If someone were to describe what my historical figure inspirational mashup would be I always say it's a combination of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa. When I was in high school and college I used to read the books of her words and stories and I would cry out to God, "Lord give me the people nobody wants! God give me the jobs nobody else wants!" When I was watching the Wire I prayed that God would let me work in inner city Baltimore. Then I ended up working at Head Start in Baltimore city 2 miles away from Mondawmin Mall during the riots of 2015. We should be careful what we pray for...
Anyway, so I always want to spend my life on behalf of the poor. Once I was on the way home from a summer in India and I actually got to spend a 16 hour layover in Calcutta! I found my way to her mother house and got to see her tomb. My guest house was a room with a runny toilet that soaked the entire bathroom floor and had a squatty potty lid stuck on a western toilet. This room also had a switch with a red light and a mirror the length of my bed on the wall- dear Jesus I was afraid to touch anything or sleep on that bed!! I got back to my room via rickshaw pulled by an actual human being. As I watched the view of life unfolding before my eyes while I bobbed to the slow jaunt of the poor, skinny, dark Indian man pulling the cart I was sitting in, I watched a small child urinating in the gutter.
Calcutta was when I decided I no longer wanted to travel alone!
So I think I can safely assert that nobody has any problems with Mother Teresa. I think she is perhaps the least controversial person in the world. I think everyone would agree that her work was good and that is was of God. Mother Teresa always speaks of being the hands and feet of Jesus. But let me tell you something I struggled with as a young evangelical. Mother Teresa was NOT an evangelical! By this I mean she did not actually "proclaim" the Gospel. She did not seek to convert any of the least of the starving, dying, forgotten Hindus that she picked up from the gutters and wherever else they were dumped and left to rot.
When I watched the movie "The Letters" about her, I finally realized why this was. On one hand it was enough for her to just simply love the poor in the most basic, tangible way possible: a touch, some water poured on parched lips, the dignity of a bandage placed on rotting flesh after it was cleaned- Jesus personified as a human being seated near a cot while that poor soul took their last breath. But on the other hand there were some legit Hindu fundamentalists who would've dragged her and the nuns out in the street, burned down her buildings, and run her off. I worked on the issue of Christian persecution in India that summer I spent and in Delhi, and let me tell you, it is no joke! The Hindu fundamentalists burned an entire Australian missionary family alive in their house. They beat pastors in the south and burn down their villages so that they end up running for their lives.
Thus my fundamentalist evangelical younger self wondered if even after Mother Teresa had been the hands and feet of Jesus, was she TRULY doing the will of God (enough) because she was not trying to tell them about Jesus. Would those she helped still go to Hell?? Did they convert in some unspoken way that accepted Jesus without an outward confession? I bet if you are honest, you would have these thoughts too.
It seems rather silly now thinking that way. 1 John 3:18- Dear children let us not love with words or speech, but in action and in truth. We consistently see throughout the Bible that God desires to see us display our beliefs in how we relate to others and care for their needs. This message remains whether it is the prophets, or Jesus himself, or the Epistles.
I truly believe that the vast majority of Christians would like to live this way and are trying to do so. So why then is this not having the impact that it should? Why are so many leaving the church? Why is the Gospel message not being presented with demonstrable power?
Once again Jesus spells it out for us. He gives us this nice parable of the sower.
Matthew 13New International Version (NIV) 13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
I was meditating about why it seems so hard for the Christian community at large to actually put into action what they say they care about. Then the answer came to me there in verse 22... Christians hear the word and it takes root... BUT THEN... the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth chokes the word and makes it unfruitful. Sad.
Stress. Anxiety about work and bills. Always worrying about work and bills. The kids. School activity. Traffic. Dinner. Laundry. Repairs for the house. Donald Trump bringing about the Apocalypse!
And there it goes. There goes the Gospel. There goes all the love we might have otherwise had for our neighbor.
So that's why I'm writing this post. I want to provide some tangible ways to actually get back to being the hands and feet of Jesus. I am no guru. I just have had to find meaning in a very disappointing situation. I have nothing outside my tiny rowhome to give meaning to my life. So I have to live it.
First- I think the greatest way to be impactful in life and faith is to REMAIN PRESENT. For me yoga has been a tremendous help by teaching me the practice of mindfulness and meditation. These are not principles unique to yoga- King David meditated on the word. So in order to give the world (and this is mainly my family lately) I have to let a LOT go, find joy in every day wherever I can get it, and STAY PRESENT. Whether it is washing dishes, or changing diapers, or applying for jobs, I try to keep myself from focusing on the future, or ruminating over the past, or allowing myself to fume about something I'm upset about. I address the feelings, acknowledge them, and release them. This takes some practice, but it is powerful once you get the hang of it.
Then there is gratitude. You hear a lot about this in books so I don't feel the need to talk about this. Yesterday my family had a big setback and some days I just don't do a very good job at overcoming discouragement. I get impatient for a job. I want this poverty to end. I don't want to be endlessly trapped with my children. So I have to start being thankful for heat and water to drink and bathe my children in. I have to be thankful my children are not being shelled by bombs. That we have a home. There is SO much to be grateful for. Always.
Once you are present and grateful, then you can NOTICE OTHERS. This involves taking time to listen. To empathize. If you are stressed and anxious and resentful you won't be able to do that. This is where the seed gets choked. Never underestimate the power of doing little things every day to be considerate of others, whether it is acknowledging the janitor or bringing someone at work a little snack they enjoy. People notice these things, trust me! Little by little you are changing the atmosphere to be a little kinder. And most importantly you are cultivating things like compassion in yourself.
Then you can take larger steps. Invite a lonely person to join you for coffee. Then invite them into your house. Don't worry if it is clean or your meal is gourmet. It is more important to just do life. I think this element of Christian faith is most lacking in the church. And I'm not talking about leading a small group Bible study. I'm talking about just sitting at the same table. Sit on the couch. Talk.
THIS is where church becomes powerful. If you can just remove all the doctrine and the evangelism and just meet people where they are- THAT is when you become Jesus to someone.
No comments:
Post a Comment