“The” Servant of All
October 8th
† In the Name of Jesus, our Servant and Lord †
Grace, mercy and peace, given to you, a gift of God the Father, given through Jesus, who has served you, with His entire life…
The first part last, and the last part first….
Because it serves…
Paul was perhaps the best waiter I have ever had the pleasure of working with, and the most successful. He made nearly twice as much as the restaurant manager, and lived very well, off the money he made, working for 4 hours a day, from 6-10 a.m., Monday through Friday, at a Denny’s. He truly understood what service meant, and preferred to call himself a “server” than a “waiter”. Paul constantly turned down opportunities to go into management, or to work at more prestigious restaurants than the “denny’s” that we both worked. Well over 40, he found a niche in serving people.
It was interesting to watch him work, as our customers actually fought over getting into Paul’s section. To some of the businessmen, meeting prior to heading into the office, he was the perfect picture of discretion, quickly moving in and out of their hearing, silent and with little eye contact. They didn’t even know he was there, except that every need was met. To other’s he was the ultimate court jester, actually giving them ideas that he had picked up over the years. Not competitive ideas, but just general wisdom garnished over 25 years of waiting on business men, and corporation presidents. To one special table, of ladies well over 70, he was the perfect son, catering to every need.
He served, he was a servant, and did it well. Very well, and despite probably being able to succeed at much more lucrative positions, he found his joy, in serving those customers, he learned to know, and for whom he cared.
In today’s sermon, as we look at the three “dialogues” or “discussions” in the gospel reading, we shall see different attitudes towards being servants, attitudes that may mirror our own, or that may challenge our faith, for as we shall see, being a servant is matter of faith.
We will take them out of order, dealing with the second and third dialogues, and then the first. Because the first serves to finalize the discourse.
The Road Dialogue
What makes us seek out who is the best?
Competition? Insecurity? Jealousy?
In the second conversation, the gospel tells us that the disciples were arguing over who was the greatest. By the way, the word for arguing, which we will see in other places, is dialogue. Translated they talked thoroughly through the subject, leaving no point unconsidered.
Of the twelve disciples, there must have been, a little jealousy. For three of the disciples, Peter, James and John, got to do things apart from the nine. When the little girl was raised from the dead, they were there. When Jesus went took apostles to withness the transfiguration, it was those three. When in the garden of Gethsemane, it would be those three that he would go on with. Personally, I think they just needed more work than the others, they needed extra instruction, cause they were slow. But I can see the 9 thinking that Jesus had his “pet” apostles.
Even among the three, there seems to be a bit of competition. James and John’s mom came along, and asked Jesus that he make her sons the ones who sit on either side of his throne. Now, this could have just been a mother who wanted her sons to succeed (if she only knew what that meant though), but perhaps the sons of thunder wanted her to ask? How could Jesus turn down their mom? Peter is mentioned more than any apostle, and he does incredible things, like walk on water. He testifies that Jesus is the Christ, and is called the rock, upon which the church shall be built. Yet John is called, the “disciple who Jesus loved”, and perhaps, given all of Peter’s screw ups, John is a welcome relief!
I can see all of these points being made, and even some rivalry occurring, as the twelve jostle for position, in the hierarchy of the eventual Kingdom of the Messiah.
What is it in life, that makes us so competitive? What requires us to know, or at least feel like we are “better” than others? That causes us to not just want to win, but to trample others into the ground on the way? Television reality shows show this so well, as do books. Anyone remember Golding’s Lord of the Flies from high school? If we aren’t the best, we want our team, our group to be the best, we want to associate with the winners, not the losers.
What drives us, not to be individual successes, but to glory in that success? For that kind of attitude leads to jealously, or to provoking jealousy. Is it because winners are loved? That we are insecure about whether we are “any good”, or whether people really like us? Maybe we still fight for admiration, because it assures us of something that we doubt.
That we are loved, that we are appreciated by those that mean a lot to us. Or that failing those who mean something to us, we will gladly accept anyone’s pat on the back, anyone’s applause, anyone knowing that we are “something special”.
We are no different, than the apostles, on the back road to Capernaum. And so, when Jesus calls them together, to discuss their dialogue, there is a conversation that we need to here.
The Cathedral Dialogue
The maturity needed to serve
The recognition of need, met
There is an important need to understand the picture, that occurs in the Capernaum house. They arrive there, after their long walk. I imagine they start to go about their normal tasks, some helping with dinner, some laying out bedding for Jesus and the 12.
Then Jesus sits down, and like a father, needing to instruct his children in a hard lesson, He calls them all, to him. He wants their clear and undivided attention on this one, as he brings up their conversation on the road. I can imagine a nice pause, after he introduces the subject, as he makes eye contact with every single one of them.
Out of that silence, the words strike across the room, with a swift tone of conviction, "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” And the disciples realized the sin, of seeing who was the greatest. "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
Let me re-translate that a bit, using the imagery of the Greek. If anyone wants to be recognized as the pro, (for that is “the first” in Greek), they must come in last, assuring that all have been served and finished. Only the best, the strongest, the “pro”, has the capability of seeing the team, the community reach its goal, and still reach the goal himself. A great illustration of this, comes from my freshman year of high school.
That year, I ran cross-country, and loved it. There was something special about running like the wind, through the trees and fields, with a team of fellow runners, who also enjoy the run. But in one race, my first race with lots of runners, several hundred in fact, I was tripped up a the start. By the time I got back up, and brushed myself off, the pack was already into the woods, and out of sight. Running alone, knowing I was last, my pace slowed, and I got depressed. This wasn’t like practice, where we ran and had fun, this was horrid, and I slowed down to near a walk.
Eventually, the coach must have had a idea that something was wrong, and soon, I saw four of the varsity runners coming across a field, at full tilt. Sent to look for me, they came alongside, and slowly picked up my speed. Until again, I was running at full speed, perhaps even faster than I thought. They cheered me on, and at the stadium entrance, they stopped, and I ran the race, at full speed, for the last ½ mile, at full stride. They went back to stretching, and getting ready for their own race.
They were the pros at racing, Doug and Peter and Robert and Mike. They were capable of assisting, of serving me, and assuring I finished my course.
That is what servants do, they come alongside, and help. They make sure you complete what you start, whether it is a breakfast meeting, a cross-country race, or rehabilitation from surgery. It means that even the youngest children are treasured, and cared for, and raised to know God. That is the nature of being a servant. It means laying aside the sin of jealousy, or the sin of self-centeredness, the doubts of whether you are loved, or respected. To realize that the smile of one we have served, or the incredibly sincere “thank you” from someone who has accomplished what they could not, on their own, is worth more than all the treasure in life. That the hug given, because you took the time to pray, and assure someone that God was there with them – again, a treasure without comparison in the secular world.
There is a secret to developing a servants heart, a secret I will now give to you.
He who is the Pro served all
The first part of the story, last
The cross, is the ultimate service
It is found in the first conversation, where the apostles have trouble understanding Jesus’ words, and there was no way that they were going to ask.
Jesus words sound similar to those we heard in last week’s gospel, and we will hear them again, in weeks to come. “31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”" Mark 9:31 (ESV)
In those words, we find all the love that we need, in order to no longer chase being the greatest, or being the best, or being recognized as the “pro”. Jesus was delivered into the hands of those who would torture and beat him, and nail him to the cross. Because He loved us, and this was His way, of serving those around Him, the very people He valued, despite the mess they had made of their lives.
It is there that He made it possible for us to be re-created, to be born again in the waters of Baptism, to be given the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that we could be counted as Holy and righteous before God. Our sins forgiven, our lives made new, all in the work of the greatest servant, the one who made himself a servant, that He could serve us.
He again serves us, in the celebration of the His supper, where His body and blood is given fro us to eat and drink, that again, our faith in Him may be strengthened, that we would know, His love for us. So He invites us to share in the most intimate of meals, and so we rejoice!
Being a servant for my co-worker Paul was not a difficult thing, it didn’t mean much to him, that he didn’t have the job titles of those he served. He did his work well. The varsity runners sent by the coach, didn’t think of their race – they took great joy in pushing me beyond what I thought were my limits. Of my races, that is the one I remember, because of their service to me.
We become servants, and rejoice, because we were first served, in a way that still astounds us. For we were served by Jesus suffering and death, cleansed from our sin, given new life.
And truly is that servant of all, the greatest.
May we live life, praising Him, with the highest form of praise, giving our lives to serve.
For we have His grace and mercy and peace, even though we cannot comprehend how great it is. A gift from God the Father, which protects our hearts and minds, another service of Christ our Lord.
AMEN.
