Exceeding in Righteousness, a sermon based on Isaiah 58: 1-12 and Matthew 5: 13-20, preached on February 8, 2026

Friends, I haven’t preached a sermon in three weeks. The weather has been crazy. I’ve been traveling a little bit. Someone said to me as I was on my way into the early service, “It’s been so long since you preached, are you sure you remember how?” I guess we’ll see. The first Sunday we didn’t have church was January 25th. We made the decision to call off worship services while I was in Pittsburgh at a conference for Christian educators. Rev. Cassie Waits and I had the opportunity to present a workshop at this big international conference. I wasn’t sure I would know anyone there, but I did. I had the chance to reconnect with classmates from seminary and old friends from college. A group of us went out to dinner at a great restaurant known for hamburgers and beer. We had a group of 15 or so, and we knew that this place was big enough to accommodate us because this restaurant had once been a church. Have you been to one of those places before? The pews were taken out. The chancel was still there. You could tell where the pulpit had been, and up above the chancel on the ceiling were words in Latin that Cassie translated. Where the pulpit would have been was a stainless-steel vat used for fermenting beer. That image has haunted me ever since, but salt that loses its saltiness is no good for anything. This morning, we come face-to-face with a stern warning from Jesus. “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” In fact, we could say that the Pharisees did not even enter the 21st century. There aren’t any Pharisees left. You might say that all their synagogues have been turned into breweries. No one knows what a Pharisee is anymore, so in seminary, they gave me a rhyme to remember them and what they believed: In the time of Jesus, there were two major groups, we might call them denominations, within the Jewish community. They were the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees loved the law, so they were fair, you see. And the Sadducees didn’t believe in heaven, so they were sad, you see. Then there were the scribes, who were literate, able to read and write. Those scribes were important because both groups needed them to read the Scriptures, comprehend the law, and keep records of who got married, who had children, who would inherit what, and who had done wrong. But back to the Pharisees: Unlike the Sadducees, they did believe in heaven. They wanted to get there as we do, and they believed that the way to get there was by following the law, that’s why they loved it. They followed 613 commandments, and they loved those laws, those commandments, more than they loved people. They remind me of a doctor I heard about once. This doctor insisted on not doing any doctoring after 5 o’clock. He lived by that law. At 5 o’clock, he left his office, drove home, pulled into his driveway, pushed the button that opened his garage door, pulled in, pushed the button that made his garage door go down, and didn’t do any doctoring until he was back at his office the next day. One day, a little girl fell off her bike right in front of his house. She was so badly injured that she nearly blocked his driveway, unable to pick herself up from the ground, yet, while he could have helped, instead he navigated his car around her, pulled into his driveway, pushed the button that opened his garage door, pulled in, and pushed the button that made his garage door go back down. Can you imagine doing such a thing? Neither could Jesus, so He healed people on the Sabbath day. That’s what got Him in trouble with the Pharisees who loved the law so much that they wouldn’t do anything other than rest on the Sabbath. They would wait to heal until the next day. Jesus said, “Why are you using the law to justify ignoring human suffering?” When we use the law to justify ignoring human suffering, we become the Pharisees. We become like salt that has lost its saltiness, for what good is a church that cares more about laws than people? If we are no blessing to our neighborhoods or our communities, then we are better off serving hamburgers and beer, for at least then we are giving Christian educators and pastors a place to relax and enjoy each other’s company. I’ve been in churches that were on their way there. Have you? A church that cares more about rules than people shushes babies, fights over what color the poinsettias should be at Christmas time, and asks for papers from hungry people before feeding them. A church who cares more about rules than people is hesitant in giving water to the thirsty and cares more about finances than injustice. A church without a higher purpose than following tradition and rules asks her congregation to pay for a new roof, and the congregation says, “Why should we? Every time we go in there, it’s nothing but conflict and shame.” You, on the other hand. Do you remember this? I held this ceiling tile up at the beginning of our capital campaign, and when I did, I was nervous. I was nervous about asking you to give twice what you normally do. I was nervous about asking you to give of your time and treasure to make this church strong, and you answered the call, giving $5,000,000 when you typically give less than half that. Why did you do it? My friends, I believe you’ve given so generously to the glory of God because you believe in the mission of this church. I believe you did it because you believe that we are called to be salt and light in this community. You believe that here the light of the Lord Jesus Christ shines, and it shines through the music of our new organ. It shines through our new youth room. It shines through our new vans. This morning as I walked up to the church, those vans were just pulling in. It was about 7:30. Drivers had already been transporting cold families from a winter weather shelter back to the MUST shelter so they could eat a warm breakfast. Those are vans that you bought, and I believe you gave because you believe in the ministry of this church, and the ministry of this church is not just about following the commandments of our God, it’s about following the two most important commandments of Jesus Christ: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. That’s what Cassie’s doing this morning. She didn’t have a role in this worship service, so she prayed at our breakfast in Holland Hall then drove over to John Knox Presbyterian Church. They don’t have a pastor at the moment, and she’s not trying to become theirs, but because she had a little free time, she thought she might be helpful over there. That’s not in her job description. That’s not required of her, but her righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees. You can think about so many of your staff in this way. Jeffrey is the Director of Music and Fine Arts and has been the substitute organist for months now. How he directs the choir and plays the organ I will never understand, but he’s doing it. He’s doing more than what’s on his job description, over and above what’s expected, and you’re doing the same thing. I want to tell you what happened to me last Thursday. A couple made an appointment with me. I vaguely recognized their names. They introduced themselves and explained why they had made an appointment with me. It was because her mother lived in one of the retirement communities where our church members go and sing. For years now, groups organized and directed by Lynne Sloop have toured local nursing homes, memory care units, and assisted living communities here in Marietta. This couple made an appointment with me last week because her mother lived in one of the retirement communities where our church members go and sing, and they took an hour out of their day just to sit in my office to say, “Thank you.” “We just want to thank you because when our mother heard that your members were coming to sing, that’s all she wanted to talk about because she was so excited that they were coming, then once they sang, all she wanted to talk about was how wonderful the concert was. They sang Christmas music in December and Itsy Bitsy Teeney Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini in the summer.” I don’t know how many songs they know now or how many concerts they’ve provided, but I can testify to the light that their ministry brings to our community because this couple sat down in my office and told me all about it. My friends, Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand. Let your light shine.” People searching for Light in this dark world are drawn in by such light, by your light. God is at work here, through you. Halleluia. Amen.