"Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many"  (Matthew 20:26-28).                                      

Brooksyne and I have had many children in our home through the years. Our very first Christmas as a married couple we hosted two little boys from a children's home in Arkansas. We have a lot of great memories and since many of these kids, whether foster children, fresh air kids, or foreign kids with medical needs, came with no Christian background that further adds to the experience!

I suppose my all-time favorite memory is when I was pastoring in North Central PA and we had several children visiting our church hosted by various families from New York City through the "Fresh Air Program".* A church member asked the little boy from Brooklyn we were hosting which family he was staying with. He pointed up to me and said, "Da boss of da church."

Well, there are all kinds of positions and titles people vie for which represent greatness by this world's reckoning. But Jesus proposes a radical reversal of this. "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave." This is surely a kingdom perspective for in this world's perspective we sure don't consider servants or slaves "great". Jesus is teaching the means of greatness from His perspective, not that of the world.

Jesus teaches a timeless principle of true greatness. He also used Himself as the example, "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." Some 30 years after this the Apostle Paul expresses this truth in a powerful theological statement.


Today let us all always remember who "da real boss" is and the source of true greatness!


Be encouraged today,


Stephen C. Weber

* (Philippians 2:5-11)

Note from Brooksyne:  I find the greatest form of servanthood is that which requires people to labor in ways invisible to other people.  We visit Roxbury Camp each summer, a Christian camp that still operates by volunteer service.  The meals that feed well over 600 are served with real plates and stainless utensil ware.  It is a major clean-up that takes hours overlapping the time that others are worshiping in the tabernacle.  I stayed behind one summer to help the young people who were taking the waste off the plates and utensils, running them through the dishwasher, and then drying the trays.  They had to be very quick and they got very dirty doing the work!

I was spiritually touched by the experience as I saw them joyfully doing their work.  I considered those who were worshiping God and hearing the featured speaker.  The thought of others who stayed behind doing clean-up work most likely did not enter their minds.  But it was because of these dedicated volunteers that the camp attendees could enjoy a nice meal prepared by volunteers and could be fed spiritually while the dedicated workers cleaned up the mess they left behind.

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As is often the case as I prepare these messages I end up with more material than practical for the length I intend. Here are some Scripture verses on God's greatness that bless me.

• "O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and obey His commands" (Nehemiah 1:5).
• "For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome" (Deuteronomy 10:17).
• "Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, 'Amen! Amen!' Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground" (Nehemiah 8:6).
• "For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods" (Psalm 95:3).
• "While we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13).
  

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Writing of God's greatness brings to mind a song that we are really enjoying in our home at this time by a musician named Chris Tomlin. It's called "Indescribable" and Ester is playing it all the time! (Which is just great with us.) His website has a sampling of his songs beginning with this one. (Caution: On this site the music starts automatically so turn your speakers down!)

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The "Fresh Air" program brings children from the inner city out to rural areas for two weeks periods of time.