FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY- February 8, 2026

Gospel: 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.”

A Preview for Sunday…..

The chaplain for family camp should go on the night hike, right? You know the one

where flashlights are doused and one spends time letting the eyes adjust and off we

go tramping along the trail. Except…my eyes adjusted very slowly. I stood stock

still afraid to move. It felt like hours, but was likely a minute or two. A voice next

to me said, “I’m with you, just follow my voice and we’ll take it nice and slow.”

The helplessness and vulnerability I felt mingled with gratitude that someone

would see me in need and would take time to accompany me until my eyes

adjusted. Being a preacher, I already decided such an experience was a ‘lived

sermon’. Sometimes we need others to be our ‘eyes’ or to light the way for us.

Sometimes we are that light for others.

As Sunday approaches, the sermon crafting leans in the direction of how the

church (as part of the “all you all” who are light of the world) might shine its light.

The question matters because ours is a world where creation is reduced to

something to make money from, where compassion and empathy are considered

weak and wrong, and even a world where in some places far away (and othersdistressingly near) human dignity is stripped away and rights are violated as

governments dispatch people with weapons to scare their own people into

submission. And Jesus says to those ‘on the margins’ “all of you already ARE the

light of the world…so find a way to shine”. Maybe some of those night hike

lessons would come in handy again?

Second Sunday after Epiphany January 18, 2026  

Prayer of the Day  

Holy God, our strength and our redeemer, by your Spirit hold us forever, that  through your grace we may worship you and faithfully serve you, follow you and  joyfully find you, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord. Amen.  

Words to ponder during time after Epiphany:“This is my Son, the beloved with  whom I am well pleased” Matthew 3:17  

Gospel: John 1:29-42  

29 [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the  Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!30 This is he of whom I said,  ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ 31 I  myself did not know him, but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he  might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending  from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him,  but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see  the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And  I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen One.”  

35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he  watched Jesus walk by he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” 37 The  two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned  and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to  him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He  said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they  remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40 One of  the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s  brother. 41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the  Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). 42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who  looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas”  (which is translated Peter).  

A few thoughts as Sunday approaches….  

Somewhere along the way, we got it into our noggins that the four Gospels are  simply four re-tellings of the story of Jesus; God among us. Careful readers notice 

that timelines didn’t always match up or even that some events were included in  one Gospel and omitted in others. These observations have led to valiant and  misdirected efforts to figure out how to ‘harmonize’ all the Gospels so every detail  ‘dovetails’ with all others. These attempts to “harmonize” lead to an incomplete  picture of Jesus shown to us in scripture.  

 To cut this little history lesson short, suffice it to say that when we read from  Matthew one week and John the next, we really need to let each Gospel speak its  own truth while holding the others alongside.  

John’s Gospel is replete with words that hold many layers of meaning. To speak  about the “Lamb of God” is to look at many ways Jesus is the lamb of God. To  hear John proclaim that Jesus takes away the sin (singular) of the world (another  word with several meanings)requires that we pay attention to what John means by  “sin”. We get there. by paying attention to a word John’s Gospel uses forty times;  a word often translated as ‘abide’ or remain (inexplicably I feel compelled to write  the transliterated word from the Greek meno).  

Abiding and remaining are all about relationship. At Jesus baptism, Spirit descends  and remains. The first would-be disciples ask Jesus where he is staying (abiding or  remaining). Instead of providing GPS coordinates or a street address Jesus invites  them to come and see where he remains, how he lives and what he stands for.  

Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus speaks repeatedly to his followers about  ‘remaining’ and abiding. Even as he speaks of his life’s end and assures his  followers that he goes to prepare a place beyond this life; a place he where  promises he will be with us and we with him (guess which word John uses here!).  

This word study is meant to lead us right back to John bearing witness that Jesus is  Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus confronts anything and  everything that would preclude the relationship (abiding and remaining) between  God and humanity. This understanding of “sin” inevitably brings us to the way  John’s Gospel uses the word “belief”.  

The word is always a verb…not a one and done verbal declaration or document  signing about what we think we know or accept as true. Belief in John’s Gospel is  all about living in relationship. Remember the famous verse about “whoever  believes has everlasting life” (yet another phrase with multiple layers of meaning)?  Remember the beginning of John’s Gospel that declares that the essence of God  becomes human and makes his home among us? 

Another way of taking John’s Gospel on its own terms is to recall when it was  written and to whom. The other three Gospels had already been in circulation by  the time John’s Gospel is told and later written down. John’s words are directed to  Jewish folk who believed that God’s ancient promises were embodied in Jesus— their belief created estrangement from their own faith tradition and community. So  John speaks to a people who likely felt lost, disconnected and dispossessed. His  words about relationship abide, remain, belief) likely resonated in particular ways  with this community. Imagine living as these these folk did and hearing someone  recount John the Baptizer(some scholars like to note he is also John the Witness)  say, “See there! That’s the one! That’s God’s incarnate self among us, with us and  for us…all of us!”  

A few things to ponder….  

• How are we living witnesses to God among us and in the world? 
• What does it mean for us to believe?  

• How does the church and how do individuals “remain/abide” with Jesus? 
• What does Jesus’ abiding and remaining with us know look like?