“The Greatest Among You Will Be Your Servant”
O God,
Forgive us and lead us away from shallowness that accepts evaluation by appearances, whether it is our evaluation of someone else or someone else’s evaluation of us.
Inspire us to the kind of humble service that befits followers of the One who came not to be served but to serve.
And please…protect us from that most insidious kind of pride—the kind that comes from our concluding that we really are, compared with most other folks, rather humble.
Amen.
“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:1-12)
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