Rockstar Status

A true leader is a true servant.

32 They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went ahead of them. They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them what was going to happen to him. 33 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles 34 who will mock him, spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death, but after three days he will rise.”
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 He replied, “What do you wish [me] to do for you?” 37 They answered him, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” 38 [a]Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 They said to him, “We can.” Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40 but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. 42 [b]Jesus summoned them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. 43 But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; 44 whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. 45 For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”-Mark10:32-45

To be a leader, one has to be selfless and a servant of all. S/he does not seek his/her own interests. Sometimes, family and other personal obligations are sacrificed and missed for the sake of service to others. But leadership has certain privileges that cannot be rid of. Leaders are sometimes pampered though they are not asking for it. Leaders are adored. Leaders have a 'following' as they say in social media. James and John surely felt some little privileges just by being with Jesus. If Jesus is a Somebody during His ministry on earth, how much more when He assumes His glorified Self. But Jesus teaches them, His disciples, and also us, that true leadership and discipleship is in the art of following His example. But what of the privileges? If Jesus coped with it and handled it well, He will give us the grace to handle and cope with it as well. The spirit in us must quench the flesh's cravings for such worldly matters.

Image courtesy: artist

 

Walk away

Test... Withdraw from certain situations...

1 After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee [of Tiberias].[b] 2 A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish feast of Passover was near. 5 [c]When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” 6 [d]He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages[e] worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little [bit].” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves[f] and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass[g] in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. 12 When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” 13 So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets[h] with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. 14 When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet,[i] the one who is to come into the world.” 15 Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.-John6:1-15

It is indeed true that God sometimes would deliberately put us to the test. But it is not for us to suffer, not for us to fail, not for us to be pained. Rather, to test our virtues. And should we fail or give a wrong answer, God will work out something for our betterment. Remember, a gold will never be a work of beauty and art without exposing it to high degrees of fire. In the gospel, Jesus is so close to becoming a king but He faced the situation by withdrawing and being by Himself alone in the mountain. How will it be for us? What are we going to do if instant fame, money and power are thrust to us in the next hour? Can we walk away from it? Yes, we can! Jesus, the first of Mankind, did it. But again, fame, money and power are not evil in itself. How we deal with it will define its effect in our lives. "But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness,[a] and all these things will be given you besides.-Matthew6:33"

Image courtesy: artist

Pride and Prejudice

The humbled and the exalted.

9 He then addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. 10 “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ 13 But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”-Luke18:9-14

One day my friend shared that when she was in the middle of her job training, one boss shared that he doesn't prefer graduates from top schools because the latter usually fights back, talks back, arrogant, and so forth. But, when my sister was looking for a job many years ago, she encountered many executives who prefer graduates of top schools, graduates who studied with this or that professor, graduates with 'connections directly or indirectly,' graduates who revolve in the same circle with them, executives, one way or another. Years before, a boss asked me who I prefer as friends, and I said, "Anybody." He said, "No! Pick only the rich, the well-connected, and brilliant. Because a janitor cannot help you when you are in trouble. They will even ask money from you. Make friends with the elite only. They alone can help you." I do not exactly agree with him because one way or another, a person is capable of helping me or others regardless of his/her status.

The world is full of prejudice and discrimination. We may deny it, we may say we haven't done it, but in truth, we have done it perhaps unconsciously or indirectly. Jesus is teaching us to be humble always. He is reminding us that we are all created the same way, have committed sins, imperfect. Who are we, then, to separate ourselves from the rest of humanity, if we have sinned just like the rest? Rather than focusing on ourselves and in our own human capacities and successes, let us bear in mind that God is the true Bringer of all that we enjoy in life. "God can give and can take away."

Image courtesy: The Passion of the Christ

Center Stage

He must increase. I must decrease.

22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”[a]-John3:22-30

The Gospel reading is all about one thing: HUMILITY. The voice of humility easily dies away when one succumbs to greed, power, fame and ambition. "Why should I give it up?" "Why must I go away and give my power to another?" Such are the thoughts of one who cannot let go of worldly prestige.

In our local town, a family dynasty was thriving. The mother or the son was elected to be the town mayor. Some say that they are not really "working" but are just passing their work to a "little mayor" who did everything for them. The mayor promised a supporter that she is willing to pass on the power to this supporter since she has held on to the position for a great many years already. Then, quite suddenly, the mayor changed her mind. Rather than giving the power to the supporter, she forced her son to replace her as mayor. Yes, honor is lost. Giving others a chance to serve, is lost. There is only greed, power, fame, money, prestige and ambition to be considered.

John the Baptist reached the "rock star" status also. Once upon a time, he was thought of as a Messiah or The Prophet. But he remained humble. Then Jesus came. Instead of John holding on to his followers and not giving up his position, he humbly submitted himself and was willing to bow out and decrease so that Jesus will increase. John was willing to exit so that Jesus - The Bridegroom - will take the center stage. When did we show true humility in our lives?

Image courtesy: artist

Faith and Humility in his heart

Faith. Love. Humility.

5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.-Matthew8:5-11

The Romans were once considered the masters of the world. All the countries and peoples they captured, were considered merely their subjects. The centurion - a powerful man - showed much humility before Jesus when he asked for healing for his servant (or slave to some accounts). Just imagine a powerful man humbling himself before a "subject" and asking for help. Above all, the faith of the centurion is something to behold. Normally, we want to see, hear, feel, taste or smell a healing miracle. We want the senses and intellect to be satisfied of its curiosity. "I want to see it," we say. But the centurion so believed in Jesus, that even His Words alone are enough to make miracles and wonders. I cannot help but feel a little irony and sadness. The centurion - a powerful man and hardened by battles, blood and death scenes - believed that Jesus' Words are powerful to make miracles and other majesties. Today, it is hard to convince some people that God is so powerful that His words alone are enough to make wonders and miracles. They much prefer Big Bang, or laws of science and math instead.

Another quality of the centurion that struck me the most is his ability to love. And love is God. Therefore, without him knowing it, he believes in God - in Jesus. Not all Roman masters care for their servants or slaves. If one goes, there are plenty of replacements to choose from. Hey, they can even import from other conquered countries. But the centurion showed love, concern and care for his servant.

Have we shown care to others?

Image courtesy: Radu Oltean (Centurion), Paolo Veronese (Jesus and the Centurion), artist

We can interpret them!

The messages of our times.

54 He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?

57 “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”-Luke12:54-59

We love to predict, forecast and to interpret something. We know if it's going to rain - thanks to the weather forecast. We know if we're losing a bet. We know if we're heading for trouble. Yes, God has given us the capacity to discern the events and circumstances in our lives as well as others lives.

Unfortunately, we are not using this wonderful gift of discernment sometimes. Despite knowing that we are heading for trouble, some still proceed with it. Despite knowing that drugs and alcohol cause damage, some still use it. Despite knowing that something is illegal and bad, some still continue doing it without remorse. Jesus, through the Gospel, is encouraging us to use our capacity to interpret and discern things, events and circumstances according to His purpose. Jesus is encouraging us to open ourselves to His leading and guidance, and not that we dictate what we want to Him.

People nowadays demand for justice and rights. Rather than making peace with our adversaries, humbling ourselves before them, some of us would opt for court battles. Sometimes these people are confident that they would win, only to be disappointed in the end. Worse, they even have to pay their opponents. Much is accomplished when we are humble. Much is saved when we exert effort to make peace and give second chances. Jesus is encouraging us to help spread peace in the world, and to spread the virtue of humility in a world full of arrogance and pride.

Image courtesy: P. Martin, various artists