Ego Trap

~~~ Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~~~

~~~ Isaiah 53:10-11 ~~~ Psalm 33 ~~~ 

~~~ Hebrews 4:14-16 ~~~ Mark 10:35-45 ~~~

...the Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Some of the apostles got a little carried away
with themselves when it came to Jesus and service.
James and John went too far with this request...

Teacher, we want you to do for us 
whatever we ask of you.

A servant may be at the beck and call of his master,
Jesus was taking the servant concept
much further.

There are not many servants who would be willing
 to give up their lives for their master.
That is exactly the kind of servant Jesus came to embrace.
Jesus was both servant and master...teacher.
Jesus came with wisdom and understanding far
beyond what the apostles could imagine.

James and John were confused.
Did they secretly want to be equal to Jesus?
Did they want to be a 'master'?
What kind of servant did they see in Jesus?

We can ask ourselves similar questions.
Sometimes our actions indicate that we
want to be equal with Jesus.

Perhaps we too have the desire to be seated on his side.
Perhaps we would like to have the recognition.

Jesus was both master and servant,
but he was dedicated to serving others.
His mission was to serve even unto his death on the cross.

I have only met a handful of people in my life
who truly have a servant heart and attitude.

We struggle with getting our egos out of the way.

Jame and John fell head first into the ego trap.
But they pretended to be disguised as servants of Jesus.

It is mostly our own egos that get us into trouble.
It is our ego that convinces us to things
 and say things before we think.

James and John were full of themselves.
They put a great value on the fact that they were with Jesus.
Their self confidence fueled by their ego  prevented
them from seeing Jesus as the servant and master.

Their egos caused problems among the other apostles.
Their egos caused the others to quarrel among themselves.
Who did James and John think they were
making such a request of Jesus.

Did they not all want to sit as his right and his left?

...through his suffering, my servant shall justify many...

James and John could not grasp the full understanding
 of the suffering Jesus was going to endure.

No mere human being could have endured
the suffering Jesus endured.

While he was fully human;
his heavenly father made it possible
through their intimate relationship
for Jesus to conquer death itself.

There was no other human who could have
accomplished such a mission.

Blessed to among the servants of the Lord.
May you too serve rather than be served...
this is the way of the Lord.

~~~Peace~~~

Mountain Climbing

~~~ Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord ~~~

~~~ Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 ~~~ Psalm 97 ~~~ 

~~~2 Peter 1:16-19 ~~~ Mark 9:2-10 ~~~

Jesus took Peter, James, and John on a mountain climbing excursion.

These three did not have a clue the surprise they were in for.

It was the belief then that going to a high place,

such as a mountain top, you would be closer to God.

God resided high in the mountains.

The mountain top was holy, apart from daily life.

The mountain top is where you go to commune with God.

Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John,

and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.

As they climbed this mountain together;

I wonder what questions they might have held inside.

Where were they going?

Why were they going into the mountains?

Why only the three of them and not the others?

They were soon to see a sight that they could have never imagined.

They knew of the encounters Moses' had had with 

God on the mountain top.

They even knew of the clouds that hugged the mountain top.

When Jesus transformed into his glory right before their eyes;

it was no wonder that they fell to the ground in fear.

They were witnessing the brightness of Jesus' glory

as well as the vision of Moses and Elijah.

They were seeing dead people while seeing the 

body of Jesus radiate a dazzling light.

Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; 

from the cloud came a voice, 

“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”

In the midst of this miraculous vision

 the voice of God speaks from a cloud.

It was not unusual for God to be in the clouds.

But it was unusual for God to speak of his son, Jesus,

with such tender affectionate words.

As has been written here in the past entries...

Jesus is called God's Beloved only one other time in the Bible,

after his baptism in the river water.

The Transfiguration filled every fiber of the mind, 

body, and soul of Peter, James, and John that day.

We to often long for a mountain top experience.

When we do get a taste we do not want it to end.

We look for ways to hold on to the experience...through writing, 

poetry, music, or expressions of art.

Peter chose to give us in writing his first hand account of his experience.

He did not just stumble onto this mountain top,

Jesus led him and the others.

They were led by Jesus...

just as today Jesus leads us too.

The mountain journey is rocky and steep,

but the reward of finding God there is immense.

Take the time to make the journey

Blessings wait there for you to arrive.

God calls you his Beloved too. 

~~~ Peace~~~

The Real Reward

~~~ Sirach 36:1, 4-5a, 10-17 ~~~ Psalm 79 ~~~ Mark10:32-45 ~~~

 

Reward those who have hoped in you,
and let your prophets be proved true.

 

Jesus is sharing with his apostles the future things that will happen to him.

As they listened intently, James and John seemed

 disconnected from the gravity of his words.

 

They were more concerned with having their wishes heard and met by Jesus.

If they were amazed they were more

 interested in looking out for themselves.

 

‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

 

 

They were looking for their reward for being two of his followers.

It usually does not work well to try and bargain with God.

Yes, Jesus may have needed them as his followers, but

he did not 'need' these two men.

 

Sometimes when we are faced with a tragedy, such as a terrible accident or death,

our brain gets confused. We may even laugh even though it is not appropriate.

I have experienced this first hand in the workplace.

 

Maybe these two apostles were so overwhelmed

 with all that Jesus was telling them that

they reacted inappropriately without intending to.

Maybe they really did not know how they should react.
So theses words just came tumbling out of their mouths.

Have you ever said something only to later regret having said it?
I have. Our initial reaction is often not the best reaction.

Clearly they were looking for their reward while the others... 

They were amazed,
those who followed were afraid.

When we are fully present to what Jesus told the apostles that day;
being afraid would have been a normal reaction.

...condemn him to death...
...will mock him,
spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death,
but after three days he will rise.”

We are the Resurrection peoples.
We know that after three days Jesus was indeed raised from the dead.
Today we have no reason to be afraid.

We have every reason to be joyful.
The real reward comes in the serving of others,
just as Jesus modeled for us.
The ultimate reward is everlasting life in heaven.

Blessings are all around you.

To Serve with Love

~~~ 1 Peter 1:18-25 ~~~ Psalm 14 ~~~ Mark 10: 32-45 ~~~

"...the word of the Lord remains forever."

"...love one another intensely from a pure heart."

Through the death and Resurrection of Jesus,

 we have come to place our faith and hope in God.

The tenth chapter of Mark continues to reveal to us just how naive and human the apostles were. They mirror who we are in many ways.

You tend to have unreasonable expectations when you do not have all of the facts or you simply do not understand.

James and John were so eager to be close to the Lord. They mistakenly believed that they were capable of more than they could have imagined.

Jesus wisely response to them, "You do not know what you are asking."

Jesus was reflecting at a much deeper level than James and John could understand.

They did not grasp that Jesus was acting on behalf of the Father.

Jesus offers them an analogy they could understand; that of the authority of a ruler who is controlling over all.

Instead Jesus flips this pyramid of power upside down.

"For the Son of Man did not come to be served

but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many."

Jesus came to serve. He made this very clear at the Last Supper when he knelt at the feet of each of his apostles and washed their feet.

Can you imagine Jesus kneeling at your feet today?

It is difficult to even let your imagination place you in such a scene.

We are surrounded with those who have a servant's heart every day. They are in our families, our churches, our hospitals, our homeless shelters, our crisis call centers, our military, our schools, in our restaurants. And I am sure you could continue the list with many more examples. In order to serve you need to put the needs of others above your own needs.

While we may never be able to simulate the great service of our Lord we can serve with a pure heart. We can serve out of love and not expect recognition for our service.

We are all called to serve in one way or another.

Today I invite you to take a look at how you serve.

I invite you to examine how your service is aligned

with the call to serve from Jesus.

Only you can answer the question of 'why' you serve.

"...the word of the Lord remains forever."

Service from the heart is love.