Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (B) [Mk
9:30-37]
22.09.2024
Service as the Hallmark of True Greatness
1. Theme in brief
True greatness of a Christian
disciple
2. Focus Statement
The
greatness of Christian disciples is measured not by the power or position they
hold, but by the quality of service they render to the little ones.
3. Explanation of the text
Whereas last Sunday’s gospel corrected the wrong understanding of Jesus’
role as Messiah and the consequent misunderstanding of Christian discipleship,
today’s gospel further clarifies the characteristics of a true disciple. The message of the text is clear: discipleship
is not meant for seeking power and furthering one’s own personal ambitions, but for humble service of the powerless and the vulnerable.
Today’s text begins with Jesus’ foretelling of his death and resurrection for the second time (9:31). Even though
he spoke plainly about his betrayal into human hands and violent death followed
by rising from the dead, the disciples failed
to understand it (9:32). Most probably they did not
understand about the manner of his death and the possibility of rising from the dead. Even though he talked about a
spiritual kingdom to be established through suffering and self-sacrifice, they
understood it in worldly terms and were arguing about who would be greatest
among them in his earthly kingdom. Further, the text says they were afraid to ask him for clarification
(9:32). The reason seems to be either they did not want to hear further
about such a painful and shocking revelation, or were not
ready to accept Jesus’ understanding of his
Messiahship in spite of repeating it a second time, or were not willing to face
another rebuke of the type Peter got earlier (8:33).
Instead of feeling sad about Jesus’ prediction of his betrayal/ death
and its implications for them, the disciples were arguing on the way who was
the VIP among them (9:33-34). What a contrast:
when Jesus was talking about his violent death (9:31), the disciples were arguing about their positions of power in his earthly kingdom (9:33). They might have been jealous about the prominence given to three disciples
(Peter, James and John) who were taken to Mount Tabor for a special “darshan”
(or vision, 9:2-8). They were silent when Jesus asked them what the issue
on which they were arguing was (9:34). Most probably they were embarrassed to know that Jesus heard/ knew about their
argument, or were ashamed to admit their ambitious plans. At
this juncture, Jesus told them that if they aspired for greatness in his Kingdom they must be willing to be last and not first; and must be willing to be servants of all and not masters (9:35). Thus, he laid down the principle of
greatness in reversals: the way to be first is to be last, and the way to be
last is to be the servant of all. According to him, the greatest person is not
one who wields highest authority or power but one who is a humble servant (9:35).
But to whom humble service is to be rendered on a priority basis? To illustrate this point he took a little child in his arms (9:36) and told them greatness in his Kingdom belongs to
whoever welcomes a child in his name (9:37). Welcoming a child in his name means welcoming on his behalf or as
he would have done it. By connecting the act of welcoming a child to himself
and through him to the act of welcoming God who sent him (9:37), Jesus wanted
to tell his disciples that a child represents some of the important qualities
of God’s Kingdom preached by him. A child is a symbol of powerless, helpless, vulnerable, fragile, dependent and non-influential people or the
little ones. In the time of Jesus, servants as well as children had no social
or legal status. Children were considered property of their fathers. They could
be bought, sold or exploited without any system of legal redress as we have
today. Since Jesus made a preferential
option for such
people, a disciple can welcome Jesus by welcoming or serving such people, and
by welcoming Jesus can welcome the Father who sent him (9:37). Children, unless
they are spoilt, are also symbols of humility and submission to the will of parents and elders.
Humble service done to the least ones or little ones is service done to Jesus
himself, as he illustrates in other parts of the Synoptic gospels also (cf. Mt
25:40).
4.
Application to life
As per the world’s way of thinking, a person is considered ‘great’ if so many are working for him/her, has
a lot of wealth, power and influence. According to Jesus our greatness
consists not in our worldly power, rank or higher status, but in our care/ service to those who do not matter – the
powerless, the insignificant, the voiceless, the
little ones, etc. True greatness is measured not by the position we
hold or the number of people we control, but by the quality
of service we render to these little ones. We, humans, have a natural desire/
ambition to become great by acquiring money, power, prestige, name and fame. We
are also tempted to become great at the cost of the defenceless and the poor,
that is, by exploiting their ignorance and helplessness.
Jesus
sets before us the condition of a child as an example for the kind of people we need to
serve on a priority basis to earn true greatness. Though a child is
traditionally considered to be a symbol of innocence and humility, from today’s
gospel we come to know more than that: it is a symbol of helplessness, powerlessness, defencelessness, openness to receive from others,
insignificance and total dependence on others. It has nothing to give but needs to
receive everything from grown-ups; and it cannot influence others the way adults can. It is also a symbol for anyone
who is in need, or of lowly status, and is vulnerable to attack or abuse. By
extension of this symbol’s significance, we can say that it includes all the
homeless, the voiceless, the differently-abled, the sick, the underprivileged,
the downtrodden, the uneducated, and anyone who is weak in any way, including those who are weak in faith, or who
are not mature in faith.
In
the given text, Jesus tells us not to become like a child, but to ‘welcome’ a little child. Welcoming means seeking out or actively
looking for the powerless, helpless and the least ones. Some preachers put it
this way: we need to make a conscious decision to put the last first, that is,
give more attention to the vulnerable and the marginalized according to
the mind and example of Christ. By welcoming them we
welcome Christ because these are the people whom he preferred, and by
welcoming him, we welcome God himself. Rendering service to persons without
rights, privileges, any social and legal status (cf. the above-mentioned note
about the condition of children in Jesus’ time) is a sublime model of Christian discipleship.
The disciples were silent when Jesus questioned about the issue on which
they were arguing on the way, because they were ashamed of their leaning
towards a ‘VIP-culture’. Should we
not be ashamed of this VIP-culture prevalent in various parts of the world
which tramples upon the rights and normal conveniences of common people? Normally
we seek friendship of influential people who can do things or get things done
for us. Jesus tells us to make friendship also with those who are not influential and need help from us. He presents
another view of leadership: it is not meant grabbing
power, controlling people, furthering
one’s own personal ambitions and
amassing wealth only for oneself, but an opportunity to contribute something significant and render a service to human
cause. True and selfless service is difficult and rare but survives even after
death. Just think of the persons who are admired and honoured greatly
throughout human history even after their death. They are the ones who made
sacrifices to contribute to the cause of the underprivileged or the vulnerable.
Instead of projecting the image of a triumphant
Church – which symbolizes the disciples’ wrong understanding of his Messiahship
– the Lord invites us to be the
Quite many disputes and divisions in society and the Church are
centred on the human desire for power, position, money, honour and status. Like
the disciples, quite often we argue and make demands about our own personal
ambitions and desire to wield power over others as if God were not aware of it
or not watching over us. When the disciples were ambitious about acquiring
power in his kingdom, he spoke about identifying oneself with the powerless. He
wanted that his disciples must give priority
to serve the most vulnerable, helpless and powerless members of society who
depend on our helping hand for their all-round development and for their empowerment. Service done to such people is
service done to Christ and ultimately to God himself. Our ambition should be to
serve such people also and not to serve only ourselves. It is an ambition to
serve Jesus as he comes to us in the guise
of the little ones and the weakest.
Ambition in itself is not bad. When it is used only to further one’s own selfish
desires at the cost of others or by trampling upon the rights of others
(especially the weaker sections) and not at all used to serve others, it becomes
an evil. Persons become great and are regarded by others as great when they
spend their energies, talents and time to take care of others and render a
valuable service to the needy, especially the little ones symbolized by a child
in today’s gospel. Such persons inspire and win admiration of the people. We
need not be a Mother Teresa for doing this. Any small act of kindness and help done out of love and compassion for the needy makes us great in
Christ’s sight.
Though the Church has done wonderful service to the poor in social,
educational and medical fields throughout her history, Jesus constantly reminds
the Church and each one of us not to neglect
the little ones but have greater concern
for them. He also reminds the Church leaders, civil society’s leaders,
charismatic healers, spiritual gurus or masters to shun all sorts of pomp, self-glorification, ambitions for power,
unhealthy/ unethical competitions
among themselves, exploitation of the spiritual and health concerns of the
simple people for amassing personal wealth
and for personal gratification. He calls us to curb our tendency to be
associated more with the rich, the powerful and the influential people and to
forget about the helpless and the vulnerable.
Today’s gospel challenges us to address the problems of the people
symbolized by a “child.” We can do it in small and little ways, if we only have
the burning desire. If the disciples had
a need for repentance for arguing
among themselves who was the greatest, how much more should we not repent for
the times we too did the same. As in the case of Christ’s disciples, in our
life too we can notice a shameful contrast in the world: when there is so much
suffering and misery outside, some of those called to lead are found
quarrelling among themselves to sit on the most powerful seat occupied by
somebody else.
5. Response to God's Word
There are so many people who cannot manage by themselves and must have
things done for them. Do we seek out such people and assist them? Jesus reminds
us that it is easy to be friendly with influential people who can do or get
things done for us. We like to be in good books of those whose influence will
be beneficial to us. Though this is needed to manage the affairs of this world,
does this tendency lead us to avoid totally those who cannot do anything for us
but are in need of our help and support? Whom do we welcome/ serve: child (=
Christ) or only the powerful and the influential? With whom do we associate?
Whom do we prefer to serve more?
6.
A prayer
Make me a servant Lord, humble and meek, so that I may serve those who
are weak. Amen.
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