Sunday Readings: Wisdom 2.12, 17-20; James 3.16-4.3; Mark 9.30-37
“Whoever wants to be first must be last and the servant of all.”
(Mark 9.35)
When Jesus begins to tell his disciples that suffering lies ahead, that he will be put to death and rise again, they find themselves too afraid to ask questions. But they did not feel too afraid to argue who among them was greatest. So Jesus has to sit them down and explain that in his company those who serve are greatest. He uses welcoming a child as an example. In the ancient world children were invisible, non-people. To receive a child is to receive him. Jesus’ teaching gives us a very different picture of Christian community than the hierarchical one in which we live. Often those who live Jesus’ teaching are invisible to us.
Whose service is vital to your day to day existence at home, at work?
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