Salt and Light
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 58:9-12 and Matthew 5:13-20
February 8, 2026
By Pastor Jane Shelton, CRE
It’s hard to eat something bland, isn’t it? Sometimes we may be required to eat something without salt because of our health conditions, but most of us prefer at least a little salt to spice up our food.
For those of you who enjoy cooking, I think all of you would agree that at the very least you add salt to whatever you are cooking to bring out a boldness of flavor.
Did you know there are at least twelve different types of salt! There are common salts that we are familiar with like table salt, kosher salt, and sea salt, for example. Another that is commonly known these days and one of my favorites because of its color is Himalayan Pink Salt.
If we have ever done any canning, then we are familiar with pickling salt and maybe black salt often used in chutneys. Then other specialty salts include Hawaiian salt that comes in both red and black varieties, and you might also like smoked salt in hickory and apple flavors.
When we eat something that does not have salt, we often refer to it as being bland. Bland means there is no feature or characteristic that makes it interesting. It’s dull.
In addition to salt enhancing flavors, it can also be used as a preservative, and although it often gets a bad rap for being unhealthy for you, it is a critical and essential mineral in the human body by helping maintain nerve function and regulating fluids in the body.
I’m sure many of you are familiar with the Dead Sea, a body of water located on the border of Israel and Jordan fed by the Jordan River.
This body of water is known for its high salt content, so much so, in fact, that most life forms, like plants and fish, can’t live in it.
While it may seem that not being able to grow life within the waters would render it useless, it offers many therapeutic qualities with its effortless floating, and its special mud filled with minerals that provides healing properties.
This area has become so popular that wellness resorts have been built along the water’s edge, inviting people to visit for the healing properties the water and mud offer.
And for those who cannot travel there to experience these wonderful healing properties in person, don’t worry, you can go to Amazon and find many Dead Sea products available to you that can be delivered right to your door!
Knowing these qualities of salt, it is no coincidence that Jesus delivers this message right after the Beatitudes.
Jesus wants the disciples to understand that because of the blessings from God, while the road may not be easy, they hold the reward, the salt, which sustains them, gives them life, and preserves them for a time to come.
However, Jesus also wants them to understand that they are not just to have this information and hold it, they are to share it with others so everyone can become aware of God’s blessings.
We are not to become like salt in an unused saltshaker eventually losing its taste or its purpose.
Knowing all the blessings that are bestowed upon us, we don’t just hold that information for ourselves, rather we are called to go out into the world and rejoice in all the blessings God provides not just for us but for everyone, all people.
Jesus is saying, this salt is not meant just for you personally, but for everyone. Go sprinkle it about; go pour it out until everyone knows who God is and the blessings that are offered that give life.
Remaining salty gives us the challenge to remain tasty enough or alive enough to grow spiritually, and then we pass the salt onto others, so they can do the same. If we are growing spiritually there is more salt to share. If not, we remain bland with no purpose.
Jesus knew there is an unending supply of salt or blessings from God, and just as he was sent to bless people, so are we called to do the same.
Jesus didn’t say we were salt and stop there, He added that we are also the light of the world. This is a phrase that we often see associated with Jesus. Jesus, the light of the world.
Jesus tells the disciples, YOU are the light that gives light to all in the house. Let your light shine before others so they may see your good works, not that you receive glory, rather that glory can be given to our Father in heaven.
While most people want to be recognized for what they do, what we do is not for us, it’s for the glory of God. Our lights shine and the city on the hill shines for all to see and know the one who created us, loves us, and sustains us for the glory of God.
For all we do, the focus is to remain on God, not us, and this is where humility plays a vital role.
Salt and light are meant for mission and ministry as Jesus wants His disciples to be enlivened with the flavors or blessings of God and then bring light to a dark and broken world.
Matthew makes sure his Jesus relates to his listeners who were followers of the law, writing to the people of Israel, so they understood that in this salt and light, the law and prophets of the Old Testament were not being abandoned, rather brought into the light of the prophesy of the Messiah.
Last, be better than the scribes and the Pharisees and know that the light is the gospel that draws all people to its warmth.
After several really cold days, we can certainly appreciate being drawn into the light and warmth of the sun. We want to soak it up and soak it in so that it warms our entire bodies and radiates back out.
When we use the same example of how we reach other people to share the warmth, we sometimes must be willing to go into their darkness to bring in the light. We sometimes must go where the hungry are to feed them and go where the unclothed are to clothe them. We must go where those who are hurting are so we can share with them the blessings of God that offers the healing balm of Jesus.
When we are salt and light for others, we will find ourselves filling the law as Jesus suggested by loving the Lord our God with all hearts, and minds and souls; and our neighbors as ourselves.
May we allow ourselves to bring the flavor of the Lord to all who wait in darkness so they may live in the light and love of God now and in the kingdom to come.