Saturday, February 25, 2012

Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.

Luke 5:32

    

     Mother Teresa is a modern day saint.  A woman known for her faith and her endless work of bringing the gospel to the poor and sick of Calcutta.  One day a man was visiting Calcutta and had the opportunity to meet Mother Teresa.  He told her how he longed for the clarity she seemed to possess and asked if she would pray that he would have the same clarity in his life.  She laughed and said "I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust.  So I will pray that you trust God." 

    What a comfort it is to realize that even the saints of our day need to rely on God.  If there is anyone to point to as one of the truly righteous people, it would be her.  Yet, it is her wisdom in her awareness of her humanness and need for repentence and her trust that God has indeed redeemed her that she is able to work to spread the truth of the Gospel to the world.  Trust is her wisdom.

     To trust in God so completely, is an enormous challenge.  Our egos like to be in the driver's seat, to run the show.  However, because of our humanness, when we're in the driver's seat, we will inevitably scratch the paint or crash the car.  But there is hope in this Gospel today - Jesus came for us - -  the not-so-perfect, saint-in-training, often times called "sinner".  Jesus is calling us into relationship with him so that repentance and reconciliation may occur.  He's not seeking the saint, he's seeking the sinner.

     Today, let us live in trust.  Let us seek to discover our imperfections and bring them to our loving God knowing that they will be forgiven and we are redeemed.  Let us remember, in the words of Oscar Wilde, that "every saint has a past and every sinner has a future."

 Prayer:  God of grace and mercy, we come to you today in our humanness.  We give you thanks for seeking us out; for loving us just as we are at this moment in time. We bring you our imperfections and ask that you heal them and teach us the way of trust.  Help us to gain the wisdom we need to share the truth of your love, mercy, and justice to all of your children.