Make Us True Servants Ord 31A
Leadership. Today’s gospel is all about leadership. Specifically, about church leaders and their style. But if we enter into this scripture deeply, it also is asking us some pointed questions. What kind of style and temperament do we project to others? Do we walk around tooting our own horns, bragging about our accomplishments? Do we have an ultimate goal of attaining fabulous wealth and accumulation of material goods? Or are we more mindful of those around us, seeking their wisdom and the fruits of their experience?
There once was a successful corporate executive who became fed up with his successful corporate lifestyle, and then he totally abandoned it. He cast it off to the extent that sold all his possessions, and joined a Benedictine monastery. He became a monk. And it was there that he learned about a leadership style, founded by Jesus, called the servant leader.
This executive found that the key to turning his life around began with service. He found that life really wasn’t about chasing a dream of monetary riches and buying a McMansion of a house. He found that only by serving others could he truly attain what he was searching for, some meaning to his life.
Quite obviously, Jesus was the first servant leader. He began with no power, no wealth, or civil authority, nor did he seek any. Yet by realizing that his mission was one of service, he became the greatest leader of all time, establishing the religion with the world’s greatest following.
By Jesus’ example, we see that the servant leader does not manage by threats and intimidation. He is not a power seeker, but rather allows for the spiritual and psychological growth of those around him. The servant leader is not an authority figure seeking fame and glory, not a warden looking for people to be submissive. Rather, he works to develop individuals to be all they can be. That is his goal. The servant leader is not preoccupied with ambition, riches, material goods, but rather his primary concern is to provide a road map for the development of those people he comes contact with.
500 years after Jesus died, St. Benedict established a monastery based on Jesus’ model of servant leadership. Living in monastery required the monks to practice an entirely different set of virtues than many of us are used to. Those words from Paul’s description of love that we hear at weddings —humility, patience, kindness, and commitment –those are the virtues that Benedict saw that would provide a template for a servant leader. Benedict wasn’t interested in spiritual gymnastics. Rather, he’s concerned with how you live your life, and how you are able to experience your relationship with God.
If one word could describe the very heart and soul of the servant leader, it would be love. Most people think of love as a feeling or as an emotion. But to know the essence of love, one must experience love as a behavior. It is only when we see love as a behavior that we truly put love into action in our life, becoming true servants of God. So changing our behavior to reflect and practice humility, patience, kindness, and commitment is what will make us true servants of the Lord.
For it is precisely in practicing these virtues that will also bring us happiness and enhance our relationship with God. If we can rid ourselves of all those worldly desires that lead us to embody materialistic goals, and replace them with the virtues of the servant leader, we will be much further along the path of getting closer to God.
And I really believe this was what Jesus means when he tells us, “He who is humbled will be exalted & he who is exalted will be humbled.” He’s telling us that humility is actually something we should practice.
I used to think that humility meant being very tight-lipped, speaking only when spoken to, staying in the background, not making any waves, doing only what you are told to do. It struck me as a self-deprecating type of lifestyle, for people with a poor self-image and a limited sense of self-worth. I didn’t think it was a virtue employed by those seeking fulfillment in life.
Then I discovered that true humility isn’t even close to that description. My false notion of humility changed when God entered the picture. For being humble before God is quite another thing, in context of one’s personal relationship with Him. We must be humble before the Lord in order to find Him.
Being humble allows you to know yourself better. Humility is a prerequisite for allowing the learned to learn from the wise. If we enter any life experience as a “know-it-all” we will never be able to benefit from the knowledge and experience of others. We will limit our learning experiences. Pretentiousness, tooting our own horn and self-glorifying our accomplishments will make for a poor relationship with our peers, family & friends. After all, how could a pompous attitude possibly enhance our relationship with God?
Humility before the Lord is necessary to understand and grow our relationship with the Lord. It is humility that allows us to accept God’s will when & where our will hasn’t prevailed. It allows God to be God, and helps us realize that we are not in control. Just when we think that we are in control—when all the bills have been paid, all the school work has been finished, the annual performance appraisal has been reviewed, the car is running like a top, our friends have told us they love us, we can almost be sure a problem will arise. Whether it is a dead car battery, a job loss, or news of a terminal illness to a family member, it is a gentle reminder that we are not in control.
What allows us to deal with it? Humility allows us to understand that God is in control. A priest friend of mine describes how his grandmother taught to him to let go of his troubles by realizing that “God is God & we are not”. Humility allowed him to get off his high horse, and “remember who he belonged to”. Being humble before the Lord allowed him to truly realize who was in control.
Humility is a core value for the servant leader. It doesn’t mean we are worthless, inferior human beings. It means “being authentic without being arrogant.” Being humble allows us to see who we are. It is not thinking less of yourself, but rather thinking less about yourself. “
Today’s readings affirm that we are held to great expectations. We must walk the talk, practice what we preach, live humbly, and lightening burdens rather than lifting them onto people.
The Pharisees with their phylacteries and fringes were symbols of haughtiness. Rather, we pray that all who follow Jesus can be true servants, learning from our teacher, Jesus.
Only Jesus is teacher, and only God is father, all others are learners and children. Greatness is found in service.
Lord Jesus, make us true servants. Amen.
