CORINTH

-Sermon Notes-

February 8, 2026

 

“Salty and Shiny”

(Isaiah 58:1-9a, Matthew 5:13-20)

       Is coffee good for you? How about chocolate? A glass of red wine?  Some advise to avoid such things, while others suggest coffee, chocolate and wine provide some benefit to the consumer.  What about salt?  Today we will set aside the actual consumption of salt, in favor of considering taking-on the properties of salt.

     Jesus has some important things to say about salt and light in today’s passage from Matthew.  Recall that God had called the people of Israel to be the salt of the earth, and the light of the world; in other words, they were to be the instrument through which God would make His presence known.  Following the commandments set these people apart from others, and the witness they provided was intended to draw people into relationship with God.  However, over the years too often these people were living like everyone else; they had been influenced by the world around them.  They had lost their saltiness!

     In the same way, God had chosen these people to bring His light into the world.  To those walking in darkness, God would work through his people (Israel) to bring light to those who were suffering injustice and oppression.  But again, people had turned their attention from God, and now they were living like the culture around them.  Even the religious leaders had become more concerned with their fancy robes and position, and less concerned with being instruments through which God could work His purposes.  These people were neither salty or shiny!  Jesus instructed his followers to let their light shine so that people would see their good deeds and glorify their Father in heaven.  So again, the purpose of being salt and light was to draw people into relationship with God; Jesus was reminding the people that he had come to establish God’s Kingdom on earth, and that they were to be part of the kingdom building.

     We find the passage from Isaiah addressing the same issue; fasting was one practice the Jewish people maintained in order to set themselves apart from the culture around them.  Fasting was mean to be a witness to people, indicating their faithfulness to God.  But in Isaiah 58:3 Isaiah chastised those who were fasting, because along with fasting they were also exploiting their workers, they were quarreling and participating in evil, and were living in such a way as to ruin their witness.  Isaiah reminded them that they were to (as vs. 7-8 include) were to work for justice and care for those in darkness, for only then will light break forth like the dawn (restoring their witness for God.)

       This morning we have been reminded through the scriptures that we are to be salty, shiny people.  May it be so for us today and in the days ahead.