The Rev. Dr. Brandon Perrine
Epiphany 5A
Matthew 5:13-16; Isaiah 58:5-9
February 8, 2026
[Jesus said,] “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. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 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. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your God in heaven.
~o~
A couple was home for the weekend and one decided to make breakfast for the other—fried eggs. Suddenly, the other burst into the kitchen. “Careful,” they said, “CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my gosh! You’re cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! Don’t forget to add salt. You know you always forget to salt them. Salt, salt, salt!” The first stared at them slack-jawed. “What in the world is wrong with you? You think I don’t know how to fry a couple of eggs?” They calmly replied, “I just wanted to show you what it feels like when I’m driving.”1
Who could forget the salt? Certainly not Jesus. Jesus would never forget the salt. In fact, he told his followers that they are the salt. What an odd thing to say. Of course, salt was important back then, and not just for its flavor. It was used as a preservative too.
Before there was electricity and refrigerat[ion], salt was one of the main ways to preserve food. In fact, salt was so valuable in Jesus’s time that Roman soldiers were sometimes paid with special salt rations. That is where our word, “salary,” actually comes from. It’s also why, when someone is not doing their job, we sometimes say “they are not worth their salt.” There was even a common saying in Rome around Jesus’ time, that “there is nothing more useful than sun and salt.” 2
When Jesus tells his followers that they are salt and light—that was no small compliment! But it wasn’t just a compliment—it was also a commission. We’re to be useful: seasoning the world around us with the subtle flavors of heaven’s realm and casting light in the shadowy corners and back rooms where decisions are made that harm the earth or its people. We’re meant to flavor the world with heaven’s politics and heaven’s justice and heaven’s economics. We’re meant to radiate hope, and shine joy, and glow peace, and sparkle love.
The church has never been called merely to safeguard the orderly and traditional worship of God, or fly under the radar, or ensure that there are at least three varieties of cookies available during coffee fellowship. We’re meant to make our presence known in the world around us, for the sake of the world around us. We are commissioned to be the salt and light of heaven’s realm breaking into the day-to-day life of the world. We’re meant to be the evidence that Jesus’ message about the realm of heaven is actually true. And that’s a tall order.
But, if we’re honest it wasn’t entirely new with Jesus. For centuries, the Hebrew prophets were calling on the people to do essentially the same thing. 500 years before Jesus, the prophet was frustrated by the way their people preserved the rites and rituals of their faith, without allowing that faith to transform their communities and their world. Speaking in the divine voice, the prophet entreats:
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
This has always been a faith that is, at its very core, about nothing less than changing the world. But light that’s hidden under a bushel basket or salt that’s kept securely in the pantry is no good to anyone. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. knew this. In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, he commended the “noble souls from the ranks of organized religion” that had “broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined . . . as active partners in the struggle for freedom.” He went on to state that “their witness has been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning of the gospel in these troubled times . . . carv[ing] a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.” He wrote, “I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour.”3
The call to people of faith to embody the values of their faith, for the sake of the world beyond the walls of their hallowed houses of prayer, was not new with Jesus and it did not end with Jesus. Until the dream of heaven’s realm is realized once and for all in our midst, faithful people must always be prepared to be the salt and light of heaven in, with, and for the world. The commission to be salt and light in the world is a call into the light, to be noticed, to be counted, to meet the challenge of whatever decisive hour the church finds itself in.
Thankfully, this is not a new concept for the members of New England Congregational Church. For 168 years, the gospel has inspired members of this church to be salt and light, facing the realities of its day with boldness: to combat the institution of chattel slavery; to resist the oppression of women; to advance the cause of universal education; to champion the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people; to face the crises of homelessness and hunger; to respond to the real needs of real people in the face of disasters around the world. Because this is who we are: salt and light. Because we know that being the church should mean something beyond these walls or it means nothing at all. Because we know that religious faith should mean something beyond these walls or it means nothing at all. Because we know that Christianity should mean something beyond these walls or it means nothing at all.
May we continue to meet the challenge of this decisive hour as the salt and light we are called and commissioned to be.
Amen.
1Upjokes.com: https://upjoke.com/salt-jokes.
2James Laurence. “Salt & Light,” Mypastoralponderings.com, February 3, 2023: https://mypastoralponderings.com/2023/02/03/salt-light-my-sermon-on-matthew-513-20/.
3Martin Luther King, Jr. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” 1963.
