Isaiah 43:8 – 13 Luke 22:24 – 30 1 Corinthians 9 – 15
Sometimes it feels as if we live in a topsy-turvy world! As children we’re taught to be kind and honest but when we grow up,we see that the bullies seem to be winning while good decent people get trampled on. We discover that some of the organisations that are supposed to be looking out for us are actually exploiting us. Fraudsters mock our gullibility as they attempt to deceive us. Our faith in certain people and groups falters and we wonder whether we can trust anything or anyone anymore.
In the reading from the Gospel of Luke, we find Jesus giving adifferent kind of topsy-turvy teaching. The disciples are bickering about who will be considered the greatest among them. When Jesus hears about this, he tells them that that kind of thinking is the way the world thinks, but it is to have no place among them. Rather, he tells them, ‘the greatest must become like the youngest and the leader like one who serves.’ Jesus points out that he himself lives among them as one who serves, not as one who lords it over them. He then tells them that, as they have stood by him and been faithful to him, he will confer his kingdom on them, and they will sit on thrones with him at his table in his kingdom.
The message is clear: following Jesus’ teaching and example is not to live according to the values of the world. Living by Jesus’ values may seem to be getting you nowhere but they lead to eternal life, and, in the here and now, they are helping to build the kingdom of God on earth.
As Christians we are repeatedly reminded that the Way of Christ is the Way of the Cross. We know that suffering is a part of life for everyone, whatever they may believe, but those who follow Christ are enjoined to remain faithful and steadfast in the midst of suffering. We are not to give up or abandon our principles, and in all this we can know we are not alone. We are part of the Body of Christ and we have within us the power of the Holy Spirit.
Even the intrepid St Paul found following Christ difficult at times. In today’s reading he bewails his situation but reaffirms his loyalty to the Christian way: ‘When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day.’
When we are at a low ebb, perhaps we need to learn to reach out more to others, people who are also committed to living out thevalues of the kingdom of God. Then, together, we can walk with one another, holding each other up as we are falling and giving solace to one another as we are suffering, knowing we are all held in the everlasting arms of God’s unconditional and unending love.
Rev Christina Rees