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In today’s gospel James and
John, members of Jesus’ inner circle of apostles, come to him for a
favor. They asked to be seated one at his right and one at his left when
he comes into his glory. It doesn’t sound outlandish at first.
However, they asked in fact to be second in command to the Lord himself.
Mother Zebedee didn’t raise any timid boys! If they were going to be
followers of the Lord, they expected something to show for their
efforts.
It is easy to relate to these apostles. We have grown up in what has
been described as the “me generation.” We habitually ask the question,
“what’s in it for me?” Today the Lord answers that question for us.
Notice that he does not speak against ambition. Instead he asks us to
re-direct our ambition towards the issues of the Kingdom. “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.”
In the secular world, power
is more corrupting than wealth. Powerful people “throw their weight
around.” They expect people to “jump” when the say so. In the Kingdom of
God it is the servants who are in charge.
In the political world it is next to impossible to solve the pressing
social problems of our day because they cannot be solved through power.
You cannot order people out of poverty. You cannot threaten them to
become educated. While politicians collect campaign contributions and
wring their hands over growing social ills, things continue to get
worse.
What would a servant do? Good servants know exactly what to do, do
something! They just roll up their sleeves and go to work. You overcome
poverty by working with the poor. People need shelter and food before
they can get a job. Children need love and stability and basic safety
before they can begin to learn.
When we arrive in the Kingdom
of heaven the handwringers will have the cheap seats. Those with hands
soiled from serving the needs of others will have the best seats in the
house. |
