1

| P a g e

The Harvest Is Plentiful

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ September 4, 2016

Introduction

As I contemplate Labor Day these words come to mind: The harvest is plentiful

the workers are few. (Matthew 9:37). What are we working for? What is our purpose?

What is it that guides and motivates us? Who directs us? Jesus work was guided by a

two-fold purpose: Announcing and Enacting the Kingdom of God.

This is what we, as laborers for God are also called to do and it is not

easy. We do this within the context of whatever role we have been called by God. Saint

Paul writes, Whatever you do, do it for the Lord. (Col 3:2).

Today a great worker for the Lord has been honored ~ Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

She has been officially recognized as a hero of the church for her faithfulness, courage,

and tireless work for the poor and the forgotten. You see as Christians we believe

in a bottom up way of thinking; as whatever ever you do to the least of

these, you have done to Christ. As Methodist, we believe that we are called to

make disciples and change the world. These are the traits that Mother Teresa embodied

in her life and work.

Again, it is not easy. She gives us a powerful example and witness as she received

a call and answered it. During her call she struggled, she doubted, she questioned, and

at times was deeply depressed. She once told someone her depression was so bad that if

ever made a saint it would be The Saint of Darkness.

2 | P a g e

Sacred scripture reminds us today of just how hard this work is but

we are called.

1. Jesus gives us these really difficult and confusing words about leaving

home and hating family and even our own life to follow him.

2. Jeremiah shares YWHs description of us as clay pots and he, YHWH, as

the potter.

3. And the Psalmist describes the mystery of our relationship with YHWH in

which he is intimately involved and present in every aspect of our lives,

even if we cannot feel it. Not only is our relationship with him a mystery,

but also our creation, and life itself.

The Call ~ Leaving Home

We first must hear and recognize the call. Jesus tells us that, Unless you hate

mother, father, wife, children, brothers, and even life itself, you cannot

follow me. His words are hard and confusing. Is he advocating walking away from

lifes responsibilities? Absolutely not. But what he is saying is we must leave home

psychologically, spiritually emotionally, and rationally in order to follow him. Many of

us, many of my clients have never left home. They have physically left but are still tied to

home psychologically, emotionally, and in their thinking. This is what Jesus means.

All families pass on values, dreams, and expectations for children. Home is a

comfort zone, physically and in the ways we have been taught to think. This is what

Jesus means when he says one must hate his life. Leaving home internally allows us to

see the world differently and begin to question those old ways of seeing, thinking, and
3 | P a g e

feeling that may not be working for us. Perhaps we are being led to adopt different

values that are different: moral, career, or cultural. Home is not only where the heart is

but also our minds and hearts.

Another of those may be how we see God and our relationship to him. Again, this

may speak to hating our lives ~ maybe the status quo. We need to develop a sense of

identity separate from family in order to know who God made us to be and what he calls

us to do in this world. It is then that we see the world with new eyes, ears, and hearts.

Until then we cannot really answer Jesus call.

Carry Your Cross

Mother Teresa heard and responded to a distinct call from God in September

1946 and that call was to serve the poor in Calcutta. But in 1950s she wrote in her

journal:

Lord my God, who am I that You should forsake me? I call, I cling, I want

~ and there is no One to answer ~ no One on whom I can cling ~ no One.

(Gerson, 2007).

Notice the psalm-like quality of her words, the loneliness, frustration, and pain.

This is reminiscent of Psalm 22, the words of Jesus as he hung on the cross, My God,

my God why have you forsaken me.

Her depression came after working in the depths of misery in Calcutta among

lepers, the dying, and in unimaginable poverty. Much of what she did was to pull the
4 | P a g e

dying out of the gutter, clean them up, and provide them with a place to die in dignity

and comfort.

She began to doubt that she was up to the task of her call. There were times it

seemed overwhelming and she even wondered if God even existed. However; she

continued to follow the call, doing one of the toughest jobs on earth. She later wrote to

her spiritual advisor: I accept, not in my feelings but with my will ~ the Will

of God ~ I accept his will.

I can testify as one who also helps those suffering, that you cannot do this type of

work and not be unscathed by what you see and hear. Frankly, why would you want to?

It is through this experience of empathy and connection that we connect with others

their experience, and the suffering of Christ. It is in carrying the cross and

union of suffering ~ a trinity of sorts that transforms it all. It is not easy, just

as Jesus promised; but, what is so exciting that to carry on in the midst of doubt,

frustration, and depression reveals the hand of God. (Colson, 2007).

Faith & Doubt

Even when we feel alone, God is present in the silence and those times when

strength seems to come from places, times, and people we did not expect. Some

religions promise a release or freedom from suffering. But our faith does not give

us that type of assurance. What it does tell us is that grace is found in the

midst of such suffering ~ even in the worst. (Gerson, 2007). The psalmist today
5 | P a g e

reminds us that God is always present in faith and doubt, community or isolation, plenty

or lack, and in joy and sorrow.

Andrew Solomon in his TED Talk on depression shared these words: What we

need most we give to others. After hearing this Mothers words make more sense.

What she needed for herself she gave to us and we all benefited ~ little pep talks like,

We are not called to be successful but to be faithful. We are to do small

acts with great love. Pretty good advice ~ hard but good advice. But stop and

think what could happen if everyone in the world actually followed these two pieces of

advice.

Conclusion

Will we dare to hear and accept the call of Jesus to make the Kingdom of God

visible? Will we be freed by the things we leave behind? (Card, M.) Will we embrace the

suffering of the world, in whatever role we are as workers, to make it just a little better?

Most importantly, God is for us and loves these clay pots. He will mold us and fill

us. But we have to follow Mother Teresas example and finally get to a point that we can

say, I accept.