LWML Sunday
October 4, 2026
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Since the summer of 1967, the first Sunday in October has been designated LWML Sunday. We honor the women of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League for their faithful work which supports mission endeavors at home and abroad. You can see on that bookmark how the LWML is working in Iowa District West. The national LWML has given well over a million dollars in just fifteen months to missions aiding orphans, the blind, unwed mothers, cancer patients, pastors in West Africa, children in Haiti, and those in prison. What God does through these women (and the men that help) is miraculous! We praise God for what He accomplishes through the over 250,000 members of the LWML. We said the LWML Pledge, because it applies to us all since fervent gratitude should shape every Christian’s life.
The pledge begins with “In fervent gratitude for the Savior’s dying love and His blood-bought gift of redemption.” And that right there is the reason for everything we do as Christians! You gratitude flows from understanding the full depth of what Jesus did for you. The price to pay for sin was always in blood: blood of a bull, a goat, or a lamb. To atone for the sins of the world, including yours, blood had to be spilled. Saint Peter writes, “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19). Isaiah puts it more bluntly: “He was despised and rejected by men, stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted, pierced for our transgressions; crushed for our iniquities; wounded for our healing” (Is. 53:3-5).
The cost of your redemption is so great because you are indeed poor, miserable sinners. We’re born in Sin, separated from God, with a natural inclination to do the exact opposite of what God demands. We deserve earthly/temporal and eternal punishment. We have nothing to offer God, we’re forgiven only because He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love so much so that He sent His Son to suffer and die. But when you thank God with half-heartedness it shows that you’re not recognizing the full depth and width of what Christ did for you. You might even be found belittling His sacrifice as insignificant. Fervent gratitude begins when treasure Jesus and His bloody cross.
Fervent gratitude is further demonstrated by our actions. We said, “We dedicate ourselves to Him with all that we are and have.” This is a pretty bold vow! We commit our entire being to the Lord. Paul describes it this way: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). Jesus sacrificed Himself for you, in gratitude you sacrifice by living as He calls you to live. It’s Paul again who says, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6:19-20). How else should we respond to His love and forgiveness? Except with fervent gratitude.
When I was praying and thinking about attending the Seminary I was pretty sure this is where God was leading me. I knew it was going to be a sacrifice, but there must have beena part of me that wasn’t totally committed. I watched an informational DVD which announced that seminary graduates serve all over the United States and overseas. The very next day I called the admissions officer to get more details, because if serving God meant going overseas, I was out. I’ll serve you Lord, just not over there. Was I living out the LWML pledge which says: “We pledge Him our willing service wherever and whenever He has need of us. We consecrate to our Savior our hands to work for Him, our feet to go on His errands.” Not at all. There were limits to my fervent gratitude.
Surely, I’m not the only one who does that, right? You say you’ll help unless it’s an inconvenient time or something you don’t really want to do. You help begrudgingly while vowing to screen your calls more thoroughly. You don’t volunteer because someone else can do it this time. Serving your neighbor isn’t easy – but neither was Jesus’ suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. Serving your neighbor might not be neat and tidy – but neither was Jesus’ cross. Serving your neighbor you do begrudgingly – Jesus said, “not my will but yours”.
The sacrifices can be hard, they can also be easier than you might think. You’re being called to simply use our skills for others. You can’t build a house? Can you encourage and visit shut ins, the hospitalized, and those in nursing homes? You can’t speak in front of groups? Can you fix things with your hands? You can’t sing? Can you drive someone to their doctor’s appointments or shopping? You can’t teach? Can you financially support God’s Word? You see what I’m getting at here, right? Use your God-given gifts for the benefit of your neighbor. God doesn’t give us gifts to sit on our hands. As Jesus says: “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). That’s fervent gratitude.
I know Lutherans are sometimes accused of being reserved, is this justified? To a degree. I would bet that most Christians are probably reserved when it comes to telling others about Jesus, most of the time, and it’s a shame. When we say the LWML pledge we say something else: “Our voice to sing His praises, our lips to proclaim His redeeming love.” We should be raising our voices to the Heavens! Praise the Lord for your forgiveness, your baptism, the Lord’s Supper, eternal life! Praise Him for all the material blessings He provides every day. And if you can’t sing, that’s okay. Praise Him so everyone knows who you are. In the last Psalm, Psalm 150, we say: “Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens! Praise Him for His mighty deeds; praise Him according to His excellent greatness! Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp! Praise Him with tambourine and dance; praise Him with strings and pipe! Praise Him with sounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!” What an assortment of voices and instruments! Can you imagine what church would sound like if we had a tenth of that much joy?
Praising God isn’t just about praising Him, it’s about praising Him to others! Tell others of this Gospel, this Good News, that’s for all people! God wants everyone to be saved and there is no greater news than that. Let Him use you as His megaphone! Just tell the story! Tell what Jesus has done for you, tell them about forgiveness and hope. And where can you do this? Everywhere! Just look at the harvest fields. Paul says, “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” There are so many people who need your beautiful feet! You’ve got the Good News!
An accusation frequently leveled against the church is that it’s too focused on money. While some churches are, I think it’s an unfair accusation. Sometimes though we do have to address the topic of money and in the pledge we promised to consecrate “our silver and our gold to extend His Kingdom.” The over two million in mites the women will give in 2025-2027 fund worthwhile projects that serve those who need God’s help. Your offerings are crucial for the work of Emmanuel and the Church at large. Did you know that if every family unit at Emmanuel gave four percent of their income to the church, our budget would triple? Imagine what we could do if we weren’t worried about our bills and we could focus on supporting missionaries, the Sac County Food Bank, and so many others! King Solomon encourages us to “Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce” (Prov 3:9). Before you budget eating out or new clothes, set aside you offering. To give our offerings to God first is a joyful act done in fervent gratitude for the blessings He richly and daily provides.
In the last portion of the pledge, we offered “our will to do His will, and every power of our life to the great task of bringing the lost and the erring into eternal fellowship with Him.” Missionaries are usually considered those who go to other countries to spread the Good News. You too are to be missionaries wherever God has placed you. Did you know that the United States receives more missionaries than any other country? Thirty-two thousand missionaries come to our country every year to start churches, to assist existing churches, and to spread the Gospel. That’s a shocking figure which tells us that if other nations are sending missionaries here, maybe we American Christians need to up our game and work in the harvest fields.
He chose you for something great! He chose you to be His own and He chose you to share that with others. This is an awesome responsibility and blessing. Jesus says, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40). When we live out the LWML Pledge, and more importantly, the vows of our baptism, others will be blessed. Today we praise God for the women of the LWML. We also praise God for all those who serve Him. And we praise God for those who come to faith through us as they witness our lives of fervent gratitude.
Amen
Now the peace which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen