Sermon: Pointing to Jesus

Mary Poplin, in her book Finding Calcutta, tells this story about an encounter a woman had with Mother Teresa:

One morning during Mass, a well-dressed Indian woman rushed in and threw herself at Mother’s feet. She began to bow to her and kiss her hands and feet. Mother Teresa’s face became stern and she pointed to the crucifix on the wall directly across the room. At first I thought she was motioning that the Mass was in session and that the woman should be more reverent. But the woman continued her adulation. Then I saw Mother take the woman’s hands in hers and point them to the crucifix. She said something in a language I did not understand and then firmly in English, "It is not me, it is him. Give your thanks to him." The woman stopped, looked up, looked at Mother, looked at the cross, sat still for several minutes and then left. p. 30

I find this story uplifting each time I read it because it helps me remember what it means to follow our Lord and Savior as we seek to be witnesses and make disciples of all nations–both of these being the central commands Jesus gave to His followers. In the past several weeks I have spoken about what it means to be a witness to Jesus, and last week I emphasized reflecting Him into the world. This week, the focus shifts a little bit as we look at what that means for you and me as we witness and as people respond to that witness.

Our second lesson this morning begins with these words, "16We know love by this, that he–Jesus–laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. 17How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? 18Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action."

John is pulling no punches with you and I as we live in relationship with one another. He says beyond doubt that if we have the world’s goods, if we see a brother or sister who needs help, if we refuse to help that brother or sister, then we do not have God’s love within us. A follower of Jesus is generous. Plain and simple. There is to be no hesitation on our part. If there is a need, we help. Case closed. Love does not take only the form of words and speech. These are cheap. They are easy to come by. They require nothing on our part. But Christian love is not love grounded in word and speech, it is grounded in truth and in action.

Which brings us back to Mother Teresa. If one reads the accounts of Mother Teresa, one knows that over the course of the ministry she led, she received millions of dollars of donations in money and food. They poured in to the Sisters of Charity, and they gave it away. Money was like a revolving door in Calcutta and in other places where the Sisters established houses to care for the poor and needy. It came in, and it went out to the poor. It bought food. It bought medical supplies. It bought whatever was needed at any particular time. There was little thought of keeping it for themselves. It would all go to those in need.

Did the Sister’s save some for a rainy day? You bet they did, and it cost them to do it. For the Sisters fasted one day a week, and the money they would have spent on food for themselves, they saved to give away when dire circumstances hit. They never kept it for themselves. They understood it to be God’s goods for those who needed it.

Now, when a group truly lives by Jesus’ commands and they truly seek to love not in word or speech but in truth and action, people come from all around to get aid. People come from all around for assistance and prayer and healing. The Sisters of Charity do their best in every occasion, and sometimes when someone is helped–when someone is touched by the love these Sisters practice, they will come to offer their thanks. But do the Sisters accept it for themselves? Remember the story I told to start this sermon?

No. They seek to point to Jesus. They know it is not themselves doing anything but Christ doing such things through them. They want no honor. They want no glory. They want no prestige. They want Jesus to receive all these things. Love in truth and action leads a person to point to Jesus not to themselves. This is a crucial aspect of what it means to be a witness in this day and age. Why?

Well, in all honesty, most of the time churches do not do things to point the way to Jesus. I hate to admit that being a pastor, but I think it’s true. Too often we start a ministry or do something in the community or make some sort of a social statement or what have you, to get our name out there, to get more members, or to make sure we don’t lose any members. We get caught in the self-preservation game instead of bearing witness to Jesus.

I mean, think about this for a moment. If someone came up to you and asked you, "Why should I go to your church?", what would you say? Odds are, you’d say one of a few things. You might say, "Our church is very friendly and outgoing. It feels like a family." Or, you might say, "Our church has a lot of stuff for people to do. We’ve got a strong youth program and neat fellowship opportunities for every group possible." Or you might say, "Our pastor is very dynamic. He preaches great sermons which connect faith to daily life." Or you might say, "We perform a lot of community service in our neighborhood. We really try to make a difference in the world in all that we do."

Now, none of these things are inherently bad. Not in the least. Some of them are pretty good reasons for perhaps joining a church, but where is Jesus in that mix? How come, for the most part, when someone asks us why we should join a particular church we don’t respond with these words or something similar, "You should become a part of this church because we try to help you meet Jesus. We try to help you get in touch with Him so that He may change your life."? Do you see the difference in the response?

Love in truth and action almost requires us to say the latter. We are, of course, free to say what we wish, but we must ask ourselves what is the best way to be a witness: pointing to ourselves, or pointing to Jesus. Remember, if we point to ourselves, we are only offering a reflection of Jesus and not the true picture. And that makes a big difference. How so?

In my previous congregation, the music director once shared a devotion with us in regards to tuning instruments. He told us that to properly tune a group of instruments, it is best to use a tuning fork. One cannot tune a piano and then use that piano to tune the next. When tunes a piano by another piano, the quality of the tune diminishes just a little. If one repeats the process over and over and over, the final instrument is nowhere near in tune. If, however, one tunes every piano to the tuning fork, all pianos resonate the same sound.

Such is the case if we allow others to turn to us or to a church or to a pastor or to anyone who is human–who is saint and sinner. They might resonate with a sound or two, but they will not be tuned by the Master Musician himself. They will not be tuned correctly. To be an effective witness to Jesus, we must be like Mother Teresa, pointing others to Christ and not to ourselves. This, coupled to our acts of kindness and generosity, is truly love in action. Amen.