Jesus said:] “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 underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 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. 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. Matthew 5:13-16

This is a strange time of year. The days are short and the nights stretch on. We find ourselves longing for more daylight, for warmer temperatures, for signs that winter will loosen its grip. Meanwhile, the daily news offers little relief, piling challenge upon challenge. All of it leaves us yearning for more light in what can feel like a dark and dreary season.

Enter the season after the Epiphany. Its missional focus shines like a beacon in the dead of winter, offering good news in the midst of this world’s not-so-good news. This week, God sets the mission clearly before us through Isaiah: feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the naked. And with that call comes a promise: “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn.” Paul echoes this Spirit-led vision as he writes to the church in Corinth, reminding them that “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.” And Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, tells his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world… Let your light shine before others” (Matthew 5:14, 16). In these words, Jesus entrusts followers of every time and place with a mission: to share the light that scatters the darkness.

For Jesus, salt and light were not new ideas. They draw from a long biblical tradition in which both images point to the law of God—God’s life-giving will for the world. To be salt and light is to live into the fullness of the law and the prophets, and into the radical vision Jesus unfolds in his Sermon on the Mount. The prophets call for fullness of life: freedom from oppression, bread for the hungry, homes for the unhoused, clothing for the naked. Is this not what it means to be the salt of the earth—to keep this prophetic vision alive in the midst of our world? When we lose sight of that vision, when we settle for lesser values, when we forget God’s deep longing for justice, our salt loses its flavor.

And if Jesus’ call feels impossible, remember this: the One who has washed us in Baptism, who is our bread, is with us and within us, empowering us to be salt and light for the sake of the world.

So, whether you are looking out the window or scrolling through the news, and everything feels dark and dreary, do not miss the light of Epiphany. We are created in God’s image, and the spark of the divine lives within us. That light shines through us as we live out God’s mission each day. As this season after the Epiphany continues, may we be ready—and willing—to let our light shine and to share the good news.