The Way of Service
Homily for Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Year B – 22 September 2024
On March 3, 1976, when conferring on Mother Teresa the highest honour of one of India’s most prestigious universities, Mrs Indira Gandhi, who was at that time Prime Minister of India, said: “I feel myself dwarfed when I stand before this holy and mighty woman who heroically showed the world how to practice Christian love in sacrificial and humble service.” Similarly, in 1983, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Javier Perez de Cuellar rose from his seat to introduce Mother Teresa to an elite gathering of the representatives of all member countries of the U.N. He needed only one sentence for his introduction: “I present to you the most powerful woman in the world!”
For many years, the world watched, admired and honoured this weak and elderly nun, always dressed in a blue-bordered white sari, as the exemplary model of humble and sacrificing Christian service. She was the living proof of Jesus' words that real greatness lies in serving others.
This Sunday’s readings present us with a fundamental human weakness that shows up over and over again in human history and our personal lives. We are talking about jealousy and selfish ambition. In the words of St James in the second reading, this jealousy and ambition in people results in wars, fights and killing. We see this jealousy and selfish ambition in the reasoning of the wicked men in the first reading from the book of Wisdom, and again in the Gospel, in the disciples who were arguing along the way about who of them was the greatest.
In the reading from the book of Wisdom, those who refuse to follow the ways of God, are convicted by the example of the righteous person. Instead of opening their hearts to be converted, they turn on the righteous person in jealousy and anger. They feel that he is exposing their sins and they want to destroy him. Their words are chilling and cruel. They say, “Let us test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he is, and make a trial of his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death.”
And as we listen to these words, we are reminded of the Suffering Servant poem in the book of Isaiah, of which we read a passage last Sunday. Once again, in this reading we have a description of the suffering of Jesus. Isn’t this exactly what the jealousy and selfish ambition of the religious leaders of the day, inflicted on Jesus.
In today’s Gospel passage we are reminded that Jesus’ public ministry was a short, three-year stint, and right from the beginning it was marked by controversy and opposition. The immediate context of this passage is right after Jesus’ Transfiguration on the mountain. This is the second time that Jesus predicted his suffering, death and resurrection (the first time being in the Gospel reading of last Sunday.) We find the same pattern as in last week's Gospel. First, Jesus predicts his passion and death; then the disciples misunderstand him, like Peter misunderstood Jesus in last week’s Gospel, trying to talk him out of the way of suffering; and finally Jesus gives instruction on the nature of discipleship.
Doesn’t it seem incredible that just after Jesus speaks these sad and sobering words, his disciples are arguing among themselves about who was the greatest? Clearly either they hadn’t understood a word of what Jesus had spoken; or they were too intent on their own selfish ambition and jealousy toward each other. While Jesus is talking of being powerless in the face of suffering and death, they are talking of who among them is the greatest of all! This selfishness of the disciples even at this stage of being with Jesus may seem inconceivable, but that is a pretty accurate portrait of human nature.
The disciples are portrayed as slow to learn. In this they are a realistic image of us on our journey of discipleship. How often don’t we still have to contend with the reality of sin and selfishness in our lives? It is important that we are able to recognise ourselves in these disciples and not stand afar off, judging them and unable to learn from them and the teaching that Jesus gives them. Isn’t it extraordinary that Jesus does not give up on his disciples even at this point? Jesus stuck with them and continued to teach them. This should be of enormous consolation to us who fail so often as disciples.
When Jesus asked the disciples what they were discussing on the journey to Capernaum, at least they had the decency to be silent out of embarrassment. Perhaps their selfishness even went as far as them discussing who would take over as the one in charge once Jesus had been put to death, as he had predicted. But Jesus knew what they had been saying, so he sat down and called the Twelve to himself so that he could teach him. In the ancient world, sitting down was the pose of the teacher among disciples. And Jesus’ teaching is that the antidote to selfishness, ambition and jealousy is the way of servanthood. This teaching is sometimes referred to as the way of spiritual childhood.
This teaching of Jesus is revolutionary; it turns the human way of thinking on its head. He taught that those who would like to be first, must be last and must be the servant of everyone else. True greatness is not in taking some high position, but rather being a servant. Contrary to our sinful inclinations and the way of the world, humility is the true power. It reminds us of Pope Francis’ first homily as pope, when he said, “Let us never forget that authentic power is service,” and then he went on to commit himself to that exercise of power in the service of all God’s people, especially the poorest, the weakest and those considered the least important. And what an example of service Pope Francis has been!
To illustrate his point, Jesus took a child in his arms and said that whoever receives one such child in his name, receives him; and who receives him, receives the one who sent him. Remember that in the society of the time children were powerless and without great status. This could have been due, in part, to the high mortality rate of infants and young children. Children had no legal standing or influence in society. In this they represent for us all those in our society who are little, marginalised, and thought of no account. Our greatness consists in welcoming such as these, putting them first and serving them.
To receive a “little one” is to accept, lovingly serve, and care for one who needs it most, and cannot repay it. To receive someone in Jesus’ name is to receive someone because of Christ, for the sake of Christ, with the spirit of Christ. The kindness shown to the weak, the humble, the vulnerable, is considered by Jesus to be kindness shown to himself and to the Father. We see that Jesus identifies with those who are most insignificant in the eyes of the world.
Jesus is himself the living embodiment of this servanthood. He himself said that he did not come on earth to be served; he came to serve. His words about taking up one’s cross and losing one's life that we heard last week are given added meaning when Jesus speaks of being last of all and servant of all.
The truth is that even some way on in the spiritual journey, we get wrapped up in subtle and not so subtle wrangling about our own importance and status. The ego in us is ever present calling for recognition, priority and importance. Engaging with our egos calls into question our real motivation for what we do and for whom we do it. Progress in the spiritual life will be a journey in purifying our motives, a denial of self, a selflessness that puts the other first, and a service that first and foremost gives glory to God rather than to ourselves. This is the way of spiritual childhood. In the words of St James, this is the wisdom of God which is pure, peaceable, gentle, merciful and sincere.