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February 8, 2026

Lighting God’s Way

Joel T. P. Fitzgerald   |   Read Matthew 5:13-20

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Lectionary Week
February 2–8, 2026
Scripture Overview

This week’s scriptures juxtapose the light of God’s alternative kingdom with the hurtful way humans tend to operate. Isaiah asks if our worship helps the downtrodden or if our internal schisms distract us from mission. The psalmist notes that the blessings of the righteous flow to those who shine their light by helping the poor and oppressed. In First Corinthians, Paul makes explicit the way of God as an alternative path from the ways of this world, suggesting that God’s wisdom is something this world cannot begin to comprehend. In the Gospel, Jesus invites us to be salt and light through obedience to the full calling of God; a calling made clear in the Law and the Prophets.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

Read Isaiah 58:1-12. When have you chosen the fast of form over substance, fasting only to show off or to battle with others? When have you chosen the fast of breaking the bonds of injustice?
Read Psalm 112:1-10. When have you felt fulfilled in helping others? Who did you help and why?
Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-16. How have you felt the Spirit moving in your life? Where has the Spirit led you into ministry?
Read Matthew 5:13-20. How have you been salt and light in the world? How could you let your light shine?

Respond by posting a prayer.

Matthew 5:13-20

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how will it become salty again? It’s good for nothing except to be thrown away and trampled under people’s feet. 14 You are the light of the world. A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on top of a lampstand, and it shines on all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven. 17 “Don’t even begin to think that I have come to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I haven’t come to do away with them but to fulfill them. 18 I say to you very seriously that as long as heaven and earth exist, neither the smallest letter nor even the smallest stroke of a pen will be erased from the Law until everything there becomes a reality. 19 Therefore, whoever ignores one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called the lowest in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps these commands and teaches people to keep them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 I say to you that unless your righteousness is greater than the righteousness of the legal experts and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

After talking about salt and light, Jesus returns us to righteousness. Is righteousness just a state of being? Or is righteousness about what we do in the world? This passage seems to complicate a simplistic division between grace and law. Here Jesus says that we must be the light of...

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God, continue to shine your light on my path. In this tumultuous world, help me reflect that light on others. Amen.


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