“All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’.” (1 Peter 5:5)
Think about it. The Gospel has been heard by more people in the last two weeks than any other time in history. In fact, early estimates indicate that two and a half billion people watched the funeral for Princess Diana. If that’s true, then they also heard British Prime Minister Tony Blair read Scripture as the Church of England praised the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I don’t know of any other time in my life that more people have turned their thoughts toward God at the same time. Funerals invariably have a way of forcing us to face our own mortality, but God used this funeral to remind the entire world that there is hope for those who have Jesus.
God also used the death of old woman in India to remind us about other equally important characteristics of Christian living. Her death, at least in its early days, was overshadowed by the death of Princess Diana. But as the week progressed, we were again reminded from the life and work of Mother Teresa that whether you live in the palace or the poor house, none of us is worthy of God’s redeeming love.
Newspapers from all over the world published accounts that Mother Teresa last words were, “Jesus, I love you”. There is no doubt that she loved Jesus. Her life was a living testament to the love that the Apostle Paul described in 1 Corinthians and that Tony Blair used to eulogize Princess Diana: “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)
Mother Teresa dedicated her life to helping people she once described as the “poorest of the poor”. She showed us just what Jesus meant when he said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”. (John 15:13) Indeed, she loved Jesus and showed that love for him when she laid her own life aside to serve the poor.
There was one important characteristic about Mother Teresa that distinguished her from a lot of other Christians. She realized and openly professed that none of us was worthy of the love than God has shown for us. In fact, she once received a prestigious humanitarian award and told the audience which had assembled for the honor that she was not worthy of the recognition.
None of us is worthy of the grace and mercy that we have received. We are born to sin and could never accomplish alone what we can accomplish with Christ. Mother Teresa understood exactly what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, “What a wretched man I am!” (Romans 7:24) She also agreed with Paul who once said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13)
To God be the glory!
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