Christ Jesus the Servant
“ …If any man would be first, he
must be last of all and servant of all”. Mark 9:35
“ You call me Teacher and Lord;
and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have
washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” John 13:13-14.
The unfathomable infiniteness of
Abba is beyond my comprehension. 8 billion souls live on a proton, in an atom
of a solar system, forming a small piece of tissue called a galaxy. How can we
even begin to believe in someone so powerful and large that He could create
such matter, in such space.
But glory be to Abba our Creator,
who in understanding our inability to comprehend, loved his highest creation,
even man, that He:
“… made himself nothing, taking
the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Phill. 2:7
So
how are we to act in a way that emulates Christ’s role as a servant? Are we to
put aside our strength and morality in an attempt to ingratiate ourselves to
others - God forbid. Think of Christ and the controversy He created during His
earthly ministry. He boldly spoke the truth to save souls. Seems we need to
have integrity and remember who we are ….
He was a
bad child; unruly, disobedient, self centered, unwilling to study, prone to
misbehavior and petulance. If a dog, he would have been kicked and cast into
the streets to be shunned by all. There was only one problem – he was the
King’s son.
Tutor after
tutor had tried to develop discipline in the child. Each came with excellent
references, high regard and a resume of filled with stories of success with
difficult children and each failed completely. But the position was attractive:
it carried a high salary and was in the royal house.
Out of
frustration with the unsuccessful recommendations of his courtiers, the king
decided to have open interviews for tutors. One of the applicants was a young
man with no experience or references. Mild mannered and polite, the young man
had no qualifications except an aura of peacefulness that impressed the King.
The King thought “maybe someone closer to my son’s age will be able to relate
to him” and decided to give the young man a two week trial.
But it
didn’t take two weeks. After the first day, the Royal servants noticed a
difference in the child and were convinced he must be ill. At the end of a
week, they began to look at each other in astonishment at the young tutor’s
success in changing the child’s behavior. After two weeks they were convinced
the child had changed.
The
King called the tutor to ask of his technique and to offer him the position
permanently. “How have you changed my child?” asked the King. “He seemed not to
remember who he was Oh King” replied the tutor. “I simply pinned a piece of
purple cloth on his chest to remind him.”
(adapted)
One of the
highest callings of a Christian and a preacher is to remind other Christians
who they are. You have a piece of royal scarlet pinned to your chest, dyed
scarlet by the blood of Jesus Christ your King. You are forgiven, you are free
from the domination of the world, you are a member of the eternal kingdom and a
child of the only God. Serve those whom God loves.
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