The children of Living Word Lutheran Church, Laurinburg, N.C., from the time they can toddle have deposited their own offering in a large Mt. Olive Pickle jar during worship. It’s for “people in a pickle,” they proudly tell visitors. The director of Church Community Services, an ecumenical social ministry, knows that when funds are low she can call on the pickle jar to assist a family passing through town in need of a tank of gas or a place to stay.
God’s love sets us free
Martin Luther’s assessment that we as God’s people are simultaneously sinners and saints has sometimes rankled. Nonetheless, the older I become, the more I acknowledge Luther’s honest insight—and my own…