CMLC 2026-02-08 Sermon

Why are you here today? Not the polite answer.

Not the church answer. Not the answer you've

learned to say without thinking. Why are you

really here? It sounds like a simple question.

But it isn't. Not really. Why were the crowds

gathered around Jesus on the hillside long ago?

Were they curious? Were they looking for something

interesting to hear? Were they hoping to witness

a spectacle? Were they wanting a new discussion

topic for the walk home? When people gathered

around Jesus on the hillsides and in the streets,

they had their reasons. Some came because everyone

else was going. It had become the event, a spectacle,

the place where something might happen. Some

came because they were hoping to feel something,

to hear something meaningful, to carry away one

good thought for the week ahead. And some came

because they were desperate for life to be different.

But here's the question. Did they actually understand

why Jesus wanted them there? Because it's possible

to be near Jesus and still miss the point. It's

possible to listen, to nod, to discuss, to make

it part of the weekly rhythm and still never

ask what God is really doing. So I'll ask again

gently but honestly, why are you here? Are you

here because this is your church and this is

what you've always done? Are you here for a quiet

moment, a familiar song, a thoughtful idea to

carry into Monday? Those things are not nothing.

But are you sure they are the reason? Because

the deeper question is not why you decided to

come. The deeper question is this. Why does God

want you here? What if you are not here to observe?

Not here to consume? Not even here just to feel

encouraged? Because in today's Gospel, Jesus

does not gather the crowd just to give them information.

He gathers them to tell them who they are. You

are the salt of the earth. You are the light

of the world. Not observers, not spectators,

not religious consumers. Salt, light. Which leads

to the real question for us. Are you ready not

just to learn about salt and light? Not just

to admire salt and light but to be salt and light

Because that's the invitation Imagine standing

on a salt plain Beneath a wide blazing sky and

you scrape together the white crust that is on

the ground Salt crystals mixed with gypsum and

rock and dust and all the other minerals this

pile in general is supposed to preserve your

food, to bring flavor, to sustain life. But the

rain comes. The moisture seeps in. The true salt,

the sodium chloride, dissolves and disappears.

And what remains is only residue, useless powder.

Something that looks useful, but has no power

left in it. That is what people understand when

Jesus asks, how can salt lose its saltiness?

It reminds us of what Isaiah answered centuries

before. God's people were fasting. They were

praying. They were performing the religious devotion.

Yet they were still exploiting workers for their

own gain, quarreling with one another, striking

each other with wicked fists. They were doing

everything religious that was expected, but they

were treating people with violence, like objects.

They expected others to give them what they expected.

They looked faithful. But the life of God had

been washed out of the pile. And if we're honest,

it's not only their story. We know how to do

impressive religious things. We can organize

service days. fast for days and raise money for

other countries, we can fill rooms with music

and emotion, and we can speak passionately about

faith, yet still ignore the injustices that benefit

us. We can protect our creature comforts while

others struggle to afford food or housing. We

can discuss compassion as an idea without ever

rearranging anything in our lives to practice

it. salt on the surface, residue underneath.

And when the storms of life come, pressure to

fit in, the fear of others' opinions, the scarcity

that's in our shopping cart, if there's anything

truly of Christ that remains, everything else,

is any of it real? Because faith that cannot

endure or care for the suffering is salt that

has already lost its taste. At this point, we

might be thinking of Jesus as if he were saying,

try harder, do more, be better than the Pharisees.

That's not what he's saying. He says our righteousness

must surpass theirs, but not by effort, by its

source. Isaiah shows the turning point. True

fasting is not performance, but humble repentance

before... God. A heart honest enough to admit

we cannot save ourselves. Imagine you go to a

white elephant party. You know the ones people

bring their joke gifts along, and you try to

grab one, hope it's one that's fun enough, and

maybe steal one that you like that someone else

had. Maybe it's one of those things, it's something

you got at Christmas, and you really didn't want

to keep it, so you re -gifted it at the party.

And so you come along with a huge, beautifully

wrapped box with a $5 Chick -fil -A card down

on the inside. You see everyone else start opening

the presents and your heart drops as you see

them open jewelry, wine, vacation trips. And

with only your gift and one other sitting there,

you tentatively pick up your own present, open

it up, laugh at the Chick -fil -A card inside,

and you're just glad that no one chose your gift,

so you don't have to feel ashamed at what you

brought. But the host suddenly walks over, grabs

that cheap gift card from you in a steal, even

though he saw you put that present under the

tree, and he says, I love waffle fries. and He

places the gift that He bought into your hands

because He loves you and He wants you there,

a gift that you could have never provided yourself.

That is the righteousness of Christ. Not earned.

Not proven. Given. And only the humble can receive

a gift. So before we point at the brokenness

of the world, with accusation and self -righteousness,

the Gospel turns the mirror gently toward us,

so we can see exactly how our righteousness came

to be. Because the moment we confess we are not

enough, Christ says, I am enough for you. And

for every place that our salt has lost its taste,

Christ forgives us completely. through the cross

and gives us his own life in our place. Through

his cross he takes our emptiness and in his resurrection

he gives us life. And suddenly righteousness

is no longer a performance, it's a relationship.

Not striving upward for grace, but receiving

the grace that is coming downward for us. Instead

of blaming others, we can start being honest

about ourselves. We become salt and light only

because Christ first became life for us. So if

Christ is truly alive in His people, what would

that light look like in the real world? Isaiah

answers vividly, undo the injustice around you.

Lift the burdens of others. Feed the hungry.

Welcome the homeless. Clothe the naked. Do not

hide from your own flesh and blood. In other

words, take care of your family. And Jesus says

that kind of life is a city on a hill that cannot

be hidden. Look around this community. I'm looking

at you. Doctors, teachers, engineers, planners,

caregivers, builders, problem solvers of every

kind in this room. Look around. Is it possible

God has already placed in this room all the gifts

that are needed to push back the darkness in

real and tangible ways? Not just our one -time

events, not just our good intentions, but sustained

shared work that makes hope visible in Houston.

Because light is not just an idea. Light is seen.

and its warmth is felt. So what if when two or

three are gathered in His name, or a hundred,

to use their gifts to evaluate and solve the

problems of this city, isn't it possible that

God is in our midst, even now, and will explain

the answers to injustice that we could not possibly

understand by ourselves? Because when the church

lives this way, People do not merely admire our

programs. They glimpse for themselves when the

Kingdom of God is breaking in. So we return to

the question we started with. Why are you here?

You're not here by accident. You're not here

merely by habit. You're not here just to listen

and leave unchanged. You're here because Christ

has called you. He has called you salt of the

earth. He has called you light of the world.

And the question today is simple. Not are you

ready to learn about salt and light today. Not

are you ready to think about salt and light today.

Not even are you ready to watch God make someone

else salt and light, and you say good job. The

real question is are you ready to be salt and

light? Because everything God has done in Jesus

Christ was never meant to stay at a distance

from you. It was meant to live in you and move

through you. The church can stay busy. We can

organize events. We can fill the calendars. We

can make everything look efficient, productive,

successful. We can even convince ourselves that

every activity is the same thing as our faithfulness.

But Jesus did not say, you are the well organized

of the world. He did not say, you are the well

-scheduled of the world. He said, you are the

salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.

Not someday. Not when you feel ready. Not when

you finally have everything figured out and get

inspired. You are now. Because the gifts are

already here. The calling is already spoken.

Christ is already present among His people. So

the question is not whether God will act. The

question is whether we will step into what He's

already doing. Will we be a people who loosen

the bonds of injustice? Will we be the ones who

share bread with the hungry? Will we welcome

the forgotten? Will we refuse to hide from our

own flesh and blood? Will we be salt that preserves

life and light that makes hope visible? Not by

our strength. Not by our perfection. But because

Christ Himself is our righteousness, our life,

our light, He's not a burden placed on your shoulders.

This is an invitation placed in your hands. So

come be who Christ has already made you to be.

Come live the life that is already yours in Him.

Come be salt. Come be light. Watch what God will

do. Through ordinary people, who finally believe

the kingdom of the gospel is true. And even when

our light feels small, his light never fails.

He is with you. He goes before you. And he will

finish the work he has begun. Thanks be to God.