Whosoever Will Be Great

“Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. ”

It's an election year. The way you can tell that is how the news is reported. Even the weatherman has a kind of edge to him. ‘This weather is somebody's fault—and we've got to do something about it.' Most political commercials don't make sense, like a lot of dot-com commercials—it's hard to tell what the product is anymore. We feel like: Okay, okay—that's funny, or , that's terrible, or , that's really annoying; now , what do I buy? I remember a Super Bowl Sunday a few years back when I couldn't tell what half of the commercials were about at all: but every one ended with a manufactured word-Dot Com. ‘Ergoplus.com .' Politics is like that too. I think they assume that we all share their worldview and their language, and yet we have no idea what they're driving at.

No one respects the viewer. They think they have us sized up, and they're very wrong about us—at least, I hope they are. We just cancelled our TV programming service altogether. For months now, when I seized the remote to find out what was being offered, 299 channels were offering one movie or another about a serial murderer who traffics in drugs, and the woman who loves him. Rated R. And further rated L, V, N, SC and B . B is for bad script . The bad acting you can take for granted. They think I, the viewer, want to watch nothing but crime, with criminals as the focus. When we called to cancel our subscription, they argued with my wife—they nicely argued. But they really couldn't believe we didn't want to watch Halloween part 26 . Then they offered us an all-religious programming service. No way.

People watch junk, partly because it's all that's offered, partly because they're bored with real life. The adventure of life is gone . They take no risks (other than eating at MacDonald's) and have to fill their quotient for excitement with pretend evil . I propose another solution. Live dangerously. And give respect .

Living dangerously doesn't mean skydiving or white water rafting. What is truly dangerous in our world today is bucking the social system and being an individual, true to your principles, answering the higher calling . In other words: be a Christian . A Christian, mind you, is not someone who merely comes to Church on Sundays and daily showers. A Christian , in the sense I mean, is someone who lives the life of Christ in front of everyone else, whatever the cost to him or herself. Jesus was dangerous . He was the most dangerous man ever, and they killed him out of fear and envy. They felt the danger. The danger he posed was telling the truth and seeing evil for what it is. His living a dangerous life included acts of mercy to the sick, the lame, the blind, and even the dead. His dangerous life included having a joyful spirit about ignorant things people said to Him and turning their words around on them.

A person who lives Christ-like causes the world to make a decision: ‘Do we let him get away with it, or not?' Most likely not, so here we go. You lose a promotion, or even your job. Your best friend tells you to take a hike because she can't stand hearing you say those things about Jesus anymore. Your parents find reasons not to visit. People can sue you. People can ignore you. People can hate you. They can rough you up. This is harder than I'm making it sound. Social exclusion is one of the most pervasive and persuasive forces we know. Most Episcopalians today who remain in their churches are there because it would mean losing friends to leave. Imagine giving that excuse on Judgment Day. ‘I stayed because all my friends were there.'

Remaining safely inside a social structure means knowing the pecking order and keeping yourself out of trouble. And it means associating with people who reflect well on you. That's like having a 5,000 square foot luxury home development build in back of your house. You put up with the dust and the noise because your property value just doubled. But it's safe. And remaining socially safe is not one of the commandments.

But that's where the other feature of living dangerously comes in. Give respect. Respect is an art, and a dying one at that. It takes courage. And it takes love . A respectful person gives much more than he or she gets . In order to have respect toward others, you first have to decide who gets respect and who doesn't . You may only respect adults , or if you're a kid, you may only respect older kids . You may respect only straight looking, well groomed people . Or perhaps people who appear to have money . The trouble with that is, Paul Newman often drives an old VW bug and wears sloppy clothes, so you might mistake him for someone you don't respect . That could cost you. One sure thing, Jesus often comes to you as one of the least respectable people in our world—a street urchin, a tattooed stranger, a pregnant girl. He promised us He would come to us like that —not really Him, of course, but He said that whatever we did to these strangers, the least of His brothers and sisters, He counts as having been done to Jesus Himself. So, you'd better make a rule that says: ‘Respect everybody up front. Who knows if this pauper is really the king in disguise?'

And that respect has to come from the heart. Try it out . If you act respectfully toward another person, you will feel respect growing in your heart. You will begin to see that person in a new way. Forget the way all the TV show characters act toward each other. That's all wrong . Think of how you can make another person feel better right now; how you might build him up, give her hope, make them curious about why you are the way you are. Then give ‘em Jesus. Christianity goes down so much easier through a person who respects you than through someone who puts you down first, then tells you how to earn his or her respect . Lead with respect. R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin had it right.

St. James' life was cut short in Jerusalem when the so-called king arrested him for being a Christian and had him killed by a sword. Otherwise we might know more about him, or even have a Gospel account by him. With St. Peter and St. John, he was among the closest 3 friends Jesus had. He got the inside message, private talks, precious miracles, and was an eyewitness of at least three people Jesus raised from the dead.

So, when his mother asked Jesus if he and his brother might have the seats of preeminence on each side of Jesus when He came to rule from heaven, it seemed right to this good mother. Jesus deflected her request with questions of whether James and John might follow Him in His sufferings and sorrows, if they would even die for Him. They spoke bravely, both of them, and said they were ready to do it.

When the other apostles got wind of this attempt to gain favor with the Master, they were angry. But Jesus used the situation to teach a valuable lesson. He said: “ Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

In this statement, Jesus Christ turned the whole world upside down . And that is what is dangerous, and interesting , about being a Christian . The world expects us to feel superior. The world expects us to pride ourselves in the achievements of our faith: for truly there are many to point out. Great universities, hospitals, acts of charity and world class philanthropists abound in Christianity as in no other religion. The world has seen Christian bumper stickers like: “I'm not perfect, just forgiven,” or , “In case of rapture, this car will be without a driver.” We don't need to be like that. Christ turned the world upside down. Let's not turn it back, trying to be on top, as Zebedee's wife tried to do for her sons. If you would be truly great, be a servant to everyone. Act as if everyone was your boss, your master. Give from beneath others, expecting no praise or payment.

Every week I encounter a woman who works at Planned Parenthood. She dresses kind of kooky, a real feminist, with a dry expression on her face. But I know her secret. She likes to be treated with respect. So, I open the door for her when she's carrying a load. I greet her with a hello or good morning . I smile at her. And, doggon it , she smiles back and says good morning back to me. I could do flips, I'm so happy. I care about that woman. And she's beginning to care about me —the priest that prays at their door that Planned Parenthood will close and that she loses her job and gains the Kingdom of God . I think she likes me. It's been a challenge, though: she hated me for about 7 years.

It's dangerous to be a Christian, but when you are a Christian don't act like you're inviting danger. Don't walk around with a chip on your shoulder. Treat everyone else like you were Jeeves , the butler. Your master may be a complete fool, but isn't it nicer when you can offer advice as a servant rather than as the school principal? Do what Jesus does, and give respect to everyone.

TV hasn't anything nearly as interesting as a life like that: living dangerously, like Jesus Christ, and respecting even the lowest of the low. No matter who wins or loses the election this year, If you live dangerously, with respect, you will have won something far more important: God's approval, and perhaps the souls of others who can now start their life of danger. Live dangerously: Be as Christ, and respect everyone. That's it. Dot-Com.

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