Paraphrase: (05/19/10)
Mt 20:24, Mk 10:41, Lk 22:24 The ten heard what the Zebedee brothers had asked, and were greatly indignant. Before long, they fell to disputing between themselves as to who was truly the greatest. Mt 20:25-27, Mk 10:42-44, Lk 22:25-26 Jesus heard their bickering and called them to Himself for a lesson. “You are all familiar with how the Gentile rulers behave. They revel in their power, taking every opportunity to command their subjects, and they take upon themselves flattering titles – Benefactor, and the like. It is not to be this way among you. Rather, if you would be counted great, you must serve others. If you would be counted as the first among your compatriots, act the slave to them, become dependent upon them, and bound by their command. Don’t assume honor for yourself because you happen to be oldest, but act, for your part, with the circumspection expected of the youngest.” Lk 22:27 “Who, after all, is accounted greater, the one who dines or the servant who brings the food? Obviously, it is the one dining. Yet, you see Me serving you all.” Mt 20:28, Mk 10:45 “So, as the Son of Man came to serve rather than be served, even giving His life as a ransom for those enslaved by sin, do you likewise.” Lk 22:28-30 “Yes, you have been faithful to stand with Me even in My times of trial. As My will and testament, I leave to you a kingdom just as I have received My kingdom from My Father. You shall eat and drink at My table in My kingdom [surely, honor enough!] But, more: you shall all sit your own thrones, judging over the twelve tribes.”
Key Verse: (05/19/10)
Mk 10:44 – If you would be considered first among your equals, then be a slave to your equals – all of them.
New Thoughts (05/21/10-05/22/10)
The subject of this set of verses is quite plainly that of defining Christian leadership. The settings may vary, and it is quite likely that Jesus had to address the point on multiple occasions, so my bringing Luke’s account in at this point may be an unnecessary harmonization, but I’ll let it stand. The whole matter is wrapped up in the statement Jesus makes regarding His own example. “The Son of man did not come to have servants, but to be a servant” (Mk 10:45). I’ve taken that from the BBE. The head of all things came to be a servant, to be the Servant. He did so for many reasons, but as concerns this passage, the reason was that an example ought to be set by the leader, and so it was. That serving at table during the Last Supper was but the culmination of His example, not the sole occasion.
In laying out His model for leadership, Jesus insists that all who would be thought of as great must seek that reputation through a life of servanthood and slavery. Let me be clear on this point. I am quite certain that those who put on a show of such attitudes but whose sole motivation is to puff up their pride of reputation achieve very little by their efforts. They become like those hypocrites that Jesus was so inclined to berate. It’s not enough. It’s a lifestyle Jesus is calling for. It’s a character trait that He is seeking to develop in His charges, a characteristic nature that looks at every other person as being of greater worth, and worthy of being served.
The idea of a servant is that he is one who has sacrificed his own interests in order to further the interests of another. If it makes you feel better, think of yourself as a king’s servant, for such you are. So, it is the king’s interests that you are sacrificing your own to pursue. That’s not so bad is it? Well, now. His interest is in seeing you consider your brother’s needs and interests as equally worthy of your sacrifice. In treating your brother as one to serve, you further your King’s interests.
But, this concept doesn’t suffice, as Jesus sees it. To be a servant is not sufficient, for there is still something of choice in that. So, He adds the image, the humiliation, of slavery. Consider how others of this nation of His had reacted when He suggested that they needed to have the price of their liberation paid that they might end their slavery. “We have never been slaves!” Such pride. Indeed, one hardly enters into slavery by glad choice. It may be by one’s own choice, but it can hardly be a glad one. Desperation might lead one to pursue such an option. Many came to the shores of America in just such conditions. To make it feel a bit better, we called it indentured servitude, but the end result was the same: slave.
We have, thankfully, lost sight of that concept by and large. What is it to be a slave? Well, start with this: What the slave does, he does of necessity. He has no choice in the matter. His will is completely subject to that of his master, for good or ill. He is utterly and permanently dependent upon his master. If there is to be food to eat, it will be because the master decided to provide it. Whether it is of good quality or poor is up to the master. Whether you are clothed, have decent shelter, and so on; none of these things are under your control. All are in the hands of the master.
Here’s a point to ponder. This is our true estate. However much we may like to act as if we are in control of our circumstance, however much we may like to trumpet our free will and our freedom of action, we are slaves, utterly and permanently dependent upon God to provide for our needs. It matters not how well paid we are for our labors, how fine our houses nor how fast our cars. That there is anything we call ours is solely because God has provided. This remains as true for the believer as for the unbeliever. There is nobody in all of life and history who can truly count it otherwise. We can delude ourselves into thinking it is otherwise, but we cannot change the reality. The question, then, is not whether or not to be enslaved, nor even to whom we ought to enslave ourselves. The question is whether we have a heart that rejoices in the Master.
Look at this other aspect of slavery: There is no hope of reward involved. The work of the slave is not done in hopes of a wage to be paid. The two matters are largely disconnected. The master will provide as the master provides, and he will demand labor as he demands labor. There is no particular connection to be drawn between the two issues beyond the fact that the master controls both. The motivation for the slave is neither hope nor reward, but merely necessity. The Master wills it and so it must be. Thy will be done. Do you see how it correlates?
With all of this, there is a very clear call for self assessment. We have substantial cause to examine our motivation in light of these twin concepts of servant and slave. Let me assume, for simplicity, that we are active in the church, that we are not merely spectators come Sunday, but true participants in the life of God’s community of believers. This is a fine thing. But, come, let us examine as best we can just what it is that prompts us to act.
When we serve, are we looking for reward? It need not be monetary, although for many it is. Maybe it’s reputation that moves us. We want the reward of recognition. See how he labors. Maybe it’s the reward of comparison. We work so hard because we can then at least look at ourselves as being better than those who don’t. But, none of this is the act of a servant. It is not that we serve without hope. Far from it! But, our hope is not based on service. Our hope is set on Christ and His work. It is settled, and needs no further input. That which we do, we do of necessity. We see the need, we know the will of the King, and so we act.
How about this aspect: Do we willingly set aside our own interests in our efforts to meet the needs of others? Again, let me assume here that we at least do expend some effort in meeting those needs. If not, then the problem for us lies nearer the surface. But, if we do act, are we doing it willingly, or out of some mistaken sense of compulsion? This seems to be at odds with the slave’s sense of necessity in the work, but it’s not. What is it that makes the matter necessary? What compels? If it is a labor that leaves one grumbling and complaining to no end, then I have to suppose that what compels us is not love for our God in heaven, but something else.
Perhaps I am wrong in that. I rather hope I am, for God knows I grumble often enough in my own efforts. I’ll take what comfort I can in realizing that Moses likewise found occasion to gripe a bit. But, it’s cold comfort at best. If I have willingly set aside my own interests, my own agenda to lend my efforts to somebody else’s priorities, then what reason have I for complaint? I am dong as I willed. I am willingly submitting myself to the will of another because this is the will of my King. He is my King after all! That has to mean something. It used to, for those who had kings when kings had powers beyond the ceremonial.
The king’s word is law. That is what it means to be king. When he says do, you do. You don’t hem and haw and offer up all manner of delays and questions. You do it! You have, in the ideal circumstance, willingly come under his rule, declaring him your liege. In so doing, you have declared that when he calls for your services, whatever you may have been doing at the time, you will set it aside and serve. If you are a knight of the realm and yet he calls upon you to go muck the stables, you have no legal grounds for griping that the work is beneath your station. You do it. If you are called to go minister to the lowest serf, you do it. This is the sort of service we are called to render.
Thy will be done. I am at Your service. Holy King of heaven, I declare myself fully and completely subjected to Your interests, even if such interests should be found to be to the detriment of my own. Even if serving You means loss to me, I am Yours to command, and I shall, to the best of my ability, render every service to You gladly, knowing that You are a most benevolent King and Master. I have called You Lord and I pray that by Your abiding work in me I shall find it in myself to act as one over whom You are Lord.
All of this focus on voluntary servitude, on dependence rather than primacy, is clearly aimed at creating worthy leaders. We well know that the best leaders lead by example. We also recognize that the most successful leaders don’t lead by coercion, but rather by inspiration. These characteristics that Jesus advocates are well fashioned to create just that sort of leadership which inspires the ones being led, just as His own leadership inspires those who follow Him to do so to the fullest.
Leadership is not a prize, as the world would have us to understand. It is not a goal all its own, a privilege to be fought for. This is what we have seen amongst the disciples leading up to the lesson before us. They have been trying to establish their own primacy, even if it’s only within their own number. But, that’s not the way of it. Leadership is not some badge of honor. Leadership is about service. In the Church, we cannot even restrict this by saying that it’s about service rendered to God. It’s about service rendered to all. For, the service God calls us to is service to our fellow man on His behalf. If you would lead, serve. That’s the direction given here. But, don’t serve simply to lead. Serve simply to serve. Serve because you are compelled to. That’s something you hear from Paul. “I am compelled to preach.” How could I do otherwise, as the servant of the Most High God? It is what He has fit me for, and what He has commanded of me. What else should I do?
I noted that the best leaders lead by example. It should hardly surprise, then, to recognize that God does exactly that. This is a point so noteworthy that it is made repeatedly in the New Testament. Here in Jesus we have God, the Supreme Being, that One and only One Who can truly claim a free will upon which none can set boundaries nor can any make a demand. He comes to this earth and is born into a humanity as human as any other, into circumstances of low estate. Think about that for a moment. This Jesus, very God of very God, is in perfect and absolute control of all creation throughout all eternity, yet He wills Himself to spend these years of His earthly life serving the very beings He created. He comes and gives His all on behalf of His own subjects. How is it that so many find no reason to honor this Mighty Servant King? How can that be?
This is exactly what we desire in our rulers, isn’t it? We look for public servants, those who will put the needs of the people above that of personal aggrandizement. We feel in inherent need to rebuke those who think their office is cause for special treatment, for publicly funded perks. Those to whom we grant a period of authority over us we expect to set aside their own agendas for that period, and serve the will of the people. It’s rare that it works out this way, but that is the ideal by which our governance is laid out. Time was when the people had the good sense to keep these governing servants mindful of that reality. It is to be hoped that this time will return. But, as God wills. All authority, even that we vote into place, is by His authorization alone. Even when things don’t appear to be that way, we must remain mindful of the Truth.
So, let us not be looking to our earthly leaders as models by which to steer our own courses. Our Model is enthroned in heaven, having set by His life a perfect example of leadership, and continuing to do so even now, as He intercedes on behalf of His own. Even now, King upon the throne, He seeks first to serve. Recalling that He is simultaneously Prophet, High Priest and King, it is clear that He sets highest value upon the office of High Priest, bringing the needs of His people before the Father, advocating for us before the Father, interceding on our behalf before the Father. And lo! He and the Father are One. What better advocacy could we ever hope to have?
What a wonderful God we serve! What a wonderful God that He so serves us even as He reigns over us! What an inspiration we ought to find in His example, that we might go and do likewise. Are we in positions of responsibility in the household of God? Then let us fulfill those responsibilities with the same spirit that fills our Lord and Savior. Are we pillars in the church and its community? Let this be no source of pride in us, but a source of greatest humility. Let it satisfy us to be doing as God intended, our joy found in that. Are we leaders amongst God’s people? We must learn, then, as Peter learned: Don’t lord it over those in your charge. Rather, prove to be a good example to them (1Pe 5:3). That, after all, is the mark of a true leader.
Jesus proved Himself an example to us, an example par excellence. The apostles, in their turn, proved examples to us. Paul could speak of it. Peter, James, John: we read their letters and find in them evidence that they pursued a course of leadership by example. As the church took root in the generations to follow, and as it has developed through the ages, we discover the pattern is unchanged. Those whom history has marked out as great in the history of the Church have ever been those who were most concerned with serving those in their charge, setting an example for their charges, proving to be such examples.
We have more than enough examples from our own day of those who sought position without this attitude to guide them. There are plenty enough who have sought the bright lights, the fame and the easy money that can be had by the unscrupulous who prey upon God’s children. Sure and they attain to a certain notoriety, but history will soon forget them. Measure them against an Augustine, a Spurgeon, an Edwards, and it must be clear that these fame seekers leave no great mark upon the record of faith. The ones who are recalled for all time are the ones who set no value on themselves, all upon God. They are the ones who considered that every man, woman and child placed in their charge was worth their all, and therefore did their utmost for the Highest, setting as proven an example as human frailty would allow.
I don’t think any one of these heroes of the faith gave the least thought to making a name for himself. I cannot imagine that at any point these men pursued their course with the thought, “I shall long be remembered for this.” Those whom history renders immortal after its fashion rarely do, at least amongst those remembered for good and not for ill. In God’s economy, it is all the more true that the ones who achieve a lasting legacy for themselves are the very ones who give that legacy no thought. The woman who came and anointed Jesus’ feet, she had no thought for reputation. She didn’t act with hopes of getting in the book. There was no book to get herself into! She moved because she was moved. Even David, king though he was, did not do the things he did in order to make a name for himself. His name was made by a much higher power and this he knew full well. No, the men God honors are the men who honor God, who give their all for His kingdom and reserve nothing to themselves.
Unreserved. That’s the call. We may even divorce that call from any thoughts of leadership. Whether you would lead or you would follow, it makes no difference. The call is to pursue God unreservedly, to worship God unreservedly, to honor God exclusively with that particular unreserved pursuit of His will and celebration of His love. Dare we? Shall we?
Lord, let it be so!
