Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is Mark 9:38-50

³⁸John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us." ³⁹ But Jesus said, "Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. ⁴⁰ For the one who is not against us is for us. ⁴¹ For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward. ⁴² "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. ⁴³ And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. ^{44 45} And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. ^{46 47} And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸ 'where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.' ⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."

Today we celebrate Lutheran Women’s Missionary League or LWML Sunday. We currently do not have an LWML chapter here at Trinity but we want to recognize and honor the work of all women of the church including the LWML. We currently contribute to the effort of the LWML through our periodic mite offerings. Hopefully, prayerfully, we will be led to join in the mission of the LWML by creating a chapter here at TLC.

I read a story I would like to share with you. One evening a family was watching a movie. Before the movie, the mom had given pretzels as snacks for everyone to enjoy. The kids had a bowl to share, but the brother had been so busy watching the movie, he hadn’t eaten any of the pretzels. After a while, he reached over and got a pretzel and popped it in his mouth. It wasn’t what he was expecting—it was a little soft and didn’t taste like much at all. He tried another one, and it was the same; not very tasty. So he looked over, and he saw what the problem was: his four-year-old sister was taking each pretzel, licking the salt off, and putting the pretzel back in the bowl. Yuck! All by themselves, without salt, the pretzels didn’t taste as good as they should have.

What is it about salt? Salt is a key ingredient needed for our bodies survival. Without salt our internal electrical system stops working and we die. So, salt is used in IV drips. We have many other uses for salt as well. As we saw in the story, we use it to make food taste better. We use it to prepare food and when we eat it to adjust the taste. Salt removes bitterness from foods and makes sweet things taste sweeter. I didn’t know that salt is used to make chocolate bars. Apparently chocolate in its natural state is bitter. We also have the option of sea salt for seasoning food as opposed to rock salt. We can use salt to make ice cream. Salt is extremely important for preserving food. It is excellent in the form of Epsom Salt for healing sprains and bruises. Salt from the Dead Sea cleanses and improves our skin. We use salt to soften our water and stabilize our pools. Those of us from the North know that salt is used on icy roads to melt the ice. Salt is used to cure the colors in fabric, and to purify aluminum. Wow, quite a few uses for such a basic element. I guess we are kind of going back to the basics again this week. Let’s review the basic uses of salt. It’s necessary in sustaining life in both animals and humans. It is used to make things like food better, it preserves, heals, helps make ice cream, keeps us safe by melting ice, cleanses, stabilizes, and purifies. That is one multifunctional basic element. Without it our life would be much worse and more difficult. So, what does salt have to do with us and LWML Sunday?

Mark records Jesus saying in verse 49; "⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire." We are salted by the fire of our trials and temptations. It is through our life in Christ and the reading of God’s word that we realize how we are to live, how hard it is, and how far we fall short of the way God wants us to live. Jesus goes on to say "⁵⁰ Salt is good," You are a better Christian; you are closer to Christ because of your trails and temptations.

The next part of the passage is a bit harder to fully understand; "but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? That is a bit harder because salt can’t help but be salty. There is no such thing as "unsalty salt" and there is no salt for salt. In other words Christians are salty. God has made you salty through Christ and His Word. He has salted us to season everything around us. We are salted for service.

Jesus tells us; "Have salt in yourselves."That salt in us is Jesus Christ and the word of God. What did we say were the uses for salt? It’s necessary in sustaining life in both animals and humans. It makes things better, preserves, heals, keeps us safe, cleanses, stabilizes, purifies, and helps make ice cream too. Isn’t that exactly what Christ and the Word of God do to and for us? Well, it doesn’t make ice cream, but, ice cream does comfort and so does Christ and the Word so it can still fit. Just as our bodies crave and need salt to survive so we too crave and need Christ, His forgiveness, and the word of God daily. If we have too much or too little salt we can die. This is where the analogy breaks down. You can never get too much of Christ and the Word. But you sure can get too little and die a spiritual death which will lead to eternal death. Christ saved you from eternal death by dying on the cross and rising again on the third day. Together, you and I look to the cross as a reminder of His terrible suffering, agony, and death. We also look to the cross to remember that it is empty and so is the tomb. Remember the suffering and sacrifice as well as the joy and jubilation of the resurrection and what it means for you. It’s kind of like our desire for salty and sweet. We get the salty suffering and death along with the sweet resurrection.

Ezra 4 verse 14 says; "Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king's dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king." It appears that eating salt was part of a ceremony to ratify an oath or covenant. So by eating salt you enter into a relationship. The last part of the reading speaks to relationships as well. Jesus says; "Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." The salt, by that I mean, Christ and the Word, bind us together in a relationship. In that relationship we can be at peace with one another because we share the joy of forgiveness and eternal life. The peace given by Christ and his gift overrides the cares of the world. We are reminded of this in Philippians 4 verse 6; "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." By giving up our anxieties in prayer we can be at peace with one another as Jesus says.

We are not "salted", forgiven, to live in sin and long for it, even though we all do so and well deserve the same fate as Lot’s wife. We are salted to look forward. We are salted to serve. We are to serve not to earn our way to salvation. Instead we are the tax collector standing in the back, "God be merciful to me, a sinner." God is the one doing something for us! Jesus said, "I came not to be served but to serve and give my life as a ransom for many." We are to serve as Jesus did.

The LWML is "salted for the service" of bearing witness to Christ. The LWML is Lutheran Women in Mission! They exist to witness to Christ. They witness where God has put them!

The women of the LWML are also "salted for the service" of being missionaries of mercy. Look at the mission grants given by the LWML. They are witnessing and showing mercy in their communities and abroad.

The LWML is "salted for service" in our life together in the Church. As Jesus said, "Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." Being "salt" brings with it a "life together" in the Church. As we share each other’s burdens our life together is deepened.

The LWML is an example for us all. We are all "salted to serve." And how do we serve? As forgiven Christians we witness to Him in our daily lives. We create relationships; we care for those in need, just like Jesus did. And we live a life together in love and forgiveness. In service we find joy, even through the sorrows and the joys. As you can see by all the different uses of salt; we too can do many things different things with our salt. I see why the LWML’s motto is Psalm 100:2 "Serve the Lord with gladness!"

May God bless the LWML and the entire Church on earth with such salty service! Amen.