"Fake Plastic Righteousness"

Sermon for the Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany

Sermon Text: Isaiah 58:3-9 (not the fast I have chosen); Matthew 5: 13-20 (you are salt and light)

Jesus calls His people “salt” and “light,” but the Ten Commandments quickly reveal how easily that calling collapses under the weight of our sin and our tendency toward a fake, performative righteousness. Instead of relaxing God’s law, the sermon points to Christ, who keeps it perfectly in our place and becomes the faithful neighbor we have failed to be. His righteousness is given to us as a gift, restoring our saltiness and making our light shine. From that mercy flows real, imperfect but genuine good works—lived not to earn the kingdom, but because we already belong to it through repentance, forgiveness, and life in Christ.

Preacher: Rev. Matt Doebler, pastor of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Norfolk, VA⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (LCMS)⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TLCnorfolk.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our mission is to make disciples and make them stronger through Word and Sacrament. (Mt. 28: 18-20)