**sermon art: Felicia Bond, Illustrator for the book, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” by Laura Joffe Numeroff, 2011.

Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church, Denver, February 8, 2026

[sermon begins after the Bible reading; there are two more Bible readings from Isaiah and 1 Corinthains at the end of the sermon.]

Matthew 5:13-20  [Jesus said:] ¹³ “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 under foot.
¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵ People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ 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.

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

[sermon begins]

If you give a mouse a cookie, what’s he going to do?[2] … … … Riiight, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk. And if you give him a glass of milk? … … …yup, he’ll ask for a napkin and a straw to avoid a milk moustache. This cheeky children’s book imagines a generous child being led by a mouse’s expanding list of needs illustrating the adage, “If you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile.” It’s a caution about not giving that inch. But what if we want to give an inch?[3] Or, what if we don’t want to give that inch but that’s what’s in front of us to do? And if it’s in front of us to do, are we inclined to talk ourselves out of who Jesus says we are so that we don’t have to do it?

Jesus says that his followers are salt and light. We are salt and light. We are simply salt and light that reveals Emmanuel, God with us. Not to prove anything but to be something. Salt makes the world a better place. Salt becomes obvious when it’s missing. Salt, when applied properly, works with food to make it better.[4] Light is similar. Light brightens what already exists to help us perceive the world around us.[5]

When Jesus calls his followers “salt” and “light,” he is calling them “salt” and “light” as a group. We’ve talked before about how our Southern friends do better translating the Greek plural “you,” as in “y’all,” or “all y’all” for emphasis. As the stepdaughter of a southerner, it was used regularly in our home. Here’s a quick example. Continuous with the Bible reading from last Sunday on the Beatitudes to today’s reading, we hear Jesus say to his disciples:

All y’all are the salt of the earth…all y’all are the light of the world…let all y’all’s light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” [Matthew 5:13-14, 16]

Notice that Jesus isn’t telling them what to do. He’s describing something, not prescribing it.[6] Jesus is telling them what they already are – salt and light. There were no refrigerators in the first century. Salt preserved meat to be eaten later. AND salt made life better. Jesus calls you salty. The good kind of salty that brightens experiences and preserves life. Jesus is taking liberties as a preacher. It’s completely unscientific for salt to lose its saltiness just like no one would hide a flame under a bushel basket because the basket would burst into flames.[7] While the metaphors are comedic, Jesus means don’t hide your light. Let your light shine and, in doing so, the good works that come from the light will point to God. It’s a subtle point but it’s an important one.

We talk in Lutheran Christian circles about God’s movement to us. God showing up in Jesus. We don’t build a ladder to God. God brings God’s self to us. When we hear this, more than a few of us might be thinking, “Huh, I don’t think I’m salt and light, God must have missed me with the saltshaker because I can be a real jerk.” This may be good news for you because of course we can be jerks. But God calls us back by our baptisms, over and over, to remind us that we are salt and light and that we are free to be salt and light. We, the church, all y’all, are salt and light together. Being salt and light is a group experience that leads to group projects. The church word for group projects is ministry. We work together to figure out what ministry looks like, who we advocate with, and how we spend our time. Ministry can get bogged down in fear or worry about being taken advantage of, about giving an inch and someone taking a mile.

That’s why Jesus’ speech about the law and commandments follow the salt and light comments. Not as a way to lord righteousness over our neighbors or as a performance to get their attention. [8] Rather, commandments are given to us as a way to live well with our neighbors, to be who God says we are in relationship with our neighbors. To give that inch. Inches become miles as we live into the law as salt and light, preserving life and brightening experience.

The Gospel of Matthew can be tricky because it appears that there was stress within the 1^st century Matthean community between Jews and Jewish Christians. As we continue this year’s journey through the Gospel of Matthew, it matters how we talk and think about our Jewish cousins in the faith. Some readings like ours today are an example of that 1^st century stress and can be misconstrued to be anti-Jew or anti-law, as if somehow Jesus found the Jewish tradition lacking and in need of an overhaul.[9] The verses about following the law connect Jesus’ teaching with Moses as an expansion of the covenant.[10] The expression, “cousins in the faith” acknowledges that both Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism grew like branches from the trunk of the Hebrew Bible that Christians call the Old Testament. Rabbinic Judaism grew like one branch while Christianity grew like another branch at about the same time during the 1^st century.[11]

Long before rabbinic Judaism, the prophet Isaiah said that feeding the hungry, covering the naked, and loosening the bonds of injustice by freeing the oppressed shall break forth your light like the dawn. At the time Isaiah wrote this, Jerusalem was a mess as returning exiles tried to rebuild society with those who were already there.[12] There was cynicism and power grabs. Isaiah’s admonition was to be open-hearted and generous, to rebuild the ruins and make the city a safe place to live for everyone.[13] The prophets had long challenged our Jewish cousins in the faith to live into their God-given light-filled dawn. It’s what the biblical prophets were all about. This is the justice to which God calls us. Feeding, clothing, and freeing. Giving an inch like we’re doing on Undie Sunday with personal care kits for refugees and collecting underwear and socks for children. Small inches that become miles.

“All ya’ll are salt and light,” Jesus said. Together as the church, we dip back into this baptismal promise on a daily, sometimes minute-to-minute, basis–resting not on human wisdom but on the power of God made vulnerable in Christ Jesus and him crucified.[14] Salt does not exist for itself, it enhances other things.[15] The gospel is personal, but not private. It is individual, but not individualistic. There are dark nights of the soul and body when individual faith is sustaining. But faith unified in the church is for the sake of the world.

In a minute we’ll sing, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” We sing it together even though we say, “mine.” It’s a together thing because it gets at what Jesus announces to his disciples. We are public followers who shine, we don’t tuck faith away.[16] We are a people infused with the characteristics of God—gracious and merciful.[17] We don’t claim perfection. We point to the One who is with us.

The light of Christ shining through the cross is not permission to do whatever we want when we want. Being salty and shiny moves us by inches that add up to miles. Christ’s light shines the transforming power of faith through our congregation, through all y’all, as we let our lights shine.

Thanks be to God and amen.

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[1] “Salty” is a word used as urban slang to mean bitter or upset. https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/salty#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Online%20Etymology%20Dictionary%2C%20the%20U.S.,as%20%22looking%20stupid%E2%80%A6%20because%20of%20something%20you%20did%22.

[2] Laura Numeroff, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (New York City: Scholastic, 2011).

[3] Taryn Trussell, personal conversation and art montage of the question made of wood, cloth, and metal, 2026. What if I want to give an inch?

[4] Melanie A. Howard, Associate Professor and Program Director of Biblical and Theological Studies, Fresno Pacific University, CA. Commentary on Matthew 5:13-20 for Workingpreacher.org. https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-after-epiphany/commentary-on-matthew-513-20-5

[5] Ibid.

[6] Howard, Ibid.

[7] Rolf Jacobson, Professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. Podcast on the lectionary readings for February 8, 2026. #1067: Fifth Sunday after Epiphany – February 8, 2026 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

[8] Ibid.

[9] Howard, Ibid.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Rabbi Brian Field, Denver, CO. Founding and Former Rabbi of Judaism Your Way.

[12] Matt Skinner, Professor of New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. Podcast on the lectionary readings for February 8, 2026. #1067: Fifth Sunday after Epiphany – February 8, 2026 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

[13] Ibid.

[14] 1 Corinthians 2:1-2

[15] Karoline Lewish, Professor of Preaching, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. Podcast on the lectionary readings for February 8, 2026. #1067: Fifth Sunday after Epiphany – February 8, 2026 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

[16] Jacobson, Ibid.

[17] Lewis, Ibid.

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Isaiah 58:1-12

Shout out; do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
² Yet day after day they seek me
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they want God on their side.
³ “Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day
and oppress all your workers.
⁴ You fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.
⁵ Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶ Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
⁸ Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
^9a Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.”
[

^9b If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
¹⁰ if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
¹¹ The Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your needs in parched places
and make your bones strong,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water
whose waters never fail.
¹² Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.

1 Corinthians 2:1-12 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the testimony of God to you with superior speech or wisdom. ² For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³ And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. ⁴ My speech and my proclamation were made not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

⁶ Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are being destroyed. ⁷ But we speak God’s wisdom, a hidden mystery, which God decreed before the ages for our glory ⁸ and which none of the rulers of this age understood, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹ But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
¹⁰ God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. ¹¹ For what human knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.