February 9, 2026

Beloved of God,

Yesterday, the Rev. Margot Critchfield offered us a line from Rabbi Herschel that has been echoing in my heart ever since: “In any free society, where terrible wrongs exist, some are guilty, all are responsible.” It’s a hard sentence, and a holy one. It doesn’t give us the comfort of shrugging our shoulders and saying, “Well, that’s not on me.” It insists that while not all harm is ours to commit, the work of repair belongs to us all.

That feels especially true right now. We are living in a moment – nationally and globally – where
it’s tempting to retreat into camps, to outsource responsibility to leaders or institutions, or to
numb ourselves because the weight feels too heavy. But the Gospel won’t let us off that easily.
Yesterday’s Gospel, Matthew 5:13–20, is Jesus at his most direct: You are the salt of the earth.
You are the light of the world. Not you should be, not someday you might be, but you are. Salt
that loses its saltiness, light hidden under a basket – Jesus is clear that faith which does not shape
how we live in the world is faith that has missed the point.

And then there’s our Baptismal Covenant – the promises we renew again and again. To persevere
in resisting evil. To seek and serve Christ in all persons. To strive for justice and peace, and
respect the dignity of every human being. Those promises are not abstract ideals; they are shared
responsibilities. They bind us not only to God, but to one another. None of us carries them alone,
and none of us is exempt from them.

Some are guilty, all are responsible. Responsible for paying attention. Responsible for speaking
when silence becomes complicity. Responsible for showing up, imperfectly but faithfully, as salt
and light in a world that desperately needs both. Let’s commit ourselves to this responsibility.

Finally, a reminder that this Sunday is our Annual Meeting. We will have one service at 9:00
a.m., followed by the meeting at 10:00 a.m., and lunch at 11:30 a.m. This is one of the ways
we practice responsibility to one another by gathering, listening, discerning, and committing
ourselves to our shared life and mission.

I hope you’ll be there.

Grace and peace,