He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.” — Mark 9:35, NLT
Maybe it was your stern grandfather who said this to you when you had a childhood crime on your hands. ‘Sit down. Let’s talk.”
Maybe it was your high school principal on the day you did not make your best choice.
“Sit down. Let’s talk.”
Maybe it was the medical doctor about to share news of your loved one, but fear struck a chord in your soul when you heard the words, “Sit down. Let’s talk.”
Scripture does not say that Jesus asks the twelve to sit down with Him, but I imagine something in our Savior’s voice either drew them into chairs or the nearby ground. This was big. This was important. Jesus wanted special time with them, a connection.
The sit down with Jesus began with the Speaker’s care. This conversation about to unfold was met with love.
“Listen,” Jesus says then and now. “I want this to go well with you. I want this to be right and good for you, and, in turn, for the world you’ll influence around you. Don’t be first. Don’t seek and serve your own agenda, or your own way. Instead, serve others.”
Serve others.
Our focus shouldn’t be on who is first or last. Who has the time for that? Our focus should be on everyone—everyone—the ones at the top (wherever that is) and the ones at the bottom (wherever that is). And everyone else. Here. There. Close. Not so close.
Inclusion. Community. Love.
Yes.
PRAYER: Jesus, sit with us. Talk to us. Give us Your counsel so that Your love in us can go further and farther into Your world. Amen.