Salted for Service

What is it about salt? There’s just something about a nice salty pretzel to put a smile on your face. I remember as a kid, when you’d get to the bottom of a bag of pretzels and you’d have all that salt there at the bottom, so what do you do? You lick your finger, stick it down in that salt and pop it in your mouth.

            What is it about salt? Salt adds flavor, or maybe it would be more precise to say that it enhances the flavor that’s already there. Salt also heals, having an antiseptic quality. Salt preserves. It’s what you used before the days of the refrigerator/freezer. And in the Bible, salt purified sacrifices in the Old Testament and indicated peace with God. It also indicated peace between parties and so Jesus adds in today’s gospel lesson, “Be at peace with one another.”

            What is it about salt? Jesus uses salt to talk about you and me today. In His Word today, Jesus tells those who follow him, “Be salty!” What does He mean by that? Well, think through the qualities of salt again: Jesus is saying to you: (1) Have a distinctive flavor. A Christian’s life should not be blah or bland. The greatest news of all time has entered your mind and heart, and if that’s not changing you, if that great news is not erupting out of you, then you might be losing your salt. But how could it not be? Death has no claim on you. Jesus died, yes! He dove into sin and hell for us, but He broke to the surface on the third day with life to give to you. Forgiven Life. New Life; New Priorities. Forever Life. A Resurrected Life to come. Nothing else tastes like this! Be salty; keep a uniquely Christian outlook. (2) Salt heals. What are you doing to bring healing into this world…into your relationships? That’s part of being a salty Christian too. That’s the unique Christian flavor. Your goal is to bring healing, not to destroy. You are after forgiveness, not revenge. You are looking to help put things back together again, not to tear down. Bring healing. (3) Salt preserves. Imagine what the world would be like…imagine what our country would be like…imagine what our community would be like if one day, all the Christians [poof] were gone. What would it be like? I’m bold to say that the impact would be huge and not pretty in the least. Salty Christians preserve their communities by doing things no one else wants to do. Salty Christians preserve communities by being Christ-like. Today Jesus says to each of us, “Be that salt.”

            Today we are highlighting the work of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, of which our Ladies’ Aid is a part. These groups take the command of Jesus to be that salt seriously. Along with our Lord they would remind you today that you are “Salted for Service.” It’s a message that the Bible sounds again and again. It’s become so important to us here at Trinity that our mission statement has become “We are saved by Christ to serve his creation.” It’s become so real that you have embraced servant events, serving at Christ’s Table, and in the case of the LWML and Ladies’ Aid, funding and supplying missionaries in foreign lands, sewing dresses for African girls to wear, supporting students in training for ministry, and so much more.

            One of the iconic images of the LWML is the Mite Box. The Mite Box is nothing more than a small cardboard box into which you can slip your mites—your loose change—and then when your box gets full, you bring them in and pool those funds at local, national, and international levels. But when I say it’s nothing more than a cardboard box, that’s understating it by quite a bit. That fact is, that all those mite boxes down through the years have funded millions of dollars worth of mission activity. Hundreds of projects in the Ohio District alone have been at least partially paid for by those Mite Boxes so that the Gospel of free forgiveness in Jesus is shared everywhere. Let me put a real face on that for you.

Pastor Matt Harrison, president of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, writes the following. “Over the past decade, I’ve visited dozens and dozens of places in the world and had a recurring experience—like I did for example, in Ambur, India. There I was touring a large and bustling Lutheran hospital compound. Hundreds of people are treated there daily. Babies are born and people are cared for by pastors and deaconesses and doctors. As I rounded a corner on the walk, I came face-to-face with something profound. A plaque on the hospital building stated, “Built with the assistance of funds from the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League.” Every time this occurs I think of all the women I’ve met in all the churches over the years. I think of all those faithfully-filled Mite Boxes. I think especially of those women now with the Lord. And I’m profoundly thankful.”

It would literally take all day to tell you about current LWML projects around the district, the United States, and the world that are caring for the poorest women and children, fighting malaria and other diseases, assisting the addicted, and supporting crisis pregnancy centers. The list could be multiplied, and in all these instances, Jesus is being shared with those in need.

The LWML is an example for us all. We are all “salted to serve.” How do we do that? Forgiven by Jesus, we bear witness to Him in our everyday lives. We care for those in need, just like He did. We live a life together of love and forgiveness, where healing is top priority. And in all this service, through every victory and every disappointment shared, there is joy in the Lord, joy in what He is doing through you and me. Be that salt, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Adapted from Pastor Matt Harrison's sermon for LWML Sunday 2012