I’ve mentioned before that Mary and I like these YouTube videos where people think they’re above other people.

Usually they learn they’re not really more important at all.

The stories usually start with a customer talking down to an employee of a store or restaurant, sometimes with the phrase
“DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?”
and demanding something to which they’re not entitled, or that doesn’t even exist.

At some point they are banned from the establishment, or even arrested if they decide to actually assault someone.

Maybe a sense of privilege and authority isn’t everything.

Let’s go to God in prayer.
God of wisdom, may the words that I speak, and the ways they are received by each of our hearts and minds, help us to continue to grow into the people, and the church, that you have dreamed us to be.
Amen.

There have been 45 Presidents of the United States of America. We are currently in the 46th presidency, but there have only been 45 people who were presidents because Grover Cleveland was both the 22nd president and the 24th president,
the only person so far two be president in non-consecutive terms.

How many of those people can you name?

Chances are you can name fewer than half. You already have Grover Cleveland.

The names you can remember probably fall into two groups:
Recent presidents, especially those who served while you were alive and noteworthy presidents. Of course, there may be some crossover: it’s possible we have had noteworthy recent presidents.

Presidents are noteworthy for what they have done. Those who have served well are celebrated. Most of the others have been forgotten.

In monarchies, we talk about people who rule the nation, but in the United States we talk about serving in elected offices.

Service implies doing things for others and not merely for one’s self.

So how can someone be both a leader, someone with authority, and still be of service. I have worked a number of jobs in my life.

I had a factory job where the main interaction with my supervisor was either that I was underperforming – meaning that I was not completing enough units per hour – or that I was consistently meeting the required units per hour, in which case the requirement was increased.

I had an office job where my supervisor had no idea what I did and just left me to do whatever it was I did.

But my best supervisors were the ones who were ale to get me the resources I needed.

A supervisory role generally requires assignment of duties and assessment of performance. But there’s more to it than just telling people what to do and judging how they did it.

A good supervisor makes sure people have what they need.
Sometimes it’s tools.
Sometimes it’s information.
Sometimes it’s help.
So even those in a leadership role have a servant role.

Yet Jesus doesn’t speak of leadership at all, much less ruling or being a boss or manager.

“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”

Mark 9:35, NRSVue

This is a huge standard.

Jesus is saying that, to be first means to not be above anyone else.

I don’t think that means any of us should be responsible for everything. For example: you don’t want me replacing the gas furnace. I am not qualified to work with gas lines.

I’m probably not the best person to ask to cook dinner, but I can probably prepare something that won’t make everyone sick. We all have our gifts, and we’re best doing those things for which we’re gifted.

Jesus isn’t telling us to do everything.

He’s not even telling us to do everything we’re asked to do.

But he is telling us to not think of ourselves as above others,
that we have a position that lets us ignore the needs of those we consider beneath us.

We’re not to think of ourselves above others because of our social position. People who have wealth are not to consider those with less wealth as being unworthy of help.

We’re not to consider ourselves above others because of gender. Men are not above serving women.

We’re not to consider ourselves above others because of race. Who our ancestors were does not give us permission to look down on others of different ancestry.

We’re not to consider ourselves above others because of ability. This is is especially important, because our abilities are temporary: as we age, our abilities will decrease.

And on that subject: we’re not to consider ourselves above others because of age. People younger than us have some wisdom and knowledge we do not have,
and people older than us may have strengths we do not.

So what does it mean “to be first must be last of all and servant of all?”

It means we are above no one, and that treating everyone else as if they are at least slightly above us keeps us from excluding others from our service.

It will probably also keep us from being banned from a story and arrested.

So my challenge for this week is to be aware of how we feel about the people we encounter:
do we think of them as less than we are? If so, we may want to adjust how highly we think of ourselves.

Amen.

• Scripture quotations marked NRSVue are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. https://www.friendshippress.org/pages/about-the-nrsvue
• Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James version of the Bible.