Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost 9/30/12 Text: Mark 9:38-50 Title: Salted For His Service Last week, as we studied the Gospel reading we found out why the disciples of Jesus could not get the reason for his upcoming death and resurrection. They saw no need for it, for they, in their mind were good to go, as to their being righteous in God’s eyes. They obeyed the laws, at least outwardly. They had given up everything to follow Jesus. They faithfully went to the Synagogue every Sabbath. Plus Jesus had given them power to heal, do miracles and drive out demons until they forgot whose power was behind what they did. They just did not need Jesus to die and be raised again. There was just no need, for in their eyes they thought of themselves as being righteous before God. That is what they thought. That is what so many people today think. Sadly even many Christians believe that even though the Bible clearly teaches otherwise that Jesus purpose for living was to give us a good example of what it means to live as his disciples. While it is true that when you follow Jesus’ commandments that you will live a more God pleasing life, it is not true that, that is his purpose in becoming one of us. It is our nature, every one of us, to think that, even when we know that it is only in Jesus’ death and resurrection that we are saved from God’s wrath would answer, if God were to ask us why he should let us into heaven that we were pretty good people. After all, we think, he has to take that into account, for we have not killed anyone, committed adultery, worshiped false idols, or any of the other multitude of terrible sins, or human weaknesses, as they are called today. All the time we ignore the fact that even thinking of doing outward sins is the same as actually committing them in God’s eyes. We are in desperate need of God’s forgiveness. That is why every week we confess our sins, a reminder that we are indeed poor miserable sinners even though we are forgiven. That will never change until the day we take our last breath. It is just the way it is. God’s grace on behalf; not anything that we have done, but Jesus’ death and resurrection is the only thing that keeps us from spending our lives here and in eternity separated from God. It is in that grace of God that we can become, albeit imperfectly disciples of Jesus, doing what he tells his disciples to do; serve others. This past week, as I was helping some of the poor in the community I had a few moments and read an article about a Roman Catholic group of women who are known as the “Little Sisters of the Poor.” They were founded in the Eighteen hundreds by a woman in France who saw the need, which was mighty at that time, to help the impoverished elderly who lined the streets of French towns and cities begging for help. Without even realizing that she was going to start a worldwide organization that is still active today she welcomed an elderly lady into her home and the work of the “Little Sisters of the Poor” began. The woman who started the organization used to walk the streets of France collecting money for her fledgling organization. Once when she approached a young man for money he hit her smack in the face knocking her down. It is told that her reply to this act of cruelty was to say to the young man, "You gave that to me, now give me something for the elderly." The man was so astounded by her humility and heart for the poor that he emptied out his money purse and gave her all the money he had at that time. In our own church body we have a worldwide group of women who do much the same thing. They are called the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. They, just like that French woman started out small in the 1850s. They too were motivated by the need and being thankful for all God had done for them met for the purpose of mending clothes for seminarians, equipping hospitals, establishing schools, developing convalescent and retirement homes, assisting orphanages and residences for people with disabilities, gathering clothing, furniture and food for indigents, and funding mission endeavors at home and abroad. What started out small has become a very large organization dedicated to doing mission work in all of its different forms. Their mission goal for 2012 and 2013 is to raise almost 2 million dollars to fund 19 projects worldwide. I am glad that we have an LWML group in our congregation which meets together almost every month for a business meeting and devotion, as they gather the change collected, which they call mites, after the widow’s mite that she gave to the service of the Lord. I am glad we have a chapter of the LWML in our congregation which is not to mean that any other group is not just as important. The Kaffe Klatch which makes the quilt that is given away each year in Oktoberfest has just paid 3,900 dollars for a new air conditioner in the big classroom. There are those that help prepare, do the baking and cooking, plus all those who work at Oktoberfest so that we can fund, to the tune of 14,000 dollars, the nine mission projects here in the Hattiesburg area and Uganda. Then there are those who serve the Lord and the congregation by quietly providing transportation for people to attend Bible Time and worship, call on the shut-ins, contribute to pastor’s emergency fund so homeless families can have a place to live, and make sure that all the behind the scenes things are done so that you can worship God in the best setting possible. Why do all these people do these things? It is not because they want to be acknowledged, even though it is nice to do so, but because they are just responding from grateful hearts to what Jesus has done and continues to do for them. That is why the service folder and my sermon are titled, “Salted For His Service,” for he tells us in our gospel reading for today, “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." I don’t know if you have ever given much thought to that statement, but if you have you have probably wondered about Jesus saying the salt has lost its saltiness, for, as we know there is one thing that salt cannot do is lose its saltiness. To us Jesus’ statement makes no sense, but to the people that Jesus was speaking to it made perfect sense, for their salt could lose its saltiness. You see the salt of the ancient world was not pure salt, as ours is. It had all kinds of impurities that looked like salt but were not actually salt. This impure salt in the ancient world was quite often stored on the ground exposed to the elements. When heat, the sun, and moisture hit it, the salt would soak into the ground leaving the material that looked like salt, but was not salt, behind. Thus the material that was believed to be salt, but was not salt lost its saltiness. Fake salt worth nothing was all that was left. You could never make it salty again, for it was never salt in the first place even though it looked like it. It could not be used to purify. It could not be used to preserve. It could not be used to make food taste better. And last but not least it could not bring health to the body. In fact, if you consumed it, believing it was salt; it would eventually kill you, for the body needs salt to survive. This example of salt applies to us today; for we too can become fake salt having the form of godly salt of the earth, but denying the work, presence, and power of the Holy Spirit. Think not? How many times have you not served someone or told someone about Jesus because you were afraid? We can become flavorless, just going through the motions of worship with no faith. We can be hypocrites, in that we look like believers even while not having faith. Even congregations and church bodies can become saltless when they do not teach salvation by Jesus alone, but a false doctrine of “all roads lead to God.” That congregation or church body has lost its saltiness, for salt must purify, it must preserve. Salt substitute is not salt. We must never forget that being salt is not our doing, but God’s, for he, in the salt of Jesus’ sweat in Gethsemane, and the salty blood he shed for us is the one that has made us “Salted for his service.” Amen.