Oct 19, 2024

29th Sunday: Servant Leadership

 

("The charge to Peter" James Tissot)

"Whoever wishes to be great . .  will be your servant"

Mark 10: 35 - 45

The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102024.cfm

Here’s a little Catholic trivia that may come in handy, you never know when. The familiar gesture of the genuflection, traditional before the Blessed Sacrament in our Churches, has been recorded since at least the fourth century and began from a non-Christian source in the court of royalty.

Alexander the Great imposed this requirement of court etiquette on anyone who would enter before the emperor.  They would go down on one knee and usually remain there until told to stand.  It was not only a sign of respect before a higher authority but also a sign of submission on the part of the one engaged in that posture. You were not to look directly at the Emperor but were expected to look down or to indirectly face him.

Since the later Middle Ages this same act of respect and submission has become a part of our Catholic tradition.  We by custom show the same sign of respect as we enter Church before the presence of Christ in the tabernacle, normally as we enter our pew.  My Father, to his own embarrassment and that of the family, once genuflected as he entered the line of seats in a movie theater! Momentary distraction.

The similar gesture of a bow to Christ is essentially the same meaning if you find it easier to allow gravity to take over only to resist when trying to stand. By this silent gesture we are called to submit ourselves to Christ, the higher divine creator and Lord, not in fear but in humble service for others after his example and in his name.

The point of this gesture is a simple illustration of our Gospel this Sunday.  We hear of servant leadership as the mark of a true Christian after the example of Jesus himself.

While all this is a familiar theme for us tied directly to it is that of suffering.  That’s a link we would rather whisper than proclaim loudly.  Jesus speaks openly and certainly not for the first time, of his approaching passion and death.  The sacrifice of Christ on the cross was the link to the deeper meaning of Christian service.  Yet, it is clear that the disciples did not comprehend the connection completely for them personally but rather remain tied to a more earthly understanding of authority and power.  I would certainly rather be the Emperor than the servant.  I would much rather see someone bow before me than bow before them. The pursuit of honor and authority is always a temptation.

So, two brother disciples, James and John, come before Jesus, after he has spoken clearly of his impending physical suffering on the cross, with a bold request. One could certainly understand the reaction of the other ten who were outraged at their presumption: “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and one at your left.” So they ask for two positions of authority to rule with Jesus in his “kingdom.”  Brazen?  Bold? It would seem so.  Misguided and misunderstood?  Possibly.  Selfish and dismissive of others?  Could be. But their desire for two important places of honor is not that unusual considering the culture of the time. Honor was everything in this ancient culture. They seek to be quasi prime ministers in the court of King Jesus.

What does Jesus do with them?  He certainly does not react with anger or a put down as to their misunderstanding of his mission.  Rather, he uses this moment as an opportunity to teach them and the others the deeper meaning of his mission and how they too will share in that, in particular the meaning of sacrifice and suffering for a higher good.  But even more, what it truly means to follow his example of leadership and authority and live as Christian disciples.

 In light of James and John’s apparent ambition, our Lord explains: “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man (Messiah) did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” We can only imagine the changed expression on the face of the two misguided disciples and the reaction of the twelve.

In ancient culture, with its clear divisions between the powerful and the poor; influential and lowly; Jew and gentile; men and women; leaders and servants and slaves these words of Jesus must have had an initial dousing affect.  Like water thrown on the fires of ambition his words of submission and slavery could not have been more unexpected.

These twelve have made great sacrifices to follow him know he says they must put aside hopes of reward and submit, genuflect as it were, to the lowest. He illustrated this at the last supper as he washed their feet in the action of a slave and further expanded its meaning ultimately on the cross and in the sharing of the Eucharist. God went below the lowest to raise us up with him.

The first reading from Isaiah the prophet uses words like: “crush,” “afflicted,” “suffering” to describe this servant of God.  We hear this reading on Good Friday so the Christian community has seen in it a fore shadow of Jesus’ own suffering in this great prophet of Israel.  But it is not suffering without merit for it has a quality of expiation – of salvation and freedom given to it; a freedom for us and not for the personal benefit of the one who suffers. This act of pouring out can only be explained by one great word – Love. In the end God loves us not because of what we have done but because of who he is and who he has created us to be.

Today’s world of rampant individualism; of seeking what is best for me and my own advancement and position and this age of subjective morality which acknowledges no absolute truth for the common good of all and sees power and influence as a sign of authority needs to hear this lesson. This Christian alternative way of viewing life and its purpose is essential.  While there is nothing wrong with a desire to advance in one’s career and to seek respect from others to do so as a measure of earthly success is to miss the mark.

For a Christian to add the deeper counter cultural dimension of servant leadership by example is essential.  We have academic and professional degrees.  We’ve worked hard and achieved a certain level of responsibility but the danger of that is to think that all depends on us alone.  

You may not need to look very far:  your marriage and family, your place of work, your neighbors and friends; your parish community and wherever we may see an opportunity to serve and not be served in the name of Jesus. My life as priest and pastor must have no less examination. We all share in the same call to servant leadership. Our Catholic faith is not a private or personal devotion but a call to live as Christ Jesus and after his example for others. We then become like the food we consume at the Eucharist.


 

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