Theological truth: We belong to God. We belong to one another.
In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
O how good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters can worship together after two Sundays of weather-related cancellations! I am more grateful than ever to be with you this morning! So much has happened since January 18th—the last time we were together.
- Joyful things: we elected our next Bishop: The Rev. Karin MacPhail, Rector of St. Elizabeth’s, Roanoke.
- Challenging things: two weeks of “snowcrete,” school closures, and frigid temperatures.
- Faithful things: Trinity helped open an emergency shelter that quite likely saved the lives of several of our Noon Lunch guests.
- And also heartbreaking things: the shooting death of Alex Pretti and another blatant and unapologetic display of racist tropes from the highest level of our government.
My friend and colleague, The Rt. Rev. Shannon Duckworth, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, gave voice to what many people of faith are feeling. After admitting that not only was her heart broken, but that she was filled with anger and confusion following Pretti’s death, she wrote this:
“In moments like these, the gospel presses me and reminds us to hold to a hard and holy truth: we belong to one another.…When one life is threatened, all lives are diminished. When one neighbor is wounded, the whole body aches. Jesus does not permit us the illusion that we can be whole while others are broken.” (Facebook statement, EDOLA, 1/25/26)
When Jesus tells his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth,” he is saying that we belong to each other. He doesn’t say, “You may become the salt of the earth,” or “you could be the salt,” or “if you ever happen to be the salt of the earth.” Nope. He clearly pronounces this statement of fact: “You are the salt of the earth.” We are the salt of the earth. And the thing about salt is that it is not meant to exist on its own. No one orders a bowl of salt for lunch. You won’t find it on the menu at McDonald’s. But we find it in most everything we do eat. Just as surely as we need salt to enhance the flavor and add the savor, we need one another. Just as certainly as we need salt to act as a preservative, we need each other to preserve our common life.
Bishop Craig Loya of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota understands the importance of remembering that we belong to one another. From his front-pew view of the chaos in his diocese he observed, “The greatest danger we face right now is not the very real threat to our safety. It’s not even the erosion of democracy. The greatest threat we face as a nation is the assault being waged on hope. We must not give in to despair. We must not be consumed by the very justified anger we feel. The only way hatred can be effectively resisted is doubling down on love. The only way darkness can be defeated is light. The only way the forces of death can be overcome is by embracing… God’s unstoppable life.” (Facebook post by the Episcopal Church in Minnesota, 1/24/26).
Jesus also tells his disciples that they are the light of the world. Once again – present tense – we are the light of the world. Light isn’t meant to be, nor can it be hidden. The world sees the light of our good works and gives glory to God. The way we speak, the actions we take, the compassion we show, the very way we live, (including the memes we share!), all conspire to shine a light on the power and possibility of God’s love for all people. Or…we shine a light on the power of hatred. And Jesus has some words about those whose teachings light up the path away from neighbor-love. I agree with Bishop Loya, we must not give in to despair or be consumed by anger. Instead, we must double down on love. We are, and must bear, the light of Christ in the darkness of the world.
Friends, we are salt and we are light. How can we live that out in our world? What does it look like to belong to one another and to bear the Christ-light of hope? Well, that’s the question singer/songwriter Amy Grant posed to Jimmy Gentry, a farmer and historian from Franklin, Tennessee. When she asked him for advice on how to live in these times, he gave her five phrases to repeat as often as she could throughout each and every day. He counted down from five, with corresponding number of words in each:
5. “How can I help you?”
4. “I’m proud of you.”
3. “I love you.”
2. “Thank you.”
1. This is where Grant says she got stumped. Love? Kindness? Gratitude? Justice? Gentry said those were all good and important, but the most important word to remember was, “We. If you’ll always look at life through the lens of we, it’ll change everything.”
I wonder what might happen if we were to commit to using those five phrases as much as possible today…and tomorrow. How might things change if we looked at life through the lens of ‘we’? We the people…we the salt…we the light.
It’s not very dramatic. It’s not going to make us famous. We won’t be flooded with “likes” or “followers.” Instead, we’ll be the salt and the light that Jesus calls us to be and tells us we already are. And that will be enough. Be salt. We belong to one another. Be light. Illumine the world with the radiance of God’s love. God in Christ with Christ and through Christ will do the rest.
