Leading by Serving

While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised.” Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:17-28

I often think about people we don't see but who provide us great service. Most of the restaurants here have wait staffs predominantly white young people. Yet the people in the heat of the kitchen, the cooks and the prep workers, the cleaners and the bus people are almost all Latino/Latina and are never tipped or recognized. Times have changed but in every time there are people we believe are meant for service and hard labor. They move silently, making all of the food flow and the joyous times possible. I expect that many would be surprised to know how blessed and desired these silent servants are by God. Our Creator see our service and our selfishness and know the truth in our hearts.

Gracious Creator, lover of all your creation

we divide and separate ourselves by clan and color

yet you love us equally and honor all servants.

We struggle for place, prestige and honors

you ache for us to be loving and care for others.

Let us now seek to serve everyone we meet today

seeing them with the heart of our Savior Jesus. Amen.