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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion March 1, 2005 Positions of Power |
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Frontline Devotion for Tuesday, March 1, 2005 By Anne B.
Crawford
Matthew
20:20-28
Who gets the corner office with the nice view? Are you an A-list celebrity
or sports figure? Are you in the top percent of your class or profession?
Let’s face it – we’re a competitive society and in ways large and small,
we constantly jockey for position at home, at work, and often even within our
families. We may give lip service to cooperation and collaboration and
teamwork, but somewhere, deep down, we’re keeping track of who really deserves
to be number one; to be on top.
In our society to have power is to be on top – on top of the situation, on the
top floor, at the top of one’s profession, in the top 10 percent of the class.
Whatever the context, the understood position of power is to be above others.
That understanding explains the request in today’s reading.
“It was about that time that the mother of the Zebedee brothers came with her
two sons and knelt before Jesus with a request.
“What do you want? Jesus asked.
She said, “give your word that these two sons of mine will be awarded the
highest places of honor in your kingdom, one at your right hand, one at your
left hand.” (The Message Bible)
Jesus is number one for the disciples and he’s talked about a heavenly
kingdom. What more natural request could there be but to move up with him.
But that’s not how Jesus sees things. For him, the power position is at
the bottom, as a servant, lifting others up, not yourself. In Jesus’
time, and in ours, that’s a radical concept. After all, what’s the
point of having power and position if you can’t use it as an advantage in your
dealings with others. But that’s Jesus’ whole argument.
“So Jesus got them together to settle things down. He said, ‘You’ve
observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little
power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you.
Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first
among you must be your slave.’” (The Message Bible)
Jesus reminds his disciples (and that includes us) that true power exists in
serving others and not ourselves. So how can we apply that to the current
positions of power we occpy in daily life? It won’t be easy. It
may not be appreciated or understood, but in this season of Lent the place to
start – the appropriate position of power – is on our knees in prayer, to
ask God how we can best serve him and others in all we do.
Loving God, you sent your Son to show us a different kind of power, the power of
love that comes from serving you and others. When we are tempted to use
our earthly positions of power to put others down, remind us of our call to be
your servants and to lift others up. Amen.
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All are welcome to join and share in our Devotional Ministry on the "Frontlines" of the world. Frontline Devotions are sent via email daily. Sign up by clicking on the box to the left. Pastor Dave welcomes feedback. Contact him at pastordave@goodshepherdonline.org. |
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