Sunday Sermon: Point to God

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Voice: The Rev. Anna Sutterisch

Point to God

February 8, 2026 • Epiphany 5 (Year A)

Have you ever messed up the salt in a recipe? Whether you're cooking or baking, you know how it goes: Everything is perfectly measured, weighed, balanced. The timing is right; the technique solid. And then you take that final taste and it's…off.

It's either too salty—the mouth-puckering physical reaction of salt on the tongue, followed quickly by the emotional reaction of a ruined dish. Or it's not salty enough—the flavors flat and dull, nothing really distinguishing itself. One-dimensional. Boring.

Few recipes or chefs would advertise a dish by saying, “This tastes like salt!” And yet salt is found in nearly everything. Because what salt does best is work with other flavors. It enhances what is already there, draws flavor out, holds flavor together. Yet salt doesn't work in a vacuum, alone on a plate. Salt doesn't work in isolation.

In Matthew's version of the Sermon on the Mount that we hear today, Jesus calls the people “the salt of the earth.” This teaching comes immediately after the Beatitudes... Not the hero flavor, but absolutely essential.

He also tells them: “You are the light of the world.” And, unsurprisingly, Jesus does not describe a light in isolation, but rather a light that exists for and within the world. He says, “Let your light shine before others,” not so that they may admire you, but “so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

The point of the salt is not the salt itself. The point of the light is not the light itself. The point is God's glory.

The prophet Isaiah lays right into it. He calls out religious leaders who have leaned too far into obligation and legalism, but forgotten the abundant spaciousness that comes from God. He names the fasting, self-inflicted oppression, and penitence that serve only one's own self and reputation.

The messages we receive from the prophet Isaiah and the Messiah Jesus are the same: Do not perform righteousness for show. Don't act so that people can see your good works, but to give glory to God in heaven. Let your actions loosen the bonds of injustice. Let them feed the hungry, shelter the oppressed, and clothe the naked.

What good is fasting if we ignore the hungry? What good is penitence if we ignore those who are tortured? What good is religious devotion if we turn away from the poor, the lonely, the sick, the forgotten?

Does your life point to God's freedom? Look at your calendar—how you spend your time. Your budget—how you spend your money. Your relationships—who receives your energy and care. The way you travel, where you shop, how you vote, who you listen to and speak with. Do these choices point toward the glory of God in heaven?

We have been set free from self-righteousness, from the tally sheet of sin, from the law of restriction, by Jesus Christ, through his radical, world-shaking love. We are neither heroes nor expendable—but we are essential in the community of God's church and God's world. Whatever we do, may we do it in such a way that all glory is given to God in heaven.

About the Preacher: The Rev. Anna Sutterisch is the priest at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Chagrin Falls and serves on the Board of Directors at Bexley Seabury Seminary.

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