Wednesday, October 13, 2021
“Why do you call me
good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good…” (Luke 18:19, New Living Translation)
Don’t laugh; I have the
certificate to prove it. I am officially a registered landowner of a plot of
land in Scotland. It was a cool, unique birthday gift from Susan. It is a clever
way for the Scots to raise money to preserve their conservation areas. I even
have pictures of the site from an aerial view. My certificate confers on me all
the rights and privileges of a “true” Scottish Lord.
Mind you, the plot of land is
about 5 feet by 5 feet. It isn’t quite big enough for my Scottish castle but I
am not allowed to build on it anyway. Nevertheless, I am now Lord of the Manor,
but I shall remain ever humble.
But it’s hard to be modest.
Family legend is that we are descendants of King Alfred on my mother’s side. (In
fact, Susan has traced possible genealogy back to Alfred’s mother-in-law.) On
my father’s side we have stubborn Prussian pride. Now I am a Scottish Lord. What more can I say?
Why is our 14 year old dog, Charlie, rolling his eyes? I demand a little
respect. “Little” is about as much as I will get from him - as long as I feed him.
Jesus is exemplar in his humility
and modesty. He could have grasped for power as the Christ, the Messiah. He
could have demanded that people worship him as the new Jewish King. He could
have insisted that people lavish their praise, their respect and their
adulation over him. He could have commanded obedience and allegiance. But here in
our text from Luke, he shies away from even the simple recognition of being “good”.
If not Jesus; then who has been or ever will be good?
Jesus defined leadership and for
that matter, goodness, in radically different ways than we might. “But many who are the greatest now will be
least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the
greatest then.” (Matthew 19:30, NLT)
When the rich young ruler came to
Jesus for advice, he wasn’t prepared for the instructions which Jesus gave him,
thinking perhaps that he was rich and powerful and very religious, to boot. Instead,
Jesus said to him: “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your
possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21, NLT) In the parable of the
man who proudly built bigger and better barns to store all his wealth, it was
meaningless in the mortal end. “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly
wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” (Luke 12:21, NLT)
Jesus has taught us that there
is no room for superiority for his followers, based on his own model of service
and compassion. “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant…”
(Matthew 20:26 NLT) So many of Jesus’ parables emphasize servanthood, not
elitism, not superiority over others, not pride of position or possessions.
Real leadership is the warm, moist
towel wiping tired, dirty feet. It is not the arrogant voice of the pharisaic, religious
know-it-all but it is expressed in the tender voices of those who serve Jesus
in soup kitchens, shelters, food banks and the like. Goodness and leadership are
not a contradiction of each other but complementary. “Be dressed for service
and keep your lamps burning…” (Luke 12:35, NLT)
All this makes my little plot of
land In Scotland even smaller; puts my lordship into proper perspective. “If
any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you’ll be where I am, ready
to serve at a moment’s notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who
serves me.” (John 12:26, The Message
Bible)
But dang it – Lord Dale Rodney Soble
has a nice ring to it! Sigh!
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