October 19, 2024
Luke 22:24-30
Sometimes I feel like Jesus and I have something in common. I felt like this as the parent of young children, and as the technical support person for people confused about computers, and as a preacher. The thing I think we have in common is:
We repeat ourselves.
If you missed that: Jesus and I repeat ourselves. Repeatedly.
Jesus dealt with this question of “who is the greatest” twice in Mark’s Gospel. In Matthew, it rises to four times if you include the time Jesus told his disciples that those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. In Luke, the count rises to five.
So it seems likely that Jesus tried to get this message across, and it also seems likely that it was a rough message for folks in the early decades of the church, because the Gospel writers emphasized it and re-emphasized it. Uniquely, Luke sets this debate about who is the greatest, and Jesus’ counter to it, at the Last Supper. The Last Supper. Talk about giving this message pride of place!
I haven’t mentioned this message’s appearance in the Gospel of John, because, well, John chose fewer stories for his Gospel and he didn’t tell the one about the disciples arguing about greatness. At the Last Supper, however, John did describe Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. It’s the same theme as what we hear from Luke, isn’t it?
Jesus said, “The kings of the gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather, the greatest among you must become like the youngest and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”
It’s… kind of a tricky message in this world of ours, though. For several centuries, the powerful have successfully appealed to it to discourage the powerless, the poor, and the oppressed from protesting their condition. Speaking this message as a kahu, I run the risk of telling my hearers that they should accept injustice. Plenty of people have told them precisely this: your condition is the will of God, and Jesus says, “Accept it, and oh by the way, give thanks that you’re poor and the person telling you this is rich.”
Jesus, however, didn’t say that. Jesus quoted Isaiah about the rich being sent away empty. Jesus told that story about the reversal of fortunes experienced by a poor man and a rich man after their deaths. It was the rich and the powerful who made sure Jesus died upon a cross.
Jesus wasn’t one of the rich and the powerful. His disciples gave him respect as a teacher and guide, but he didn’t move in the circles of the priesthood or the nobility and certainly not the monarchy. When he spoke of servants, he spoke of people not that much different from himself.
I think Jesus envisioned a world of compassion and care. If all are servants to one another, nobody oppresses anyone else. If all are servants to one another, all benefit from one another’s service. If all are servants to one another, all needs can be satisfied.
We’re a long way from that.
The question is, how do we get there?
We get there by focusing on that goal: a world of compassion and care. We get there by taking steps that are consistent with the goal – deeds of compassion and care – and by naming the deeds that are compassionless and uncaring. We get there by refusing to resort to the means of the oppressors, violence and force. We get there by describing the vision in such a way that others adopt it for their own.
We get there by feeding one another on the life and spirit of Jesus, who meets us at this table, the table at which he repeated himself, saying: “For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”
Amen.
by Eric Anderson
There was no audio or video recording of this sermon, which was offered to the ‘Aha Mokupuni of the Hawai’i Island Association on October 19, 2024.
