|
Sermon for Evensong Today has been set aside as a day to remember Mother Teresa. The choice of today is a little unfortunate because in all the fun and celebrations of father’s day, I fear that in many New Zealand households Mother Theresa will have been forgotten about. As I prepared for our special Father’s Day Service this morning at 9.30am, I found myself excising a couple of verses from the set Gospel Reading from Luke: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother his wife and children his brothers and sisters- yes even his own life he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple”. It seemed a little insensitive to include these verses in a Father’s Day service, yet they are important prophetic words that speak into our understanding of discipleship. “Hate his father” is a vivid hyperbole exhorting us to love Jesus even more than our immediate family. This comment comes at the end of a series of exhortations about putting things of the world, our wealth, our leisure, our time and now our families ahead of our relationship and commitment to Jesus. Just as property can come between us and the kingdom of God, so can family ties. The interests of God’s kingdom must be paramount with the followers of Jesus. Everything else must take second place, even family ties. It jars somewhat hearing Jesus encouraging us to hate, especially when we remember the many times he commands us to love, be loving and to sacrifice our own interests in the interests of unconditional love, for the most obvious example see his parable of the Good Samaritan. However, we must remember that in the biblical idiom, to hate can mean to love less. The central point is that no relationship, even one’s family, should be more important to us than our relationship with God. One woman who took this challenge seriously, was Mother Teresa. She was born in southeastern Europe, Albania, in 1910 and grew to become a tiny nun among the destitute masses of Calcutta’s slums. In time her work grew to span the globe, causing her to become one of the best known and most highly respected women in the world. She was the winner of many awards including the Nobel Peace Prize. She was personally acquainted with popes presidents and royalty. Yet, she never hesitated to do the most menial tasks and one of her oft repeated themes was the need for humility in how we behave and relate. Today there are over 4ooo religious sister and brothers internationally in the 107 houses founded by the Missionaries of Charity. As a girl Mother Teresa lived a happy and well-adjusted life along with her brother and sister. She enjoyed life in a close knit family: “We were all very united especially after the death of my father. WE lived for each other and made every effort to make one another happy. We were a very united and a very happy family.” She wrote in her biography that it was her mother who always said: “Keep in mind that even those who are not our blood relatives even if they are poor, are still our brethren.” At the age of 12 she felt her fist gentle calling to the religious and missionary life. Under the guidance of her parish priest who was a Jesuit, she developed an interest in missionary outreach and at the age of 18 she joined the Loretto order of nuns and made her way to India. In 1946 she felt a call to leave the order of Loretto and to live permanently amongst the poor of Calcutta. At this time she donned the white sari with the blue border that was to become the uniform of the order that she would eventually found, the missionaries of charity. Orphans, lepers, aids sufferers and the poor of Calcutta all felt the benefits of Mother Teresa’s calling. Her calling took her away from the comfort of her home. Her mother and her sister both died without seeing her. The Albanian government refused to grant her mother permission to visit Theresa. Mother Theresa made her relationship with Jesus the focus of her life. She took the call of Jesus seriously “Whoever would be my disciple, let them take up their cross and follow me”. She was a woman of constant prayer. She prayed with her community at Mass every morning before going out to work. She prayed again each evening in the quiet chapel and she prayed throughout the day wherever she found herself. Her desire to be a disciple of Jesus was her first priority and this led her down a path of sacrificial love for all who needed love care and attention. It was sacrificial, as was the love that took Jesus to the Cross. “Unless you take up your cross and follow me you cannot be my disciple.” Mother Teresa took this challenge seriously and it showed in her daily life and in her writings which speak prophetically into our lives also. In her life and work she offers us the challenge: What might we give up or take on if we are to authentically take up our cross and follow Jesus? I would like us to reflect on some of the wisdom that we find embedded in her writings tonight. Perhaps one or two of the statements recorded in her writings may hold a key for you that will open the door to the next phase in your journey as a follower of Jesus:
Be faithful in small
things because it is in them that your strength lies.
May we find it within our faith journey to do likewise. |
