Sermon Central
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A Simple Path Series
Contributed by Chris Surber on Aug 23, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: Mother Teresa spent her life living out her faith, serving others – may it be said of us that we did the same. When we serve others we plant seeds of love in their hearts. When we serve others the fruit of love grows in our hearts.
A Simple Path, I Corinthians 16:14
Introduction
“We have all been created for greater things – to love and to be loved. Love is love, to love a person without any conditions, without any expectations. Works of love are works of peace and purity. Works of love are always a means of becoming closer to God, so the more we help each other, the more we really love God better by loving each other.
Jesus very clearly said, ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’ Love in action is what gives us grace. We pray and, if we are able to love with a whole heart, then we will see the need.
Those who are unwanted, unloved, and uncared for become just a throwaway of society – that’s why we must really make everybody feel wanted. There is something else to remember – that this kind of love begins at home.
We cannot give to the outside what we do not have on the inside. This is very important. If I can’t see God’s love in my brother and sister then how can I see that love in somebody else? How can I give it to somebody else? Everybody has got some good. Some hide it, some neglect it, but it is there.”
These words were written by a Roman Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her humanitarian work in that region. For over forty years, she ministered to the needs of the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying in Calcutta, India.
Scripture
1 Corinthians 16:14 says, “Let all that you do be done in love.” (ESV)
Transition
Of late, I have been investing time into the study of the lives of great men and woman of faith. In the coming weeks I’ll be sharing with you many of the things I’ve learned from the lives of these servants of God. This morning we will be examining the life of a great woman of faith, Mother Teresa.
Mother Teresa was a simple woman with a simple faith who lived her life walking along a simple path of loving God completely and loving people unconditionally.
Mother Teresa is a worldwide household name. Nearly everyone has some kind of opinion about her.
Some view her as a living saint, while others see her as an extraordinary missionary.
When we take a look beyond the public view of Mother Teresa we find that her faith and her clarity of purpose give us powerful lessons in the ways of loving, serving, and respecting our fellow human beings.
When we examine the principals that live by, we find that she walked a simple path which can be followed by anyone in any place. This morning I’ll share with you the five principals which guided her life.
Principal 1: The Fruit of Silence is Prayer.
“I always begin my prayer in silence, for it is in the silence of the heart that God speaks. God is the friend of silence – we need to listen to God because it’s not hat we say but what He says to us and through us that matters.”
What do our prayer lives say about us? What do we pray for? What do we pray about? I’m reminded of the pious old gentleman of an earlier generation who used to get up regularly at prayer meeting in his church to pray: “Use me, O Lord, use me – preferably in some advisory capacity!”
In Matthew 6:5-7 Jesus said, “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you (openly)” (ESV)
The kind of prayer that Mother Teresa is talking about is the kind of “prayer which enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God himself.”
God is concerned about our needs, and we should pray for those things. But how much more should we listen for the voice of God directing us along the path of our lives? How much more do we need to be empowered by God through prayer?
If you are searching for God and don’t know where to begin, learn to pray every day. You can pray anywhere, wherever you are. You can pray as you drive to work. You can pray while you are at work.
God’s ear is largest enough to hear even a silent whisper of prayer and His voice is loud enough to speak to you wherever you are.
