5th Sunday after Epiphany                   February 8, 2026
Matthew 5:13-20                                   Pastor Wolfe
What makes me a Christian?
1) Righteousness known
2) Righteousness shown

In last week’s Gospel reading we began listening to Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount. As he spoke to this large crowd on the shores of Galilee he began by talking about how blessed we are to be in faith and how blessed we are to live according to that faith. That’s an important thing to remember about the Sermon the Mount. It’s not a “level one” sermon explaining how we get to heaven. Jesus is speaking to believers – people who understand that Jesus did it ALL. That his life and death is the FULL price for our hope of heaven. And after telling them how blessed they are to know that, in this next section Jesus answers a question some of these new believers might have been asking themselves, “Just what makes me a Christian?”

We can start by agreeing that it’s not what we do in our lives. We didn’t become Christians by proving how good we are to God. But we dare not take that to mean our lives don’t matter. Some people in the crowd apparently thought that when the Messiah would come, he would do away with God’s law. He would wipe out all those commands about what to do and how to live our lives. The Messiah is about forgiveness after all.

Some today take that approach. Church on Sunday makes up for sinning on Saturday. Alright, maybe you don’t let yourself think it that openly, but we’re all tempted to neglect at least a part of God’s law. We convince ourselves that the area we struggle is just a minor thing. One of the least of the commandments. “My time is my own. I’d rather keep a spark of hate burning for my rival. No one sees me and no one gets hurt.” Do those lies sound familiar? We even use God’s promises as a license to sin. Faith as small as a mustard seed! Jesus loves sinners! God wants all to be saved! All true, but also not an excuse. Satan is good at twisting the Gospel of Jesus into indifference toward God’s law.

Jesus addresses our sinful hearts head on. Verses 17-18, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets… For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” Oof, God’s commands never go away. What’s that? I skipped a part? Oh yeah, Jesus said in the middle there, “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

There’s the thing that makes us Christians! Jesus didn’t come to do away with the law or push it aside so that we can do our own thing. He came to fulfil it. To uphold it for us. Jesus kept every legal requirement that God’s holy justice demands from all people. He dotted every “i” and crossed every “t” of what God requires from humanity. He fulfilled every Messianic prophecy. Every detail about his birth, his life, his ministry, his miracles, suffering, sacrifice, death, resurrection, ascension – every detail was complete. And what’s still left to be fulfilled concerning his Second Coming and Judgment, that too he will fully accomplish when the sky above and earth below pass away.

So, what makes you a Christian? It’s the righteousness you know in Christ. At the end of our text Jesus explains what we need if we want to enter heaven. “I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Righteousness is doing what’s right, especially doing what’s right before God. It’s one of the most important words of the Bible. Righteousness is what God expects from people if they want to live forever in heaven.

And we who confess with Isaiah, “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags” would never be able to stand before a righteous God and say that we measure up. But by God’s grace and mercy, our eternal future doesn’t require us to. What God demands from us, he gives to us in Jesus. It’s what Paul means in 2 Corinthians when he says, “God made him who had no sin [Jesus] to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God.” So if you know what Jesus has done for you. If you believe and trust that his work was done for you, then Christ’s righteousness is yours. Now. The Scriptures declare it. God sealed you in it in Baptism He assures you of it in the Lord’s Supper. It’s why Paul begins his letters by calling the Christians “saints.” Why Jesus says that we “have” eternal life now. It’s not a future thing – it’s a now thing. What makes you a Christian? The Spirit’s gift of faith in Jesus that shows you righteousness in him. Praise God. Knowing his identity as Savior means knowing our identity as saved.

But what are we to do with this righteousness we know? Jesus addresses that in his sermon too. The righteousness we know is righteousness that we then show.

Fellow righteous ones, saints in Christ, our purpose as Christians is in the first two paragraphs of Jesus’ sermon. Our Savior says, “You are the salt of the earth … You are the light of the world.” Remember who Jesus is talking to — not people in general but to believers. You, as a Christian, are salt. You, as a Christian, are light. If you believe in Jesus this is who you are. Notice he doesn’t say, “You’re supposed to be salt.” or “You should try hard to be light.” No, this is what you are. This is what faith in Jesus makes us. This isn’t what makes you a Christian – this is what being a Christian makes you.

We live on a dead and decaying planet. One corrupted by sin and foul with its stench. But you, dear Christian, are the salt of the earth. Salt’s primary use in Jesus’ day wasn’t as seasoning, but preservative. Just as salt slows decay in food, when we speak and live our faith in Jesus, we slow the decay of the sin-dead society around us. God sprinkles us Christians around the world to preserve and save it.

But salt has a bit of a bite to it. And the world isn’t going to like our testimony. But we dare not give up our saltiness just to blend in. Then what good would we do? We might as well not be Christian at all. If we set aside our faith to bow down to the world’s idols and pursue its goals, that’s salt having lost its saltiness. Jesus says, “you are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” This is what James meant when he says in his letter, “Faith without works is dead.” If you are a Christian, you are salt. If you are not salt, you are not a Christian.

So, remember this the next time you’re out with friends and they’re wandering into bad choices. When your workplace is cutting some ethical corners. When your family is setting its priorities. You are the one God put into that place to make life a little better for them. To save them from the worldly consequences of their sin.

Jesus also says, “You are light of the world.” This theme has come back again and again in the last five weeks. Like everyone else we too once lived in darkness under the shadow of death. But Christ came, the one, genuine Light to give us light. He ignited our hearts in faith. Now, together with our fellow Christians we shine into this dark world like a city on a hill, warm and welcome to those who are still lost in the darkness of unbelief and spiritual ignorance.

Dear Christians, let your light shine. Jesus said, “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.” Let your light shine. Jesus is talking about the light of faith. It’s like the moon. It has no light on its own but when it reflects the one, true Light it shines so brightly that it can light up the whole countryside. Reflect God’s light. Remember the whole passage, not just the opening words. “[L]et your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” There’s a purpose to the way you live your life. “that they (other people!) may…glorify your Father in heaven.” That’s the goal.

Living right, showing love and kindness certainly are part of shining that light. But kindness by itself doesn’t lead others to glorify the Father, does it? Christians don’t have the market on kindness. But we alone know the Father. We alone know the righteousness of Christ given as credit to our account. We know the comfort of his promises to bless and keep us. We know the peace of turning ourselves over to him and his way.

So, fellow Christians, let your light shine. Trust in God’s promises and be who God has empowered you to be. Right now. Live in the righteousness you know. Share your faith in the way you live and in the words you speak. Shine your light in the way you live. Encourage each other in the way we serve together at Salem. You are salt. You are light. You are righteous in Christ. That’s what makes you a Christian. Amen.