Readings
for Easter 4C:
Acts 13:15-16, 26-33; Psalm 100; Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30
May 2, 2004
The Rev. Mary B. Blessing
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
Today I want to talk to you about Incarnational Spritiuality. Jesus is asked, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Jesus' answer: the Father and I are One. To say he is one with God is to say Jesus is the incarnate son of God--the Christ, the anointed one. How can the Eternal Being be alive in mortal flesh? Jesus says, "the works that I do in my Father's name testify to me." (Jn. 10:25) Jesus' works, not his words, bear witness to the truth that he is one with God. Jesus' works which reveal God, are what Richard Foster of the Renovare spritual renewal series, says is Incarnational Spirituality.
Incarnational Spirituality makes visible the realm of the invisible spirit. If you are incarnational in your spirituality, you show forth God's presence in your actions--not just talking about loving others, but doing loving acts, acts of love that bring new life, acts of love that are felt, acts of love that make visible the invisible healing power of Christ.
Jesus showed God's presence in all that he did. People followed Jesus because they experienced God's love in action. They followed Jesus because the powerful presence of God revealed in his actions "spoke" to their hearts. They felt the power of God in his good works, and they heard God's truth in his words. I believe Jesus looked people straight in the eye, called them by their name, and told them, "I love you."
How are we, today, 2000+ years after Jesus' death to experience this Incarnational Spirituality of Jesus Christ? How are we to hear his voice and respond? How are we to make visible the invisible spirit of Christ? Most people see this love in action through the lives of others before we ourselves catch the spark that ignites Christ in our hearts. We experience Christ's presence through contact with others who have deep Incarnational Spirituality--we don't have to "know" such a person directly: we can read about their good works, or we can hear about them from a friend, or we may even see a film of such a person.
One of the most powerful films of a person living a completely Incarnational Spirituality is the life of Mother Teresa. Her spirituality is so tangible it can be felt with disarming power even on film. I first saw this film in the 1980's. It moved me to take the final leap of faith to respond to a call to attend seminary, a call that had echoed in my heart since childhood, but was denied because I was the wrong gender.
This young Albanian girl knew when she was 12 that Christ called her to serve the poor. She says, "God speaks in the silence of the heart, and we listen. The person whom Christ has chosen for himself, she knows. Maybe she doesn't know how to express it, but she knows." (MOTHER TERESA, film by Ann & Jeanette Petrie)
Born into a well to do family that later lost everything when her father died young, the woman who would be called Mother Teresa joined an Irish Convent at 18 years old. She chose the Loretta Sisters because they ministered in Calcutta, India; she wanted to reach "the poorest of the poor." Calcutta epitomized human poverty. But she was placed as a teacher in a private school for wealthy Indian girls; she had virtually no contact with the poor of Calcutta. After more than15 years of teaching geography to these young girls, she had an unexpected new calling: while taking the train on a retreat she heard the voice of Christ calling her to leave the girls school. She was to take a vow of extreme poverty, to go out into the streets of Calcutta to pick up the dying, clean them up, feed them, give them the love they deserve so they could die a dignified death.
When Sister Teresa's administrative priest first went to her bishop to ask permission to release her to work in the streets, the bishop's response was this: "I remember Sister Teresa from her days as a novice. She could not even light the candles on the altar, and now you are asking me to put her in charge of a whole new order?" The priest prevailed, Sister Teresa underwent an intensive year's training as a nurse, and was eventually given permission to leave, to begin a new work. Mother Teresa says it was the call of Jesus that brought her out into the streets in 1948. It was her love of Christ that led her to give up all that she had, owning nothing but a $1.00 Indian Sari. She, and a handful of her pupils who vowed to serve with her, began by picking up an abandoned man in the street. A worm infested, immaciated, delerious from malnutrition, nearly dead man. The stink was so bad no one would go near him.
As she cradled his head feeding him, she looked deep within his eyes, smiling. He gasped, saying, "Why do you do this for me?" She said simply, "Because I love you." She did not see a repulsive human body decaying in the streets-- she saw Christ dying in the street. Her love of Christ, her complete attachment to Christ's call to "serve the least of these who are my brothers and sisters", this is what led Mother Teresa to be Christ incarnate, to make visible the invisible spirit of Christ. Loving first one person, then another, then another. Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Communist...she says...it didn't matter. They are all children of God, infinitely loved by God, and she was going to do what she could do to reach as many as possible, to love them as Christ loved them.
Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity grew to a world-wide ministry. She and her sisters went to the heart of every place of poverty and neglect, loving one person at a time, feeding, healing, and bringing joy where there was sorrow. In 1982 she went to Beirut, Lebanon, and insisted her priest friends support her in rescuing abandoned children caught in the cross-fire between the Israeli and Palenstinean fighters. The priests resisted saying, it is a good idea, but not possible. Mother, you cannot go get those children, you will be killed. She said, "No Father, it is not an idea, it is our duty." She insisted, saying we must be willing to risk our lives for Jesus. And, "If I had hesitated to pick up the first dying man on the streets of Calcutta I never would have picked up 42,000. We must go and save one child, and then another, then another, until we save them all."
She said she wanted to speak with the American Ambassador to negotiate a cease fire, to get these children. She got her audience with the Ambassador. She told him she was praying to Our lady to grant a cease fire. She was confident this would happen before Our Lady's feast day--the next day. She insisted the Ambassador help her prepare. He said, but Mother, you are asking me to tell Israeli Prime Minister Begin to hold a cease fire with such short notice, he needs time. In utter confidence she insisted, Our Lady will allow the cease fire; the sisters are praying, it will happen. The next day, the Israelis and the Palenstinians called a cease fire. The Ambassador activated the Red Cross, and Mother Teresa went quickly with them to rescue the children. One by one she held them, she fed them, she told them that she loved them, and they smiled.
60 unhealthy, malnutritioned, spastic children in an orphanage because no one wanted them, with or without a war going on. They had physical disorders, mental disorders, and were considered a nuisance, but Mother Teresa gave them love. She and her sisters held them, offering a healing touch that relaxed their bodies and gave them a will to live. The power of Christ flowing through these women with Incarnational Spirituality shows a no nonsense, faithful love. A love that brings healing, dignity and hope to those castoff by humanity. The tangible presence of Christ can be seen and felt, even on film.
These stories are dramatic examples of the Power of Incarnational Spirituality. You may say, well, that's all very fine for a saint like Mother Teresa, but I am not called to give up all I have to join a convent or a monastery. How can I live an Incarnational Spirituality?
As Mother Teresa said, there is nothing special about her or her sisters doing this work. All are called to do what we can in our own context to reach the poor--poor in material goods, and poor in spirit. The Missionaries of Charity moved into wealthy countries when they began to realize there is an even greater poverty among the rich. Poverty of the spirit. She said it is easy to feed hungry bellies of the poor who have no food. When you give them bread you satisfy their hunger. But if you find a man terribly lonely, this is a much greater poverty. You can find Calcutta all over the world if you have eyes to see. Wealthy cities are filled with people who are neglected, lonely, and are not loved. In a talk at Harvard University, she encouraged all to look within their own familes and neighborhoods to find those who are lonely, neglected, isolated, and bring them joy. Offer them love in the name of Christ, give them a smile, look them in the eye and call them by name, as Christ loves them and calls them by name.
Do you know that we have children, mothers, fathers, single people, grandparents, aunts and uncles, right here at St. Jude's who are hungry to be loved? Hungry to have someone look them in the eye and call them by name, to ask how they are doing, to let them know Christ loves them?
I had a Bishop who amazed me with his ability to remember the names of people of his diocese, young, old, single, married, lay, ordained. I wondered how he could remember so many names, so I asked him. He said he loved them. When he met someone, he repeated their name outloud, said a silent prayer, asking Christ to bless them. He asked Christ to help him remember that person the next time they met. At the next encounter, he simply asked Christ to help him love them, and he remembered their name. We are told Jesus calls us each by name, so why not ask him to help us call each person by name? I decided I would try it. Usually, it works! You probably won't go to Calcutta, or enter the fray of battle to rescue abandoned children, but you might bring hope to the lonely by simply learning someone's name,then greet them by name, with Christ's love. To do so will add Incarnational Spirituality to your life. Why not try it today?
AMEN
| Updated 5/3/04 |
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