesn’t call us to like everyone; God does call us to love everyone and that love is an action. That love is salt to a flavorless world in need of healing, purification, and preservation. It’s light to a cold world sitting in darkness.

I think we can ask the interviewer’s question of ourselves. Not “why did we go to Minneapolis: but why are we here? Why are we doing what we do?

You ARE salt, and you ARE light. We’ve heard very clearly these last 2 weeks what we are called to do. What it means to be salt and light.

But salt just sitting in the shaker does no one any good. It’s when it’s used- to enhance flavor, to preserve, to heal, to purify - that’s when salt shows it’s true value. And light - light doesn’t exist just for itself. Light has a purpose. It brings warmth and nurtures life and promotes growth.

We are that salt, that light to a world that Christ came to and died for and sent us out to. Our community of faith doesn’t exist for itself; it exists to enhance the flavor of life. To preserve and nurture, to bring healing and warmth, to promote growth and to encourage sanctification.

Salt and light. People who not only talk the talk but walk the walk. People who do the work. And make the hard choice to follow God for the benefit of others.

That’s who we are as citizens of the kingdom of heaven – salt and light. So don’t just sit here in the shaker. Go out and flavor the world.