Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."    (Mark 10:42-45)

From January through March of each year, my daughter participates in her school play and practices after school. When play practice is over, Val or I head down to her school to pick her up. The usual time of travel is 5:30 pm; the height of rush hour. Traffic is stacked on I-95 south from Scotch Road to the other side of the Scudder's Mill Bridge. I am not headed for Pennsylvania. I am only trying to make it to Rt. 29 South. As such, I travel in the "Exit Only" Lane from Bear Tavern to the Rt. 29 Exit. Other drivers either try to block my progress, or duck into the "Exit Only" lane for faster progress towards the bridge and then cut into a gap in the bumper-bumper traffic at the last second. This may be the reason why I occasionally get the blocking treatment; these drivers don't want me to play any tricks like the line-cutters. They have to get to the bridge before the other late comers. In the mind of the blocker, the line-cutters are unfair. These line-cutters and the blockers represent a common human weakness and behave in a manner counter to Jesus' teachings. Whether you call it jealousy or selfishness, it is not how Jesus taught us to behave.

Throughout Jesus' ministry, his disciples anticipated his overthrowing the Roman government and establish his own Holy Kingdom on earth. They repeatedly argued about which of them would be the greatest or most important or the busiest and make way to the proverbial front of the line. However, that was not in God's plan. Examples of the failures of men "Lording over other men" were all too prevalent. God's plan was to send a servant who would be exalted for his servitude. (See Isaiah 52:13 - 53::12) Jesus told His disciples that the only way anyone of them could be first in the kingdom was to be last (Mark 9:35, Matthew 18). What did Jesus mean by this?

First, we must put the interests of other people ahead of our own. Jesus did not demand "fallen sinners" to serve him. Instead, he asked that we follow his example; to serve him we must serve others (see John 13:17 and Philippians 2:3-5). Second, Jesus wants us to guard against an inflated sense of our own self importance. Everything we have is a gift from God. "For by the grace given me I say to everyone of you: do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you (Romans 12:3, see also 1 Corinthians 4:7)."

Following the example of service provided by Jesus to his disciples at the Last Supper, we must serve others with a servant's attitude. By serving others, we lead in a most powerful way. We are to place ourselves last, not because of a mistaken lack of self-esteem, but from a sincere love for other people. Serving puts us in the right frame of mind to listen and understand the needs of others. When I think of those who serve, I think of a number of desirable qualities of character they exemplify; patience, kindness, humility, respectfulness, selflessness, forgiveness, honesty, and commitment. Be a servant and you will lead and be one of God's exalted ones.

Dear Lord in heaven: In this world of power, greed and selfishness it is hard to serve. But I know this is what you would have me do. Please create a servant's heart within me, that I may be of service to you and show my love to all; especially to those in need. Amen.

ps: There is a fair amount of secular literature on Servant Leadership available in the market place today. After having spent sufficient time in the scriptures with this devotion, you may wish to see the application of the principles. If you are interested in the extension of Jesus' servant leadership model to managing and leading, please see The Servant by James Hunter (one of my favorites); Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness by Robert K. Greenleaf; and The Three Signs of a Miserable Job by Patrick Lencioni.

Contributed by Richard
Sunday February 24, 2008
Liturgical Year A Week 13
Sunday Gospel reading:
Transfiguration of Our Lord