Servant Leadership

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time October 20, 2024

Is 53:10-11 Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22Heb 4:14-16 Mk 10:45 Mk 10:35-45

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♫ Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, ♪♪ ♫ And all these things shall be added unto you. ♪♪ ♫ Allelu, alleluia. ♪♪ ♫Ask and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find, ♪♪ ♫ Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. ♪♪ ♫ Allelu, alleluia. ♪♪

As I was reflecting on our Gospel for today, this hymn came to mind.  The hymn is based on Matthew’s Gospel [6:33, 7:7-8], not Marks, which we did not read, but I believe to be relevant to the message we need to receive, especially when reflecting on all of today’s Gospel reading.  You see, the short form if this Sunday’s readings begin with Jesus summoning the 12 Apostles as he begins to teach them about servant leadership.  Which is the focal theme of our readings today.

My Saint Joseph Sunday Missal gives a theme for the readings each week, and this week the theme is “Being of Service.”  Which is appropriate since our first reading from Isaiah is about the Servant of Yahweh and taken from the fourth book of the Servant Songs.  Our second reading from the letter to the Hebrews, which is the Jewish Christian community, is about Jesus our High Priest who willingly became our sacrifice so that we can approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace.  And finally in our Gospel today, Jesus tells his Apostles that whoever wishes to be great among them will be a servant, a slave of all.  As our King, Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom.

Now if you recall, four weeks ago in our Gospel reading from Mark, the Apostles were arguing amongst themselves who was the greatest.  Jesus told them then that “if anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”  Then he took a child and placed it in their midst and said “whoever, receives one child such as this in my name, receives me.”  Of course, the child represents those in the community who are most vulnerable and most in need, and to receive a child is to accept the responsibility of caring for the child.  To be a servant to the needs of the members of the community that are most vulnerable and most in need.

Apparently, this notion or idea of being last and servant did not take root when we hear the question James and John ask Jesus, as well as the way in which they ask it, and how the other 10 became indignant when they heard what was going on. 

“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”  How bold is that?  Followed by, “grant that in your glory we may sit at your right and the other at your left.”  Why would they do this?  Should they have even asked for this; were they right or wrong in asking Jesus to grant them their request?

James and John were thinking in human not Godly terms of who the Messiah is and what Jesus’ Kingship is about.  The road to Christ’s kingdom is by way of His Cross.  Jesus’ Kingship is that of a suffering servant who lays down his life.  If they fully knew or understood this, then their request from Jesus would have been completely different.  And so, Jesus challenges them and asks if they can drink the cup he will drink and be baptized with his baptism on the cross.

This is where this hymn, based on Mark’s Gospel comes in.  In Marks’s Gospel after Jesus teaches them how to pray the Lord’s prayer, he then proceeds to teach them about many things: about fasting, treasure in heaven, the light of the body, God and money, and finally about dependance on God for everything.  God will provide all that we need like a good and loving father.  When Solomon prayed for wisdom instead of power and riches, he was seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness, and God not only granted him his request for wisdom but blessed him with much more.  Yet in all his splendor was not clothed like the wildflowers that grow nor like the birds in the sky.

In the Our Father we ask for our daily bread, we ask for forgiveness, we ask not to be led into temptation.  Jesus taught us to pray in this way, therefor, there is nothing wrong in asking God to give us what we need.  However, before Jesus said, “ask and it shall be given to you,” he says we must first seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. 

God’s righteousness is not our righteousness, and the door that we knock on and which will be opened to us, is that of his Kingdom which we should be seeking.  A Kingdom in which Jesus demonstrates for us repeatedly by loving and caring for and healing those who are sick and suffering, by seeking the lost and calling sinners to be reconciled, by washing the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper, and by laying down his life for us as a willing sacrifice.  A Kingdom where we do not place our authority over others and lord it over them.  A kingdom in which the last is first and the first is last.  A Kingdom in which the greatest amongst us is the servant of all. 

As we seek God’s Kingdom and to know his Righteousness, let us also remember that we don’t have to do big or great things, and we don’t need recognition for what we are doing or have done.  As St. Mother Teresa once said, “not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”  Then of course there’s St. Therese of Lisieux’s autobiography which proposes “The Little Way” to holiness by doing ordinary things with extraordinary love. 

How would this take shape in our daily lives?

Picking up someone else’s trash and not complaining or saying anything.

Washing the dishes even if it’s not my turn.

Mowing the neighbor’s lawn for free, especially for someone who is elderly or a single parent.

Buying new toys and placing them in the Toy’s for Tots bin.

Secretly paying for someone’s meal or groceries.

Returning a grocery cart to its rightful place even though I did not use it.

Adopting a family for Christmas.

Visiting the elderly in the nursing home, and not just during Christmas.

What are some other examples or ideas?

Now together let us sing and pray these words from Mark’s Gospel as we seek to bring about God’s Kingdom on earth by seeking his righteousness in doing small ordinary things with great and extraordinary love.  Let us ask to be meek and humble like Jesus and learn how to be last and the servant of all. 

♫ Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, ♪♪ ♫ And all these things shall be added unto you. ♪♪ ♫ Allelu, alleluia. ♪♪ ♫Ask and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find, ♪♪ ♫ Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. ♪♪ ♫ Allelu, alleluia. ♪♪