Top of the Heap

Luke 9:46-50

The disciples truly had trouble understanding the gist of what Jesus was saying just as we have difficulty today. No matter what group of people gathers together…whether religious or secular…people strive to be “top dog”.

You see that going on in every kind of organization or business you can think of: hospitals, schools, Girl Scouts, bridge clubs, Lions Club, Rotary, churches, unfortunately…people want to be at the top of the social structure. We seem to think that being on top of an organization will improve our status in the group or in the community no matter what the size of the community is.

That is what politics is all about…in all organizations. But that is not want Jesus was about. Jesus wanted us to be servants. Now, I have said before that I don’t like the word servant…or the concept. But what I think I truly dislike is the word slave and its concept.

Jesus wants us to serve one another. He does not want us to argue about who is the greatest. He would rather see us serving one another as well as God. This is one principle He is about…serving. His disciples must have been absolutely stunned when Jesus washed their feet at the Last Supper. But He did it to make a point. Not one of us is so “good” that he/she cannot serve another person.

It may sound like an enigma that the last will be first, and the first will be last. But that is what we are taught through Jesus’ examples and His behavior. He does not ask us to do anything that He did not do. In fact, Jesus does not ask us to do what He did…die on the cross for us.

Carol

Bible Breath: Welcoming child / Welcomes Me