Waiting in line = a spiritual discipline
Some time ago Raul, a fellow minister at Arlington heights UMC, shared with me a bit from a sermon he heard in which the preacher was sharing the story of Jesus being baptized.
Reflection on a Mother Theresa prayer
Mother Theresa of Calcutta:
Make us worthy, Lord, to serve your children throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them, through your hands, this day their daily bread, and by our understanding love, give peace and joy. Amen.
The opening words, “Make us worthy to serve” stick out to me.
It seems to that in order to be worthy to serve the poor I need to have a relationship with the poor. I think the voice of loved ones is more “worthy” than the voice of a stranger because I have a relationship with them. I understand that in order to be worthy to serve someone I must be in relationship with them.
But how do I get in relationship with someone? I spend time with them.
I spend time with them to become worthy and in becoming worthy I am able to serve others. And the more I serve the more time I send with others and the more time I spend with others the more the relationship becomes worthy.
It is a paradox.
I think it is a chicken and egg paradox, what comes first the relationship or worthiness?
Just because we have we think we have an obligation to serve others. This does not mean that we are worthy of service. Otherwise the prayer would say something like, “Allow us to serve your children” and not “Make us worthy”.
In America when you graduate you are not given a job as you walk across the stage.
A job is something you have to earn. You build a resume, gain experience, and solicit references all in an attempt to prove you are worth to gain employment.
Just because you and I have fish on our bumpers, crosses around our necks and give an hour of worship on Sunday doesn’t mean we are worthy to serve the poor.
Christianity is built on paradox. God said to Moses, I am what I am or I will be what I will be. Jesus said faith as a mustard seed can move mountains. Jesus also said, gain your life and loose it, loose you life and gain it. Paradox runs throughout our faith and it is dominate in this prayer.
How do you and I become worthy of serving the poor? The next line says it – we go and work with the poor.
Only in working with the poor do we become worthy enough to work with the poor.
It is a paradox. What comes first?
We do not sit and wait for a divine moment which confers on us the privilege to work with the poor. We are worthy only in serving, and we serve to gain worthiness.
Paradox.
The question that has stayed with me is, “Are we worthy to serve the poor?”
Hey homeless people! You need to give more…
I was at the church on the slab on I30 and Rosedale this past Sunday. The “Slab” is a church for the homeless which is assembled and disassembled each Sunday. There is a regular preacher who comes from a Pentecostal tradition. During the sermon the preacher went on and on (even in the form of a call and response with the community) about how those gathered there were going to give more in 2009 than in 2008. I was struck by this because these were homeless people with nothing. I mean these folk are having to settle at the end of the worship service for size 9 shoes when they wear a size 10. They do not have much at all.
I understand the importance of giving no matter how much you have. I have no problem with preaching that we should give. The issue is with the word and concept of giving MORE.
When I look at the story and message of Jesus, when he encountered people and told them to give more it was always those who had a lot to give. He commended the widow who gave a very small amount. I cannot recall a time when Jesus encountered a poor person and said to them, “You are poor, sick and without a family. You need to give more.”
I guess it made me think. I cannot preach to every community and so perhaps this makes sense to this community. Getting the homeless to give more is something that does not make sense to me.
So if you are homeless and you are reading this on the Internet (probably on a community computer at a library or something), you need to give more in 2009 than you did in 2008. Hopefully that makes sense to you, but you may not want to check the message of Jesus because I think you may be disappointed.
Great Commission and standing in line
What makes the “Great Commission” so much greater than other commissions in the Bible?
I heard sometime ago an interpretation of Jesus getting baptized. When he was getting baptized he stood in a line. Rich people do not stand in lines, only poor people stand in lines. If you are rick you can skip the line or jump to the front, if you are poor you are pushed back and forced in line. Jesus stood in line and so should we. The line is where the poor and marginalized are. Standing in line… need to do more thinking on that
