Taking Precedence over all Else
Mark 3:20-35
Many years ago the Roman Catholic Church wanted to record something of the life and ministry of Mother Teresa in Calcutta. For a number of days, a camera crew went with her in her journeys throughout the city. One day in the back streets of the city, Mother Teresa came across a man in a gutter who was sick and dying. It was a horrible sight to see. The man’s body was full of running sores. The smell was almost unbearable. Mother Teresa stopped, called for a basin of water, a cloth, and a towel, knelt down, and began to wash the body of the dying man. Someone off camera said, “I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars.” Mother Teresa, without looking up, answered “Neither would I”
No, Mother Teresa didn’t do what she did for any amount of money. She had a higher purpose – to express unconditional love in every possible way and to serve the needs of others. :It took precedence over all else
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In Today’s Gospel the Gospel we find Jesus going about his service for others healing and “casting out demons”. People complained about it. They said he was in league with Satan because he didn’t quite fit their expectations. Even his family tried to restrain him. He didn’t seem to be going about his life in the right way. He went beyond the religious rules as he went about his ministry. He even healed on the Sabbath. There are a lot of religious people, even today, who are more concerned about being right than being compassionate. Jesus faced this kind of opposition knowing that he had a higher purpose in life. His life was centered in a service of love and compassion toward others. It was the kind of life that was lived for others. He has been even referred to as “The Man for Others” by some people who have been motivated by his lifestyle. He would in the end give his life so that others might live. No one has greater love than to lay down their life for others. We get the picture in this Gospel reading that this self giving love was to take precedence over everything else, over every other kind of commitment. It was a way of life that took precedence even over the comforts of home and hearth and family commitments, and over the rejection of others. He saw it a the will of God and took precedence over what was seen to be the best intentions of human beings.
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He said that his true brothers and sisters were the ones who followed the same lifestyle of service to others as the will of God. He was forming a new community – the “family of God”. I think that the chief purpose of any church congregation should be to nurture people in this way of life. Most congregations spend some time to do this or at least talk about it, and the say things in their mission statements like this:
We are a Christian family, called by God
and led by the Holy Spirit
Our mission is to know Christ
To be Christ’s presence in the world
and to reflect His love and compassion.
But, there is always the question: Do we really believe it so that we actually live it? Episcopal priest and author Barbara Brown Taylor writes,
“If Jesus were in charge of an average congregation I figure there would be about four people left there on Sunday mornings, and chances are those four would be fooling themselves. Jesus would greet newcomers by saying, “Are you absolutely sure you want to follow this way of life? It will take everything you have. It has to come before everything else that matters to you. Plenty of people have launched out on it without counting the cost, and as you can see they are not here anymore. The other thing is, if you succeed, if you really follow me, it will probably get you killed. Why don’t you go home and think it over? I would hate for you to get in over your head.”
(Barbara Brown Taylor, Bread of Angels, Cowley Publications, 1997 p. 47)
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Certainly these are challenging words by Barbara Brown Taylor, so what are we to do in the face of this challenge. I believe it means a daily commitment on our part. We have to commit ourselves to this way of life not just once but every day. Max Lucado has a very interesting way of choosing that way of life in chapter called Choice in his book When God Whispers Your Name. (Word Publishing 1994, p. 73-75). He bases it on choosing to live according to the fruits of the Spirit that we find in Galatians 5.
IT’S QUIET. It’s early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming. In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met.
For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day’s demands. It is now that I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I’m free to choose. And so I choose.
I choose love ...No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.
I choose joy …I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical … the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.
I choose peace …I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.
I choose patience …I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.
I choose kindness …I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.
I choose goodness ...I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.
I choose faithfulness ...Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.
I choose gentleness …Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.
I choose self control …I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I choose self control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self control.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek his grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head an my pillow and rest.
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There are other ways to commit ourselves a daily. Choose your own way of committing your life daily. It is a way of of committing ourselves to continue day by day living the higher purpose. Think about it, then act upon it..
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