Verse for the week of September 20th:
Jesus sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ (Mark 9:35)
How countercultural!!
Does this make sense? Most of the time, if one wants to be first then you need to watch out for yourself. After all our culture tells us that you need to look out first and foremost for yourself since if you do not, no one else will.
Jesus calls us to a different standard. Jesus’ standard is that we seek not to be first, but last. To be first, we need to be a servant.
Within the church, a lot of time people think that there is a hierarchy—that is the power is on top. This however should not be the case—the reality is that the church should be an inverted pyramid with the leadership of the church on the bottom.
I can still remember the sermon that the Associate Pastor of my home church, Donald Pletcher, delivered at my ordination service. He told me and the congregation that while the world may see the ordination as a promotion (after all ordination made me a pastor and enable me to serve a congregation); ordination is actually a demotion. I was now called to be a servant—hence moving down the chart rather than up.
The easiest place to see what Jesus means with this saying is in his demonstration of servant hood when he washes the feet of his disciples. He takes the place of one of the lowest servants and does the dirty work of washing other’s feet. He is demonstrating to the disciples that the role of being the leader is not about lording over others or always getting your way, rather a leader (being first) is about using your resources to serve others and accomplish the work of God.
The whole concept of the incarnation (God coming into the world in the form of Jesus) is about being a servant to all. God who could do whatever He wanted (that is what it means to be God) doesn’t redeem the world through His strength or brute power, but God redeems the world by sending His Son. The Word becoming flesh and humbling Himself by taking on the form of humanity and subjecting Himself to death, death on a cross. This is becoming last in order that the mission of God is accomplish.
How do you live your live in a way that seeks not to be first, but last? How are you becoming a servant to all?
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