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Sermon September 26, 2021
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, MSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 21, Track 2
Observance of LatinX Heritage Month
http://lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Pentecost/BProp21_RCL.html
Audio: /documents/Eucharist__September_26__2021
Video: https://youtu.be/pZp9ncfWTmc
Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another. Mark 9:50
Please be seated.
In 2012, you know I studied in the Holy Land. The course was offered by St. George’s College, based in Jerusalem. It was called the Palestine of Jesus. One of the extra trips was a Saturday visit to Masada and the Dead Sea. We were given many instructions the day before. We were told not to shave or we’d be very uncomfortable. We were told to be careful if we had any cuts on our bodies. Pouring salt into a wound is not a comfortable experience, is it?
It was a really hot day, about 110 degrees. Masada is built on a rock plateau in the Judean desert, not the coolest place to be in the heat. I love the water, but wasn’t sure the Dead Sea would provide the refreshing swim needed after being at Masada. I thought with all of that heat, it might be like swimming in the Gulf of Mexico in the middle of summer – more like a warm bath.
What an experience, though. You simply cannot sink in the Dead sea. In fact, once you are on your back, you almost cannot stand up! That was the hardest thing…standing up after I was on my back.
Salt or Sodium Chloride or NaCl (my daughter the chemistry teacher would be so proud) is an amazing thing. First of all, it has been used by humans for thousands of years. There is one salt mine in Austria that has been in use for 7,000 years.
Salt was an early preservative. It draws out water so bacteria cannot grow in the food. It can be used medicinally. In cooking, salt can bring out the flavor of the ingredients and it also mixes in perfectly, dissolving in the liquid. Our bodies absolutely must have sodium, which we get from salt, so our hearts beat and our brains work, and our muscles relax.
Salt was also used in the temple sacrifices during Jesus’ time.
Pure salt does not lose its flavor, but in Jesus’ time, salt was less pure. The salt would sometimes leach out or dissolve, so what was left had no salt in it. If salt loses its properties, it is no longer salt.
Jesus’ followers understood the salt of their time, so it was an apt illustration for Jesus to use to teach them. As Christians, the Gospel, Jesus’ teachings and scripture are salt for our lives. Our church community is salt for our lives. It preserves us and protects us. It keeps us afloat. It keeps us on the path of life.
We must take care, because the cares, troubles, and temptations of the world can lure the salt out of us.
As I thought about our observation of Latinx Heritage month and our necessity to be salty Christians, I immediately thought of the meetings and activities with the Movement for Immigration Leaders in PA, commonly referred to as MILPA. The local group is Harrisburg Resists and Responds and I attend their monthly Zoom meetings.
One of the items MILPA is focused on is being part of the Driving Pennsylvania Forward effort so that people can obtain PA driver’s licenses, even if they do not have a social security card. Until 2009, this was not a problem and the effort is one to restore the law.
I have participated in a number of legislative advocacy efforts at the state capitol in Harrisburg. There was a lobby day in the spring and a group of us met with a staffperson for Senator DiSanto. I found the meeting very frustrating and in some ways demeaning of the people in attendance. The leadership of MILPA and the Driving PA Forward coalition did not do what I might have done and just dismiss the effort. They took in what happened at the meeting as information to be used for future meetings and strategy sessions. They know this effort requires perseverance and they keep moving forward.
The legislative hearing held by the House Transportation Committee during the summer was impressive. Now you have to remember that I was a lobbyist in PA and closely connected to legislative politics for many years. And I really am learning a lot from this coalition.
The hearing was scheduled with not a lot of time to prepare. Yet all of the speakers were just the right people to explain why the legislation is necessary from every angle you can imagine. The representatives from the PA Department of Transportation and PA Department of Agriculture explained why this legislation was needed and how important it was and how it could be easily implemented.
There were times when a legislator seemingly baited the presenters, yet the presenters did not take the bait at all. They calmly responded and continued to press their case for the need for this legislation to help families and to keep all of us safe on the roads.
The people working on this legislation and the other projects of MILPA are salt. Their work is lifegiving and even though much of it is difficult, they keep centered in it. They know their work is about how we love God and love our neighbors, because it is rooted in how we treat each other as creations of God. The salt in them implores us to live in peace with one another.
What is the salt that you bring to the world so that we may all be at peace with one another?
Amen
MILPA: https://milpaen-milpa.nationbuilder.com/
Driving PAForward: https://www.facebook.com/driverslicensesforall/
