Jesus is Underfoot
Jesus' disciples had sacrificed a great many things to be with him. They had walked away from their families and jobs. They had left the security of their community and homes. They were now drifters, floating through town and countryside, wherever Jesus went. Surely, many people laughed at them for their decision to leave home and family. And so, we can hardly blame brothers, James and John for looking out for themselves and each other. For they did not have honour in this world, surely they could secure it for the next world. So they ask Jesus, "Arrange it so that we will be awarded the highest places of honour in your glory - one of us at your right and the other at your left. Will you do that for us, Jesus?" But James and John don't really know what they are asking. "And besides," Jesus told them, "that was God's decision to make."
And then Jesus turned to the rest of his disciples and repeated what he had often had said. He said the first will be last and the last will be first. He said, who ever wishes to be first must be a slave to all. He said that he came not to be served but to serve.
Throughout the gospels Jesus often tells us what the kingdom of God is like. Jesus often tells us that in God's kingdom the wisdom of the world is foolishness - everything that we value here is turned upside down in God's kingdom. And often, for many of us, when we first become Christians, we don't know what we are really getting into. We don't know we are entering into a world that is diametrically opposed to many of the values and norms of society. We are entering into a world where the first will be last and the last will be first.
I was once trying to teach this concept to a group of children and one little boy perked up and said, "Oh I get it, its like the door holder in school."
"The door holder?" I asked.
"Yes, at school we all line up to leave one class for another and the first person in the line has to hold the door open for everyone else, then that person becomes the last in line."
"Yes, the kingdom of God is like the door holder at school."
Jesus says the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.
Throughout the centuries Christianity has ignored part of scripture. During the middle ages when Kings and princes, knights and noblemen ruled Europe, the image of Jesus as a king came to the forefront.
I went to the Provincial Museum of Alberta to see its art exhibition "Jesus Annus Domini : Jesus through the Centuries." It divided the art collection into images of Jesus. Some of them I could really relate to and some I could not relate to all. Certainly, the image of Jesus as a king really troubled me. There were paintings of Jesus on a throne, surrounded by adoring, worshipping crowd and crowned in gold and jewels. There were an orthodox priest's liturgical robes, which were finely decorated in red and gold. This image of Jesus adorned in earthly riches just does not work for me because this passage and many like it are in such stark contrast to this Jesus the king.
The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.
What does it mean for Jesus to serve us?
John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
But this passage implies "Ask not what you can do for Jesus, ask what Jesus can do for you."
(Move to diagram)
Sometimes we church-going Christians can have a backward view of ourselves, of the church, of Jesus and of people outside the church. Sometimes we think that Jesus is on the top. Jesus is the head of the church. And we good, church-going Christians are here to serve Jesus. So we ask, "What would Jesus do in this situation?" And we see Jesus as our role model that we must try to live up to. Of course, we live in guilt then, because living up to the kind of life that Jesus lived is pretty much impossible.
But, we can feel good about us in our Christian community, that we are at least doing better than those outside our church. We can feel relieved that at least we aren't one of those "sinners." And who might be a sinner in our eyes (not God's eyes): people who are divorced, gays and lesbians, people who are lazy and unemployed, single mothers, people who allow other people to raise their children, in other words, people who don't fit into our white, North American, middle-class value structure. And these people know how we feel about them because all of society tells them that they are second rate and certainly don't belong in a place called church.
But the church is the only institution that exists solely for the purpose of its non-members. And Christianity is really the opposite of this diagram.
"Jesus says whoever wishes to be first must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve."
Jesus is not the top of the church, but the foundation of it. Jesus is the ground underneath Peter the rock on which the church is built. Jesus serves us so that we can serve others. How does Jesus serve us?
We believe in a loving, interactive God who provides us with our basic needs, so we don't have to worry. We are strengthened so that we have the courage to live a life that witnesses to the kingdom of God, a life that is diametrically opposed to many of the values and norms of our society. Through Jesus, we are free - free from worry, guilt and weakness. We are free from guilt because we are forgiven for anything we do wrong, for the hurts that we have caused people, for the mistakes we have made. Through Jesus we are free and strengthened.
