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"If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
As we hear these words of the Gospel, these words of Jesus, the living Word…as we hear them proclaimed here today…How many of us actually think about what Jesus is saying to us? The disciples thought about it, at least for a minute or so, and then pretty much rejected it all.
It began with all that talk of Jesus being killed – this was the second time He’d told them about His upcoming passion and death – and that flat-out scared them. How could the Messiah, the Promised One who would free God’s people…How could the Messiah be put to death? It just didn’t make any sense. And if those in power actually did kill Jesus, what would they do to them, his disciples? Oh, yes, they were afraid. They were afraid to question Him about it because of the answer they might receive.
And then there’s all this talk about being a servant. That didn’t make any sense either. How can the first be last? How can they, the Apostles, the most important and loyal of Jesus’ disciples…How can they be considered servants?
That was the problem with the disciples. They loved Jesus, and they followed Him…well, they followed Him physically. But they really didn’t follow Him, did they? They didn’t follow Him with their hearts because they refused to listen to Him. Like so many of us they just tuned Him out; they pushed the old mute button when what He said didn’t mesh with the lives they’d constructed or the future they’d imagined.
They did that a lot, because so much of what Jesus said was so downright upsetting. It was upsetting in the most literal sense. It upset everything the world considered normal; it just turned everything upside down. And it was nothing new to them. Jesus had been turning their world upside down from the start:
The first will be last…
The meek will inherit the earth…
Blessed are you when you are persecuted…
Whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child, will not enter it…
Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it…
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven…
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…
This is just not the way the world thinks. And it’s certainly not the way the world works. And so it was only slowly that the disciples came to understand the true meaning of their vocation, what it means to be a disciple.
But in the meantime they found themselves caught between two contradictory impulses: a desire to both flee from and cling to the Lord. Yes, they were tempted to leave because deep down, at the gut level, they were coming to realize that true discipleship would change their lives completely, and lead them in a direction they didn’t particularly want to go.
You see, they wanted to be important, to be successful. They wanted to be at Jesus’ side when He was declared King of the Jews. Oh, they saw a great future for themselves and it simply didn’t coincide with what Jesus was telling them. This must have been heartbreaking for Jesus. How long had they been with Him? Two years? Three years? And still they didn’t understand.
And what about you and me? We’ve been Christians for how long? For 50 years, 60 years, 70 years…? And how well do we understand? Jesus knows that neither we nor the disciples have a clue. And so he tries to teach us…if only we will let Him. If only we will listen.
He picks up a little child and holds it lovingly, and He says to us…
Do you see this child? Do you see this child who needs to be fed, clothed, washed, taught, and loved…well, the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to him. You want to know who’s the greatest? Look here, look at this little child who needs everything and gives nothing. Just look here. And then welcome this child and welcome all like him… Welcome those without power, or influence, or status, or income…Welcome those who struggle to make it through each day…Welcome those the world considers unimportant…Welcome those the world despises…Welcome those who can never pay you back. And when you welcome them, you welcome me. Welcome the little child. Be last. Be the servant.
This, Jesus tells us, is what being a disciple is all about. Now do we know what He means? Can you and I accept it? Or is the price too high? Does Jesus really expect that we’ll give up what we’ve spent a lifetime getting? Does He really expect us to willingly sacrifice our reputations, our comforts, even our lives for His sake?
The world tells us that importance is better than insignificance, that strength is better than weakness, that praise and respect should be sought and blame avoided. And then Jesus, in His crazy world, turns it all upside down. Our world rewards its winners and cast aside its losers. And guess how the world labels Christians? How did Ted Turner put it? “Christianity is a religion for losers.” Pretty well sums up the world’s opinion, doesn’t it?
I think we can agree that Jesus’ message is as threatening today as it ever was – and this threat can manifest itself in the most subtle ways.
Earlier this week I spoke to a local civic organization trying to raise some money for the Wildwood Soup Kitchen. In the course of my comments I mentioned that we turn no one away. Everyone who comes to the door is invited to sit down and enjoy a hot meal.
One man questioned me on this: “But how can you be sure that someone isn’t taking advantage of you? Don’t you think some of those people might not really be all that poor?”
I think he was a bit taken aback when I told him I didn’t care, that we don’t serve meals…we serve Jesus Christ. Jesus commanded us to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to welcome the stranger. He didn’t tell us to create bureaucracies, to check pay stubs, or W-2 or 1040 forms.
I let God worry about what’s in the heart of another, because I sure don’t know. All I know is that Jesus told us to see Him in others. And I’m certainly not going to deny Jesus a meal.
You see, brothers and sisters, in our world, God is little more than a vagrant, just as He was when He walked the earth through the towns of Galilee and Judea. And so Jesus explains this by holding up that child before us and commands us to welcome him.
And who is this child? Who is this child Jesus holds before me? Before you? Who do you and I need to receive? Who are the poor and the weak in our lives? Who’s standing last in line? What do they want of us? What does God want of us? Do we understand that true discipleship means a lot more than simply writing a check?
Often enough it means getting our hands dirty. And sometimes it means sacrificing all that we have, perhaps even our lives, in defense of Jesus Christ. But one thing is certain: To be a disciple, you and I must choose. We can’t have it both ways.
And so he asks us, “Do you really want to follow me everywhere? Do you have any idea what this means and who it is you want to follow? Do you know I am the Lamb who is on His way to be slain and that my business is to redeem the world with my Blood? Can you follow me there?”
Each of us must wrestle with these questions: “Am I truly the disciple I am called to be? How am I answering the call?” You’ll never know what God intends for you if you don’t have a prayer life…for it’s only through prayer that we can come to now God’s will for us.
And then, on that day – the day that will mark the end of my world – when I stand before the Kingdom and Jesus asks to see the signs of my discipleship, when He asks to see the calluses, the scars, the bruises, the wounds of the true disciple, will there be anything to show him?
I suspect it will be only then that I’ll finally get it, only then that I’ll understand what Jesus meant when He told us, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and servant of all.”
Until then, all I can do is try to do His will and pray, “Oh, my God, don’t let me disappoint you.”
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