He Did Not Come to Be Served but to Serve!
Dear Parishioners,
Last Sunday’s gospel tells a story of a rich young man who came to Jesus asking what he can do to gain eternal life. Today two brothers, James and John, close friends of Jesus came to him and requested that they be allowed to sit beside him when he enters into his glory. Their request may sound selfish and ambitious. However, it offers us the opportunity to learn something new about service and leadership.
There is nothing wrong in expressing our heart’s desires to God. These two brothers simply made a request to Jesus. I guess there were not claiming any right; they were simply appealing to Jesus’ generosity. We can see that they deeply wanted to participate in the kingdom that Jesus proposed. Is that not why they left everything and followed him? Whenever someone seeks a deeper union with God, it should be encouraged. I see in their request a longing for something more. Just like the rich young man who came to Jesus, asking to be taught on how to gain eternal life.
There is more to that simple request, as Jesus seems to suggest. Because he said to them. “You do not know what you are asking.” They did not fully understand what it will cost them. So, Jesus asked them, “Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” The cost entails suffering and death. Jesus had earlier warned them about what awaits him: death and resurrection. Therefore, one cannot enter the kingdom as one enters into association or club. It demands some sort of dying to self so that sometime new is born. This requires a process of purification that leads to a total transformation of a person.
The other ten disciples were angry and reacted toward their two colleague’s requests. They showed lack of understanding on what Jesus was teaching them. They were narrow-minded and focused only on power and authority. They wanted their own piece of pie. They needed to be schooled on an important lesson about service and leadership. Jesus says to his disciples, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." We now know what the kingdom is all about and how to enter. It is a way of service so different from the worldly approach.
To be greatest in the kingdom one must follow a different path. The logic is simple: there is no room for dominating others; one must serve the rest. Jesus leads by example. He is the model and calls us to follow the same pathway. Last week, he asked us to reject undue attachment to material wealth. Today he is asking us to give up the desire to cultivate feelings of self-importance at the expense of others and an excessive desire for power and authority.
The apostles James and John may have sounded overly ambitious and naïve; however, we should admire their desire to be as close to Jesus as possible.
Sincerely Yours In The Lord,
Fr. Vitalis Anyanike, Pastor
