Salt and Light
You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. This is who Jesus proclaims you to be.
Have you ever made something – a cake, cookies or even a main course and forgotten to put in the salt? It is such a little thing… and yet if you forget to put it in… well… based on my experience, the outcome was pretty bland… barely worth eating.
Salt is an essential ingredient. We use it to season our foods and to melt the ice on our walkways and roads to keep from slipping. In Jesus’ day, before refrigeration, people used salt to preserve food and to cleaning out a wound. Salt was so important to the economy that it was even used as currency, soldiers were often paid in “salt.” Then and now, salt is an important part of our diet, our life, our wellbeing. And if we forget it, it is sorely missed.
In our Gospel today, Jesus says, “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 underfoot.
Jesus is speaking metaphorically here. Scientifically, salt – at least the salt that we know – is a rock, a mineral, and so it can’t really lose its saltiness… But… as I discovered in another cooking mishap, it can become worthless. Let me just say… if a container of salt and a container of sugar are sitting on your kitchen counter – be careful not to mix them up. For if you accidentally put in a ¼ cup of salt instead of sugar… it’s no good for anything.
Just of a pinch of salt is needed. But even though it is small, that little bit of salt is an essential ingredient in preserving life, making it appealing and filling us with delight and a desire for more. Anyone else love salted popcorn or potato chips? It’s so hard to eat just one!
In this same way, when Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth” Jesus is calling us to be like that pinch of salt, flavoring, preserving and proclaiming the good news through what we say and do so that others are drawn to Jesus.
Jesus says, “You are the light of the world.” Light is another essential ingredient for life. We need light to see, to grow food, to keep warm and for our basic wellbeing.
In what sounds like a children’s sermon, Jesus warns us not to hide our light under a bushel basket. It’s kind of funny image. Of course, no one would put a light underneath a table or a bushel basket. We put the lamp on a table or up high, the lights hang from the ceiling or outside on a lamp post. We hold a flashlight or our phones before us when we are trying to walk in the dark. Just a little light is all that is needed to help us to see, to help us to walk, to help us to live.
You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. You aren’t the salt mine. You aren’t the sun. But to share just a little salt. Just a little light, your salt, your light, that is who Jesus calls us to be. Just a small amount of salt flavors and preserves and enhances whatever it is put into. Just a little light is needed to lighten the path before us even in the midst of what had been sheer darkness.
I am reminded of this every Christmas eve. The sanctuary is darkened. The choir begins to sing. The Vicar and I light our candles from the Christ candle and we come down the aisle to light yours. The light grows as one person passes the light of Christ to another, one little light, lighting another. Soon I can see your faces lit up too as we join in singing “Silent Night.” It is just a little candle, just a little light. But that light shines brightly in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.
Jesus says, “You are the light of the world.” And then he commissions us, saying: “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.”
These are the words that were proclaimed when you were baptized. Our purpose is not to shine on our own efforts. The purpose of being the light of the world is to bear witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ. This is our calling. How you live out that calling is the question for you today and each day.
In her Working preacher commentary, Dr. Karoline Lewis notes that “our default setting … leans toward comfort, conformity, and complacency.. but.. “what Jesus really needs from us is to be the salt and the light—the salt that just might sting and the light that just might expose what we do not want to see.”1 These are challenging words.
And yet, despite the challenging times in which we live, I have been encouraged by the many examples of people being salt and light in their neighborhoods and communities.
Pastor Melissa, a pastor of a bilingual church in South Minneapolis wrote on her Facebook page about spending two days in the Whipple building, translating for Rosa, one of her members, who cannot speak English. She was heading back the next day because Rosa’s case was still not heard. In being there for Rosa, Pastor Melissa is shining a light on a neighbor’s need and being “salt,” embodying the love of Jesus by her presence.
But it isn’t just Pastors who are called to be salt and light. Remember, Jesus said, YOU are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.
A few days ago I read in the Star Tribune the story of a kindergarten teacher and personal attendant who, after having been arrested by ICE, noticed that one of the ICE agents was having a seizure. Having been trained in CPR and first aid, the teacher asked the other agents to call 911 and then asked if she and the other woman be uncuffed so that they provide emergency aid. As soon as she was uncuffed, she ran to him, turned him on his side, and then cradled his head as another seizure came. The other woman grabbed one of the agents’ tactical vests from the ground, rolled it up and slid it under his head to keep his airway open. They held him until the paramedics came. These women were being salt and light, caring for someone who was suffering, regardless of who he was. 2
Although the media focus is often on the worst things that are happening in our world, I encourage you to pay attention to the stories of people being salt and light. For that is what Christ calls us to be. How you are salt and light will differ from one person to another. That’s good. We are not all called to do the same thing. My Spanish is so rusty that I can’t do what Pastor Melissa does. But I can be salt and light in other ways.
God calls different people into different ministries. I know some people deliver groceries to their neighbors who are hungry and afraid. Others walk around schools to help care for frightened children. Still others help fund churches like Pastor Melissa’s who are having to do online church because, regardless of their status, their members are afraid to leave their homes. And others spend time in prayer for an end to violence.
Remember, brothers and sisters, siblings in Christ, Jesus has proclaimed: You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.
Jesus did not say following his way would be easy. But he does say that we will not be alone. For Jesus Christ, the source of light for the world, is with us – and that is why we can be light for one another.
Brothers and sisters, siblings in Christ, You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. So let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven. Amen.
1Workingpreacher.org, Karoline Lewis
2 The Minnesota Star Tribune, January 23, by Sofia Barnett. Two women, detained by ICE, say they helped agent having seizure
February 8, 2026 + Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Church + Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane